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 Arts, here are their favorites.

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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.

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."

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.

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 École 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.

The intriguing title of this color woodcut is, The Heian Poet Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight, Subduing the Bandit Yasusuke with His Music. (1883.)

The museum's commentary notes, "The realistic detail and expressive individuality of the figures, combined with a sense of abstract design, and the psychological tension of the scene, are all hallmarks of Yoshitoshi's mature style, Here, the viewer is left to ponder whether the bandit, poised to strike, will in fact be seduced by the flute player's masterful tune."

Yoshitoshi (1839 1892) was the last great master of the traditional Japanese woodblock print. This exhibition showcases some seventy works from the museum's extraordinary collection of Yoshitoshi prints, the largest repository of his work outside Japan. The exhibition also included prints from Yoshitoshi's series, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon.

Below: OEN Managing Editor Meryl Ann Butler with Charles Willson Peale's famous trompe l'oeil painting, Staircase Group. Stay tuned for Part Two of the visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with more on Peale, Colonial America's unsung Leonardo and the father of an American art dynasty.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Philadelphia, PA 19130

The museum is closed on Mondays, and offers "Pay What You Wish" admission on the first Sunday of the month and every Wednesday night.

Watch Rocky Balboa's famous run up the stairs: here.

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.