Art History – Page 5 – an intuitive perspective

December 23, 2021

Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon at the Cleveland Museum of Art!

Most of my adult life as an artist and follower of artists, Odilon Redon was my favorite (until I visited Gustave Moreau’s house museum in Paris that is. My front page photo may be a give away on my current favorite). So whenever I visit a new museum I search to see if they have any of his work. I have been rewarded a number of times and the Musee D’orsay has a number of more obscure treasure by Redon.

So when I saw an ad on social media for Collecting Dreams: Odilon Redon at the Cleveland Museum of Art it was time for a road trip!

CMA has a pretty significant holding of various Redon noirs (black drawings and prints). Reportedly the largest holdings in the United States. So this is a significant show for Redon fans. There are four color pieces, three of them in the CMA collection and one on loan. This oil painting on unprimed canvas of Andromeda is on loan from the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection. A stunning work that is 65 inches tall!

Andromeda, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection: Gift of David Rockefeller

And one of the stand out displays is the wall containing the complete sets of the Apocalypse of Saint John, the Homage to Goya, The Haunted House, and the Temptation of Saint Anthony lithographic portfolios. And to see them side by side was quite a treat!

And His Name That Sat on Him Was Death (THE APOCALYPSE OF SAINT JOHN), Cleveland Museum of Art.

I spent a lot of hours in this show, it’s on the main floor just inside the front entrance in a quiet room dedicated to just this exhibit at the moment. So for those of us in love with Redon’s work, it is an essential spiritual experience. A most rewarding investment!

Now, the CMA’s newest Redon acquisition and one they apparently are very proud of is this charcoal and black chalk rendition of Quasimodo (since two different guards pointed it out). But it certainly is one of the stand out pieces in the show.

And let’s go with one of my favorites…from the noirs, the very first piece that I encountered when entering the gallery, Another lithograph entitled Light. I love the line both in defining the face and head and the line that defines the volumes and shadow. The piece alone highlights Redon’s skill in the use of lithography and maybe lays claim to Redon being one of the best in his use of the medium!

And here is one other selection from the CMA collection that is rather unusual. Not for the subject matter but for the medium. I don’t remember seeing anyone else exhibit a Redon pencil drawing…but here we have one at CMA, Melancholy.

And then my personal favorite ‘painting’, one of his works where he is portraying an actual sitter as opposed to his imagined or dreamed images as shown in the other pieces. This is a pastel on paper of Viollette Heymann shown in profile with just simply amazing limning skills against a neutral gray/brown background opposed to a jungle of colored flora. And it doesn’t quite come across in this image as it does in person, but his handling of the shades and gradations in her hair is simply stunning. It can often be mind boggling to compare his more common noirs with the absolutely color bursts in his pastels or oils. Or his portraits vs. his imaginings.

Violette Heymann, Cleveland Museum of Art

Ok, just one more image…the lithographic portfolio, Haunted House:

The Haunted House, Cleveland Museum of Art

One more hint…there is an oil painting in the permanent collection that wasn’t brought into this show. But in Gallery 222 with the Monet and Picassos is another beautiul work.. I am stunned going through the photos that I took, that I didn’t snap one…sigh. So here is another download from the CMA site but if you go don’t miss this!

Vase of Flowers, Cleveland Museum of Art

The show is free as is admission to the Cleveland Museum of Art! And the show continues through January 23, 2022. Face masks and social distancing are required. But check their website for current requirements before you go. And a quick shout out to their cafeteria…great people and very good food! The menu is a bit limited during the pandemic however but make a day of it (it can take a day so see the entire collection) and enjoy an affordable leisurely lunch in the atrium!

wide angle photo of the atrium at CMA facing the 1916 building by David Brichford

September 19, 2021September 24, 2021

Americans In Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820–1920 at the Milwaukee Art Museum

During my study of American art history, most of the better known American artists made visits to Europe to study. It seems that they almost always visited London where a number of ex-pat artists made them welcome. And they almost always made it to Paris which was certainly the center of Western art at the time. And those wealthy enough or lucky enough to have a generous patron made it to Italy: Florence and Rome!

So I have thought very little about Spain’s influence on American art in general or painting in particular. So the theme of the current show at the Milwaukee Art Museum created a bit of doubt but then curiosity in my mind. And then Americans In Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820–1920 opened up a different view on Spain’s influences on American artists and it was a very pleasant surprise to find some very well known painters visited Spain and were influenced by the art, architecture, landscape, and the overall atmosphere of the place. And although very similar to the rest of Western Europe it is also very different.

Well, what will you see? Portraits and Landscapes and Genre Paintings…and nearly a room full of different views of the Alhambra (one of the most significant architectural sites in Spain from the time of Muslim rule in Medieval era)…and famous American artists showing just a little different perspective on their vision. Who exactly? Well; Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, William Merritt Chase, James McNeill Whistler, and Robert Henri.

One thing you will notice about the epic landscapes is a sense of a much hotter brighter sun. The landscape lacks the lushness and greens and twinkle of many of the landscapes that we we are used to seeing in America or from France. Here the sun burns and the landscape takes on a bright ocher with hints of oranges, reds, and browns. It is quite striking and particularly revealing in some of the paintings of the Alhambra.

The portraits tend to be just a little more towards the realistic side given the influences of earlier Spanish portraiture. And the streetscapes and genre paintings are also bright…often more to the bright white of sunlight and it is apparent that the dress and customs of Spain seemed exotic to Americans in the nineteenth century as they may seem today (particularly the appeal of dancers…there is a room of paintings of Spanish dancers by an array of artists…and one in particular took on the role of muse).

So enough chatter…here are a few of my favorites. I apologize for some of the image quality. I was using my phone and I have a tendency to get a little wobbly. But I will put up a number of each type of painting if they’ll display cleaning…and there will be one extra surprise at the end.

William Merritt Chase: Girl in White; 1898 – 1901

John Singer Sargent; Hex Wood, Majorca; 1908

Childe Hassam; Plaza de la Merced, Ronda; 1910

John Ferguson Weir: detail from The Alhambra, Granada, Spain: ca. 1901

Edwin Lord Weeks; Interior of a Mosque at Cordova; ca. 1880

Yes, I know he’s not American but he’s not Spanish either! And who can resist an El Greco!

So if you are interested in seeing this show, it is at the Milwaukee Art Museum through October 3, 2021. Due to continued pandemic concerns advance timed tickets are recommended and available…so check out that information here: Americans in Spain!

I plan to visit it again before it closes…so maybe I’ll see you there!!

May 27, 2021

Bisa Butler: Portraits, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

This exhibition threw me for a loop. The photos and promotional lit for the show simply don’t do justice to the vibrant colors or the tactile sensation that quilting imbues on these portraits. And Ms. Butler’s subtle (yes subtle) color transitions from one shade/value to another are extremely effective, particularly in the faces, as we see the bright light highlights of certain features quietly shift into darker shadow as we move our view across a face.

I wasn’t familiar with Ms. Butler before this show and I am sorry that I hadn’t seen her work before now. She works with textiles and in this show of portraits, primarily quilts. This is an incredibly effective medium for her style of story telling and these portraits certainly do tell a story. We see and hear clear stories about family and community told with a personal warmth and pride that just feels so very very refreshing. And quilts allow her to work with these vivid colors probably more easily than paint and certainly on a larger scale as well. And the quilting technique allows her to build layers of color without having to think out exactly how to lay in that next vibrant color adjacent to the first.

And as I’ve said, the quilting process provides a certain tactile sensation. Far more interesting than painting while being more subtle and reflective than sculpture. And the colors and techniques here are just totally apropos to Ms. Butler’s vision. Simply amazing…this is an unforgettable show.

Now, some background for the Art Institute of Chicago web page: Bisa Butler: Portraits.

Bisa Butler’s portrait quilts vividly capture personal and historical narratives of Black life.
She strategically uses textiles—a traditionally marginalized medium—to interrogate the historical marginalization of her subjects while using scale and subtle detail to convey her subjects’ complex individuality. Together, Butler’s quilts present an expansive view of history through their engagement with themes such as family, community, migration, the promise of youth, and artistic and intellectual legacies.

and again here is the link to the AIC…this includes a six minute interview with Bisa Butler…more than worth those few minutes! And now, after telling you that the photos that I’ve seen don’t do justice to the physical works, I am going to share three of my favorite pieces from the show!

Black Star Family, First Class Tickets to Liberia

Bia Butler states that her major influences are family photo albums, the philosophies of AfriCOBRA (the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), Romare Bearden’s collages, Faith Ringgold’s quilts, and Gordon Parks’s photographs. And although they may not be direct influences, to my eyes there is a similarity in the use of background ‘textures’ to another contemporary artist, Kehinde Wiley, who painted President Obama’s portrait, and even Jacob Lawrence, who is best known for his migration series. I have examples of each below.

The Bisa Butler: Portraits show continues at the Art Institute until September 6, 2021. It is free with general admission to the museum. Currently the AIC is open limited hours, 11 AM to 6 PM Thursday through Monday with early openings each day at 10 AM for members. As of this writing, masks are required and social distancing enforced as best as they can. So I highly recommend seeing this show!!

Jacob Lawrence, The Wedding, 1948, the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago

Kehinde Wiley, *Barack Obama*, 2018. © Kehinde Wiley. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

photos of Bia Butler quilts taken at the Art Institute of Chicago by Ed Heinzelman