Barnes's spectacular Rousseau ends Feb. 22

 

Portrait of a Woman in a Landscape, 1899, Barnes Foundation.  This may be Rousseau's mother who died the next year.  The church spire is like that found in the artist's hometown, Laval. The forget-me-not flowers symbolize remembrances.

It's not too late to jump on board a train and head up to Philadelphia  to the Barnes Foundation for Henri Rousseau:  A Painter’s Secrets which leaves the station on February 22, 2026.

It's the largest Rousseau exhibition in 20 years, with works from museums around the world, and it's the first time in almost 40 years that the Barnes is loaning some of its collection to another institution, the co-developer of Rousseau's Secrets, the Musee de l’Orangerie in Paris where the show travels next. 

The memorable Snake Charmer, 1907, Musée d'Orsay.  How many snakes can you find?

Unpleasant Surprise, 1899-1901, Barnes Foundation. The label copy asks:  Is she a victim, or does she rise against the violence?  ('Splain!)

Eve in the Earthly Paradise, 1906-07, on permanent loan from the Stiftung Hamburger Kunstsammlungen

The Musee de l’Orangerie has the world's second largest Rousseau collection (11) following the Barnes with the largest (18). 

For the first time in 100 years, the show reunites some Rousseaus and brings together several which have never been together: The Sleeping Gypsy (1897), Unpleasant Surprise (1899–1901), and The Snake Charmer (1907). 

Because he created the Snake Charmer after The Sleeping Gypsy was sold, Rousseau never got to see them together.

Tropical Landscape - An American Indian Struggling with a Gorilla, 1910, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Tropical Forest with Monkeys, 1910, National Gallery of Art, Washington

Fight between a Tiger and a Buffalo, 1908, Cleveland Museum of Art. Rousseau said a client commissioned Fight for 5,000 francs but Rousseau could only collect 200 francs from an art dealer.

In the galleries in January/photo by Patricia Leslie

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) was a self-taught French post-impressionist who didn’t take up painting until he was in his early 40s. Wikipedia calls him a “self-taught genius” although many, during the artist's lifetime, thought his work was amateurish and child-like.  (Tell that to the buyer who paid $43.5 million for Rousseau's 1910 Les Flamants in 2023.)

His only teacher, Rousseau said, was nature.

He never left France to observe and draw the jungle scenes and wild animals he anthropomorphized with human faces for he found inspiration at a greenhouse, at Paris's Natural History Museum, in children’s books and listening to French soldiers talk about their experiences in Mexico.  

The Pink Candle, 1908, Phillips Collection

The Family, 1892-1900, Barnes Foundation. Rousseau still owned this when he died.  He grew up in a wine-making region of France where his sister, daughter, and granddaughter still lived when he died. The label points to all the consternations in the painting:  unhappy people, especially the women, perhaps because, with the exception of the seated woman, none of the ladies drink!

Child with a Doll, 1892, Musée de l'Orangerie. The doll seems almost as big as a giant baby bottle! Note the little girl's feet rooted in the grass. The label copy notes the extreme care the artist devoted to this work. Rousseau and his wife had six children, five of whom died early.   

The Wedding, 1905, Musée de l'Orangerie, which Rousseau was unable to sell, even for 300 francs.

In the galleries in January/photo by Patricia Leslie

Rousseau's The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope was exhibited at the first showing of The Fauves in 1905 where his painting may have influenced the name of the group. ("Fauve" in French means "wild animal" or beast.) 

In 1908 Picasso hosted a memorable banquet in Rousseau's honor, a party still referenced decades later and attended by Guillaume Apollinaire, Juan Gris, and Gertrude Stein, among others.

Rousseau tried to make a living as an artist but did not succeed, documented by his reuse of canvases and alterations to please  clients.

In the galleries in January which overflow with almost 60 Rousseaus/photo by Patricia Leslie

War, 1894, Musee d'Orsay. Perhaps Rousseau was reflecting on the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and the Paris Commune of 1871, when he lived in Paris.

Among the many recognizable names Rousseau influenced were and are Picasso, the Surrealists (where a huge exhibition on Surrealism runs through Feb. 16 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art), the poet Wallace Stevens, Sylvia Plath, singer-songwriter, Joni Mitchell, and ... Meta.

In his younger years, Rousseau worked for the government as a tax collector which he left at age 49 to pursue art fulltime. 

Rousseau was curated by Christopher Green, professor emeritus at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, and Nancy Ireson, deputy director for collections and exhibitions at the Barnes, with the support of Juliette Degennes, curator at the Musée de l’Orangerie.

An eight-page color synopsis of Rousseau and his works is available at no charge at the exhibition and, in the shop, a hardcover, 336 page catalogue sells for $65.

Blake Gopnik's biography of Dr. Barnes, the Maverick's Museum is also sold in the shop, an unforgettable book which drew me back to the museum.  (You see what books can do!  And I took three friends.)

What do Rousseau's paintings mean?  It's up to you.

They can serve as springboards to imagination and evolve into personal stories.  Each contains sources for more than one novel! Let your imagination run wild...like Rousseau's!

At the Barnes/photo by Patricia Leslie

What:  Henri Rousseau:  A Painter's Secrets

When:  Thursday - Monday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., through Feb. 22, 2026

Where:  The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, ph. 215-278-7000

How much: Two-day tickets are $30 (adults) and $28 (seniors). Students are $5 and members receive free admission.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Book review: 'Stan and Gus,' highly recommended

Some things never change like testosterone levels or old men chasing young girls, like Stanford White (1853-1906) did which led to his murder, like Jeffrey Epstein did which led to his ...

White's murder comes at the end of Stan and Gus: Art, Ardor, and the Friendship That Built The Gilded Age, a thoroughly engrossing tale by Henry Wiencek about White and Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) two notable designers, sculptors, architects who helped set the tone for the Gilded Age, the Belle Époque.

This page turner unfolds the two associates' "secret lives," and same-sex relationships, which is not the main story here but the book is about friendship, associations, and big projects and what it took to finish them.

To protect his friend from exasperated and frustrated clients impatient for their delayed sculptures, White acted as Saint-Gaudens's agent, making excuses and constantly asking for patience from weary patrons, many waiting years for completions.

Throughout life, Saint-Gaudens accepted more work and commissions than he could perform, many at the same time, like the 40 he worked on while also designing the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial at Boston Common which took him almost 14 years (1884–1897) to finish.

Before the father of Augusta Homer ("Gussie") would agree to marriage between his daughter and Saint-Gaudens, Mr. Homer had to be convinced that the sculptor had a large future commission laying in the wings (which he proved), yet in his two-volume memoir, edited by their son, Homer Saint-Gaudens, Saint-Gaudens devoted only five lines to Gussie. 

They were married for almost 60 years, until his death, although "Gus" spent much of that time with his mistress, using her face for many sculptures, including the famed Diana.

During Boston's single digit winter temperatures of 1876-77, Saint-Gaudens and White collaborated with others on Trinity Church. 

Gus was often moody and depressed, constantly worried about debt.  

Wiencek writes it is difficult to know why Gus accepted the Clovis Adams sculpture, Clovis Adams, the suicide victim and wife of Henry Adams, but Henry Adams acted on the advice of a friend and walked in to Gus's shop to obtain a commitment, which, to Adams' long anger, was years in the coming.

Gus believed (p. 187) that “sculpture lasts forever" and "he wanted perfection,” often turning away from projects for long periods, trying to find the something they lacked. 

White's son Lawrence, also an architect, believed architecture "hemmed in his father’s natural talents” since his father really wanted to be a painter (pp. 80-81). 

After seeing Renaissance painting in Europe, White remarked (p. 81) that “architecture seems but poor stuff compared with things like these.” 

Like cheaters today, White paid hush money (p. 124) to keep his exploits out of the press. 

Most of the major works discussed in the book are pictured which sent me scurrying to Wikipedia to find the missing pieces. Without index and notes, the book runs 262 "little” pages and is a "fast read."  

I am lucky to live near the Shaw and Adams's memorials to see them again and again in person, whether at Rock Creek Cemetery or the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the latter two which hold casts models of  Shaw and Adams. 

Stan and Gus is a New Yorker "Best Book of the Year" which lives up to the inclusion. Because of its complexity and dark colors, the cover will not win any prizes, but the book will make a great movie! 

patricialesli@gmail.com

  

Anti-ICE, Anti-Trump at Tysons, VA

A demonstrator today at the Anti-ICE/Anti-Trump rally/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

At Tysons today, all four corners were covered by demonstrators at Westpark and Route 7/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

Along Route 7 just beyond the intersection with Westpark, they stood in the rain/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

So do I!  Thank you, Grandmother for being there today/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

The people stood in the rain to convey the message to melt ICE and stop Trump and his unconstitutional practices/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

Based on an unscientific survey, 95.5% of passing drivers blew their horns in support of the demonstrators while 100% of passing truck drivers sounded their support/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

She made a sign out of last night's dinner box, she said/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

"Yes, I did," she beamed!  Bravo!  She had a sign!/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

These moms brought their toddlers to help broadcast the message:  Stop ICE!/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

If you think this sign looks like it came from a "No Kings" rally, you'd be right, said the maker and carrier/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

This woof-woof carries the right message:  Love Your Neighbor - Doggonit/By Patricia Leslie, Jan. 10, 2026 at Tysons, VA in honor of Renee Nicole Good 

Renee Nicole Good did not die in vain at the hands of ICE.  

George Floyd did not die vain only a mile from where Ms. Goodman was murdered. 

They both inspired citizens to take to the streets and carry messages that vicious, violent behavior by law enforcement will not be tolerated like the Trump administration tolerates and encourages. 

As much as Trump tries to install Gestapo practices in the United States and copy North Korea, China, and Russia, the American people will resist and perhaps, soon, Republicans will resist, too.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Italian embassy celebrates Futurism with Depero

Depero Fortunato, "Women of the Tropics," 1945, oil on panel, Studio 53 Arte, Rovereto 

 

Depero Fortunato, "Harlem Mulatto," 1945, charcoal and white lead on cardboard, Studio 53 Arte, Rovereto

Some of the figures remind me of Guy Fawkes's mask and robots, precursors to today.

Rather scary, haunting creatures, lacking human depth.

It may be only the second exhibition of Futurist's Fortunato Depero's works in the United States (the first I found was in Miami in 2024), and what better place to show off an Italian artist than at Washington's Embassy of Italy, the country and place of the movement's birth?

Depero:  Graphic Art Between Italy & United States highlights Futurism, Italy’s early 20th-century avant-garde movement which focused on speed, modernity, and bold visual language, says Wikipedia (you know:  elements of the future!) 

Depero Fortunato, "Ballerina Meccanica (Mechanical Dancer)," 1916/26, collage on cardboard, Studio 53 Arte, Rovereto 

 Depero Fortunato, "Citrus," 1928 advertising poster, Archivio Depero, Rovereto. I can almost taste the drink, looking at the poster.

Depero Fortunato, "Bitter Campari, L'Aperitivo," 1928, advertising poster, Archivio Depero, Rovereto. Depero had a longstanding relationship with the Campari Company when he designed Campari Soda bottles. 

 Depero Fortunato, "Caffe' Cirio, 'Domus' Magazine Back Cover," 1936, Archivio Depero, Rovereto

At the opening of the Depero show at the Embassy of Italy, Sept. 9 2026/By Patricia Leslie 

Italian Ambassador  to the U.S., Marco Peronaci, welcomed visitors to the opening of the exhibition which is up through January 30, 2026:

 “Depero was also a bridge between Italy and the United States: this exhibition highlights the deep interweaving that has fueled mutual cross-pollination and cultural dialogue between our two countries in the last century and beyond."

Depero Fortunato, "L'Aperitivo. Bitter Campari," 1927, project for billboard, tempera on cardboard, private collection, Rovereto

Depero Fortunato, "Lettrice E Ricamatrice Automatiche (Automatic Reader and Embroiderer)," 1920-22, oil on canvas, private collection, Rovereto

Depero Fortunato, "Big Sale (Downtown Market)," 1929-1930, oil on canvas, private collection, Rovereto

Depero Fortunato, "Grammofono Gramophone," 1924, advertising project, pencil on paper,  Archivio Depero, Rovereto

Marco Peronaci, Italy's ambassador to the United States, welcomed guests to the Embassy of Italy and the opening of Depero:  Graphic Art Between Italy & United States Sept. 9, 2025/By Patricia Leslie

The Futurists painted, they sculpted, made ceramics, and created designs for every production realm; they are sometimes linked to art deco, surrealism, constructivism and Dada.  

Depero (1892-1960) was one of the founders of the development whose goal was to make the world a more "joyful place," says Wikipedia. 

Inspired by a trip to Florence in 1913 and an article about Futurism, Depero moved to Rome in 1914 and, while designing ballet costumes and stage sets, he co-wrote a Futurist manifesto in 1915  ("Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe") with fellow Futurist Giacomo Balla.

Depero founded the House of Futurist Art in his hometown in Rovereto in 1919 which specialized in making toys, tapestries and furniture. 

To try out his talents in the U.S., Depero moved to New York City in 1928 where the advent of the Great Depression (1929-1939) presented a hostile reception. 

Still, he found work as a costume designer and making covers for Vogue and the New Yorker, helping introduce Futurism to the American public.  He also worked for Macy's.  

The Italian Cultural Institute at the Embassy of Italy writes on its website that Depero thought New York City was the ultimate Futurist city, and the Chrysler Building shows his influence.

He returned home in 1930.

Futurism's links to fascism during World War II shunted its growth among the public.

His move back to New York City in 1947 found an even cooler reception for him than his first visit and he went back home again where he lived long enough to see one of his longtime dreams come true, the opening of his museum in  Rovereto, the year before he died. 

The museum is still open today.

The Depero exhibition may be visited at the Embassy by registering for guided tours organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington. (See below.) 

What:  Depero:  Graphic Art Between Italy & United States

When: Now through Jan. 30, 2026

Where: Embassy of Italy, 3000 Whitehaven Road, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

How much: No charge.  Tours of the exhibition are available by registering with the Italian Cultural Institute here, but hurry and sign up since few days and times remain for the show!

For more information: ph. 202-612-4400, email: washington.ambasciata@ester.it

A link to the full catalog in digital non-reproducible format may be found here.

The Cultural Affairs Office Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C.

patricialesli@gmail.com

A Romanov closes Hillwood Jan. 4

At Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

Especially for Russophiles, there's no time to waste to get to Hillwood and see its exhibition, From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley which closes Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. 

Princess Natalie Pavlovna Paley was the daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, who was a first cousin and uncle of Czar Nicholas II. 

Her mother was Princess Olga Valerianovna Karnovich, her father's second wife whose scandalous affair and marriage led Czar Nicholas to ban his uncle from Russia for 12 years.

Dorothy Wilding (1893-1976), Natalie in London, c. 1934, at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Edward Steichen (1879-1973), Natalie in Vogue Paris, Feb. 1, 1935, at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

Princess Paley was born near Paris in 1905 while her father was in exile.  She and her family lived a luxurious life in France with the help of about 16 servants.

For the Romanovs' tercentenary, the czar relented on his banishment of Grand Duke Paul and welcomed him back to Russia in 1912. Once there, Paul renewed his close relationship with the Royal Family and was the one, according to Wikipedia, who told Empress Alexandra of her husband's abdication. (Writer's note:  Google won't allow the link to Wikipedia!)

(The Grand Duke's son from his first marriage, Dmitri, was involved in Rasputin's murder in 1916.)

Eventually, the Bolsheviks killed Natalie's father and only brother, Vladimir, both members of the military. Vladimir was only 21 when he died and was close to Natalie and her sister, Irina. 

The girls and their mother escaped to Finland.

Edward Steichen (1879-1973), Natalie's first appearance in Vogue, Jan. 1928, at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

George Dawe (1781-1829), Portrait of Grand Duke Alexander at age two, 1820, Princess Natalie's grandfather, Emperor Alexander II, a portrait which hung in her father's study in Tsarskoye Selo, and later, in Natalie's Connecticut home, on view at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

Letters, silver, and china on view at the exhibition, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

An evening dress by the House of Worth, Paris, 1888, similar to one worn by Natalie's mother, as part of the exhibition at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915), Portrait of Olga von Pistohlkors, 1886, Princess Natalie's mother, at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

A clock and inkwell presented in 1896 to Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, Natalie's father, at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

Princess Olga and Prince Vladimir, Natalie's mother and brother,  1900s, at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

On view at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

At Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens/By Patricia Leslie

Princess Natalie's good looks and talents shaped her life as a socialite, a Vogue model and influential fashion designer, but her short film career was not successful.  

Over decades living in France and New York, and becoming a naturalized American citizen, Princess Natalie married twice, both times to homosexuals attracted to her style and influence in the world of fashion and society and her positive effects on their businesses. 

From Hillwood's website: "Paley was known for her exquisite taste, someone ethereal and glamorous who dictated her own fashion trends.... (and) embodied the cool, discrete Hollywood allure of the 1930s."

Hats and gloves became her de rigueur accessories, seen in photographs in Hillwood's display. 

The exhibition includes bits and pieces of the princess's life, fascinating and appealing to those  able at Hillwood to gain another glimpse of a Romanov's life. 

Portraits, linens and documents are some of the 335 new items which Hillwood obtained three years ago, many which fill the dacha outside the Hillwood mansion. 

After her second husband, Broadway producer John C. Wilson died in 1961, Princess Paley spent the last 20 years of her life as a recluse in Manhattan where she died in 1981 after a fall at her home.

What: From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley 

When: Now through Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Open, New Year's Day. Closed on Mondays. (After January 4, Hillwood will close for the month of January for annual cleaning.)

Where: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Admission: Suggested donations are $20 (adults), $17 (seniors), $10 (college students), $5 (child, ages 6 -18) and free for members and those under age 6. $3 discounts are available for adults and seniors who make reservations online for weekdays.

Directions via bus, rail, car

Parking: Free and on-site

For more information: 202-686-5807

Café onsite

patricialesli@gmail.com