Bartolome Murillo: Success!

"Return of the Prodigal Son" by Bartolome Murillo

"Bartolome Murillo came back to Seville from Madrid as quietly as he had departed and waited for an opportunity to reveal the craftsmanship he had learned under Velazquez. Nor had he long to wait for his chance. The friars of the local Franciscan convent had collected a small sum of money by one of their begging brotherhoods to employ in painting a series of pictures for their small cloister. But it was no slight thing they wanted - nothing less than eleven large pictures! Their paltry sum was not sufficient to enlist any painter of fame, but it was enough for the needy, unknown, aspiring Murillo. That ill-paid commission was to make the Franciscan convent of Seville famous throughout the world, and forever to establish the reputation of Murillo.

As it is said: 'Tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.'

When the work was completed it burst on the Sevillians as a miracle of wonder. They could not understand the amazing transformation that was now revealed in Murillo's style. It was said that in these paintings, there was 'much of the strength of Ribera, with added softness and delicacy of tone.' Another compared them to 'all the life-like truth and accuracy of detail which distinguished the early studies of Velazquez,' and that a face in a third picture 'might have been painted by Van Dyck himself.' High praise indeed!

Murillo accepted the public verdict, which ordained him the pictorial exponent of Roman Catholicism, and his success inspired him to great efforts in the production of yet more pictures. In a moment he became the most popular painter in Seville. His reputation was established and commissions began to pour in. His fortune was made!"

To be continued

(Excerpts are from "Murillo, a Biography and Appreciation" by Albert Frederick Calvert.)

Bartolome Murillo: Velazquez

"The Holy Family (The Virgin of Seville) by Bartolome Murillo

"The attitude of the great Velazquez, painter of Spanish royalty, towards Bartolome Murillo, shows him in a most favorable light. He not only questioned his visitor about his family and ambition, and his motive for undertaking so long a journey, but being satisfied with his honesty of purpose, he provided him with lodging in his own house. He also procured him admission to the royal galleries. More than this, he examined the young student's paintings, pointed out his deficiencies, warned him of the pitfalls most dangerous to his genius, and submitted examples of his work to the King and the all-powerful minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares. What the art of Murillo owes to Velazquez can never be overstated.

Murillo's spirit responded to the inspiration of the new world which Velazquez revealed to him. By the advice of his master he restricted himself largely to the study of Ribera, Van Dyck and Velazquez, and surprised his mentor with some pictures of such undoubted excellence that his judicious critic pronounced him ripe for Rome. He even offered him money to cover his expenses, and letters of introduction to facilitate his visit, but Murillo declined to leave his native soil.

His apprenticeship was at an end, and his beloved province was calling him back to Seville. In 1645 he parted from Madrid and returned. An Andalusian he was born, and in the charmed atmosphere of his beautiful native city, he lived and worked to the close of his life, a life varied only by an occasional journey to Cadiz. In point of fact, his visit to Cadiz, on which he met with the accident which caused his death, is the only authentic instance we have of his ever again leaving the shadow of the Giralda Tower."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Murillo, a Biography and Appreciation" by Albert Frederick Calvert.)

Bartolome Murillo: Ambition Awakened

"Two Women at a Window" by Bartolome Murillo

"In Seville Bartolome Murillo's friend and fellow apprentice, Pedro de Moya, showed him his copies of the soft lights and delicate colouring of Anthony van Dyck. These were a revelation to the student of Castillo's hard contours. As he pondered these, his ambition was awakened. He determined to visit Rome or Flanders, and see for himself the artistic wonders of which he heard - but the young enthusiast was penniless. Although Italy and the Low Countries were beyond his reach, Madrid was comparatively accessible.

Murillo purchased a quantity of saga-cloth [a loose-textured material with a rough surface], and cutting it into the most marketable sizes, he primed and prepared the little squares, and immediately set to work to cover them with saleable daubs. Saints and Madonnas, flower pieces and landscapes, sacred hearts and fanciful cascades - he painted them all and disposed of his entire stock to a speculative shipowner for re-sale in the South American colonies. He then placed his sister under suitable protection, and without informing anybody of his plans or his destination, in 1642 he disappeared from Seville.

Three years later he returned as mysteriously as he had gone, to be acclaimed by his admiring countrymen as the first painter of Andalusia. What had transpired? The interval had been occupied in unceasing work. Murillo had copied the masterpieces of the Spanish, Venetian and Flemish schools, drawing much from casts and from life, and following a thorough system of education under the advice and protection of the King's painter, Velazquez!"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Murillo, a Biography and Appreciation" by Albert Frederick Calvert.)

Bartolome Murillo: Apprenticeship

"The Young Beggar" by Bartolome Murillo

"As a non-paying apprentice in the studio of Juan del Castillo, Bartolome Murillo's duties consisted in the mixing of paints, the stretching of canvases, and other less artistic utillity work. Castillo, who was brought up in the Florentine traditions of a much earlier period was a dry and hard colourist, and although his design may perhaps be accounted good, he was certainly one of the worst painters the school of Seville has produced. Unfortunately young Murillo's early work understandably reflected his master's.

When Castillo moved to Cadiz, twenty-three year old Murillo remained in Seville to fend for himself and his younger sister - an obligation almost beyond his powers to fulfil. He was very poor, and, being without friends or influence, was often hard put to it to procure the means to satisfy their few modest needs. 

He was compelled to paint pictures on very rough cloth, and hawk them in the weekly fair, the Feria, held every  Thursday. The pictures he managed to produce were bright and pleasing, and while they hardly commanded decent prices, they found ready buyers, which were the poor folk in the area. Indeed his work must have excelled the norm since a picture which possesses exceptional merit is commended to this day as a 'Murillo.'

It was in the Feria that Murillo studied the beggar boys, who were to be the subjects of so many of his famous pictures, and it is obvious that he studied them with an eye to their saleability. In order to sell they must please, and in his determination to please, the artist transformed these dirty, unkempt, disreputable mendicants of Seville into incarnations of picturesque innocence - smooth, smiling, and cherubic. Thse examples of 'genre' are as well known as any of Murillo's pictures.

But the day was approaching when he was to make his last descent upon the Feria before starting on his life's work."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Murillo, a Biography and Appreciation" by Albert Frederick Calvert.)

Bartolome Estaban Murillo: Humble Beginnings

"Self-Portrait" by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

"Diego de Silva, who is known to the world as Velazquez, and Bartolome Esteban, who like his great contemporary is more generally called by Murillo, had many points in common. They were both natives of Seville. Both embraced the pursuit of Art with the same singleness of purpose, and each achieved a brilliant career - the unblemished careers of men who, as has been written of one of them, 'in the height of worldly success never lost the kindness of heart and simplicity of disposition which had characterized the student years.'

However, their paths in life were placed wide apart, and from the first their aims were different. Velazquez, the eagle, soared in the rarefied atmosphere of the Court. He was robed in jewelled velvets, and was carried to his last resting place by nobles as became a Knight of Santiago. Murillo's way took him through shady cloisters and the dim-lit stillness of convents and cathedrals. From a life devoted to the Spanish Catholic religion and the companionship of priests, he passed to an honoured grave beneath a stone slab, still preserved behind the high altar of the Church of Los Menores.

Murillo was born in Seville as the year 1617 ended, and was baptised on the 1st of January, 1618. His parents were humble toilers in the city and nothing is recorded of Murillo's life until he had entered his eleventh year, when both his parents died in an epidemic. The lad with his little sister went to live with a kindly uncle who resided in Seville. But the uncle's means were meager, and young Murillo, who had already revealed his power in drawing was speedily transferred, as a non-paying apprentice, to the studio of Juan del Castillo, certainly one of the worst painters the school of Seville has produced."

To be continued

(Murillo, a Biography and Appreciation" by Albert Frederick Calvert.)

Alfred Stevens: Impressions on Painting

"The Lady with the Umbrella"
by Alfred Stevens

In 1886 Alfred Stevens published his thoughts on painting in a small book entitled "Impressions sur la Peinture." Knowing how reluctant publishers are to risk their money, the fact that this book came out in separate French, English and American editions is proof of its success and, no doubt, its influence. Because 'Impressions' is simply a collection of thoughts on art, succinctly expressed, it is easily read.

Below are a few examples:

"The student should learn to draw, as much as possible, with his brush."

 

"It is better to give a nail's breadth of one's self than an arm's length of what belongs to others."

 

"A painter is only great when he is a master workman."

 

"Great workers must not be confounded with mere drudges."

 

"A painter, however mediocre, who has depicted the era in which he lives will become more interesting in time than he who, having more talent, portrays an epoch he has never seen."

 

"One should formulate aesthetically and not imitate servilely."

 

"Once the painter has a great artistic soul, the tortoise becomes as interesting as the horse, much more difficult to execute, the soul of the painter giving its imprint to everything."

 

"People have a sad tendency to run after the qualities of their neighbors and to neglect those with which they themselves are endowed."

 

"I would rather have painted four bladders and a palette, as did Chardin, than the 'Entrance of Alexander into Babylon' of Lebrun, the official painter of Louis XIV."

 

"There should be no haste in the erection of a statue to a man. Neither should we hasten to introduce our masters into the Louvre. Time alone is an infallible classifier."

"The more one knows, the more one simplifies."

"A man's hand has the same expression as his face."

"In painting, it is an art to know when to stop."

 

"A fine picture, the effect of which is admired at a distance, ought equally to bear analysis when looked at near by."

"If the old masters could return to earth, no matter what school, be assured that they would not hesitate to cause not a few of their works to disappear."

 

"In a portrait, it is better to let the sitter take an habitual pose than to strive for effect by an unusual one."

"Before thinking of pleasing the public, one should be satisfied with himself."

"The moon beautifies everything. It lends accent to sterile landscapes that the sun itself is powerless to animate, because it suppresses details and gives value only to the mass."

"Nothing is as useful as comparison."

"By looking at the palette of a painter, one knows with whom one is dealing."

 

"If a painter represents Rembrandt in his studio he is dominated by Rembrandt; in spite of himself he seeks for effects of light and shade; if he represents Veronese he is possessed by Veronese, and will seek for open-air effects. One enters involuntarily into the temperament of the painter whom one wishes to recall."

 

"A man should have the courage not to allow the successes of the Salon, the opinion of the press or the contingency of recompenses to occupy his mind, and should be chiefly concerned with living up to his own ideal."

 

"Do not exert yourself to make too perfect studies from nature. A study should be an exercise without pretension."

 

"There is no artist's studio, even a mediocre one, in which a study may not be found superior to his finished works."

 

"To paint a good portrait, it is indispensable to enter into the spirit and the character of the model, and to compel one's self to depict him not only by exactly reproducing his features, but more particularly by interpreting his mind." 

"Painting is nature seen through the prism of an emotion."

"To make a pupil paint many flowers is excellent instruction."

"The masters have not always produced masterpieces. Happy he who, in our day, shall be able to leave behind him a fine bit of painting!"

"The born painter never believes that he has succeeded; he is constantly seeking to enlarge and elevate his art, even above his strength; that is, besides, for an artist, the only means of not weakening at a certain age."

"The painter contemplating nature should depict it so as to preserve the flavor of his first impression."

"Too good sight is often a fatal gift to a painter, because the retina is maddened by seeing too many things in detail."

"People do not trouble themselves enough in our day about the workmanship, the trade, painting for painting's sake; but they will be forced to return to it, and only those who possess this master quality will be certain of immortality."

"The sincere approbation of his professional comrades is, for the painter, the most flattering of recompenses."

"So many painters stop where difficulty begins!"

"Painting executed in the open air gains in the studio."

"One should sometimes place his picture in the penumbra in order to properly judge if it preserves its harmony."

"Nothing can equal the happiness that a painter feels when, after a day's work, he is satisfied with the task accomplished. But, in the contrary case, what despair he experiences!"

 

(Excerpts from both "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell and "Impressions on Painting" by Alfred Stevens.)

Alfred Stevens: A Grand Finale

"The Japanese Mask" by Alfred Stevens

"In 1890 Alfred Stevens joined the group which left the traditional Salon to show separately at the Champs de Mars, calling themselves the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts. He had eleven exhibits. In September of that year the first of a series of blows fell upon him. His beloved brother, Arthur, died. Only six months later, Marie Stevens, his wife of over thirty years, passed away, and the following year, Joseph, his elder brother was also lost to him. The final blow was of a different nature - a lack of money.

Stevens, in common with so many artists, had had little idea of money or accounts, and spent his money freely in the firm belief that he could always paint another picture and replace it. The letters to his children are pitiful, but nothing prevented his painting well. 

Having been unable to exhibit in the previous year's Salon, he had now sixteen paintings on display and enjoyed having his son's work on show with his. He had a successful exhibition in Brussels at La Maison d'Art the following year. He tried to paint himself out of debt and in doing so the quality sometimes suffered, but to the end, he could pull himself together and paint fine paintings when he had a mind to.

In 1899, he fell by accident, failed to recover properly and was confined to a wheelchair. This could have been a sad ending for Stevens, but his friends rallied round and wrote to the authorities asking for a retrospective exhibition for him at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. This honour had never been awarded to a living artist, but the Minister granted the request. We can imagine the joy for Stevens of being wheeled around the exhibition of over a hundred and eighty of his paintings. He died in 1906 and was given a grand funeral and endless obituaries in the press."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)

Alfred Stevens: Panorama of the Century

A Fragment with Sarah Bernhardt of Stevens'
"Panorama of the Century"

"In the late 1880's , Alfred Stevens embarked on a project that only a man of his energy would undertake in his mid-sixties. The idea came from his friend Henri Gervex. Alfred, his brother Arthur and others put up the capital to paint a 'Panorama of the Century' to be exhibited in the Tuileries Gardens during the Exposition Universelle of 1889. 

The subject was a commemoration of one hundred years of French history from the Revolution of 1789 to the present day, in the form of 641 portraits of all notable figures standing in imaginary, elaborate architectural settings based in the Tuileries where the Rotunda would be erected. The idea of a panorama was not new, but the artist wanted to make accurate portraits of the celebrities included, whether live or from research. It would be nothing less than a pageant of the century.

Gradually the project took shape and a team of assistants was assembled, including Alfred's eldest son Leopold. Months of research were needed, and much time was spent in libraries to find accurate records of women's fashions if, indeed, such documents had been preserved. The sketching of the different scenes had taken two years, and it was time to transfer the four large oil sketches which had been made, and which fortunately have survived, unlike the Panorama itself.

The transfer to the 120-meter-long canvas meant that each drawing had to be enlarged to eight times the original onto large sheets or cartoons. The outline was pricked through in the time-honoured method of the Italian fresco painters. When powder was applied to the holes it went through and the outline was there ready on the canvas to be worked up. Prominent scenes from each reign had been chosen and the team set to work to paint them working among 'a disorderly array of stuffs, uniforms, helmets, and objects of all kinds, the bric-a-brac of a century.' 

When it was completed the visitor to the circular structure could, upon purchase of a one-franc ticket, walk round from the doomed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to Napoleon III and beyond, into the present day of the Third Republic. Many people of the day had tried to get themselves included in the last scene offing substantial sums for the privilege. 

Alas, the careful planning did not include what was to happen to the Panorama after the Exposition was over. After the Exposition, the panorama was exhibited in Chicago, Saint Louis, Brussels, and Barcelona. But, unable to secure a permanent exhibition space, Stevens was forced to cut the work into sections for dispersal, in one case, as far away as Florida, where it is now on display in the Ringling Museum. The Ringling’s portion shows prominent dramatists, writers, and musicians, but its real star is Stevens’s adored friend, the actress Sarah Bernhardt. Dressed in the costume she wore as the Queen in Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas, a stiff, white meringue of a gown which renders her utterly striking in a crowd of men in dark suits"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)

Alfred Stevens: A Sea of Possibilities

"La Villa des Falaises a Sainte Adresse" by Alfred Stevens

"Two events happened in 1880. Firstly, the Paris authorities made a compulsory purchase of Alfred Stevens' house and demolished it to make a new road and passageway, which they named after the artist. He was compensated a handsome 300,000 francs for it.

Secondly, Stevens had developed bronchial problems and on the advice of his doctor went to the seaside for some fresh air, instead of breathing in the turpentine fumes of the studio. He went to Sainte Adresse for two months and took to painting the sea. The great dealer, Georges Petit, must have felt that an artist as good as Stevens could paint anything he chose to paint and duly made a contract with him to take everything he painted in the two-month stay for 50,000 francs! It was a bold decision but a sound one because it would allow people without the resources of a Vanderbilt to own a good painting with a famous signature.

Stevens embraced 'La Mer' as readily as he had 'La Femme.' It was another inexhaustible theme - the sea and shore from calm to storm, with or without beaches, bathers, headlands, fishermen and seagulls. To a painter of cashmere shawls and undulating silk fabrics, Stevens was acutely aware of every nuance of colour, sea, sky and shore presented him with. 

Of course, he soon realized the potential of combining his two subjects. We find ladies at the beach and, often, single figures standing at the water's edge looking with longing to the return of a vessel bearing their loved one. This entire theme culminated in a masterpiece, some consider his last, 'La Villa des Falaises a Sainte Adresse.' The painting was done to order for the Belgian art dealer and collector, Francois van der Donckt, whom Stevens had known since 1866 and who had acquired numerous paintings by him throughout his life. It had to meet specific requirements regarding content which, it is recorded, tested Stevens' abilities to the limit. It contained twelve figures - and two dogs. Towards the end of October, the autumn weather and the sudden absence of any suitable models meant that he had to complete the picture back in Paris. Even so the outcome was a painting that would have struck its new owners as pleasingly modern and, at the same time, wholly in keeping with a rich tradition in French art, that of outdoor scenes of recreation."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell and the Sotheby's catalogue note for "La Villa des Falaises a Sainte Adress.")

Alfred Stevens: At 65 Rue des Martyrs

"Ready for the Fancy Dress Ball" by Alfred Stevens

"Alfred Stevens acquired a large house and garden at 65, Rue des Martyrs, which impressed every visitor. The garden was the setting for Manet's 'Croquet Party,' while the drawing room became the setting for some of Stevens' best-known paintings. 'Ready for the Fancy Dress Ball,' set in the Chinese boudoir, was commissioned by William Vanderbilt senior in 1879. 

The room and its contents are well documented visually, but were also written about by many, including Robert de Montesquiou, who owned several pictures by the artist. One particular first-hand account by Max Sulzberger described the room that as decorated with furnishings “from the Imperial Palace,” brought back by an officer on expedition to China, and also described the painted gold paper walls and the doors and furniture of the most beautiful black Chinese lacquer. Through the open door at right was the artist’s Salon, which Stevens painted the same year as the present work in his complimentary masterpiece, 'Le Salon du Peintre.'

The following year William Vanderbilt's son, W.K., visited Stevens. Having looked at several works, only to be told they were sold or belonged to the dealer Petit, he asked Stevens about the 'Salon du Peintre' and the reply was, 'That belongs to me.' "How much?' W.K. inquired. '50,000 francs.' 'Then,' W.K. asserted, 'it is no longer yours, Mr. Stevens. It is mine!'

The artist's audacity in asking such a huge price was typical of the self-confidence of Stevens. Although 'Les Visiteuses' had already been sold for 60,000 francs just the year before to King Leopold. Indeed 1878 had been another triumph for Stevens with fifteen exhibits, a first class medal, and promotion to Commander of the Legion of Honour.

Then life took a detour."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell and from a catalogue note from a Sotheby's auction of "Ready for the Fancy Dress Ball." )

Alfred Stevens: Friendship with Edouard Manet

"The Parisian Sphinx" by Alfred Stevens

"The friendship between Alfred Stevens and Edouard Manet strengthened in the decade of the 1860's. Their relationship was one of mutual respect and admiration. A letter of Manet's survives in which he wrote, 'Yesterday I saw at Hoschede's a SUPERB Stevens, please pass on to him my sincere compliments.' At the Thursday evening gatherings at Madame Auguste Manet's, Stevens regularly met Degas, the mercurial Baudelaire and the Morisot sisters. 

Manet used Stevens' studio to paint Spanish dancers from the Hippodrome. At another time Manet asked Stevens if he could leave some of his work in his studio so that it might be seen by Durand-Ruel, on one of his visits. The great dealer duly came by and, with characteristic foresight, bought the Manets. 

Stevens, Degas and the Manet brothers were together in refusing to leave during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, and, above all, during the siege of Paris. Stevens, of course, as a foreigner did not have to serve in the French forces but he insisted in volunteering, and this was never forgotten by the French authorities. But he did send Marie and their children to Brussels, writing to her by balloon, and kept his mother with him in Paris.

The fact that the siege did not prevent his painting will hardly surprise the reader. It is difficult to imagine what could have done so! Victorine Meurent, a model shared by Manet and Stevens, appears as the Sphinx Parisien in one of the most ravishing of Stevens' small canvases. Inscribed on the reverse is 'painted during the siege of Paris, Nov. 1870'. 

Later on, when his friend Manet died in 1883, Stevens was one of the pallbearers and, of course, on a committee to campaign for the exhibition of his work."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)

Alfred Stevens: Marriage and Success

"Tous les Bonheurs" by Alfred Stevens

"Feeling confident of his art and his future, Alfred Stevens married Marie Blanc, granddaughter of General Sausset. Just as Alfred had been one of four children, so he and Marie would have four: Catherine, god-daughter of Degas, Leopold, a painter, Jean and Pierre. Just as Marie had already appeared as a model and would continue to do in some of the major works of the 1860's, for example 'La Dame en Rose,' so the children would begin to appear in their turn. At the 1861 Paris Salon, 'Tous les Bonheurs' shows Marie feeding young Leopold. 

'Tous les Bonheurs' was so well received by the critics, that the Jury wanted to award Stevens a medal of honour, but were hesitant. Robert-Fleury went to see Stevens unofficially and told him that his subject matter was not worthy of his talents, and that if he would change his genre they would award him with the medal. The reply was brief and to the point: 'You keep your medal and I'll keep my genre.' 

However, 1863 saw the end of officialdom's hesitation. Stevens became Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. What must have pleased the artist above all were the words of the minister at the presentation - 'To gain an honour with the complete approval of your colleagues is to deserve it twice over.'  The success of Stevens here and also at the Brussels Salon of 1866, where his 'La Visite' was purchased by King Leopold, was also a matter of pride for his home country of Belgium. 

There was no greater recommendation that that of royal patronage. The aristocracy and the haute bourgeoisie followed their monarch's example and added his work to their collections. Stevens received a letter from his brother Arthur, who was the king's curator, telling him of the monarch's strong admiration for him and his 'wish' that Alfred was to remain Belgian. [He had now lived and worked for quite a while in France, and his attachments there were strong.]"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)

Alfred Stevens: Japonisme

"La Parisienne Japonaise" by Alfred Stevens

After more than 200 years of seclusion, foreign merchant ships began to visit Japan. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan ended a long period of national isolation and began exporting its goods to Europe. Japanese art and artifacts began to appear in small curiosity shops in Paris and London. Also a succession of world's fairs displayed Japanese decorative art to millions, and it was picked up by galleries and fashionable stores.

Collecting Japanese art and artifacts became a craze. The art itself, which was so different from Western art, had a strong influence on the painters of that time including Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, James Whistler, Edouard Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, James Tissot, Van Gogh, and many others including Alfred Stevens.

Stevens spent lavishly and had a special room set aside for his collection of screens, porcelain, wall coverings, bibelots, paper parasols, lamps, kimonos and the like, which provided the artist with a mosaic of exotic and sophisticated colours in many of his interiors. He would also have his models frequently pose in kimonos, hold fans and look thoughtfully at the decorative objects. For all of his interest 'le Japonisme,' his own style of painting does not seem to be influenced by it to any significant degree.

In 'La Parisienne Japonaise' (1872) Stevens shows a lovely lady looking dreamily into a mirror. She wears a kimono made of exotic blue patterned silk with an exquisite sash catching and reflecting the light in the room. Her hair is decorated with Japanese combs and ornaments. Her hand lightly holds a transparent fan, with a lovely painted screen reflected in the mirror. Unusual, beautiful items like these obviously inspired Alfred Stevens.

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell, and "Japonisme" from Wikipedia.)

 

Alfred Stevens: Finding His Subject

"The Morning of Ash Wednesday" by Alfred Stevens

"In 1844 Alfred Stevens left for Paris in the care of a family friend, the painter Camille Roqueplan. Poor health obliged Roqueplan to go to the South of France and Stevens supposedly entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the only pupil of Roqueplan's to be admitted.

Five years later found him sharing a studio with another Belgian born painter, Florent Willems, well established in Paris. On Stevens' debut at the Paris Salon in 1853, he showed three paintings, one of which was 'The Morning of Ash Wednesday.' What impressed the Jury was that the debutant's canvas was well painted. The Jury consisted of painters and they best understood the soundness of his technique. It has been constantly repeated that Stevens was a painter's painter and, indeed he was. Thus 'Ash Wednesday' won official blessing and was bought by the Government for the Marseilles Museum and Stevens won a third class medal - the first of a chestful. In 1854-55, he exhibited three paintings in Brussels and Antwerp whose titles tell us that it was a turning point in the search for his true subject. 

At the Paris Salon of 1855, he showed a socio-realism scene where French soldiers were rounding up vagabonds in the Bois de Boulogne. The Emperor saw it and was annoyed that his soldiers were being used in such menial tasks and ordered it to be stopped. At least he became aware of Alfred Stevens, if he did not know his work already.

"The Visit" by Alfred Stevens

In 1857 he finally found his subject - in a word 'La Femme [Women].' A painting entitled 'La Visite', the first of many, many variations of this very adaptable subject down through his career. Another the 'Artist in His Studio' of 1855 was also a break-through and the first of a series of very important works where the studio is the setting and Stevens could either depict himself as here, or not, and vary the quantity of ladies, whether models or visitors."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)

Alfred Stevens: Beginnings

 

"A Duchess (The Blue Dress)" by Alfred Stevens

"If Luck is a lady, then it is hardly surprising that she favoured Alfred Stevens."

Alfred Emile Leopold Victor Ghislain Stevens was born in Brussels on May 11, 1823. He was the son of Jean Francois Stevens and his wife Catherine-Victoire, proprietors of the Cafe de l'Amitie. His father died at just forty-six leaving behind four sons. Alfred's older brother, Joseph, became a successful animal painter, best known for his dogs. His younger brother, Arthur, was destined to be an important art critic, dealer, agent and curator of the collection of the Belgian King, Leopold II.

The Stevens family was exceptionally close-knit and remained in touch and supported one another throughout their lives. This is particularly true of Alfred and Arthur as witnessed by their voluminous surviving correspondences. Of course, in this period people thought nothing of writing daily or writing more than one letter to the same person on the same day, with three or even more daily deliveries by the postal service!

Our understanding of the early years of Alfred Stevens is incomplete. What we know for certain is that he was a student at the Bruxelles Academy under the tutelage of Navez, a faithful disciple of David during his exile in Brussels. He underwent a thorough, traditional training, with the emphasis strictly on drawing - so much so that oil painting was forbidden to students. 

Nonetheless, in the absence of his teacher, Alfred got hold of palette and brush and painted an ideal head in oils. Navez returned and demanded to know 'the artist' who flouted the studio rules. The culprit was marched off by Navez to see his grandfather. With teenage Alfred standing before his grandfather, Navez exclaimed, 'You have there a fine painter!'

This oft quoted event tells us, right at the onset, that Stevens understood the need to study and to train hand and eye in the mastery of the technique of draughtsmanship and painting. Forty year later, he would publish his thoughts on art in a book, including his thought that 'You can only be a great painter if you are a master craftsman.'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)

Thomas Hart Benton: A Question of Race

"Independence and the Opening of the West"
by Thomas Hart Benton

"City Building" panel from "America Today" mural
by Thomas Hart Benton

After reading this series of posts about Thomas Hart Benton and seeing the paintings that I had chosen to show with them, a friend noted that he was surprised by the lack of Native American, African American and immigrant representation in the work of Benton and other American Regionalist painters. He asked if that was a quirk of sampling or an attitude on their parts.

My short answer would be that I had just happened to show work chosen simply because I either liked it artistically or thought it illustrated the post for the day. This is generally the nature of Facebook posts with authors that have limited time to create them.

But I think a longer answer would also be interesting, because Benton's approach to his work had him combing through both the history of his themes and the people that inhabited them. He saw himself not so much as a writer - although he was that - but more as a visual storyteller. In fact, much of the time spent on creating any one of his murals was spent in research. In the case of "A Social History of the State of Missouri," he spent 3,000 hours traveling throughout the state, listening to people's anecdotes, making many, many sketches, and doing research of all kinds. The result was a visual account that showed the intertwined histories of black, native, and white Americans - both in real life and in famous stories and songs associated with the state or theme of the mural. If the people or events had been significant, regardless of race, they were shown.

Black and Native Americans appear in Benton's most famous murals: "America Today," "The Arts of Life in America," "The Indiana Murals," and "A Social History of the State of Missouri." Their contributions and influences in relationship to the theme of those murals are shown - such as the impact of spirituals on American music in "The Arts of Life in America" or agricultural and industrial productivity in "America Today." They also play a very significant part of the theme in smaller mural installations as well.

Benton never shied away from portraying what he saw as the truth. Among the more noble and typical representations of a state's industry, culture, and achievements, scenes were included in his murals that show slaves being beaten, the Ku Klux Klan setting a cross on fire, hunting grounds destroyed, notorious outlaws and the tawdriness of life. In response critics wrote scathing reviews, there were protests from a variety of communities and some tried to have his work removed - even quite recently. Through it all Benton persisted, feeling that the makeup of our historic roots and society is a complicated business, that it is not clean cut, and that all should be shown regardless. 

My friend's question could have a thesis written on it. There are certainly published articles that address it. One that I would recommend for anyone wanting to pursue this further is "Art for America: Race in Thomas Hart Benton's Murals, 1919-1936" by Austen Barron Bailly in the "Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 105, No. 2. However, it would be easier just to google "Thomas Hart Benton paintings" and having a good, careful look. The answer will be clear.

 

Thomas Hart Benton: His Final Piece

"The Sources of Country Music" by Thomas Hart Benton

"To open with a cliché, a picture paints a thousand words. In Thomas Hart Benton’s case, his final painting, 'The Sources of Country Music,' not only spoke a thousand words, but also captured country music’s spirit and its history. 

It began in 1941, when Benton recorded a three-record album through Decca Records titled 'Saturday Night at Tom Benton’s.' Of course, Benton was a painter first and foremost, but it was his love for music that caught the eye of the Country Music Foundation.

In 1973, cowboy singer Tex Ritter and director of the Tennessee Arts Commission Norman Worrell visited Benton in Kansas City. Benton at the time was eighty-four and retired. It was Ritter’s suggestion to Benton that he should create a painting summarizing the roots of country music that planted the seeds for what would be Benton’s final painting. How could Benton resist? It was one more chance at celebrating American traditions, and of all genres of music, country music made the most sense for this kind of painting.

Dubbed 'The Sources of Country Music,' despite this painting depicting people doing things all at the same time, there’s still a series of overlapping vignettes depicting their cultural contexts. The woman on the left is playing a mountain dulcimer while barefoot in the grass (it’s hard to tell on first glance). Behind her we have a conductor leading a group singing a cappella from a hymnal. This is assumed to be a tent revival.

There’s two men playing fiddles for the dancing couples near them. Of course, they also have moonshine near them. An African-American man is playing the banjo claw hammer-style in denim overalls. The cowboy just may be the most interesting character of all too, with his belt, boots, spurs, gun and one foot in what’s assumed to be the Southwestern desert with the other foot on his saddle. You can also picture someone like Jimmie Rodgers riding that train back there.

And of course, that’s the earliest stages of country music (which, if we’re going by the “latest” musical addition of this picture of the cowboy means that “country” had ceased to exist as a term for what we call the music today). There’s no steel guitar, no mandolin, no electric guitar, no piano and no orchestral strings.

By January 1974, Benton submitted his first sketch to the Board of the Foundation. The mural was ultimately dedicated to Ritter as he died a short while before it was completed. It was him after all who inspired Benton to craft one final piece. I’m pretty sure there’s a reason the cowboy is overemphasized in this painting (the train and the cowboy weren’t even in his initial sketch he presented to the board).

He finished the six-by-ten foot canvas on January 18, a little ahead of schedule. That night after dinner, Benton told his wife that he wanted to look over the mural one last time. If he decided it was complete, he was going to sign it. He was ultimately still trying to perfect the train after so many attempts, and how he wanted to look is something we’ll never know.

Around 8:30 p.m., Rita went out to fetch him seeing as how he had been out there so late. She found him lying on the floor with his spectacles on, directly in front of the Nashville mural. He had suffered a heart attack and had fallen on his wristwatch, which stopped at the exact moment of his death: five minutes past seven o’clock. The painting remains unsigned. Now worth $1 million dollars, the painting sits proudly in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum." 

(Excerpt from "Country Music in One Painting, and Thomas Hart Benton's Final Piece" by Zackary Kephart. Read it here.)

Thomas Hart Benton: American Regionalism

"The Kentuckian" by Thomas Hart Benton

"Quite a number of artists in the late twenties were engaged in looking at the American scene. Edward Hopper and others had turned away from European influences and were seeking their artistic salvation in home experience. An Americanist movement, though not clearly defined, was in the air. 

In the early thirties American Regionalism was held up to the national attention in the persons of Grant Wood, John Curry, and myself. What distinguished us was the desire to redirect what we had found in the art of Europe toward an art specifically representative of America. It was only later that we began seeing one another and cementing by personal contact our publicly advertised bonds. With Curry established for his long stay as artist in residence at the University of Wisconsin, with Wood at the University of Iowa, and with myself established in Kansas City, we found weekend visits fairly easy to make. 

In the course of our association and for all our differences of view and temperament, Wood, Curry and I began influencing one another. It was after studying Wood's pictures that I became interested in textural detail. Studying Curry, I tried to get closer to actual visual appearances and to everyday happenings. Both Wood and Curry began taking over from my work our increased concern with three-dimensional geometric structure. Some of Wood's late lithographs were almost sculptural. Let your American environment, we concluded, be your source of inspiration.

When the world situation began in 1938 and 1939 to inject itself into American politics, and Americans of all classes and of all factions began to realize that our very survival as a nation was being menaced by what was occurring in Europe, American particularisms were pushed into the background and subordinated to the international problem. Regionalism declined in popular interest and lost its grip on the minds of young artists. Shortly after our entrance into the War, what was left of it was turned to a swift and superficial representation of combat and production scenes, to a business of sensational reporting for the popular magazines. There it had its grass-roots substance knocked out."

To be continued

(Excerpts are from "An American in Art: A Professional and Technical Autobiography" by Thomas Hart Benton.)