Marianne North: To Egypt

"A Medley of Flowers from Table Mountain, Cape of
Good Hope (detail)" by Marianne North

"On the 17th of January 1855 my mother died. Her end had come gradually; for many weeks we felt it was coming. She made me promise never to leave my father, and did not like anyone to move her but him. He was always gentle and ready to help her, and missed her much when she was gone, writing in his diary in his own quaint way: 'The leader is cut off from the main trunk of our home, no branches, no summer shoots can take its place, and I feel myself just an old pollard tree.'

We rode often to the Chiswick Gardens and got specimen flowers to paint; were also often at Kew, and once when there Sir William Hooker gave me a hanging bunch of 'Amhersita nobilis,' one of the grandest flowers in existence. It was the first that had bloomed in England, and made me long more and more to see the tropics. We often talked of going, if ever my father had a holiday long enough.

Our journey, long talked of, came off when my father lost his seat in the general election of July 1865, by the narrowest of margins. We started at once for Switzerland, then worked our way through Austria and Italy where we boarded an Austrian Lloyd boat which coasted the Adriatic. Upon arriving in Cairo we settled ourselves in the centre of the town. Our quarters in the German hotel were most comfortable and quiet. I had a room next to the landlady's with a window looking into the garden, and my father had one opposite, with a tangle of palms, lantana, hibiscus, poinsettias, jasmines, and roses between us. 

We started up the Nile on the day after Christmas at a reasonable rate. The sailors were a happy simple race, and two of the boys were absolutely beautiful, of a bright shiny copper tint, and liked sitting for their pictures. We stayed three days at Aboo Simbel, painting and studying the noble temples and figures, which alone well repaid the whole expense and trouble of a Nile voyage. The four great figures of Ramses II seemed to me the finest monuments in the world. The figures are sixty feet high and the hieroglyphics are as sharp as on the day they were cut. 

Our old pilot afterwards described me in the following words: 'This daughter was unlike most other English daughters, being, firstly, white and lively; secondly, she was gracious in her manner and of kind disposition. Thirdly,  she attended continually to her father, whose days went in rejoicing that he had such a daughter. Fourthly, she represented all things on paper. She drew all the temples of Nubia, all the sakkiahs, and all the men and women and nearly all the palm trees. She was a valuable and remarkable daughter!'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "A Vision of Eden: The Life and Work of Marianne North."

Marianne North: Childhood

"Trees Laden with Parasites and Epiphytes
in a Brazilian Garden" by Marianne North

English artist Marianne North (1830-1890) wrote: "My first recollections relate to my father. He was from first to last the one idol and friend of my life, and apart from him I had little pleasure and no secrets. He used to carry me on his shoulders over the hills and far away, down on the beach to see the fishing boats land, and the heaps of glittering, slippery fish counted and sold by Dutch auction. I well remember the old fishermen, covered with silver scales, calling out, 'Make way for Muster North and his little gal!" giving me kind pats with great salt hands as I passed perched high on my father's shoulder through the crowd. 

We had much variety in our life, spending the winter at Hastings, the spring in London, and dividing the summers between my half-sister's old hall in Lancashire and a farmhouse at Rougham. Governesses hardly interfered with me in those days. Walter Scott or Shakespeare gave me their versions of history, and Robinson Crusoe and some other old books my ideas of geography. At last someone told my mother that I was very uneducated (which was perfectly true), so I was sent to school at Norwich. 

School life was hateful to me. The teaching was such purely mechanical routine, and the girls with one exception were uninteresting. The only bright days were when my father used to ride over for business and take me with him. At last the happy time came, and I left school. My months there had not been many, but they were very long ones to me, and soon after it was decided to go abroad for three years.

We went to Heidelberg, where we settled for eight months in the two upper stories of a large ugly house outside the town gates. Before April was over we left Heidelberg and spent the next two years touring Europe, often being too close for comfort to the civil disturbances and wars rife at the time.

Returning to London during 1850 I had some lessons in flower-painting from a Dutch lady, Miss van Fowinkel, from whom I got the few ideas I possess of arrangement of colour and of grouping, and then we recommenced the happy old life at Rougham, I passing hours and hours of every day on horseback, painting, and singing with little fear of interruption. The next season I saw the opening of the first great Exhibition.

The only art master I longed for would not teach, i.e. old William Hunt, whose work will live forever, as it is absolutely true to nature. We used to see a good deal of him at Hastings, where he generally passed his winters, living in a small house almost on the beach under the East Cliff, where he made the most delicious little pencil sketches of boats and fishermen. I can see him now, looking up with his funny great smiling head and long gray hair. I remember 'That Boy,' too, whom Hunt taught to be anything he chose as model, blowing the hot pudding, fighting the wasp, or taking the physic. "

To be continued

(Excerpts from "A Vision of Eden: the Life and Work of Marianne North" and "Recollections of a Happy Life" by Marianne North.)

Donato (Donatello): A Summarization

"Saint George" by Donato

"Donato was a master of such merit and so admirable in all he did, that we may safely declare him to have been the first who rendered the art of sculpture and of good design illustrious among the people of modern times. And he is all the more worthy of commendation, because in his day the antiquities now brought to light - the columns, triumphal arches, and vases - had not been discovered and excavated from the earth. Donato was, moreover, the principal cause of the determination to bring the antiquities now in the Palazzo Medici to Florence, and all of which he restored with his own hand.

He was most liberal, friendly, and courteous to all, being ever more careful for his friends than for himself. He attached little value to his gains, but kept what money he had in a basket, suspended by a cord to the roof, and from this all his assistants, as well as his friends took what they needed, without being expected to say anything to him.

He passed his old age cheerfully, and when he became too decrepit to work longer, he was taken care of by Cosimo de' Medici and others of his friends. It is said, that when Cosimo died he bestowed on him a farm, the income from which was of such amount, that Donato might have lived on it most commodiously, but the running of it was so troublesome that he returned its ownership to Cosimo's son, Piero. He instead assigned Donato an income of equal or larger value, which was distributed to him every week while he lived - an arrangement which rejoiced him greatly. 

When he had attained his eighty-third year, he became paralytic, growing worse day by day, till he died on the 13th of December 1466. He was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, near the tomb of Cosimo, as he had himself commanded. He was accompanied to his grave by all the painters, architects, sculptors, goldsmiths, and nearly all the inhabitants of the city. Nor was it until a long time after that they ceased to compose verses to his honour."

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects: by Giorgio Vasari.)

*A good blogpost on Donato's sculpture of St. George is here.

Donato (Donatello): Competing with Brunellesco

Crucifix by Filippo di Ser Brunellesco

Crucifix by Donato (Donatello)

Donato was deeply hurt by the criticism from his friend and fellow sculptor Brunellesco of a wooden crucifix he had carefully labored over, and so he challenged him to carve one himself. Then they would see what he was able to produce.

"Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, without saying anything more, returned home and set to work on a crucifix, wherein he laboured to surpass Donato, that he might not be condemned by his own judgment; but he suffered no one to know what he was doing. At the end of some months, the work was completed to the height of perfection, and this done, Filippo one morning invited Donato to dine with him, and the latter accepted the invitation. 

Thereupon, as they were proceeding together towards the house of Filippo, they passed by the Mercato Vecchio, where the latter purchased various articles and giving them to Donato, said, 'Do thou go forward with these things to the house and wait for me there. I'll be after thee in a moment.' Donato, therefore, having entered the house, had no sooner done so, than he saw the crucifix, which Filippo had placed in a suitable light. 

Stopping short to examine the work, he found it so perfectly executed, that feeling himself conquered, full of astonishment, and, as it were, startled out of himself, he dropped his hands which were holding up is apron, wherein he had placed the purchases. The whole fell to the ground, eggs, cheese, and other things, all broke to pieces and mingled together. But Donato, not recovering from his astonishment, remained still gazing in amazement. When Filippo arrived, he inquired, laughing, 'What hast thou been about, Donato? and what dost thou mean us to have for dinner, since thou hast overturned everything?' 'I, for my part,' replied Donato, 'have had my share of dinner for today; if thou must needs have thine, take it. But enough said: to thee it has been given to represent the Christ; to me, boors only."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects" by Giorgio Vasari.)

Donato (Donatello): Beginnings

Gabriel from Donato's "Annuncation"
(Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence)

Mary from Donato's "Annuncation"
(Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence)

"The sculptor Donato, called by his contemporaries Donatello, was born in Florence in the year 1386. He devoted himself to the arts of design and was not only an excellent sculptor of admirable statuary, but was beside very skillful in works of stucco, well versed in the study of perspective and highly esteemed as an architect. He is acknowledged to be the first who conducted the practice of historical composition, in basso-rilievo [low relief], into the right path.

He was brought up from early childhood in the house of Ruberto Martelli, and by his many good qualities, as well as by his diligence in the study of art secured the affection, not only of Martelli himself, but of his whole family. This master produced many works in his youth, but because they were many, they were not considered to be of any great account. The work which obtained him a name, and caused him to be known for what he really was, was an Annunciation, executed in stone and placed near the altar in the church of Santa Croce in Florence.  The figure of the Virgin is principally displayed, her movements betraying timidity, yet, with great sweetness and most becoming reverence, she turns herself with an exquisite grace towards the angel who is saluting her. This work at such a young age proved his determination to discover and restore that beauty of ancient art which had lain concealed for so many years. 

In this same church Donato executed a crucifix in wood, on which he bestowed extraordinary labour. When the work was completed, believing himself to have produced an admirable thing, he showed it to Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, his most intimate friend, desiring to have his opinion of it. Filippo, who was exceedingly frank, replied, that Donato appeared to him to have placed a clown on the cross, and not a figure resembling that of Jesus Christ, whose person was in all its parts the most perfect form of man that had ever been born. Donato hearing himself censured where he had expected praise, and more hurt than perhaps willing to admit, replied, 'If it were as easy to execute a work as to judge it, my figure would appear to thee to be Christ and not a boor; but take wood and try to make one thyself.'"

And we shall see tomorrow what happened!

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Paitners, Sculptors and Architects" by Giorgio Vasari.)  

Luca della Robbia: Final Years

"Monument to Bishop Benozzo Federighi"
by Luca Della Robbia (270 cm. x 275 cm., 8.85 ft. x 9 ft.)

"Luca della Robbia still sought to make further inventions, and laboured to discover a method by which figures and historical representations might be coloured on level surfaces of terra-cotta, proposing thereby to secure a more lifelike effect to the pictures.

For Benozzo Federighi, bishop of Fiesole, Luca erected a sepulchre of marble on which he placed the recumbent figure of Federigo, taken from nature, with three half-length figures - Christ, St. John and the Virgin - standing over him. Between the columns which adorn this work, the master depicted garlands with clusters of fruit and foliage, so lifelike and natural that the brush could produce nothing better in oil painting. 

And if this artist had been accorded longer life, many other remarkable works would doubtless have proceeded from his hands, since, but a short time before his death, he had begun to paint figures and historical representations on a level surface, whereof I formerly saw certain specimens in his house, which led me to believe that he would have succeeded perfectly, had not death borne him from his labours before the time.

In 1471, Luca della Robbia was elected president of the Florentine Guild of Sculptors, but he refused on account of his age and infirmity. His election demonstrated, however, the very high esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries. He died in Florence during February 1482, taking most of his secrets of tin-based glaze with him."

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects" by Giorgio Vasari and Wikipedia's article on Luca Della Robbia.)

Luca della Robbia: Tin-Glazed Terracotta

 

"La Vierge a L'Enfant avec Trois
Cherubim" by Andrea della Robbia

"When Luca della Robbia thought about what he received for his work and the time he had expended in its production, he perceived that he had made but small gains, and that the labour had been excessive. He determined, therefore, to abandon marble and bronze, seeing if he could not derive a more profitable return from some other source. Wherefore, reflecting that it cost but little trouble to work in clay and that only one thing was required, namely, to find some method by which the work produced in that material should be rendered durable, he set out to discover the means by which to do that.

Luca found that if he covered his figures with a coating of glaze, formed from the mixture of tin, litharge, antimony, and other minerals and mixtures, carefully prepared by the action of fire in a furnace made for the purpose, the desired effect was produced to perfection. For this process [tin-glazed terracotta], then, Luca, as being its inventor, received the highest praise, and indeed, all future ages will be indebted to him for the same. Then he added the further invention of giving this type of work color, to the astonishment and delight of all who beheld them. 

Among the first who gave Luca commissions to execute works of this description, was the magnificent Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, who caused him to decorate a small study in his palace. The ceiling of the study is a half circle; and here, as well as for the pavement, Luca executed various devices. The fame of these works having spread, not only throughout Italy, but over all Europe, there were so many persons desirous of possessing them, that the Florentine merchants kept Luca continually at this labour, to his great profit. They then dispatched the products all over the world.

And now the master himself could no longer supply the numbers required. He therefore took his brothers, Ottaviano and Agostino from the chisel, and set them to these works, from which both he and they gained much more than they had previously been able to earn by their works in sculpture."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects" by Georgio Vasari.)

*Litharge: lead monoxide, especially a red form used as a pigment and in glass and ceramics

Luca Della Robbia: The Cantoria

Detail of the "Cantoria" by Luca della Robbia

"Luca Della Robbia had scarcely completed his fifteenth year, when he was taken with other young sculptors to Rimini, for the purpose of preparing certain marble ornaments and figures for the lord of that city, who was then building a chapel in the church of San Francesco. It was for a sepulchre for his wife, who had recently died. In this work Luca gave a creditable specimen of his abilities which are still to be seen there, but he was soon recalled to Florence. 

There he executed five small historical representations for the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. These were placed on that side of the tower beside figures delineating the arts and sciences by Andrea Pisano. 

He was also commissioned by Messer Vieri dei Medici, a great and popular citizen of that day, by whom Luca was much beloved, to prepare the marble ornaments of an organ which was being constructed on a very grand scale. Luca executed certain stories, which were represented by singing choristers. He gave these such earnest attention and succeeded so well, that although the figures are high up, the spectator can nevertheless distinguish the inflation of throat in the singers, and the action of the leader as he beats the measure with his hands, with all the varied modes of playing the instruments. On the grand cornice of this work, Luca erected two figures of gilded metal, representing two angels and finished with great skill, as indeed is the whole piece, which was held to be one of rare beauty. 

However, Donatello, who afterwards constructed the ornaments placed opposite to this, displayed much greater judgment and more facility than had been exhibited by Luca. For Donato completed his work almost entirely from the rough sketches, without delicacy of finish, so that it actually has a much better effect in the distance than that of Luca, which, although well designed and carefully done, becomes lost to the observer in the distance.

And this is a point to which artists should give much consideration, since experience teaches us that whatever is to be looked at from a distance, whether painting, sculpture, or any other work of similar kind, has ever more force and effect then merely a striking and beautiful sketch when delicately finished. It would appear, also, that the poetic fire of the author frequently acts with most efficiency in a rapid sketch, by which his inspiration is expressed in a few strokes suddenly thrown off in the first ardours of composition. A too anxious care and labour will often deprive the works of him, who never knows when to take his hands from them, of all force and character."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects" by Giorgio Vasari.)

Luca Della Robbia: Florentine Sculptor (1400-1482)

Detail from the "Cantoria"
by Luca Della Robbia

"The Florentine sculptor, Luca della Robbia, was born in the year 1388, in the house of his forefathers in Florence. He was there carefully reared and educated, then placed by his father to learn the art of the goldsmith with Leonardo di Ser Giovanni, who was then held to be the best master in Florence for that vocation. 

Luca therefore having learned to draw and to model in wax found his confidence increase, and set himself to attempt certain works in marble and bronze. In these also he succeeded tolerably well, and this caused him altogether to abandon his trade of a goldsmith and give himself up entirely to sculpture, insomuch that he did nothing but work with his chisel all day, and by night he practiced himself in drawing. This he did with so much zeal, that when his feet were often frozen with cold in the night-time, he kept them in a basket of shavings to warm them.

No man ever becomes distinguished in any art whatsoever who does not early begin to acquire the power of supporting heat, cold, hunger, thirst and other discomforts. Those persons deceive themselves altogether who suppose that while taking their ease and surrounded by all the enjoyments of the world, they they may still attain to honourable distinction - for it is not by sleeping, but by waking, watching, and labouring continually that proficiency is attained and reputation acquired."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects' edited by  E.H. and E.W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins.)

Charles Sprague Pearce: Paintings of Peasants

"Peines de Coeur" by Charles Sprague Pearce

"Not easily satisfied, Charles Sprague Pearce took on yet another theme: the peasant, a theme that had a long and enduring history not only in the works of artists such as Jean-François Millet and Charles-François Daubigny, but also in France’s social history. An early peasant composition by Pearce was 'Porteuse D’eau (The Water-Carrier), ' for which he won a third-class medal at the 1883 Salon. In 1885 Pearce moved to Auvers-sur-Oise where he would remain the rest of his life and where he indulged his creativity by surrounding himself with nature. He exhibited 'Peines de Coeur (Troubles of the Heart)' at the Salon that same year, a painting that was also shown at the Pennsylvania Academy where it won the Temple Gold medal for best figure painting.

In the late 1880s Pearce continued his interest in peasant themes while also integrating pastoral paintings into his oeuvre. He remained a consistent yearly exhibitor at the Salon, in addition to participating in several international shows in Belgium, England, Germany, and America. 

The following years, beginning with his election to the jury of the Exposition Universelle of 1889, involved him in a number of ambitious activities which furthered his recognition, including chairing the Paris advisory committee for the World’ Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the Paris Committee for the Louisiana purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. More importantly, he helped organize the first large scale American art exhibition in Belgium for the 1894 Antwerp World’s Fair.  Even though Pearce adopted a style and subject matter preference that was typically French, it is clear that he was still interested in promoting the work of other American artists, especially those with a strong link to France. He was also named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1894.

Pearce’s last Salon exhibition was in 1906 when he exhibited Jeune Picarde (Young Girl of Picardie).  He died in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1914."

(Excerpt from Reh's Gallery biography on Charles Sprague Pearce.)

Charles Sprague Pearce: Orientalism

"Fantasie" by Charles Sprague Pearce

"Charles Sprague Pearce’s interest in Orientalism and the exotic directed his attention towards the current rage of Japonisme, the love of everything Japanese that was spearheaded by shops such as Siegfried Bing’s on the Rue Chauchat, Madame Desoye’s La Porte Chinoise, and publications such as Le Japon Artistique.  More and more artists, such as Edouard Manet, James MacNeill Whistler, and Edgar Degas, began collecting oriental objects and challenging their use of spatial effects in order to simulate a kind of japanesque painting, replete with Japanese kimonos, fans, and porcelain in an often Europeanized setting. 'Femme à l’Éventail (Lady with a Fan)' of 1883 is an appropriate example of Pearce’s integration of oriental objects, showing a European woman dressed in her kimono, holding a Japanese fan. Furthering his allegiance to this interest, Pearce exhibited 'Fantaisie (Fantasie)' at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. The work was highly praised and attracted universal attention, garnering him a third class medal, and marking a turning point in Pearce’s career and a heightening of his artistic powers. 

Not easily satisfied, Pearce took on yet another theme: the peasant, a theme that had a long and enduring history not only in the works of artists such as Jean-François Millet and Charles-François Daubigny, but also in France’s social history. An early peasant composition by Pearce was 'Porteuse D’eau (The Water-Carrier),' for which he won a third-class medal at the 1883 Salon. In 1885 Pearce moved to Auvers-sur-Oise where he would remain the rest of his life and where he indulged his creativity by surrounding himself with nature. He exhibited 'Peines de Coeur (Troubles of the Heart)' at the Salon that same year, a painting that was also shown at the Pennsylvania Academy where it won the Temple Gold medal for best figure painting."

 (Excerpt from Reh's Gallery biography on Charles Sprague Pearce.)

Charles Sprague Pearce: Success Despite Illness

"The Beheading of John the Baptist"
by Charles Sprague Pearce

"Upon Charles Pearce Sprague's return to Paris, the hemorrhage which had before been such an obstacle to his ambition again became troublesome, and this time, as winter drew on, he had to betake himself to Algiers. For several succeeding years he followed a similar mode of life - working in Paris while the climate permitted and in the winter journey to Mentone, or Nice, or San Rafael, or some other southern sanitarium. He, besides, found it often impossible in Paris, even in quite mild weather, to stand the close atmosphere, the draughts and other physical inconveniences of the school, and, finally, he was obliged to confine his studies to his own studio, where M. Bonnat, a generous and warm-hearted man, visited him frequently to criticize and encourage.

Under all these difficulties, and while hampered by painful and alarming interruptions, Mr. Pearce soon managed to attract public notice to his work. It gained him a valuable commission which brought him to England to paint the portraits of Lord and Lady Harris. He received the 'Mention Honorable' of the Paris Salon for his 'Decapitation of St. John the Baptist,' in 1881. To this painting was also awarded the highest prize of the Pennsylvania Academy of Arts for the best figure painting in 1881 and was also purchased by the Chicago Art Institute [apparently 'now lost']. 

The work upon this picture was interrupted and delayed nearly a year by a recurrence of his malady, which exiled him from his studio. His family feel indebted for his life and his subsequent successes to the affectionate care and nursing during this period of illness of his friend and brother artist, E. H. Blashfield."

To be continued

("Prelude" by Charles Sprague Pearce. Excerpts from "Charles Sprague Pearce," an article from "The Art Amateur, Volume 10.)

Charles Sprague Pearce: A Winding Road

"Prelude" by Charles Sprague Pearce

"In the salon of this year two pictures by an American artist attracted universal attention. They were 'The Water Carrier' and 'The Prelude' by Charles Sprague Pearce, of Boston. It was the art in these pictures, the refined and poetic feelings, the solidity and earnest strength of the handling that drew the notice of French critics and American and English visitors alike. But it was not the learned way of handling color any more than the academic drawing or the well-known subjects that made the two paintings so very remarkable. It was their expressiveness - all those elements of skill and knowledge being used to a proper end, not displayed for themselves. 

The artist who has already achieved such a great success is now only thirty-two years of age. He was born in Boston, the grandson and namesake of the late Charles Sprague, a poet and great grandson of Samuel Sprague, one of Boston's Revolutionary Tea Party, a soldier under Washington at Trenton and Princeton.

Mr. Pearce's proclivities toward art were strongly marked at a very early age, and in the winter of 1872-73 he was sent to Paris for an education. While preparations were being made, however, he was seized with an alarming illness, and after a month's confinement had to go to Florida for the winter. He was not sufficiently strong to undertake the journey until the following August. His original intention was to study at Munich, but by the emphatic advice of his friend, the late William M. Hunt, he changed his mind and proceeded to Paris. There he at once entered the studio of M. Bonnat.

With the approach of winter came a recurrence of his trouble. Before he had been a month at work he was ordered by his physician to the south of France. There, however, he was in a measure compensated for the interruption in his studies by making the acquaintance of F. A. Bridgman, with whom he went in the winter of 1873 to the Nile. The two passed four months of boating life, sketching and gathering artistic material."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Charles Sprague Pearce," an article from "The Art Amateur, Volume 10.