Americans in Paris: The French Connection from the Wichita Art Museum Collection December 16, 2017 June 17, 2018

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Americans in Paris: The French Connection from the Wichita Art Museum Collection December 16, 2017 June 17, 2018"

Blake Sparks
5 years ago
Views:

1 Americans in Paris: The French Connection from the Wichita Art Museum Collection December 16, 2017 June 17, 2018 Intro Panel When today we look for American art, we find it mainly in Paris. When we find it out of Paris, we at least find a great deal of Paris in it. Writer Henry James, 1887 Paris was the capital of the art world in the 19th century. Any ambitious American artist needed to spend time in Europe. A period of residence on the continent was a simple requirement for worldly sophistication for Americans in the arts and upper-class. 19th-century American painter William Merritt Chase, reflecting the thoughts of his generation, said My God, I d rather go to Europe than go to Heaven! Naturally, he meant to Paris. Painter Mary Cassatt spent her adult life in the French capital and was fully accepted into the ranks of French impressionism. Theodore Robinson settled in Giverny and developed a close relationship with the older Claude Monet. Modernist Alfred Maurer spent years in Paris and became an intimate in the Paris scene, even taking private training with Matisse. The Wichita Art Museum presents gems from its prized American art collection to reflect the vital cultural phenomenon of Americans in Paris. This exhibition complements Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, that will be on view beginning February 24, 2018.

2 Theodore Robinson American, Woman Sewing, Giverny, 1891 Wichita Art Museum Roland P. Murdock Collection The village of Giverny outside Paris became an artist s colony in the late 19 th century. French impressionist painter Claude Monet settled there in 1883, and the bucolic setting, proximity to Paris, and Monet s reputation inspired other artists to also work in this locale. The American painter Theodore Robinson is one of the few artists whom Monet befriended in Giverny. Woman Sewing, Giverny shows a young woman in an open field with bright sunlight. The animated brushstrokes, spare composition, and figure outdoors in nature are signature characteristics for French as well as American impressionism. Alfred Maurer American, Still Life with Flower, about 1915 Oil on card Wichita Art Museum Museum Purchase, Friends of the Wichita Art Museum Alfred Maurer lived in Paris from 1897 to the start of the World War One in He took part in the circle around American writer Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas. The Stein family collected paintings by and befriended French painter Henri Matisse. In fact, Gertrude s sister-in-law took painting lessons from Matisse. In this context, Maurer too received instruction from Matisse.

3 The impact of the daring color and bold compositions of Matisse is clear in this painting Maurer made when returned to New York City. The flattened space of the composition, loose brushwork, and vivid color define this painting as pioneering for its time. Abraham Walkowitz American, Memory Portrait of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, 1930 Wichita Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Eugene H. DeGruson Until after WWII, American artists with serious ambition needed to spend time in Europe. Abraham Walkowitz headed to Paris for several years in He became part of the circle of artists, writers, and theater people around American writer Gertrude Stein. Stein lived with Alice B. Toklas, and together they hosted one of the legendary salons of the first decades of the 20 th century. In this painting, Alice is shown as a figure in a painting on an easel on the right. The setting against the Parisian, scrolled iron window recalls a famous painting series by Matisse, a friend of the Stein family and regular at the gatherings of Gertrude and Alice. Alice is also very small in comparison to Gertrude, who had a very large personality and sought the center of attention. Gertrude is lounging very informally in pose and dress in the living room, a space in their Paris apartment where she often held court with guests. The active pattern and bright color of this painting along with the spare composition marks it as distinctly modern for its time. William J. Glackens American, Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, about 1915

4 Wichita Art Museum John W. and Mildred L. Graves Collection A central figure in the shift to modernism in New York City, Glackens was often in Paris. In fact, he aided several major American collectors purchase French modern art through his connections in Paris. Glackens particularly admired the French impressionist August- Pierre Renoir. That connection is clear in this painting through the buoyant color and feathery brushstrokes shared by both artists. John Noble American, Harbor by Moonlight, about Wichita Art Museum, Museum Purchase, Paul Ross Charitable Foundation Fund Wichita-native John Noble moved to Paris in 1903, where he studied drawing and painting like other artists flooding the French capital at the famous Académie Julian. Although he absorbed French technique in his art, Noble remained emphatically American in his persona: he notoriously wandered the streets of Paris in his Stetson cowboy hat while calling himself Wichita Bill. In 1906, Noble moved to Brittany, a region on the northwest coast of France. While in Brittany, Noble began painting seascapes and coastal scenes. Harbor by Moonlight likely pictures the bay at Étaples, a Breton village. The vivid blue color, lose brushstrokes, and slash of yellow all show the influence of French modernism on Noble. Attributed to Bruce Moore American, Fontaine de Saint Sulpice, about 1930 Wichita Art Museum, Gift of J. Eric Engstrom

5 In 1930, Wichita sculptor Bruce Moore went to Paris to study art on a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. While in Paris, Moore painted Fontaine de Saint Sulpice. The painting depicts a small square in front of the Saint Sulpice Cathedral, a church located only a few blocks from Moore s apartment on the Rue Jacob. Parisian squares or streets served as common subjects for French impressionist painters. Fontaine de Saint Sulpice is a rare oil painting by an artist known almost exclusively for his sculpture. In this context, it is notable that the painting s focus is a sculpture. While Moore paints the entire square, his primary emphasis is the fountain and its statues. Frederick C. Frieseke American, The Yellow Tulip, about 1902 Wichita Art Museum, Gift of William Connelly and Martha L. Walker Frieseke born in Michigan to immigrant parents spent most of his career in France. Frieseke s work combines traditional and more modern French painting styles. His precise representation of figures reveals his academic training, while his interest in loose brushwork and bright colors shows the influence of impressionism and postimpressionism. Yellow Tulip like many of Frieseke s paintings pictures an elegant woman in an interior. Here, the delicate beauty of the female figure echoes the beauty of the tulip she holds. The figure s position on the floor and downward gaze, combined with the soft color palette, all add to the domestic intimacy of the scene. Theodore E. Butler American,

6 Apple Trees, Giverny, 1905 Wichita Art Museum, John W. and Mildred L. Graves Collection, given in memory of Wichita Art Museum Director Emeritus Howard E. Wooden Julian Alden Weir American, The Connoisseur, 1889 Wichita Art Museum, Museum Purchase, Friends of the Wichita Art Museum, Director's Discretionary Fund Maurice B. Prendergast American, As Ships Go Sailing By, about 1917 Oil on wood Wichita Art Museum, Roland P. Murdock Collection William J. Glackens American, Young Woman Seated, 1917 Wichita Art Museum, John W. and Mildred L. Graves Collection Robert Henri

7 American, Twilight on the Seine, 1896 Wichita Art Museum, Roland P. Murdock Collection

Artful Adventures. France. 19th. Century. An interactive guide for families 56. Your French Adventure Awaits You! See inside for details

Artful Adventures. France. 19th. Century. An interactive guide for families 56. Your French Adventure Awaits You! See inside for details Artful Adventures France 19th Century An interactive guide for families 56 Your French Adventure Awaits You! See inside for details 19thFrance Century Today we are going to travel to France, a country