Editor-in-Chief Rob Kall, Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler, and Senior Editor, Marta Steele enjoyed an immersion in art and beauty at the Philadelphia Museum of Art recently. (Part 2 is here.)
OEN Editor's Favorites
The special exhibit, "The Impressionist's Eye" is on view through August 18.
Rob and Marta in front of Japanese Bridge and Water Lilies, by Claude Monet, 1899.
Rob and Marta in front of Japanese Bridge and Water Lilies, by Claude Monet, 1899.
(Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA
Marta's favorite was La Pointe de la Galere (1891-92) by Henri Edmond Cross (1856-1910), oil. The museum's descriptive info noted: "Cross wrote to his friend Paul Signac in 1892 of his recent work on the Mediterranean Coast, 'I think I have taken a step towards the charms of pure light.' Silhouetting the region's distinctive pine trees against sea and sky, Cross focuses our eye on the color gradations created by a setting sun."
La Pointe de la Galere (1891-92) by Henri Edmond Cross (1856-1910), oil.
(Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA
My favorite was Mary Cassatt's (1844-1926) Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge, oil, 1879) one of my favorite paintings in any museum. The spectacular luminescence of the skin can be seen much better in person than in a photo, but it is one of the stunning hallmarks of this piece of art.
Mary's sister Lydia, is the likely model, sitting in a box seat in the Paris Opera House, in front of a mirror that reflects the rows of loges in front of her. This painting is also a symbol of the times - Lydia's face is mostly in shadow, and during this time period, women were just starting to come out of the shadows toward enjoying a more public life than they had been previously allowed.
Detail Mary Cassatt's (1844-1926) Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge oil, 1879, with full image shown in insert.
(Image by Meryl Ann Butler) Details DMCA
Note the reflection of Lydia's back and shoulder in the mirror as well as the reflection of the back of the loge seat.
Cassatt lived most of her life in Paris and was the only American to exhibit with the French Impressionists, several of whom were captivated by similar light circumstances in artificially-lit, city night scenes.
Born near Pittsburgh, PA, Cassatt began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts at age 15, as it admitted women. However, women were not allowed to attend life drawing classes, which are considered imperative for any artist learning anatomy. After studying there during the Civil War years, she was frustrated with the quality of the education available to her, so she went to Paris in 1865. France's famous state-run academy, the Ã"degreescole des Beaux-Arts, actively excluded women, so female students typically studied in private academies, which often included a sliding price scale with higher fees for women.
Cassatt was accepted into the atelier of Jean-Leon Gerome, one of the most highly regarded teachers and artists of the time, known for his realism and exotic subject matter. His "Pygmalion and Galatea" is below, masterfully illustration the moment in the myth in which the sculptor, Pygmalion's ivory statue comes to life.
Gerome's other students included Thomas Eakins (who returned to the Pennsylvania Academy to become its controversial president), American Impressionists Abbott Thayer and J. Alden Weir, NYC Art Students League's longtime instructor and author, George Bridgman, and others.
Rob's favorite was in another special exhibit, Yoshitoshi: Spirit and Spectacle on display through August 18.
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