Commemorating the Death of Vincent Van Gogh with a Book Review: Vincent and Theo, The Van Gogh Brothers

July 29, 2019 marks the anniversary of Vincent Van Gogh’s death, one hundred and twenty nine years ago. What better day to share a review on a book, I couldn’t put down and some general bits of information I found fascinating from reading it.  

 The book is Vincent and Theo, The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman. Organized like a museum each section is called a Gallery as if you were walking from gallery to gallery in a museum looking at paintings that captured the story of Vincent and his brother Theo.  I appreciated this before reading the Author’s Note at the end of the book to discover that was her intention.  Rather than a tome full of dry facts about Vincent and Theo it reads like a gentle narrative where Heiligman disseminates facts she gleaned from extensive research into a more personal chronicle of an endearing relationship between brothers.  It put into persepctive things I didn’t know before aobut the artist and his brother.

Goupil & Cie Gallery, Place de l’Opéra Paris, photo Wikimedia Commons

Vincent started boarding school at age 11 and by age 16 had a job in his Uncle’s firm, Goupil & Ice, as a junior apprentice art dealer. 

How did the letters between Vincent and Theo begin? Vincent at age 19 Theo age 15, would take a long walk together in the Dutch countryside, one older brother counseling the other and they made a vow to always love and support each other.  After the visit Theo will write a thank you note to Vincent, and thus began a lifelong correspondence with each other by letters. 

A drawing of a woman Vincent sent to Theo in a letter, photo Wikimedia Commons

That is until the year between, 1879 and 1880, Vincent age 44 and Theo age 40. After failing as an art dealer, going to 2 seminary schools to become a preacher and failing at that endeavor as well. At his lowest point disappointed in his family for pushing him to make a life for himself and them in him wondering why at age 44 he can not support or take care of himself physically and emotionally, Theo disgusted with Vincent and vice versa, the letters stopped.

Early work around 1879, Mine de Charbon dans le Borinage, when Vincent and Theo don’t correspond, photo Wikimedia Commons

It was then on many of his long walks some more then 50 miles between one country to another, with no money or place to live, camping on the side of the road, Vincent sold some sketches to pay for a few crusts of bread.  Not even knowing it at the time his art career began.

The Yellow House, The Street, 1880, photo Wikimedia Commons, from the Van Gogh Museum

 In the time he spent in Arles, 144 days, he will have painted two hundred paintings and one hundred drawings. A major accomplishment for any artist, it is here that he grows as an artist and develops his signature style. He paints in all genres, landscape, still lives, portraiture, cafe scenes, interiors.  He paints plein air and in the studio in the yellow house in Arles.

Self Portrait, 1888, photo Wikimedia Commons, by the Van Gogh Museum

When Gauguin and Vincent were living together in Arles, although they did encourage each other, Gauguin to Vincent to paint more from his imagination, they fought incessantly.   They didn’t agree on the processes the other used to paint.  They didn’t agree on artists to admire. Gauguin was more of a rebel rouser, which encouraged Vincent to drink more leading him on a downward spiral for physical and mental health.

Self Portrait, 1889, photo Wikimedia Commons by the York Project

From the infamous incident on Christmas Eve of Vincent delivering his ear to his favorite prostitute in a brothel in Arles, Gaugin was the only witness to the ear being cut from his head.  The book speculates that Gaugin may not have been telling the truth.  He was a fencer and he did have is fencing swords with him.  Could he have been in a heated argument accidentally cutting Vincent’ s ear off?  Could Vincent have lied and said that he did it himself?  He was always looking after other’s interests more than his own.  Is it feasible that he could have lied to protect a friend?

Starry Night, 1889, photo Wikimedia Commons, collection Museum of Modern Art

After recovering from his wound Vincent’s mental health starts to deteriorate, he has episodes, nervous breakdowns, which result in visits in and out of the hospital in Arles.  He realizes with the advice from doctors he has a better chance of recovery so that he can continue to pursue painting if he goes the hospital at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.  It is there while continuing to have mental breakdowns, loading his brushes then eating the paint off of them, between bouts of weeks not painting at all, he still produces 150 paintings, some of his most famous, including his series of Irises and Starry Night.   

Still life of Irises, 1890 Saint-Rény, photo Wikimedia Commons, collection Metropolitan Museum of Art

 I felt after reading the book I got to know an artist that the world admires on a more personal level.  He was an extremely intelligent individual well read and spoke several languages.  He exuded passion in everything he did and when he finally found his calling as an artist after trying to work in a gallery, becoming a preacher, and teacher, he poured is heart and soul in his work.  He spends hours and hours learning to draw, trying to master perspective and the human figure, the latter he was never quite satisfied with and became a constant study for him.  

 He exhibited his work through Theo, at many of the Impressionist’s exhibitions known as the Exhibitions Independent, with Claude Monet, Degas, Sisley, Gauguin, and Cezanne.  In an exhibition in 1890, the same year Vincent is in the asylum at Saint Rémy, Claude Monet tells Theo Vincent’s paintings are the best in the show. Contrary to popular belief, Vincent did sell work before he died, however, his style was way ahead of its time and was appreciated much later. 

Portrait of Theo Van Gogh, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1887, photo Wikimedia Commons, collection Van Gogh Museum

He lived for his art and his brother Theo. Without Theo there would be no Vincent and without Vincent there would have been no Theo.

 When I lived in France a few years ago my family, and a dear family friend went on a pilgrimage to Auvers-sur-Oise, where Vincent died and was buried.  Visiting the attic room where he breathed his last breath, walking the streets, where the last paintings of his life were created were immensely moving, and moments I will never forget. More on that day in a future post.

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Looking West: An Exhibition Highlighting Works by American Women Artists

Did you know that only 3-5% of the permanent holdings in art museums worldwide are by women artists? How pathetic is this?  This is why American Women Artists a non profit art organization made of up women artists in the United States and Canada,  made it their mission to do something about it.  Founded in 1991 with 12 artists exhibiting at the Tucson Museum of Art it is now an organization comprising some of the top women artists today.  AWA’s first juried competition was held in 1997-1998 and since then AWA has launched a 25 in 25 Campaign.  Twenty five exhibitions in twenty five years in prestigious museums throughout the United States.  These exhibitions include other events such as plein air paint outs, and keynote speaking symposiums, open to the public wherever the shows are being held.  

Steamboat Art Museum

I was so impressed with the caliber of artists in this group and truly believed in their mission I joined a few years ago and am extremely proud to have just received Signature status with AWA.  For those not familiar with what that means, Signature status is usually awarded to an artist who has been juried into 3 exhibitions with that particular group or society.  Some groups it may take years to achieve.  AWA also accepts a variety of media including sculpture into their shows.  

My Painting “My Point of View,” Top Second From Left

Steamboat Art Museum

The most current AWA exhibition, Looking West: An Exhibition Highlighting Works by American Women Artists is at the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The show runs, May 24-September 2, 2019.  I recently returned from all the events coinciding with the Opening Reception at the museum.  There are approximately 150 works in the show and it was attended by almost half of the artists!  It was a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and meet in person many artists whose work I have admired for years!  

Steamboat Art Museum

Steamboat Art Museum

One of the events was a workshop given by Carolyn Anderson.  Since I’m primarily a watercolor painter I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. I’ve heard Carolyn is an excellent teacher.  The first full day in Steamboat, a plein air event was organized in the Yampa River Botanic Park.  I love visiting gardens when I travel, and was thrilled to see trees and flowers from a different climate than Florida.  Since I’m not used to seeing Aspen trees, that is what I chose to paint.  

Yampa River Botanic Park

Painting en Plein Air at Yampa River Botanic Part

Aspen Trees, Watercolor, Painted en Plein Air at Yampa River Botanic Park

That afternoon, Nancy Boren, gave a demonstration at the Wild Horse Gallery. Nancy is an artist I  have long admired and I was thrilled to meet her and get to know her.  Nancy is primarily a figurative painting and not only is her portfolio of work stunning, so was much of the other artist’s work represented in the Wild Horse Gallery.  Visiting the gallery was an extra added bonus in addition to the AWA show. 

Nancy Boren Demonstration at Wild Horse Gallery

The second day we were invited to the 83 acre ranch of well known Western Artist, John Fawcett.  John is an oil and watercolor painter and I first came across his work in person at the 2017 Quest for the West Show at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana.  John and his wife, Elizabeth, where so gracious to host our group and provide a barbecue feast!  This was my first experience painting snow capped mountains.  Just three days before I arrived on the first day of summer Steamboat got about a foot of snow.  Then the rest of the week it was in the mid 80’s. Crazy!

The Fawcett Ranch

My Plein Air Set Up

My Painting Buddy, Carol Swinney

Snow Capped, Watercolor, Painted en Plein Air

That afternoon invited guest artist Carol Carter, gave a demonstration.  I was thrilled to get to spend time with Carol.  She will be joining me again in September for the Florida Watercolor Society’s  48th Annual Exhibition, Convention, & Trade Show in Orlando.  As President of FWS for 2019 I invited Carol three years ago to jury and judge the FWS Show and teach a 4 day workshop with us.  I love Carol and I’m excited to see her again. 

Carol Carter Demonstration

The third day was the Awards Ceremony and Opening Reception of the exhibition for the community and the museum patrons of the Steamboat Art Museum.  At every museum show the museum, with a purchase award, acquires a painting from the show.  Heide Presse will now have her painting, “Pursuing a Dream,” part of the museum’s permanent collection.  

Heide Presse’s Special Exhibit, We Set Our Faces Westward…One Woman’s Journey 1839-1848

Four guest speakers made up the Symposium on the last day of festivities.  Heidi Presse gave a talk on a major project she is working on, We Set Our Faces Westward… One Woman’s Journey 1939-1848.  We were so fortunate to see a preview in the museum of some of Heide’s finished pieces and concepts for others she will be painting.  This project tells the true story of pioneer women gleaned from her 1848 Oregon Trail journal.  The lengths Heide has gone to to be as historically accurate as possible are mind boggling.  Cant find a quilt, costume or bonnet to feature in a painting?  Heide makes her own, historically accurate.  The second speaker was invited guest artist Carol Carter who gave an extremely informative talk on how she built and maintains her art career.  

Jann’s Book

The third presenter was Jann Haynes Gilmore, PhD, art historian, writer, and watercolorist.  Jann’s passion are women artists who have historically fallen throughs the cracks, and feels their stories should be told.  Jann spoke on a remarkable woman artist, Olive Rush, who was the first independent women to be part of the Santa Fe Artists.  Independent refers to the fact that she did not become part of the group based on marriage or an affiliation with a man.  Born in Indiana, studied illustration with noted illustrator Howard Pyle, (as did N.C. Wyeth), her story is fascinating.  Jann has authored an impressive book on her life, Olive Rush: Finding Her Place in the Santa Fe Art Colony, which I’m looking forward to reading.

Donna Howell-Sickles Demonstration

At the end the Symposium noted Western artist Donna Howell-Sickles did a demonstration.  Donna was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2007, and is the first woman artist to be asked to create the artwork for the Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, OR.  It is the most iconic rodeo in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association.  In Donna’s 40 year career she has featured the iconic cowgirl in her work.  

To top off the week, a few of us went to the Steamboat Professional Rodeo!  Another first for me to see a rodeo in person!  

From left, Laurie Stevens, Kim Minichiello, Carol Swinney, Carol Carter

The Yampa River

The town of Steamboat was so beautiful and charming.  It was hard to leave and come back to hot and humid Florida.  I’m still on a high from my spectacular few days there!  No pun intended, or maybe it was. 

Musée de L'Orangerie in Paris: A Peculiar Visit

While living in Paris, I felt very fortunate to visit the L’Orangerie many times.  I never got tired of going.  On one occasion, as I entered the first oval room beyond the entrance, I noticed something a bit peculiar.  The room was almost completely empty aside from four gentleman strategically standing at each entrance and exit,  and two in the middle along the perimeter of the oval.  They were all dressed in black, with suit jackets, neatly coiffed with tight short hair cuts, sporting ear pieces.  I felt like I was walking onto a movie set, however, there were no cameras or lights.  In the center of the room was a very tall African America man with a women who appeared to be one of the curators of the museum. 

Claude Monet's "Water Lilies, Reflecions of Weeping Willows," ca. 1918, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  A study for the the grand paintings in the L'Orangerie in Paris

 The men in dark suits watched my every move.  Wherever I want their eyes followed me.  It felt rather creepy.  The tall African American gentleman looked familiar but I couldn’t place who he was.  I knew I had seen him before.  As he proceeded to the next room all the "suits"  surrounded him and staged themselves as before, in the second room.  I followed.  I sat on a bench in front of one the water lily paintings where I could also get a good look at the tall gentleman all the “suits"   seemed to be  protecting.  It finally dawned on me!  It was the former Attorney General of the Untied States Eric Holder, obviously being surrounded by US Secret Service Agents. However at the time he was “the” Attorney General under the Obama Administration.   This was almost ten years ago.  I’m not so sure they would even let other patrons in the same room with the Attorney General now.  The crowd was very light that day.  Myself and a handful of others aside from these very special guests were the only ones there.  They kept a very watchful eye on where we were all pointing our cameras!

Here is a short video to give you the idea of the space.  Forgive the quality this was taken on a small Sony camera pre cell phone!  It will sill still give you an idea of the scale of the paintings in this one room.  This video was shot on a different day than the one described above.  I wasn't taking the chance of getting my camera confiscated by the Secret Service!   

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet & the Paintings of the Water Lilies, Part II

Today I’m posting the second part to a previous blog post about Claude Monet and the book Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet & the Paintings of the Water Lilies, continuing my blog series on Monet, Giverny, and Other French Musings.

As  mentioned in my previous post,  the Museé Claude Monet a L’Orangerie des Tuileries had opened to little fan fare, which was perplexing since Monet had become one of the most well know, and collected artists of his time.  His long time friend, Georges Clemenceau, noted bitterly that a sign announcing a dog show in another part of the building was much more prominent than the one announcing the inauguration of the Museé Claude Monet in May of 1927,  just five months after Monet’s death. 

It was as if France had turned on Monet.  France’s most important daily art newspaper claimed his water lily masterpieces, what he called his "Grand Decoration," “The work of an old man.”  An assistant curator at the Museé Luxembourg, exclaimed, “For me this period is no long Impressionism, but it’s decline.” 

                                                                                                 Detail of a panel of Les Nymphéas

 Art lovers and critiques at the turn of the century where ready to move on.  Tastes were changing.  But instead of praising the Impressionism movement, they scorned it and the artists that were part of it.  In a special issue of L’Art Vivant, which devoted six articles to Monet in 1927, one critique claimed Monet’s paintings were, “postcard niceties of a certain American taste purchased by the vulgar nouveaux riches."  They had nothing nice to say about the museum itself claiming the space was sterile, uninviting and viewing the paintings in the two oval rooms was a “disagreeable experience.” 

Monet’s donation and the newly opened museum continued to plummet in popularity.   The museum was poorly maintained the light quality was dismal and the oval rooms housing these great masterpieces were used for other functions.  At one point, an exhibition of Flemish tapestries was hung in front of Monet’s paintings, water was known to leak down through the skylight and drip on the canvases, and one of the two rooms was used as a storage area.  Monet’s godson, and son of artist Camille Pissarro, claimed Monet had been twice buried, once after his death and the second time with the opening of the museum. A retrospective of Monet’s work in 1931, supplemented by canvases that were in his studio when he died, brought even more scathing comments of his work and those of the Impressionists.  

                                                                                          Detail of a panel of Les Nymphéas

During World War II, the L’Orangerie was bombed and one of the panels was damaged.  The lack of concern was so great, the shrapnel wouldn’t be removed for another 20 years.  The building itself was renovated in the 1960’s with another story added to the top eliminating the skylights that illuminated Monet’s work. This after the French Ministry acquired the Jean Walter-Paul Guillaume collections consisting of works by Picasso, Cézanne and Renoir.   Essentially the magnificent water lily panels were relegated to the basement in a gloomy dark space. 

                                                                                                 Detail of a panel of Les Nymphéas

It wasn’t until after World War II that things started to change.  The L’Orangerie became a place of pilgrimage for Americans, especially the American art students on the GI bill in the late  40’s and 50’s, who rushed to admire the Nymphéas by Monet.  Ellsworth Kelly, an ex-soldier studying in Paris reached out to Michel Monet and Jean Pierre Hoschedé, Monet’s son and step-son to ask if he could visit Giverny which had been abandoned and was in disrepair.  Monet’s studio still housed a number of canvases sharing the space with birds and other creatures.  He produced Tableaux Vert now housed at the  Chicago Art Institute as an homage to Monet and Giverny.  

In the 1950’s and 60’s American and Canadian painters kept Monet’s spirit alive living and working in the area around Giverny.  American artist Joan Mitchell purchased and lived on a property in Vétheuil. The gardener’s cottage there had once been Monet’s home.  Mitchell and the painters of the Abstract Expressionists movement were greatly influenced by Monet’s later work seeming to fit  right in with the works of the time by Pollack, Rothko, and Mitchell.  

It is ironic that the renewed interest in Monet’s work would have been brought on by Abstract Expressionists, especially American ones.  Monet disliked work of the Americans and “avant garde” contemporaries of the 1920’s.  He did not want to see or have anything to do with Cubism and it probably would have gotten his goat that his works were being compared to the “Abstract Expressionists” of the 1950’s and 60’s.  It was the renewed interest of this group that brought attention to his later water lily paintings and once again American collectors came to snap them up.  Walter Chrysler purchased a large scale water lily canvas for the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  Unfortunately it was destroyed in a fire and was replaced by another work purchased from a dealer in Paris who had bought  most of the remaining work of Monet from his son Michel. Word spread to American collectors as it had when Monet was alive. Joseph Pulitzer III, a passionate collector of modern art purchased a six foot wide water lily canvas in which he decorated his pool house at his mansion in St. Louis.

Fast forward to 1996, the French Minister of culture at the time realized the curation of the placement of the Jean Guillaume collection to the Monet Nymphéas were completely backwards.  The doors to the Musée de L’Orangerie closed in 2000 and a major renovation to the museum begin in 2003. During the demolition the paintings were hermetically sealed in reinforced boxes and temperature and humidity controlled.  The second story added in the 1960’s was removed with the water lily paintings often being in distress, setting off alarms during the jack hammering of  the demolition.  The project would take six years and $36 million dollars.  Now Monet’s  Grande Decoration, takes the place of prominence lit with natural light from skylights above, just as Monet would have wanted it.  The Guillaume collection is exhibited in the annex below along with a space for special exhibitions.  

I have visited the L’Orangerie before and after the 2003 renovation.  Today, it is hard not to find a line stretching out the door into the the Tuileries Gardens.  Avoiding weekend crowds, on cold gloomy winter days it became a place of meditation for me when I lived in Paris.  Monet had come full circle, his grande vision of the space to house his last momentous project of his life, is appreciated and visited by thousands.  

Come back for the next post which will tell the story of a very peculiar visit to the L'Orangerie! 

Links:

Musée de L'orangerie, Paris France

Part I: Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet & the Paintings of the Water Lilies

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet & the Paintings of the Water Lilies

Today is the first post in a series on my blog about Claude Monet, Giverny and other French musings.

My favorite thing to receive as a  gift is a good book.  When I discovered Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Paintings of the Water Lilies by Ross King, I couldn’t get it in on my Christmas list last year fast enough.  King is also noted for Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture, and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling.  King’s books are extremely well researched and Mad Enchantment is no exception.  Focusing on the latter part of Monet’s life at Giverny, and his series of water lily paintings, including the “Grande Decoration”  that would be the large paintings eventually ending up at the Musée L’Orangerie in Paris, it delves into his obsession with creating such an enormous oeuvre  for an artist at his age.

I discovered several things from the book that I never knew before about Monet.  One is he would work on several canvases at once of the same scene while painting plein air.  Essentially,  they were a series of the same view captured at the moments in time before the light changed.  As he was working on one canvas and the light had changed too much, he would grab the next one and work on that one for a while and so on. Sometimes even working on one for only seven minutes.  It wasn’t uncommon for him to work in all weather conditions shuttling canvases back and forth and when he went on painting outings he was followed through the fields by his children and step children carrying canvases for five or six paintings of the same subject matter done at different times and with different lighting effects. 

Georges Clemenceau & Claude Monet_  Photo:  Wikimedia Commons

He had a deep and long lasting friendship with George Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister during World War I. Clemenceau’s fortitude during the war helped the French get through it. Being one of the original architects of the Treaty of Versailles, he was instrumental in the war ending and getting reparations for the French from Germany. Clemenceau and Monet corresponded religiously.  Clemenceau was a huge support mentally, emotionally and physically for Monet and his work.  

         Claude Monet in his studio with the "Grande Décoration"  _Photo: Wikimedia Commons

So it was right before World War I that Monet had the idea for the the larger than life canvases, he called “La Grande Décoration,”  the series of water lily paintings that are now one of the most highly visited series of paintings in Paris at the Musée L’Orangerie.  He painted them during the war while he was in his late seventies.   While the enemy was close, on several occasions with their attacks on Paris and it’s environs, Monet never contemplated leaving. He would rather parish at his home with his work if it came to that.  It was through his connections that he was able to garner favors for gas, so he could continue to use his cars, (he was a car collector), cigarettes, which he smoked like a fiend, and wine, which no French man can live without, during the war.  Plus, he was aided with transport  for  all  of the art supplies that he needed for his “Grande Décoration, " which would be coming from Paris.

Hotel Biron, Musée Rodin, Original Planned Location for an Annex for Monet's "Grande Décoration"  His Donation to the State of France_ Photo: Wikimedia Commons

After Rodin donated his entire collection of sculptures and paintings to the French Sate on the condition that his workshop, the Hotel Biron and his home outside of Paris become museums, the seed was planted in Monet’s mind that he could too be honored in such a way by donating his “Grande Décoration” to the State, if they agreed to build a venue or museum to his exact specifications to house and display the series.

Clemenceau was instrumental in getting the ball rolling and Monet started negotiations with the French State to make his gift a reality.  But it was not smooth sailing and resulted in several tumultuous  occurrences that everyone involved, including Clemenceau, wondered if it would ever come to fruition. Monet would tumble into fits of rage and depressions due to dissatisfaction with his work.  He was known to take a knife slashing and then burning hundreds of canvases, not only  the water lily works, but to those done  through the course of his life. One panel in the collection of the L'Orangerie had to be repaired from the swipe of a knife.  It is estimated that in his lifetime he destroyed more than five hundred canvases. 

Painting at the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, Done while Monet had Cataracts_ Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Another obstacle was Monet's health.  He wondered if his grand project would ever come to completion due to his failing eye sight due to cataracts.  He had multiple surgeries on his right eye, with long difficult recovery times, plus trial after trial of prescription glasses that never seemed to work for him.  Eventually he found the right lenses with a new scientific  discovery, an instrument made by Ziess, that could map the surface of his eyes to create a lens that would be the best that he could get.  Even those at first didn’t meet his satisfaction.  He barreled down the rabbit hole into another fit of depression.  After having surgery and multiple treatments on his right eye, his left eye was getting worse, and he refused to go through another bout of surgery, having suffered enough on those with the right eye.

                               L'Orangerie, Paris, France  Photo: Wikimedia Commons

As he was finally adapting to his new way of seeing, he continued to work on the large water lily panels and was working with the architect on the design of the space that would eventually be their home.  Originally it was planned as an addition to the Hotel Biron, Rodin’s museum.  But when the architect fell out of favor for not meeting Monet’s specifications a new one was hired along with a search for a new location.  It was then that the L’Orangerie, the former shelter during the winter for the orange trees of the Tuileries Gardens, during the time of the Third Republic, was considered.  It had also been used for dog and agricultural shows and expositions, and was also a place for lodging immobilized soldiers during the war.  Monet agreed to rennovating the L'Orangerie and the architect  began drawing up plans according to Monet’s wishes for two oval rooms and a skylight to light the works. 

Detail of a Section of a Water Lilly Panel in the L'Orangerie Showing an Unfinished Area_ Photo: copyright Kim Minichiello

Time was of the essence because the French State was in  an agreement with Monet and a date had been determined when Monet would hand over the work to be installed in the L’Orangerie around 1924.  As time was getting close, he made every excuse to not follow through and canceled the donation. An exasperated Clemenceau was distraught and didn’t want anything more to do with Monet, and the situation almost destroyed their friendship.  The underlying factor, on Monet’s part,  was that he not only felt dissatisfied with the work, and that it was such a part of his “essence” he couldn’t part with the paintings while he was still alive. Even today in one of the panels there is an unfinished area, as if Monet couldn’t come to terms with completing them. 

The Water Lilies Room in the L'Orangerie, Paris, France Photo:  Wikimedia Commons

After Monet died in 1926, the project finally came to fruition.  Clemenceau was instrumental in making sure all of  the details were addressed to open the L’Orangerie and dedicate the master works of his dear friend.  The date of the dedication in May of 1927, and the opening of the Musée Claude Monet a L’Orangerie des Tuileries opened to very little fanfare.  Clemenceau noticed that day that a sign for a dog show to take place at the same time in another part of the building was more prominent  then one announcing the inauguration for the Musée Claude Monet.  In fact art critics after his death didn’t hail him as a master artist. Because of the changing taste to more modern works at that time,  they claimed  the impressionists produced art that was essentially “fluff” and were postcards of niceties for American tastes. This, Monet’s  momentous, glorious gift to the French State and no one seemed to care. By the 1950’s the L’Orangerie was essentially deserted and in disrepair.  

It is hard to fathom what went on in the L’Orangerie after the dedication of the Claude Monet Museum in 1927 and how it became what it is today.  Stay tuned for Part Two of this blog post to find out, or grab a cup of tea, a comfy chair and a copy of Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies.

A New Blog Series: Claude Monet, Giverny and Other French Musings

As I was writing an article for a soon to be released blog post on a recent book I read on Claude Monet, which I'm  highly recommending, I realized I have much more to share beyond what I gleaned from reading the book.  The article on the book itself is getting quite long already! 

Living in Paris, I took full advantage of its proximity to Giverny, Claude Monet’s home in his later years,  and visited it multiple times in every season of the year, with the exception of winter when it’s closed.  I did however visit the last week of  the year it was open before closing for the winter season.   

Seeing it in this way in all seasons gave me full appreciation of the ever changing light and landscape in the garden  that was the main inspiration and only subject matter for Monet in his later years. 

I will be starting a blog series about Monet, starting with a review of the book,  my visits to his home in Giverny,  and other museums and places in France, that may or may not have a direct correlation to Monet, but that I think will be interesting.  

Stay tuned…the post about the book will be coming up shortly!

Meeting Mary Whyte

Mary Whyte’s exhibition “A Portrait of Us”  opened this past weekend at the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, Florida. Iwas beyond excited to see her work in person, since I’m a big admirer and have read most of her books, (see book reviews here),  but then to meet her during a gallery talk on Saturday was an incredible opportunity!

Mary is the nicest and most beautiful person as her paintings are stunning.  She shared a bit about her background and how she came to paint the Gullah womenon John’s Island in South Carolina, as well as a brief story and sometimes a bit of technical insight on every painting in the exhibition.  In addition her husbandSmith Coleman, Smitty, was there to discuss how he complements her work with the frames he hand makes, and the process that goes into carving and finishing the frames to enhance the paintings even farther. All of Mary's paintings were framed by frames made by Smitty.  The frames as well as the work were absolutely beautiful.

Mary Discussing the Model from the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus

Knowing the stories and the thought process that went into each work gave me an even bigger appreciation of what I was seeing. It was such a unique opportunity to experience the artists giving a narrative of every piece in the show!   I loved one thing Mary said when discussing her work and that was, “What do you want the piece to say, and then how can say more.”  Something to keep in the back of my head while composing and  painting my own work.

Mary talks about how she composed these two works and the stories behind them.

The show will be running from now until January 3, 2016.  I plan to go back again since I know I will have a different experience another time.  This show is not to be missed especially for artists who paint in watercolor!

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From John Lasseter to Vivienne Westwood

This past weekend was the graduation for SCAD seniors and grad students and they had the lucky fortune to have John Lasseter from the Walt Disney Company and Pixar giving the commencement address.  And, it  was my good fortune to attend!  He gave a very heart warming speech looking back on his career getting his degree at Cal Arts, working at Disney early on, only to be fired for not "fitting in" at the time.  Then  meeting Ed Catmull, founding Pixar and working with Steve Jobs.  John is adamant about animation being for everyone!  He shared a story of a well-worn Woody doll being sent to him from the folks at Walt Disney World after it had been turned in at guest relations because the boy who owned it was getting a new one to replace the old one and felt the "old" Woody should retire at Walt Disney World.  John was clearly emotional realizing that a character and wonderfully told story can touch peoples lives in more ways than one can imagine.  Just because the media happens to be animation or as some would call them cartoons, it can be ever so meaningful to so many! Especially to the boy who would watch cartoons everyday after school, realize he could create them for a living then become the chief creative officer at Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Toon Studios and the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering!

Cirque du Soleil Performers and Confetti for the Grand Finale at the SCAD Graduation Ceremony

Then later in the afternoon I made a return visit to the SCAD Museum of Art to see the newly installed Vivienne Westwood exhibition, Dress Up Story-1990 Until Now  in conjunction with the annual SCAD Fashion Show 2015. The André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Westwood in recognition of her achievements and legacy in fashion.  Talley curated the exhibition.  Selections from SCAD Museum of Art’s  collection of British and American paintings hung salon-style creating a wonderful backdrop for  Westwood’s designs.

Since I am a knitter and also crochet I can appreciate the work that went into this!

This one too!

And the socks to go with it!

All hand done!

Thank you Dame Vivienne for such beautiful and inspiring designs!

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California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition, Hurry Only 2 Days Left

I’m finally home after an extended trip to Los Angeles, Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.  I have lots to blog about!  I thought I would mention a few exhibitions I attended and will talk about the ones that are closing first in case you live in the area and haven’t seen them yet, you should! While in LA, my husband and I had the pleasure of seeing  the Annual Gold Medal Exhibition of the California Art Club at the Fishers Museum of Art on the USC campus.  The show closes on April 19 so only 2 more days left!   Founded in 1909 by some of the classic California painters such as William Wendt, Franz Bischoff, and Hanson Puthuff, the California Art Club is one of the oldest and most prestigious art societies in the United States.

The Gold Medal show is juried from its roster of “Artist Members,” who have been juried to reach that particular status within the organization.  Needles to say, the Gold Medal show is the piece de résistance show of the year.

I felt every painting in the show deserved to be there.  Did I like every painting in the show?  Not, necessarily like anything I have my tastes and preferences, however from a quality and execution standpoint they are all good.

If you enter shows, which I do, it is always a good idea to see these juried shows in person.  You just cant get the full effect of the work from a show catalogue or an image on the monitor.  If I had just looked at the catalogue there are a few pieces I may have just glanced at, but in person they were worth an extended look.

The other takeawayI gleaned form the show is framing is important!!! There were some killer high quality frames here that very effectively enhanced the paintings.  If you are ever juried into this show, do not skimp on your framing or your painting may reside on the lower end of the totem pole compared to the others.

If you miss the show this year, there is always next year, and in the following years if you are inclined to be a part of this great organization,  something to aspire to.

The show catalogue can be purchased from the California Art Club web site.

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Do You Do Voodoo

Do You Do Voodoo

35.00

Price Includes Shipping

Limited Edition Archival Giclée Print Signed and Numbered, Edition of 300

Original painting is SOLD.

Image Size:  6” x 6,” (15 cm x 15 cm)

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Last spring when I attended the reception for the 44th Annual International Louisiana WatercolorExhibition at the Garden District Gallery in New Orleans.  I spent the weekend doing a self guided tour of the city.  While wandering around the French Quarter I happened upon the tiny, quaint Voodoo Museum.  It was so much fun, such a learning experience and a stroke of good luck, avoiding a downpour!

Upon entering the museum I was greeted by the proprietor, Voodoo Priest,  with his baby pet boa constrictor around his neck leisurely petting it while checking guests in.  The museum is a small, few room space, with more of a home-made display vibe, but very interesting nonetheless.  I was enamored with all the accoutrementused for altar displays, and the offerings of money, Mardi Gras beads and a plethora of objects!

I was also fascinated to learn that the voodoo doll was originally used by doctors as their record keeping device for theirpatients.  They would mark the doll with pins to remember one’s ailments and record treatments that were given.  Not sure how it morphed into a curse device from there.

This paining, Do You Do Voodoowas inspired by my visit there.  It will be available during the October Exhibition, “The Edge of Night,”  at the 127 SoBo Gallery in Winter Garden, Florida.

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