Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Final Word

"The Blue Gown" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"Sadie and Frederick Carl Frieseke purchased tickets for a visit to the United States to see Frances, Kenton, and Hugh, their new baby. But it was not to be. On the afternoon of August 24, 1939, shortly after the German invasion of Poland, when it was clear to the world that the awful die was cast, Frederick Frieseke died suddenly at his home in Normandy. The cause was an aneurysm. 

Sadie cabled Frances, 'Darling, our Papa could not stand the overpowering emotions of the last few days - with no suffering he left us last night... be brave and help me to bear my sorrow, love.'

The last paintings from Frieseke's hand are vivid small landscapes done in the spring of 1939, when the orchards were all in flower. In the early summer, two months before Frieseke's death, Macbeth had organized a large retrospective exhibition of Frieseke's work for the New York's Grand Central Art Galleries. Frederick's old friend Karl Anderson wrote to him on July 30, 1939, concerning both the exhibition and the times:

'I want to set you straight on the exhibition at the Grand Central. My own impression and, better, the comment of many artists, to me, was fulsome praise if ever I heard it. I assure you it was a premier show of the year, at least for the painters. It means something, but not much at this time, that you did not sell. Show after show came and went, this year, and no sales were made. 

We can explain this only in this way: that the fear of war and the distressing economic state in this country has so distressed people that they have lost all interest in things of the spirit or of any of the forms of beauty. It occurs to me that this might explain the tolerance of sensitive humans to dull ugliness in line and color. It has been easier to accept the propaganda which fostered it than to think much about it. 

My impression was that your exhibition awakened many to the forgotten promise that has been broken. For a short time many had regret that the art you gave was not now in the mode of the misled amateur. More than one artist told me of their faith that your talent was not in eclipse, but that the thought of it was but out of people's mind, for a short time. You are then in the enviable class of the unappreciated and misunderstood, and you should be very happy about that.'

We still have the paintings, which are alive and continue to offer an invitation to the viewer to enter into conversation with them. But let the last words be those of the painter himself, a simple statement, stubborn and hopeful, the last one we have from him to Macbeth, written in September 1937, after Frances had moved away. If anything he ever wrote explains him, these words do. 'We have decided to stick on here for the present. Am working again.'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.) 

 

Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Question of Place

"Memories" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"Frances Frieseke, Frederick and Sadie Frieseke's daughter, and Kenton were married in Le Mesnil sur Blangy on June 2, 1937. As was the custom, the whole village joined in the festivities. Afterward the couple went to the United States to live. With the announcement of Frances' pregnancy at the end of the year, the issue of the Friesekes' possible return took on additional impetus. But should they move Frieseke's career must also change its orientation, since painting is a response to both place and time. 

A letter from Sadie to Kenton and Frances gives some idea of the continuing discussion and of its context:

 'Saint Gaudens [Homer Saint-Gaudens], his wife, and Lerolle came to lunch on Wednesday. Papa was a perfect host and the déjeuner went off beautifully... They were all unanimous in telling him to stay where he is. Saint Gaudens says that unless he lives in New York he might as well be here & that even when the American artists have a good year they are worried to death as to where the next year's rent is coming from. You can see how impossible it would be for Papa to live in such an atmosphere... 

They think Papa's later pictures the finest he has done & Saint Gaudens said - what you want to do is stop worrying about where to go & just keep on painting. Erwin Barrie, director of the Grand Central Art Galleries & Macbeth wish to have a retrospective exhibition of Papa's pictures at the New York Grand Central Art Galleries, sometime in the fall - with some of his later things. Barrie has sent five of Papa's pictures to the Venice exhibition & the Italian gallery has given him an entire wall, so Papa seems encouraged by the reborn interest in his work.

As Papa says, if he could he would burn at least 3/5 of the pictures he has painted & it may be the very ones he would burn that they will choose. If I could only persuade Papa to go over himself to hang the show [Sadie was ill at this time] - but of course he won't hear of such a thing.'

The Friesekes purchased tickets for a visit to the United States to see Frances, Kenton, and Hugh, their new baby. But it was not to be." 

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.) 

 

Frederick Carl Frieseke: For the Love of Art

"Blue Girl Reading" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"Concerning the Macbeth exhibition of Frieseke's winter subjects, Robert Macbeth wrote with brutal brevity, 'We liked them and the public didn't.' Frederick Carl Frieseke returned to exhibiting at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1932, but from then on, working chiefly for himself - and an audience that was not likely to include purchasers - he concentrated almost exclusively on the portrait.

The drastic reduction in the family's finances led them to give up the Paris apartment and to settle down in Normandy. In 1934 Fred reached the age of sixty and was experiencing periods of depression and physical disability, such as neuritis in the shoulders, which made painting difficult.

Nevertheless, the years 1934 to 1935 saw the last great flowering of the painter's energy in a series of portraits including 'The Library,' and culminating in his late masterpiece, 'Blue Girl Reading,' both portraits of Frances. His last extensive show of recent work in October 1935, included some sixteen paintings spanning the period from 1932 onward. That his work continued to be well received, in critical terms, is amply demonstrated by the award of the Corcoran's second William Clark Prize and a silver medal for the 1934 portrait "At the Piano.'

In 1935 it was becoming increasingly evident to all who took note of the political winds in Europe that another major war was inevitable. The effects of the Depression were still a factor also. At the same time, Frances had become engaged to Kenton Kilmer, a young American poet and editor with whom she had begun a correspondence in the winter of 1933-34. Considering their daughter's impending marriage and other factors, the Friesekes contemplated the possibility of moving to the United States. Frieseke wrote Macbeth:  

'I have not been painting for some time. I promise the impetus will come again some day, when I can convince myself that it is worthwhile from some point of view. I have a very few canvases, but it really doesn't seem worthwhile adding to your encumberment. At times we consider returning to America to live but it seems a bit venturesome after all these years, especially as we can live here perfectly comfortably on our greatly reduced income. I must confess, however, that I am getting dissatisfied at not working.'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.) 

 

Frederick Carl Frieseke: Ill Health

"White Lilies" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"The Frieseke family returned to the United States during the final weeks of 1928. It had been eighteen years since they had last seen New York. They were shocked and overwhelmed by the rush and vulgarity, and by the hypocrisy manifested in urban America under Prohibition. They also stopped in Pittsburgh and then visited the Karl Andersons in Connecticut. Anderson had been storing old paintings of Frieseke's that Macbeth had no present use for, and Fred took the opportunity to destroy a great many of them, which he felt to be 'no longer a credit to his reputation.'

On their return to France, their daughter, Frances, whose health had never been robust, was diagnosed as having a 'pretubercular' condition. It was decided that she must be exposed to a regimen, which included better air, in Switzerland. This downturn in her health recalled the recent death of her friend Elsbeth, who was Richard Miller's daughter. That had hit the Friesekes very hard. Sadie reminded Frances:

 'You know I was with Elsbeth's mama when Elsbeth was born and I always felt that if anything happened to her parents that she would of course live with us. She seemed so much a part of our family... I think of that other poor mother and father who haven't any little girl any more and I just feel as though I couldn't bear it. I wrote to Aunt Billee & Uncle Richard & I wish you to do also - just the kind of letter you would like Elsbeth to have written to me, if God had taken you away from us... You will all understand how such a terrible tragedy makes my heart stand still. Poor Papa is a wreck & and of one thing you can be sure. There will be no boarding school away off among strangers for you...'

So Sadie accompanied Frances to Switzerland, where they spent the next two years while she followed her cure prescribed by a sanatorium. Fred joined them within four months. Within the next few years Frances improved enough that the family returned to Normandy."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.) 

Frederick Carl Frieseke: Salon des Tuileries

"Child at the Piano" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"In 1923 Frederick Carl Frieseke broke from the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and joined with others in establishing the Salon des Tuileries, showing two nudes, a portrait of the dancer Jane Belo, and an image of his daughter Frances at the piano. In keeping with the sentiments of the renegades, the group's introductory manifesto proclaimed:

'The most gifted of the artists of the Salon d'Automne and the Independent were invited to show next to Friesz, Guérin, Flandrin, on the line at the Salon de Tuileries, even the isolated who, on account of their hatred of the promiscuity of the salons and their mercantilism in the race after medals [had rejected the other salons as unworthy venues for true artists].' 

 In its first year the Tuileries attracted others among the Europeans who were associated with the more modern movements. Matisse would join the following year, as would Marc Chagall and Paul Sérusier. It is in this company, perhaps, as well as in that of such Americans as Bellows and Glackens, that Frieseke's work of the last two decades is best understood. Never discordant, shocking, or purposely worrying, Frieseke's later works nonetheless contain a new sense of realism that more and more eschews style or an audience's expectation. They rely more on the accidents of everyday life, which when they are viewed with the painter's care, take on a poignant gravity.

The October 1924 shipment to Macbeth - twenty-two canvases ('the pick of my things, past and present') - shows the artist's preferred direction. Seven of the clothed figures are portraits of Frieseke's wife or daughter in which the artist, relishing the range of color to be discovered in the skin in shadow made no effort to address a public taste for what might be dismissed as merely pretty. There was a growing disparity between what collectors looked for and what Frieseke's development led him to produce. One critic observed of one work:

'The figure belongs to the highest reach of Frieseke's talent, finely observed, beautifully and tenderly painted with the quiet, almost solemn, grasp that for a time was almost driven out of flesh-painting by the attempted radiance of impressionism.'

Frieseke took what comfort he could. 'I cannot help feeling from what I have heard from others, that it was a success from points of view other than financial.' But Frieseke pressed on, continuing to exhibit regularly in the Salons and joining with his colleagues in group exhibitions in Paris and the United States."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.) 

 

Frederick Carl Frieseke: Outside Interests

"Frances" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"In Paris the Friesekes kept up their social schedule. Fred painted in the morning, played billiards in the afternoon. They had luncheon, tea, or dinner with friends, and attended musical and theatrical offerings. Sadie, being far more gregarious than Fred, was more likely to take part in the salons at Gertrude Stein's than he. He preferred to lunch quietly with his good friend the Irish painter Roderic O'Conor, a neighbor on the rue du Cherche Midi and once Gauguin's painting companion, or he might play billiards with the painter Charles Thorndike, visit exhibitions, or browse the book stalls.

In Normandy Fred painted or fished. If the caged bird - for him the symbol of contented domesticity - had a natural rival it was the wild trout of the Touques or the Risele. Sadie became an active participant in the life of the town where their farm was situated. At the Normandy house, called La Beauvairie, and commemorated in the artist's 'My Home in Normandy.'

There had never been a time when Frieseke did not turn serious attention to landscape. His protracted study of the Luxembourg Gardens in the spring of 1901 had led directly to the Brittany landscapes of that summer. In Giverny he had done 'pure' landscapes without figure) representing that specific countryside, but Macbeth could do nothing with them and tended not to show them.  

Whether outdoors or in his studio the painter was entranced by the change of light and atmosphere in Normandy. Unlike the sunny, dry Giverny climate that reveals brilliant and distinct colors, the Normandy microclimate is moist, unpredictable, and frequently wild, with brilliant sun often eclipsed by wind and rain. The fertile landscape presents a bewildering range of absorbent greens, with only the most subtle color shifts. This landscape fascinated Frieseke. He was also intrigued, no doubt, by his new position as proprietor of a working farm. During the 1920s he returned to it frequently, working either in the orchards and pastures below his home or in the extensive gardens Sadie designed and supervised above it."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.) 

 

 

Frederick Carl Frieseke: Normandy and Frances

"The Artist's Daughter" by Frederick Carl Frieseke

"As his career progressed Frederick Carl Frieseke did not hesitate to follow his innate sense of how his craft must develop. His manner and approach would become progressively more meditative and deliberate, his production less. He wrote Macbeth:

'My present method of painting allows me to produce very few pictures as compared with that I turned out previously. You will have to explain to your customers that these pictures take five to six times as long to paint as previous ones, and I consider them far more complete as works of art.'

There were other changes at work as well. In 1919 the Friesekes decided to shift their summer quarters. They had become friendly with the Philadelphian George Biddle, who had painted with Fred in Giverny during the summers of 1915 and 1916. In September 1919 Fred wrote to George, 

'We have been trying to find a place in Normandy to buy. Hard to  find what we want and the troubled times here make us doubtful if it's wise to buy at all... Giverny has been quite gay this summer. Louis [Ritman] is installed in Miss Wheeler's house with his model [Gaby]. Waldo Pierce, with Jeanne Savoy, is living in the little house next to the farm...'

Though the Friesekes often said that their reason for taking a place in Normandy was the fishing, undoubtedly they had also concluded that Giverny was no place to bring up a little girl. Once they had purchased the Normandy property in 1919, Frieseke began the series of landscapes and the clothed figures - many of them portraits - that would occupy him for the remainder of his life. As Frances grew older, she became more and more his preferred subject.

From the very beginning the Friesekes had never been at ease about their daughter's health. Her birth followed a difficult pregnancy, and her infancy was threatened from the outset by her parents' unwitting use of a criminally adulterated baby formula to which formaldehyde had been added as a preservative. For much of her youth, and until her marriage in 1937, Frances was considered to be either an invalid or at grave risk. Though she occasionally attended schools for brief periods, as the Friesekes moved back and forth from Paris to Normandy, for the most part her education relied on tutors and governesses."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Frederick Carl Frieseke: A Biography by Nicholas Kilmer" in Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist"published on the occasion of an exhibition of Frieseke's work.)