Escape with American Pre-Raphaelites at the National Gallery of Art

 
William John Hennessy, Mon Brave, 1870, oil on board, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Purchased with Funds given by the Rembrandt Club. This is reminiscent of the works by the British Pre-Raphaelites who were featured in a show at the National Gallery in 2013. Here, the woman mourns her lover, lost to perhaps the American Civil War or the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). The artist, according to the label copy, made this to aid French peasants and includes a memorial cross and wreath with the French "mon brave" ("my brave one") and an iris flower, associated with France. The catalogue recognizes also the symbolism of the laurel leaves on top of the portrait for the soldier's heroism, the white roses included for chastity and love, the forget-me-nots, "lasting devotion." I must admit, at first glance her flowing locks were all I saw, thinking she was kissing herself in a mirror!The catalogue notes she almost appears hypnotized "reinforcing the underlying necrophiliac mood." Note the streaming window treatment continues the mood flow.

Aaron Draper Shattuck, The Shattuck Family, with Grandmother, Mother and Baby William, 1865 oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Given in memory of Mary and John D. Nodine, by Judith and Wilbur Ross, Here is the artist's mother and wife with their firstborn in the parlor of their summer home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts which the artist uses to convey the sanctity of a home during war. Paintings on the wall reemphasize his message in this work which omits the father, off to war Beneath the painting in the painting on the right (you have to see the original whose colors are more vibrant than seen here) is a rosary, the catalogue notes, unusual to be found in a Protestant home but which may belong to Mr. Shattuck's friend, the poet, Fitz-James O'Brien, killed in 1862 in the Civil War fighting for the Union. The catalogue notes Mr. Shattuck may have been influenced by Gone, Gone below.

Fidelia Bridges, Laura Brown in a Wingchair, 1867 oil on canvas, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Purchase with American Art Acquisitions Fund. Laura Brown's figure seems much too small for the surroundings, especially the chair which seems to swallow her. The lighting on the carpet does not appear to match the shadows cast by the sun. This is one of six works by Ms. Bridges in the exhibition, the only works by a woman in the display.

Thomas Charles Farrer, Sketching from Nature, 1861, pen and black and brown ink on paper, cut into the shape of an arch, National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Davis Hatch Collection. Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In addition to his brother, Henry, who has several works in the show, Thomas's wife, Annie R. McLane, was an artist, too, but without representation in the show.

Thomas C. Farrer, Self-Portrait, Sketching, c. 1859, pencil on tan paper with Chinese white, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld. Several works in this exhibition are by Mr. Farrer who was Mr. Ruskin's student at Working Men's College in London before Mr. Farrer immigrated to the U.S. in 1858.  At age 19, Mr. Farrer made this of himself sitting in his boarding house in New York City.  The catalogue says Mr. Farrer was likely influenced by Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait which probably reflects the artist's image in a mirror and which was added to the London National Gallery in 1842.

Thomas C. Farrer, Gone! Gone!, 1860, oil on canvas, The Hon. William Gibson. The title and label copy tell the story behind this work painted just before the outbreak of the Civil War. A window opens onto the Hudson River behind the lady, and behind her is a painting of parting lovers by John Everett Millais which served as the model for Farrer's sad testimony to conflict.

John Ruskin, Fragment of the Alps, c. 1854–1856, watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper, Harvard Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Gift of Samuel Sachs. This is one of Mr. Ruskin's most celebrated works and shows his fascination with geology which he studied from childhood. He "firmly believed that the secrets of divine creation were contained in the rocky crevices and fissures of the earth," says catalogue copy. He was not the only artist intrigued by geology as illustrated by several works in the American Exhibition of British Art  of 1857-1858 in New York and Philadelphia. Rocks became the source of inspiration and subjects on canvas and paper and commanded much attention among these artists. many who were Mr. Ruskin's mentees.  Do you think they would support fracking if they were alive today?  See the youth below studying Mr. Ruskin's masterpiece today at the National Gallery.

 Ruskin's Fragment of the Alps attracts 21st century artists, too, July 9, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Henry Farrer, Winter Scene in Moonlight, 1869, watercolor and gouache on white wove paper, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Morris K. Jessup Fund, Martha and Barbara Fleischman, and Katherine and Frank Martucci Gifts, 1999. The catalogue has little to say about Winter Scene, the artist's earliest landscape watercolor. which seems oddly out of place, sharing space with flowers and verdant nature likenesses. Winter Scene reminds me of Nordic countries and the Phillips Collection's recent show, Nordic Impressions. Indeed, the wall copy says this nighttime scene is unusual for the American Pre-Raphaelites and may be a drawing of Brooklyn which was still rural where the artist, the younger brother of Thomas Farrer, lived. The brothers have several works in the exhibition.

William Trost Richards, In The Woods, 1860, oil on canvas, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Gift of Miss Mary T. Mason and Miss Jane Mason

Fidelia Bridges, Study of Ferns, 1864, oil on board, New Britain Museum of American Art, Gift of Jean E. Taylor. Ms. Bridges is the only female artist represented in the show which has six of her works on display.

William Trost Richards, Landscape, c. 1863–1864, oil on canvas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. This is the museum founded by Alice Walton, daughter of the Walmart founder, Sam Walton, which is located at the birthplace and headquarters of Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Admission is free. I inferred from the wall copy that a critic's condescending remarks indicated his belief this was not worthy f Mr. Richards's inclusion in respectable artists' circles, but perhaps I am overly critical of the critic.

William Trost Richards, Path in the Woods, 1861, oil on canvas, private collection.

Henry Roderick Newman, 1843-1917, The Temple Door at Abu Simbel, 1900, watercolor, private collection. Here the artist depicts the temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel in Nubia on the Upper Nile

Henry Roderick Newman, Ramleh, 1893, watercolor on paper, private collection. Ramleh, now a neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt, was formerly a fashionable resort where Mr. Newman and his wife wintered almost every year beginning in 1887.  After his first trip to Europe in 1870, they settled in Florence in 1874 where their home became a center for artists and tourists.  His Egyptian drawings commanded respectable audiences. If Egyptian art seems out of place here, Mr. Newman was the "last Ruskinian" and, as the wall copy says, the American Pre-Raphaelites "traded picturesque conventions for a quasi-scientific precision that was also charged with spiritual significance."  I still don't get it other than Mr. Newman was a Ruskin student and Mr. Newman liked Egypt and there you have it.  (I like Egypt, too, and that's why these are included here.)  Also, I believe Mr. Ruskin traveled several times to Mr. Newman's studio in Florence. Mr. Newman was also one of the "first significant American painters" to work in Florida.  He was born in Easton, NY. 

With the American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists and the Egyptians at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie
If ever I need a respite from Washington's heat, the National Gallery of Art is a perfect place to find escape and cool down amidst greenery and flowers in paintings by American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists which hang on the walls for a few days more on the ground floor of the West Building.

Like most of the exhibitions at the National Gallery, I want them all to stay so I can return and see the art anew. Especially for the Pre-Raphaelites, whether they are American, who are in the galleries now, or the British who came in 2013.

Whatever does "pre-Raphaelite" mean? Wikipedia says it much better than I:

The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Its members believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art, hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite."

The sub-title of this show, Radical Realists, certainly does not conform to contemporary definition of radical, but in the 19th century, they were "radical," we are told.

From the rocks of the Alps to woody wanderings to Egyptian palm trees and monuments, you can lose yourself and travel to faraway places on these walls.
 
The  hardbound catalogue ($65) by curators Linda S. Ferber of the New York Historical Society and Nancy K. Anderson of the National Gallery has 312 pages and 210 color illustrations, with photos and brief biographical notes about the artists and patrons. Save $20 on a $100 purchase.

What: American Pre-Raphaelites: Radical Realists 

When: Now through July 21, 2019, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday

Where: Ground floor, the West Building, National Gallery of Art, 4th at Constitution, NW, Washington, D.C.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com

July 4, 2019 on the National Mall with signs of the times

Trump at the CodePink tent at the National Mall July 4, 2019. By the time I arrived, the weather had put a stop to the Trump Blimp...aaarrrggggghhh/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 
The Washington Monument resembles a photo below on the National Mall, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The sign on the left of the cage reads: "Cage Trump    Not Babies" and the one in front: "Investigate Trump Taxes." A man sat in a lawn chair nearby to guard the cage at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On this sign TRUMPS is an acronym for "Traitor, Racist, Unqualified, Misogynist, Pathetic, Sad, so sad" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

These ladies are having a good time with selfies with Trump on the toilet.  The sign says "No Military Parade     For the Dear Leader     We're NOT Nazi Germany     North Korea    The Soviet Union" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This sign identified the button cart as "The Roving Anti-Trump Band Wagon" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This sign says: "Make America Lawful Again," at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Her t-shirt reads "In Our America   Women are in charge   OF THEIR OWN BODIES   Science is real.  BLACK LIVES MATTER   Diversity is celebrated   Kindness is everything   LOVE IS LOVE    ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Trump on the toilet drew lots of attention at the CodePink tent at the National Mall July 4, 2019.  The woman in the t-shirt is at far right.  

A few feet away I struck up a conversation with a man who was with his wife and three young children, ages three months, about 15 months, and not three years old. The mother, with infant strapped to her chest, dragged a huge Trump flag. The father, about 30 years old, said he liked my "Make Love   Not War" sticker I was wearing from CodePink.  "Would you like me to go get you one?" I asked him,  He wanted one, and I went and got four for all members of the family, save the youngest, and when I returned, we put the stickers all over the family members. He said he liked Trump but not war and didn't support Trump's attacking Iran, if he does.  I told him CodePink was quite anti-Trump, and he said he didn't care, that he liked the message.  Under thunder and lightening, the family stood in the rain without an umbrella. I tried to think of a shelter for them but could not come up with anything near the Washington Monument, and it was after the museums' closings.
  
Soon the three-year-old took my umbrella from my hand and wanted to keep it.  After a few minutes I got my umbrella back, said goodbye and left to see if I could find an umbrella for them. (You know how they are always around at the Metro stations, but this was not a Metro station and there were no umbrellas!)  

All I could find was ice cream and hot dogs.

Should I give them my umbrella?  I wrestled with the dilemma. My camera!  My phone! Getting wet.

After a few seconds I remembered a rain poncho I had stuck in my bag and went back to the family, now absent the father and oldest child, while the mother stood in light raindrops. She said yes, she would like the poncho so I helped her put it on while she covered her baby, asleep and head bobbing, in a blanket in its carrier which hung from her neck.  Meanwhile, the 15-month old stood in the rain uncovered.  I said goodbye again.  

I am still bothered by that family standing in the rain!  I believe it was the newborn with the bobbing head while his mother retrieved a bottle and bent to fetch items the other children had dropped on the grass which got to me.  When present, the father seemed totally oblivious to his family in the rain, but maybe that was just me, an old grandma, worrying about strangers and their needs which, I hope, are far less than what I imagine, and they are just fine/Photo by Patricia Leslie

  At the CodePink tent at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The man on the left at the CodePink tent wore a braid of sleeping squirrels or a raccoon with a big tail at the National Mall July 4, 2019 /Photo by Patricia Leslie

 At the CodePink tent, this woman lifted her rain poncho to show her sign at the National Mall, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This couple told me the Baby Trump balloons were free down at Constitution and 17th, but by the time I got there, no more balloons! July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On 17th at the edge of the White House grounds, this woman was happy with her new Baby Trump balloons.  Maybe the grimacer was unhappy he didn't get one? July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 The Baby Trump balloons were almost as plentiful on 17th as the spawning trash on 17th, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Happy families festooned with Baby Trump balloons on the Ellipse, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Executive Office Building festooned for July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Last weekend for 'Tintoretto' at the National Gallery of Art

Jacopo Tintoretto, Self-Portrait, c. 1546-1548, Philadelphia Museum of Art. He was a right dashing young chap, don't you think?  Who graces the back cover of the Tintoretto catalogue. Here portrayed by himself around age 28. The label copy says "he describes himself with a bluntness unprecedented in Italian portraiture" who a contemporary compared to "a peppercorn that overpowered other flavors in a dish." This portrait opens the exhibition. See below for a self-portrait made after a life.

Jacopo Tintoretto, Self-Portrait, c. 1588, Musee du Louvre, Paris.  Here we see the master aged 70, about six years before he died, and 40 years after the first self-portrait. See what life can do! Where is that confidence and reassurance brimming in the first self-portrait before he turned 30?  Is all optimism extinguished? Above, the artist seems ready to hang it up; consumed by sadness and gloom.  Somewhere I read he is saddened by the death of his beloved daughter, Marietta, but she didn't die until 1590 two years after Self-Portrait was finished, so...?  Perhaps, she was seriously ill at the time.
This portrait, owned by Marie Antoinette before it went to the Louvre, is found at the end of the exhibition, but I thought it interesting to juxtapose youth and old age to more easily compare them. Edouard Manet called the latter" one of the most beautiful paintings in the world." 

 

Jacopo Tintoretto, Spring, c.1546/1548, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA.  The goddess of Spring, Primavera, is pictured with Summer below, the first time in 25 years the two have hung together, which they do on nearby walls at the National Gallery. Tintoretto drew them and the other seasons for a palace ceiling, but Autumn and Winter are not here. Autumn is pictured in the catalogue as a young man, Vertumnus, privately owned. Perhaps the agreement to lend to the National Gallery could not be worked out which explains his absence from the show. Winter, likely lost to the ages, was probably a white-bearded old man similar to the self-portrait of 1588 above.

Jacopo Tintoretto, Summer, c.1546/1548, National Gallery of Art, together with her "sister" Spring (two above) for the first time in 25 years.

People standing near The Madonna of the Treasurers (above) present an idea of the size of the work/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Madonna of the Treasurers, 1567, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. This is almost an Adoration of the Magi, says the label, commissioned for a government financial office by treasurers who worked there. Here, on the right, merchants and professionals who are the secretaries in black, present revenue they have collected to the Virgin and Child.  In front of them, the three treasurers in crimson, who represent nobility, bow. Patron Saints Sebastian, Mark, and Theodore stand behind the Virgin and Child, and there is an extra figure who came later/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Jacopo Tintoretto, Portrait of a Widow, early 1550s, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.  For a widow she doesn't look that unhappy. Do I detect a faint smile? She is wearing typical mourning clothes of the period which do not disguise her near satisfaction that "it's over and done with!" The truth is in the eye of the beholder (me).  She still wears a wedding ring, a common practice 500 years later. The label copy says Tintoretto made few "high-quality" portraits of women, and Widow and Woman in Red (below) may be the only female survivors from Tintoretto's brush. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1550s, Gemäldegalerie, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.  This is red?  Which means you need to see it in person and/or buy the catalogue to see the rich color.  The label says this straight-laced and tightly-fitting gown is unusual for 16th century Venetian women whose designs featured square necklines to better reveal décolletage. This woman may be from Lombardy.  The tightly-strung garment makes it look like breathing is difficult.  As women, we know. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Creation of the Animals, 1550/by 1553, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.  One of my favorites in the show which I think would be a huge draw for all the lucky children whose parents bring them to the exhibition.With the rest of us, they can wonder at the might and majesty of the work. Who doesn't know the story from Genesis of how God created the animals?  It reminds me of Noah corralling the animals into his ark to save them from the flood. Maybe that's where these are headed.  How many birds, fish, and animals do you find?

Jacopo Tintoretto, Standing Clothed Man Seen from Behind, c. 1557, lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the lender, the reason I included this here. Her Majesty also loaned The Nine Muses, c. 1578, which you may see in the show and in the catalogue.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Origin of the Milky Way, 1577/1579, National Gallery, London. Formerly owned by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, this depicts Jupiter, the king of the gods, putting his baby, Hercules, on sleeping Juno's breast. Hercules is Jupiter's son who was born of a human, Alcmene. Juno is the queen of the gods and the wife of Jupiter who wants Hercules to be immortal. Milk from Juno's breast flows north to form the Milky Way, while the lower stream falls to Earth to become the lily flower. The bottom portion of the painting is not immortal, having been lost to the ages, but is known from a copy, the label says. If Milky Way ever becomes available for purchase, perhaps Jacqueline Mars of the Milky Way family in Virginia can buy it for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and become the Queen of the Milky Way. Just a thought/Photo by Patricia Leslie.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Virgin Mary in Meditation, c. 1582/1583,  Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di San Rocco, Venice.  When not at the National Gallery of Art, this work, like the one below of the Virgin reading, still resides in its original home where Tintoretto intended it. For San Rocco, he painted 50 works.

Jacopo Tintoretto, detail from The Virgin Mary Reading, c. 1582/1583,  Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di San Rocco, Venice. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Virgin Mary Reading, c. 1582/1583,  Scuola Grande Arciconfraternita di San Rocco, Venice.  Note the tree on the left which becomes Jesus hanging on the cross. (The photograph of the painting omits the top of the tree which stands out in its symbolism.) The catalogue says she was reading and meditating on the sayings of the prophets.

Welcoming guests at the opening of the exhibition are, from left, His Excellency Armando Varricchhio, the ambassador of Italy to the United States, speaking, and curators and authors Robert Echols and Frederick Ilchman. Between their shoulders, the artist himself peers from his Self-Portrait from 1546-1547 to open the show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The sizes of Tintoretto's works may be more accurately perceived when shown with the guards. Again, that's the artist's Self-Portrait in the center from 1546-1547./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ladies and Gentlemen, this spectacular show by one of "the three great painters of the golden age of Venetian art" is on display through Sunday at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. 

The exhibition celebrates the 500th anniversary of Jacopo Tintoretto's birth (c.1519-1594, Venice) and is the first North American retrospective of his work. It's an opportunity to see almost 50 paintings, some shown in the U.S. for the first time, on loan by institutions and individuals from around the world.

With Titian and Veronese, he is considered one of the three great Venetian Renaissance painters whose followers included El Greco, Rubens, and Velasquez.

He was a radical whom his audience adored and who was envied by his competitors. More than any other artist, Tintoretto's works  filled palaces, government buildings, churches, and other public buildings.

He was a devout Catholic who never forgot the poor, cutting prices for them and their churches. 

And when it came to promoting his artwork, Tintoretto was a master marketer who knew (and developed) a thing or two about selling to the wealthy.To increase recognition of his name and market share, he gave away paintings to future customers who had the wherewithal to afford them:  the rich and powerful. (Did you say "commission"?) 

Tintoretto's figures were super humans, sci-fi creatures with huge arms, muscles, and curves whose bodies filled canvases.

Writer Henry James called him "the biggest genius who ever wielded a brush."  Come and see why and enjoy not only his works on the walls but in the National Gallery’s Garden Café where the chef has fashioned a special brunch with variable selections including grilled salmon, baked frittata, spring pea salad, radicchio salad, orecchiette pasta salad, “old-fashioned bread pudding,” and more ($30).
 
Enjoy and feast your eyes and other senses on all things "Tintoretto" before he leaves for home.

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, with the special cooperation of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, organized the exhibition.

To the organizers and donors who made the exhibition possible, the people are grateful. 

Film:  19 minutes, noon, July 5, 2019, East Building Auditorium

Catalogue: 312 pages, 240 color illustrations. By Robert Echols and Frederick Ilchman, available in soft ($45) and hard ($65) covers, 2018. (Spend $100 or more at the gift shop and save 20%.)

What: Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice

When: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Open on July 4.

Where: The West Building between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission charge: Never at the Gallery.

Metro stations closest to the National Gallery of Art are the Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives and L'Enfant Plaza.

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com