Artist and fashion maven Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) was born in the Ukraine to a Jewish family. Her uncle Henri Terk and his wife adopted her when she was a child. He was a lawyer in St Petersburg, and his home was full of French art. Sonia had a governess who taught her English, French, and German. The artist Max Liebermann, a friend of the Terks, gave her a box of paints. She studied art in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 1903 until 1905, when she moved to Paris to study at the Academe de la Palette, a progressive art school. She met the Russian painters Kandinsky and Jawlensky, and Picasso, Braque, and Robert Delaunay, and saw the work of Gauguin, Van Gogh, and other Post-Impressionists. 

Delaunay was given her first solo exhibition in1908 at the Wilhelm Uhde Gallery. She married Uhde to remain in Paris because her parents wanted her to come home. When she met Robert Delaunay, she was “carried away by the poet in him.” She and Uhde divorced a year later, and she married Robert. Uhde explained the situation: “After a year our marriage came to an end.  A friend of mine felt he could make my wife more perfectly happy than I could.”

 

Both Sonia and Robert were painters influenced by Picasso and Cubism, but their early paintings lacked color. They named their style Orphism, after Orpheus, the famous musician of ancient Greek mythology.  The style also is known as Simultanism, a term coined by Guillame Appollinaire, the poet and play write. They said, “We have liberated color, which has become a value in itself.” Chevreul’s study of color in 1839 identified the phenomena of simultaneous contrasts: colors look different because of the colors that surround them.

Sonia created the Simultaneous Dress (1914) when she and Robert attended the hot night club Bal Bullier on Montparnasse in Paris. The dress is designed with a variety of color patches, similar to a patch work quilt. However, the patches reveal the shape of the body beneath the fabric. The bodice is divided in half. The right side defines the neck with the colors green and beige, the breast with black and dark green, the waist with gold, and the hip with a white crescent shape. The fabrics on the left form a multicolored pattern. The waist is green with a black semi-circle. The lower part of the dress is composed of elongated shapes pointing downward. The right side is differentiated from the left by a long dark green ruffle. Materials used in the dress are tulle, silk, flannel, and peau de soie. Robert’s outfit had a red and green jacket, red socks, yellow and black shoes, black pants, and a sky-blue vest. Guillaume Apollinaire described their outfits as “sculpture built on a living frame.” Blaise Cendrars, the poet and novelist stated, “On her dress she had a body.” 

 

Sonia wrote, “Before WWI broke out, Robert had shot off rockets in every way.  I, on the ground, had lit more intimate and ephemeral fires in everyday life.” The Delaunays were on vacation in Spain when the first World War started.  They lived in Madrid for a while and then relocated to Portugal.  They met Sergi Diaghilev, and Sonia was invited to design costumes for the opera “Cleopatra” in 1918, and “Aida.” in the Orphic style. The costumes, like her fashions, were created using fabrics in bright colors, and clearly were designed to accentuate the female figure. Sonia also established the Casa Sonia, a workshop and store that featured her clothes and fabrics, also lampshades, tableware, furniture, pottery, and household items. 

The couple returned to Paris in 1920. They opened their apartment on Sunday afternoons for artists, poets, writers, and intellectuals. It was the best- known salon in Paris. Sonia opened the Atelier Simultane studio in Paris, and she designed clothing for many well-known people, including actress Gloria Swanson and poet Nancy Cunard. She received commissions from Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer for the Bauhaus. She was commissioned in 1923 by a silk manufacturer in Lyon, France, to create 50 fabric designs. Sonia was one of the exhibitors at a Paris international exhibition of decorative arts in 1925. Other participants included the furrier Jacques Heim, Lanvin, Hermes, and Channel.

 

Sonia’s art was featured on the cover of the British Vogue Magazine in January 1925. She believed that color could be used everywhere and that clothing could be coordinated with an object. She designed the outfit and the car for the magazine cover. 

That same year, Citroen invited her to paint the Citroen B12 (1925) and design an outfit to wear with it. The CEO of Matra commissioned Sonia to paint the Matra M530, which had a fiberglass body and a Ford V4 engine and was manufactured from 1967 until 1972.

Sonia frequently knitted and embroidered the items she produced. The hand embroidered coat for Gloria Swanson” (1925) contains geometric designs that are created with a striking color palette.

 

At a distance the hand embroidered coat (1925) appears to be a luxurious fur. Sonia had learned to embroider as a child, and she used it frequently because it reminded her of Russia. She employed a couch stitch that holds the vertical wool threads in place with silk threads. 

 

Sonia designed everything, including shoes (1925). 

 

The Amsterdam department store Metz & Co. offered dresses by avant-garde designers, and it became one of Sonia’s most important clients. She worked for the firm for 30 years, starting in1925. Metz also sold her fabrics in America. Metz produced over 200 of her fabric designs, but the store’s archives had over 2000 of her sketches. Sonia’s husband Robert designed the first paper dress patterns, permitting people to produce their own Delaunay dresses. Paper patterns inspired the idea of ready-to-wear fashion.

Sonia’s knitting skill came in handy when she began to design and knit women’s bathing suits (1928). 

An album of her designs was published in 1928 in Paris.  The stock market crash of 1929 brought an end to Sonia’s fashion house; it closed in the early 1930s. She painted two large murals for the Air and Railroad Pavilion at the1937 Paris World’s Fair, and she received a gold medal. 

Robert died of cancer in 1941. Sonia moved to Grasse in the south of France with several other French artists. Some were resistance fighters. The Nazis confiscated the house, but Sonia remained in Grasse. She continued to paint and made plans to preserve Robert’s reputation. Exhibitions of his work and a catalogue raisonné (1957) were produced. She was made a Chevalier of Arts and Letters in1958.

 

After the War, Sonia was again a major figure in the art world of Paris. She added jewelry, stained glass, and porcelain, but she continued to paint. Sonia was the first living woman artist to be given a retrospective in the Louvre in1964. She donated 177 of Robert’s paintings to the Paris Museum of Contemporary Art, better known as the Pompidou. She also received the City of Paris Gold Medal, and she was made a member of the Order of the Legion of Honor.

The Aubusson Tapestry company commissioned Sonia, Picasso, Leger, and Calder to create tapestries designs in 1967.  UNESCO’s first “International Women’s Year” poster (1975) was designed by Sonia Delaunay in the Orphism/Simultanism style that she and Robert invented. She was given her first American retrospective at the Albright-Knox Museum in Buffalo, New York, in 1980. Major exhibitions of her work continue today, and fashion designers continue to be inspired by her work.

 

Sonia Delaunay died at age 94. Among her last words were “Je suis une optimiste (I am an optimist).

 

“I always painted as an amusement, and it amused me to do that, but this amusement took my whole life.” (Sonia Delaunay)

 

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Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Max Liebermann (1847-1935) introduced Impressionism to Germany. His parents owned a leading cotton factory in Berlin. Liebermann studied art at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School in Weimar, Germany. He moved to Paris in 1873 and set up a studio in Montmartre.  He spent the summer of 1874 in Barbizon, outside of Paris, where he discovered the work of Daubigny, Corot, and Millet, the first French painters to adopt plein air (outdoor) painting. Liebermann admired the work of Millet that featured laborers working in the fields. He also admired the paintings of Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Degas.

Liebermann submitted “Women Plucking Geese” (1870-71) (not shown here) to the Paris Academy in 1872. It was in the dark colors of the German style and of common working people. Although the Academy accepted it, it was sharply criticized, earning him the title “painter of the ugly” and “apostle of ugliness.”

 

 

Unhappy that his skills were not progressing, Liebermann traveled to Holland in 1875, where he discoverd the work of Frans Hals, a Dutch painter of the 17th century, who used a thick application of paint (impasto) with visible brush strokes. Liebermann’s “Dutch Sewing School” (1876), is evidence of the influence of Hals and early Impressionism in Paris. Sunlight pours through the windows and the Dutch costumes are painted with strong yellows on the white collars and hats. Liebermann’s adopted Impressionism did not use the rainbow colors of the French, but hewas able to depict a sun filled room. He captured the intensity of the young seamstresses at work by depicting accurately the positions of their hands. 

 

 

Liebermann continued to prefer painting the common people at their work. He believed the quiet and solemn nature of workers was a worthy subject. “Free Period in the Amsterdam Orphanage” (1881-82) (31”x42’’) represents his interpretation of the Impressionist style. The sunlight of the scene is filtered through trees, creating dappled spots on the ground, walls, and girls. These became popularly known as “Liebermann sun spots.” He chose to retain the original colors of the objects: the red and black dresses, the white hats and aprons, and the earthy colors of the buildings and walkway. Renoir also was famous for his dappled sunlight effects. The viewer feels the warmth of the sunlight and the serenity of the scene. It does not come to mind that these women are orphans.

 

 

Liebermann spent his winters in Germany and his summers in Holland. He was born three days before Germany passed on July, 23,1847, the law emancipating Jews.  His early paintings were unpopular, but by the 1880’s his work shown in the Paris Salons had become popular, and he had found several patrons. Liebermann knew his decision to move back to Berlin in1884 could cause conflict because he was Jewish, and antisemitism was on the rise. His painting “Twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple” in1789 (not shown here) was sharply criticized because Jesus was depicted in the clothing of a poor Jew.  Nevertheless, several German artists supported him, and he was accepted into the Association of Berlin Artists. At the Paris Salon of 1880, he was the first German artist to receive an honorable mention for his work. The painter and art critic Ludwig Pietsch (1824-1911) called Liebermann a “great talent and an outstanding representative of modernism.”

‘’Munich Beer Garden’’ (1884) (37”x27’’) portrayed one of Germans’ favorite pastimes, beer gardens. Under the shade of the trees, people sit in the sunlight and enjoy the beautiful day. The Liebermann sun spots seem to flicker on the colorful costumes, kerchiefs, bonnets, and boater hats. In the foreground of the painting are three charming little girls. Liebermann was married in September 1884, and his daughter Kathe was born in 1885.  After her birth, he did little painting because he was a devoted father. 

 

 

Liebermann began to make sketches for “Flax Barn in Laren” (1887) (53’’x91’’) while he was in Laren, Holland. He was fascinated by the process of converting flax into thread and then into linen fabric. The girls wear black dresses with white aprons and klompen 

(Dutch clogs). They stand on the wood floor and hold cleaned flax stems which they twist into linen thread. Across the room, seated men and women wind the flax onto spindles. Growing flax to be made into linen cloth was an important industry in Laren. When Liebermann exhibited the work in the Paris Salon in 1887, the reception was generally unenthusiastic. However, Adolph von Menzel, a well-known German painter, remarked that the painting was “the only one to represent men and not models.”

The room with little light coming through the windows is not the usual Impressionist sunny scene. The painting is one of Liebermann’s larger works. His continued interest in the laborers of his time is set against the new factories and machines of the  industrial age already taking hold in Europe. 

 

 

Many of Liebermann’s genre paintings were sketched while he was in Holland and painted when he returned to Berlin. A simple subject, “Woman with Goats” (1890) (50”x68”) depicts a wide verdant green field. Paths are worn in the grass with tracks in many directions. A Dutch woman in clogs pulls on the rope of the larger, stubborn goat, most likely to lead it home. The second goat does not give her any trouble. Painted in larger, freer brush stokes, the scene is appealing. Liebermann received a gold medal in 1891 for this painting at the Munich Art Association exhibition.

Liebermann was honored by the Prussian Academy of Art on his 50th birthday in 1897, and he was elected president of the Academy in the following year. He received a medal of honor in the 1890 Paris International Exhibition, and he was admitted to the Société des Beaux-Arts in Paris.  Germany’s younger artists were eager to move into a modernist style, and the Berlin Secession, founded in 1898, elected Liebermann as the first president.

 

 

 

Liebermann purchased a house in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee in 1909, and he began to paint landscapes and garden scenes. “Garden Restaurant on the Havel-Nikolskoe” (1916) was one of the many paintings he did of the Lake Havel-Nikolskoe during the summer. The sunny scene is similar to those of Renoir who also loved to show people gathered by a lake enjoying themselves. Liebermann’s scene includes dappled sunlight. The colors are in the Impressionist style with rainbow colors used to depict sunlight and shadow throughout the scene.   

Liebermann became a favorite portrait painter of the German aristocracy and upper middle class at the beginning of the 20th Century.  He painted over 200 portraits, including Albert Einstein, Richard Strauss, and Paul von Hindenburg, President of Germany from 1925 until 1934. Hindenburg gave him an eagle shield “as a token of the thanks that the German people owe you.” Adolph Hitler stated in a paper, “It would be unheard of for a Jew to paint the Reich President.” Liebermann’s response was “I can only laugh at something like that. I’m convinced that when Hindenburg finds out, he’ll laugh about it too. I’m just a painter, and what does painting have to do with Judaism?”

As the leading German artist, Liebermann had to deal with several long running challenges from the German academy artists and the modern artists he supported. On his last trip to Holland in1912, Queen Wilhelmina presented him with the Order of the House of Orange. On returning to Berlin, he was awarded a doctorate by the Friedrich Wilhelms University, and art academies in Venice, Brussels, Milan, and Stockholm made him a member in 1913. He was elected president of the Prussian Academy of Art in 1927. His work was included in the art competition and painting event in the 1928 Sumer Olympics in Berlin. 

When the Nazi’s came to power in 1933, the Academy decided not to show any works by Jewish artists. Liebermann resigned from the Academy before he was forced to by the new anti-Jewish laws. The Gestapo began removing his paintings from museums and private collections.  Liebermann stayed in Wannsee with his wife and continued to paint until his death in 1935. The Gestapo forbade attendance at his funeral, but more than 100 people showed up, including the German printmaker and sculptor Kathe Kollwitz.

Liebermann’s wife Martha inherited his large private collection of art, and she kept it with her in Wannsee. She suffered a stroke in 1943 and was bedridden. She took her own life after she was ordered to report to a concentration camp. Their daughter escaped to America.

Hundreds of Liebermann’s paintings and others from his private collection are listed by the German Lost Art Foundation, created in 1994. The Max Liebermann Society opened the Liebermann Museum on April 30, 2006, at the villa in Wannsee.

 “In his various capacities as a leader in the artistic community, Liebermann spoke out often for the separation of art and politics. He pushed for the right of artists to do their own thing, unconcerned with politics or ideology.” Grace Gluck (1926-2022) American arts journalist)

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Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

August 15 was the 125th anniversary of the installation of the Hebe fountain in Fountain Park in Chestertown. Hebe was the youngest daughter of Zeus and his sister-wife Hera.  According to Pindar (c.515-438 BCE), one of the famous lyric poets of Greece, Hebe was the most beautiful of the goddesses. The Greek word Hebe means youth or prime of life. The goddess Hebe played an important role on Mt Olympus as the cupbearer to the Gods. She was responsible for providing ambrosia, the nectar of the gods, the elixir of eternal youth. Hebe danced with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and was Aphrodite’s herald. Hebe is often present with Aphrodite in images of weddings in ancient art.

On the Chestertown Fountain, Hebe pours ambrosia from a pitcher into a cup. Below, swans spout water. They represent inner beauty, innocence, and a commitment to others. Swans were the symbols of the Muses that inspired poets and artists. The base of the fountain is a large shell that collects the water, a reference to the birth of Aphrodite. Born in the sea, she was ferried ashore on a large seashell pulled by dolphins.  A famous depiction of this is “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli (1482-85). The shell is supported by lions’ heads. Lions represent power, courage, and justice, but most important in the fountain, they represent protection.

 

“Marie Antoinette as Hebe” (1773) (38”x31”) was painted by Francois Drouais (1727-1775), a popular portrait artist in the court of Louis XV. Portraying royal women as Greek goddesses became very popular in the Rococo Period (c.1750-1880). Marie Antoinette was Dauphine, not yet Queen, at the time of this painting. She was just 14 years old. Hebe was a very popular subject, often depicted with a pitcher and goblet, and an eagle that represented her father Zeus. Drouais and the artists of the Rococo period preferred pastel colors, unlike the rich colors of the previous Baroque period. 

“Mrs. Musters as Hebe” (1785) (94”x57”) was painted by English artist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Reynolds’s style was a blend of Baroque and Rococo styles.  The soft pastel clouds and Hebe’s transparent scarf represent the Rococo. The dress and eagle are painted in the deep reds, browns, and blacks of the Baroque.  Sophia Catherine Muster (1758-1819) was 24 years old at the time her portrait was painted. It was intended for her husband, but it was given to the Prince of Wales (1762-1830), later George IV.  Mrs. Musters was believed to be one of his many lovers.

“Anne Pitt as Hebe” (1792) (55”x39”) was painted by Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Marie Antoinette’s favorite painter. Vigee-Lebrun wrote in her memoirs about painting the sixteen-year-old Miss Anna Pitt while they were in Rome. Vigee-Lebrun fled Paris on the same night that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were arrested. Looking for accuracy in her representation of the eagle, Vigee-Lebrun borrowed an eagle from Cardinal de Bernis. The eagle, unhappy about being brought into the studio, behaved badly. Vigee-Lebrun managed to depict a calm bird.

“Hebe” (1800-1805) (62.2’’) (marble) was sculpted by the Italian Antonio Canova (1757-1822), considered to be one of the greatest sculptors of the Neo-classical period (1760’s until 1850’s). After the French Revolution, artists returned to the Classical style of ancient Greece.  Hebe holds the pitcher and cup, this time with a golden metal finish. Her figure is classically proportioned, and she is partially nude. Canova treated her garment with the wet drapery look used by the Greeks before female nudes became popular. “Hebe” descends from the clouds above Mt Olympus. 

Delegates to the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, at its convention in1874, officially encouraged erection of Temperance Fountains, many depicting Hebe, in American hometowns. Tea and coffee were expensive, beer was unacceptable, but fresh drinking water was safer, cleaner, and free. Numerous “Hebe” fountains were cast from a mold that was very similar to Canova’s sculpture. Chestertown’s “Hebe” may be one of them.

“Hebe and Jupiter” (1852-57) (marble) was commissioned by the city of Dijon, France, from native-son Francois Rude. Rude chose to depict Hebe with a full-sized eagle, representing her father Jupiter (Roman name for Zeus). With wings spread out behind Hebe, the eagle looks up in anticipation of receiving the ambrosia. Several smaller sculptures of the statue were cast in bronze and can be seen in American museums. Rude is known for his sculpture “Departure of the Volunteers” (1792), frequently called “La Marseillaise” on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Sculptures of Hebe from ancient Greece represent her as a goddess, sometimes with wings, and sometimes without them. “Hebe Taking Hercules to Mt Olympus” (c.525 BCE) (Ricci hydria water jar) (black figure vase) (Etruscan) is a depiction of another part of Hebe’s story. Goddess of brides, she originally was unmarried. When the mortal Hercules died, she was charged with bringing him to Mt Olympus where he was made him immortal. Hebe became the divine wife of Hercules. The images of Hercules, following the tradition, depict him with short, curly hair and a beard. He wears a lion’s skin over his shoulder and carries a large club. 

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Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

The Olympics began officially in 776 BCE, but games have been recorded as early as the 9th Century BCE. The Roman historian Dio Chrystostom (40-115 CE) wrote in the Rhodian Discourse, “You know that the Olympian crown is olive leaves, and yet many have preferred this honor to life itself, not because there is anything wonderful about the olive that grows there, because it is not given carelessly or for slight achievement.”  

There were four games: the Olympic, the Nemean, the Isthmian, and the Pythian. One was held each year in a four-year cycle, and the same rules applied. Each game was dedicated to a male god. In 566 BCE, the Panathenaic games started in the city of Athens and honored Athena, the patron of the city. The events included sports competitions, banquets, processions, and there were contests in poetry and music. Olympic athletes received olive wreaths made from the olive tree of Zeus, and they were celebrated with life-size statues. At the Panathenaic game, winners received olive wreaths from Athena’s olive grove and a black-figure vases filled with olive oil.

After the unexplained decline in c.1100 BCE of the Minoan and the Mycenean civilizations, Greece went through a period of dark ages.  The first major artistic development was vase painting, in what is called the Geometric period (c. 900 BCE). The clay around Athens was discovered to be excellent for pottery making. It contained iron oxide giving it an orange-red color with a sheen when it was fired.  

Black Figure Geometric Krater (c.750-735 BCE) is a large two- handled vase. Such vases ranged from approximately fourteen to twenty-two inches in height. The vase was used to dilute wine with water. The period was named Geometric by art historians because the first vases were painted with complex geometric patterns. By 750 BCE, painters had added a row of female mourners with their hands on their heads, standing on either side of a coffin that included men and dogs. The lower row depicted warriors either marching or driving chariots and holding figure-eight shields. The figures were composed of simple geometric shapes. The subject came from the stories of the Greek gods and heroes, later written down by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. Such elaborate funeral rites were given to Greek kings and warriors.

“Wrestling” (c.500 BCE) (Archaic period, c.700-480 BCE) (6.5’’x9’’) is a skypos (deep drinking cup), painted by the Theseus painter. Wrestling was very popular, and with the exception of biting and attacking the genitals, everything was legal. Snapping fingers, breaking arms, and breaking other bones was typical. Wrestlers were naked and covered with oil. Wrestling standing up was held in a sand filled pit, and one wrestler had to throw the other three times to be the winner. Ground wrestling was over when one man was so exhausted he quit. 

Archaic vase painters have made significant strides in depicting the human body. Proportions improved, and knowledge of musculature is evident in this piece. The potter who made the vase was not the painter. The painter used slip, a mixture of clay and water, to paint. The color of the clay was orange/red as was the color of the slip. This meant the artist applied paint the same color as the vase. The muscles were articulated by incising lines. First, the kiln was heated to 800 degrees centigrade, and the vase remained orange/red. In the second stage, reduction, the kiln vents were closed, and the temperature increased to 950 degrees centigrade. The addition of green wood to the kiln created smoke, causing the vase to turn black. Finally, the vents were opened, and oxygen entered. The non-painted areas returned to orange/red, and the thicker painted areas remained black.

The trophies of the Panathenaea were amphorae filled with olive oil from Athena’s olive grove. Athena is shown on one side and the sport on the opposite side. “Two-horse Chariot Race” (c.510 BCE) (25’’) was by the Legos group painters. Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts, wears a helmet, brandishes a spear, and holds a shield depicting an image of Nike, the goddess of victory. On pedestals on either side are roosters, representing Athena’s war aspect, because roosters were combative. The skin of Athena and Nike is white, created by adding a white slip of kaolinite, a technique used sparingly in the Archaic period. 

A two-horse chariot race is depicted on the opposite side. Two horse heads are visible, one parallel with the other. To make sure the horses were complete, the artist painted eight back and front legs.

“Four-horse Chariot Race” (c.410-400 BCE) is an amphora from the Panathenaea games. The painter made progress in the depiction of the driver and the horses. The details of the four horses are more realistic. The horses’ heads are incised to show eyes, mouths, ears, and main. Each has a bridle and breast plate which is decorated with white slip dots. The bearded charioteer is dressed in a white chiton and a leather belt. Two and four horse chariots raced12 laps which equaled 9 miles. 

This race was the one event where a woman could win a trophy. Women, foreigners, and slaves were not allowed to participate in any form, even as members of the audience. However, wealthy women could sponsor a chariot and horses in the race, and could win. The law stated that women would be thrown off a cliff if they trespassed. Only the priestess of Demeter and her virgins were allowed to be present at the events. 

The “Hoplitodromos” (c.323-322 BCE) (26”x33’’) is a Panathenaea amphora depicting the foot race, one of the essential elements of the games. The foot race, known as a stade, was one length of the stadium. Hoplites were the civilian soldiers who wore helmets and carried shields and spears into battle. The introduction of this special foot race for hoplites was a later development. The weight of the shield and sword was approximately 12 pounds.

“Music and Dance” (c.510 BCE) (13”) is a pelike wine jar with a depiction of two male dancers and a musician playing an aulos, a double reed, double piped instrument. The games included musical and poetic competitions. A man could win a prize by reciting a Homeric poem most rhapsodically.  Rhapsodist was the Greek word for reciter of epic poetry. Singers were accompanied by the aulus or a lute. Drama contests also were held. 

Plato described the importance of music in Republic : “The music master makes rhythm and harmony familiar to the souls of boys, and they become gentler and more refined and having more rhythm and harmony in them they become more efficient in speech and in action.  The whole life of a man stands in need of good harmony and good rhythm…In keeping the harmony of his body in tune, his constant aim is to preserve the symphony which resides in the soul.”

 

 “Discobolus” (c.510-500 BCE) (7.7’’) is an example of the development of red-figure vase painting in c.530 BCE.  Reversing the process, the artists painted the background with slip. As a result, the figure appeared more human. The artist’s knowledge of anatomy had advanced. This artist created a composition using elegant curves that perfectly echo the circular shape of the stemmed drinking cup, a kylix. The inscription around the right edge of the kylix reads, “Cleomelos is beautiful.”

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Looking at the Masters: Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

The Mycenaean civilization (1600-1100 BCE) was the source for Homer’s epic poems Iliad and Odyssey.  King Agamemnon of the city of Mycenae had to unite the rulers of several other Greek cities to form the army that would go to Troy to rescue the beautiful Helen, wife of Menelaus. Among the male heroes were Achilles, Nestor, Odysseus, Ajax, Hector, Paris, all familiar names in the Iliad. 

 

 

The city of Mycenae is located on a fortified hilltop 900 feet above sea level on the Greek mainland, 21 nautical miles from Crete. Crete had declined by c.1450 BCE and was occupied by the Mycenaeans at that time. They were hunters and farmers, not sea going people. Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890), business man and amateur archologist, was obsessed with Troy and Mycenae. After trying unsuccessfully to find Troy, he turned his attention to Mycenae. He began digging in 1876. He discovered a grave circle which included 19 burials: nine males, eight females, and two children. He determined that six were royal graves. They contained skeletons covered in gold, gold jewelry, swords, spears, and daggers. Schliemann called the most impressive gold death mask the “Mask of Agamemnon” (c.1550-1500 BCE) (10.5’’) (gold sheets). Homer wrote in the Iliad, “rich in gold Mycenae.” Other gold death masks were found: a gold lion-headed rhyton (drinking cup in the shape of an animal head), a bull-headed rhyton with gold horns, and a gold stemmed goblet he called the “Cup of Nestor.” Homer stated that Nestor was the only man who could lift the cup when it was full of wine. The cup weighed over a half pound.

“Lion Hunt Daggar” (c. !600-1500 BCE) (detail) is a depiction of four hunters carrying shields and who are about to kill a charging lion. A fifth male lies on the ground, probably killed by the lion.  According to Homer, and confirmed by Schliemann’s discoveries, the Mycenaeans were skilled warriors and used spears for their long reach. Spears were cheaper to make than daggers because they required less bronze, making them available to the lower classes. Two rectangular shields are depicted. The figure-eight-shield, also seen in frescoes and other ornaments on Crete, was made of curved wood and layers of cow hide. A fresco of a figure-eight-shield is behind the dagger blade. The shield’s copper supports can be seen in the fresco. This shield offered greater protection; in some images the shield almost enclosed the warrior. Making these shields required more time and expense. The figure-eight-shield is thought to be intended for use in rituals. 

The “Warrior Vase” (12th Century BCE) is another example supporting the importance of the army in Mycenaean culture. Warriors walking in one direction appear on both sides of the vase. This group of warriors wear bull-horned helmets, short chitons, and greaves on their legs for protection. Each carries a long spear with a knapsack tied to it. The knapsack is an indication they had traveled some distance. Mycenaean artists did not reach the level of skill found on Crete. The profile noses, in particular, appear comical to the modern viewer. The vase dates from the end of the Mycenaean Period and is an illustration of the decline of the civilization by c.1100 BCE.

Schliemann’s quest for treasure was to end on June 15, 1873. That day he struck gold. He called it Priam’s Gold, believing it was the treasure of gold brought home from Priam’s palace in Troy. “Sophia Schliemann” (1873) is a photograph of his wife wearing just a few pieces of gold jewelry he had found. Gold diadems, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, pins, rings, and belts, were among the objects. The workmanship was excellent, indicating Mycenaean royal women were rich. The high quality of the items also indicates that Mycenaean trade with Crete was active when Crete was dominant, and the Mycenaean’s appreciated their beauty.  Many of the items were made in Crete, not Mycenae.

Jewelry motifs ranged from lilies, elaborate flowers, seashell, spirals, bull heads, acorns, gold discs, and eagles.  The treasure included silver and bronze pins with rock crystal heads, amber beads, gold rings with Minoan goddess images, hunting and dueling scenes, and skeletons wrapped in gold sheeting. 

Mycenaean ruins were found in Tiryns (Kingdom of Nestor), Lerna, Pylos, Argos, and Thebes. A large room in the palace of Tiryns was decorated with a fresco that extended around all four walls. It began with “Chariot Drivers’’ (c.1200 BCE) (20” high) depicting two Mycenaean women, with white skin. They participate in a religious ceremony or are hunting. They ride through a forest of trees that resemble fans. The red color of the tree, chariots, and horse is the same red color found in Minoan frescoes. The women do not have the elaborate puffed sleeves and layered skirts of the women of Crete. Both men and women wear simple chitons. Curves appear in the composition, but only in places where one would expect to find them: a tree shape, a chariot wheel, and the rear end of the horse. Many straight lines add formality and rigidness to the scene. Continuing along the walls, people walk with spears and ride in carts or chariots. Greyhounds, deer, and hares are also included. Kills are made by both men and women. Men and women appear to have an equal place in the hunt.

“Boar Tusk Helmet” (14th Century BCE), according to Homer was given to Odysseus by the Cretan hero Meriones. Several of these helmets have been found, this one at Tiryns.  Made of 40 to 50 boar tusks, with a lining of woven leather straps and a felt cap, the helmet would have been extremely expensive.  The tusks run in alternate directions in each row. Depictions of boar hunts decorate weapons, jewelry, and frescoes. Boars’ heavily muscled bodies, their tough hides, and sharp tusks make them dangerous and hard to kill. They were hunted only for their tusks. The boar tusk helmets were a symbol of wealth and male power. 

The Mycenaean civilization was in decline by 1100 BCE. As with Crete, the specific reasons are not known. A period known as the Dark Ages ended in c.900 BCE with the rise of Greek culture that and prospered through the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods.   

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Looking at the Masters: Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

“There is an island called Crete in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a fair land and rich with water, and therein are many men innumerable, and 90 cities…and among these cities is the mighty city of Knossos, wherein Minos when he was nine years old began to rule, he who held converse with great Zeus.” (Homer, Odyssey, Book 10)

 

Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea south of the Greek mainland, was inhabited as early as 7000 BCE with a population of 25-50 people. Crete suffered from earthquakes, and the palace of Knossos was rebuilt several times. The palace was constructed c.1900 BCE and was destroyed c.1350 BCE. Excavation of the palace was first begun in 1877, but work was halted by conflicts with the Ottoman government.

 The Greek myths of Theseus and the minotaur and Daedalus and the labyrinth are set on Crete. British archeologist Arthur Evans was inspired by the myths, and he began extensive excavations at Knossos. Two foremen and 32 diggers began to work on the flower-covered hill in March 1900. Excavation of the site continues today. The existing palace covers 150,000 square feet. Outer structures remain under excavation.

A steep road leads up the mountain from the seaport. The “Ladies in Blue” (c.1600-1430 BCE) (fresco) got its name, as did most of the images, from Evans. Images of women abound on Crete and give us insight into a culture where men and women were equal, unlike many ancient civilizations.  The three women’s heads are in profile, and their black hair is elaborately coiffed and decorated with strings of pearls. Their long elegant necks lead to a frontal view their bare breasts surrounded by puffed gold and blue sleeves

 

“Snake Goddess” (c.1650-1400 BCE) (faience, a fired quartz paste with lustrous sheen) is one of many found on Crete. The bodice and breasts, narrow waist, and several layers of skirt are typical of the dresses worn by the women of Crete. With her arms outstretched, the woman controls a snake in each hand. Other Snake Goddess figurines include snakes coiling around the waist, breasts, and arms. On her head is a crown with a cat or panther on top. She could be described as “Mistress of the Animals,” similar to female figures from other cultures. She is a divine figure with great power; both men and women worship her.

The “Queen’s Megaron” (c.1700-1450 BCE) (Queen’s Room) is well-ventilated with windows, doors, and air shafts, allowing sea breezes to keep the air fresh. A small female figure can be seen on the door at the right side of the room. Two interior doors are decorated with a motif of blue flowers and a red spiral design found in seashells. One of the doors leads to the Queen’s bathroom, where a bathtub was found. It could be filled with water and then overturned onto a floor drain. The second door leads to a latrine with a seat over a drain. It could be flushed by pouring water into it with a jug, and the drain below is connected to an extensive underground drain system. Fresh water from a nearby mountain spring was funneled into a system of terracotta pipes that carried fresh water throughout the palace. Another system supplied fresh water to the town below. Water management and waste disposal were exceptional for the time.

The large “Dolphin Fresco” on the wall of the Queen’s megaron provides another example of a culture that enjoyed life. Humans and Dolphins had a close relationship because they were considered sailors’ friends. As a result, stories of dolphins saving ships and men from drowning made them a good omen. Dolphins were thought to be messengers from the gods. The five dolphins swim with schools of smaller fish in a painted wave pattern of water. Sea corals protrude from the top and bottom of the scene.   

As islanders, the Minoans were not afraid of attack, because they dominated the seas. They had all the resources they needed on the island or from trade. Their storage rooms held terra cotta jars (pithoi), as tall as a human, decorated with wave patterns. Minoan potters employed several decorative devises, none more famous than the curling legs of an octopus. 

The Minoans had the time to think, plan, and take full advantage of the sea’s offerings provided by their guardian, the god Poseidon. Unlike Egyptian art at the time, Minoan art is full of curved lines.  Almost no straight lines appear. Gentle curves and circular images are the hallmark of a relaxed society.   

One popular image, “Bull Leaping” (c.1450-1400 BCE) (fresco on stucco relief) (30.8’’x41.1’’) (“Toreador Fresco”) celebrated the athletic skills of both men and women. This popular image was repeated on gold rings and in sculpture. The bull is composed of elegant curved lines from horns to tail. The male figure, painted in red to indicate he is more often outside in the sun, is placed in the middle position, summersaulting over the bull’s back. The two females, painted in white to depict their more delicate skin, are placed at the beginning and the end of the leap. The female at the left grabs the horns preparing to leap, the male at the center somersaults, and the female at the right has just dismounted, sticking the landing. The figures wear loin cloths. Their hair is curled at the top, with curls falling down their backs. The muscles of their athletic bodies are emphasized. The scene is famed by decoratively painted rocks.

The myth of King Minos tells of his request to Poseidon, the god of the Sea, to send him a bull, a symbol of fertility, strength, and renewal. Minos prayed for a son, and promised to sacrifice the bull as an offering in thanksgiving. Poseidon sent a spectacular bull, and the king was hesitant to kill it, preferring to keep it for breeding. Aphrodite, angered by this betrayal, caused Minos’s wife to lust after the bull. Daedalus, the court architect, was persuaded to make her a cow suit, and she mated with the bull. The child was the Minitour, a man with the head of a bull who rampaged across the land of Crete. Minos ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth under the palace to contain the Minitour, because he would not dare to kill him. Images of bull horns in the palace are prominent. For example, visitors walking up to Knossos pass by pairs of carved bull horns that are seven feet tall and over six feet wide.  

 

Throne Room (15th Century) was a place for ceremony and administration. The red walls were typical of many rooms in Knossos. An alabaster seat, called a throne by Evan, was built into the north wall, and its back was designed with long curves. A lustral basin, a tub for purification, was set in front of the throne. Benches of gypsum were placed around the walls. Around the walls, are large frescoes of reclining griffins, a mythological animal that was part lion and part eagle. The combination of the two created a creature of both earth and sky, symbols of divinity and kingship. Behind the griffins are tall lilies. The griffons and lilies also were prevalent in paintings and in small sculptures on signet rings and other decorations in the palace.  

An earthquake in the 15th Century BCE destroyed Crete. The splendor that was the palace of Knossos was unearthed and is in process of being restored. 

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Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

The myth of Orpheus was the subject of poetry by the famous Roman poets Virgil (79-19 BCE) in Georgics, Book IV, and Ovid (43 BCE -17 CE) in Metamorphosis, Book 10. The story inspired artists, painters, sculptors, and musicians over the centuries.

Orpheus was the son of the muse Calliope, goddess of epic poetry, and either Apollo or the King of Thrace. “Orpheus” (c. 200-250 CE) is a Roman floor mosaic from the Piazza della Vittoria in Palermo. His musical gifts were said to be extraordinary; they charmed every animal from snakes and turtles to bulls and tigers, even birds. Orpheus is depicted in the mosaic as young and handsome. He holds his lyre and plectrum, the instrument for plucking the strings. He wears the conical Phrygian cap from Persia and Thrace.

 

“Nymphs Listening to the Songs of Orpheus” (1853) (oil) (44’’x36’’) (Walters Gallery, Baltimore) was painted by Charles Francois Jalabert (1819-1901). He was a popular society painter who worked in the Academy style. The wood nymphs, who lounge among the rocks on the soft grasses of the woods, where particularly fond of Orpheus’s music and songs. Jalabert poses Orpheus at the rear of the composition, surrounded by the woods, and for dramatic effect in silhouette. It was said that even the grass, flowers, and trees swayed with the sound of his music. In his play Henry VIII, Shakespeare wrote, “Orpheus and his lute made trees,/And the mountain tops that freeze,/Bow themselves when he did sing.”

 Orpheus journeyed with the Argonauts to Colchis to find the Golden Fleece. His music was so powerful that it saved them from the songs of the Sirens. When he came home, he married Eurydice, the nymph he dearly loved. While she wandered among the flowers, she was bitten by a snake, and she died. Orpheus enticed with his music the boatman Charon to ferry him to Hades. He played his music for Pluto, the god of the Underworld, and his wife Persephone, and he begged them to allow Eurydice to return with him to the world of the living.  “Orpheus and Eurydice” (1636-38) (76’’x96’’) (Prado Museum, Madrid) was painted by Peter Paul Rubens for the Torre de la Parada hunting lodge near Madrid.

Rubens placed Pluto and Persephone on thrones under a black canopy appropriate for a king and queen. At their feet, the three headed dog Cerberus, who guards the gates to the Underworld, is calmed by Orpheus’s music. Persephone sympathizes with the lovers’ plight. Rubens painted Eurydice’s flesh a pale, almost white hue, a reference to her recent death. Orpheus, carrying his lyre, walks firmly ahead of Eurydice. She seems thankful he seems worried. Pluto released them on one condition described by Ovid: “She was among the recent ghosts, and walked haltingly from her wound. The poet of Rhodope received her, and, at the same time, accepted this condition, that he must not turn his eyes behind him, until he emerged from the vale of Avernus, or the gift would be null and void.’’

This painting is one of Rubens’s last works, made shortly before his death. His love for his two wives is well documented, and he painted them frequently and lovingly. Many of his paintings are a testament to his wives. Both Persephone and Eurydice closely resemble them. 

“Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld” (1861) (44’’x54”), by French Barbizon artist Camille Corot (1796-1875), carries the story forward. Barbizon artists were the first to explore plein air painting. Corot added white paint to all the colors to create a uniquely hazy and mysterious atmosphere. Orpheus and Eurydice almost reach the light, out of the shadows of the Underworld. Beyond the water, the figures of the dead look on.  Orpheus, unable to resist the urge, will look back. Eurydice will disappear instantly into the Underworld.

“Death of Orpheus” (c.1540) (Majolica Earthenware) was created by Nicola de Urbino. His majolica pieces were among the most famous and sought after during the Italian Renaissance. He chose subjects from Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Orpheus, overwhelmed by the loss of Eurydice, spent the next three years ignoring all women. In anger, the nymphs of Thrace beat Orpheus to death, then tore his body apart. 

Majolica originated in Spain and became popular in Italy in the 15th Century.  It is tin-glazed earthenware with a white glazed surface that is painted with metal oxide enamel color.

 

“Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus” (1900) (59”x39’’) was painted by John William Waterhouse (1894-1917), a pre-Raphaelite painter in London. Orpheus’s head and his lyre floated to the Island of Lesbos where it was discovered by the nymphs. Waterhouse’s nymphs are beautiful, as is the head of Orpheus. The exquisite details of the fabrics and folds of the garments are typical of the pre-Raphaelite style. The nymphs sit on glistening rocks with flowers that twine around their bodies. Flowering waterlilies float on the emerald green water. 

The nymphs gathered the parts of his body and buried them. Orpheus’s soul descended into the Underworld to reunite with Eurydice’s. His lyre became the constellation Lyra. The cult of Orpheus became a legend in Thrace. Orpheus was born in the Rhodope mountains of Thrace, modern day Bulgaria.

The myth of Orpheus also has been the subject of musical compositions. Monteverdi composed the opera Orfeo (1607), and Gluck composed the opera Orpheus and Eurydice (1762). Offenbach composed the opera Orpheus in the Underworld (1858), and Jean Cocteau wrote a play (1926) and made a film (1940). 

Audrey Flack was born in1931 in Brighton Beach, New York. She died at the age of 93 on June 28, this year. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. They owned a garment factory in New York City. Always interested in art, Flack attended the High School of Music and Art and Copper Union, both in New York. She received a BFA (1952) from Yale University. She was recruited by Josef Albers to study drawing and anatomy at the Art Students League in New York. She also studied art history at New York University of Fine Arts.

Flack came to public notice with “Kennedy Motorcade” (1964) (oil) (37.5”x 42”). Photorealism became the new and popular style of painting in the 1960s. Photorealists used photographs as the subject of their art, a return to realism after the wave of Abstract Expressionism. Flack was the only woman in the movement: “I broke the unwritten code of acceptable subject matter. Photorealists painted cars, motorcycles, and empty street scenes. Cool, unemotional, and banal were the terms used to describe the movement. My work, however, was humanist, emotional, and filled with referential symbolic imagery.”

Flack discovered in the 1970s two new methods to create her work: color slide projection and application of paint in layers with an airbrush. “Leonardo’s Lady” (1974) (oil and acrylic) (6’2’’x6’8’’) is an example of her new subject matter and style. Her continued interest in art history is evident in her choice of subject matter. The da Vinci portrait (1490-95) is a depiction of Lucrezia Crivelli, a married lady, who was lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Milan and one of the Duke of Milan’s many mistresses.  Flack includes a small statue of cupid and the reflection of the statue in the mirror of the compact. A pink rose, a Renaissance ribbon, and a very ripe pear also are included, the pear often a symbol of fruitfulness and femininity. Flack paintedd items from the modern world: perfume bottles, nail polish, jewelry, and a glass of wine. The man’s pocket watch is a reminder that time is passing. Flack’s still life paintings are complex works full of symbols.

Hilton Kramer (1928-2012), a well-known art critic who wrote for several New York papers and magazines, disliked Photorealism and criticized Flack’s work. He was very upset that Flack’s “Lonardo’s Lady,” by the only woman in Photorealism, was also the first to be purchased (1976) by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  

“World War II (Vanitas)” (1978) (oil over acrylic) (8’x8’) is an example of Flack’s wide range of subject matter. In the 16th Century, artists in Leiden, Holland, started a new type of still life that became known as a Vanitas, the Latin word meaning vanity. The style specifically included elements such as skulls, hourglasses, and burning candles that signified time was running out and death was at hand. Included with these elements concerning the passage of time were luxury elements like books, jewelry, and flowers. Flack also increased the size of her paintings. This one is 8’x8’, and everything in it is larger than life.

A Jew, Flack was conscious of the treatment of Jews during World War II. The background image in the painting is Margaret Bourke-White’s photograph “The Living Dead at Buchenwald” (1945). Bourke-White was the first photographer to enter the camp after it was liberated. Flack includes a bright blue butterfly signifying the release of the soul. In contrast, a rotting pear is placed on a plate with three luscious pastries. 

A string of pearls is draped down the left side of the composition. At the top right, a clock displays the time: ten minutes before twelve.  A red candle is burning. A star of David is next to it. Under a fresh red rose is a page with the Hasidic text that ends with “Do not fear, dear child, God is with you. Even in the Nethermost Pit one can try to come closer to God. The word ‘bad’ never came to their lips. Disasters did not frighten them. You can take everything from me—the pillow from under my head, my house—but you cannot take God from my heart.”  When the still life was set up for the photoshoot, the lit candle began to drip on the page. Flack included it when she realized it reminded her of the bloodshed during the Holocaust.

Flack married in 1964. They had two daughters, one of whom was autistic. Her husband was abusive, and she divorced him. The 1980s brought a happy marriage and a major change in the direction of her art. “Civitas” (1988) (patinated and gilded bronze) (East Glass flame) (4’8’’x10’7’’) was commissioned for the garden of the New Orleans Museum of Art. Civitas is the Latin word for citizenship. Flack’s large sculptural works are female figures, drawn from myth, and given feminist themes. The goddesses are mature and strong. Flack described them as “real and yet idealized…the goddesses in everywoman.” “Civitas” stands on a globe set on a marble pedestal. She holds a crystal flame above her head. She is a mixture of a human and a mythological figure, a bit like Wonder Woman. 

Although Flack was commissioned to create many sculptures, she also continued making still life paintings. “A Brush with Destiny” (2012) (acrylic, mixed media) (40”x40”) is from her last series of paintings that she called Post-Pop Baroque. Similar to her sculptures, these paintings were about empowered woman. “A Brush with Destiny” is a self-portrait of Flack at a younger age. She is lavishly dressed as Queen Elizabeth I, with a ruff collar, pearl crown, and necklace. Her heavy brocade gown is dyed scarlet and black, costly dyes at the time. The dress is decorated with embroidery and jewels. At her left is a copy of Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun self-portrait (1790), in which she holds her palette and brush as she paints. Vigee-Lebrun painted her portrait for the collection of the Uffizi Museum in Florence. At Flack’s right is the image from one of the few photographs taken of the painter Jackson Pollock at work.  Flack holds a green leafy vine and a red rose. Flack’s destiny was to span the old world and the new world of art. 

“When I’m painting now, everything is at my fingertips. It’s magical. They say before you die, you see everything from your life. In my 92 years, a lot pops up.” (Audrey Flack, Vogue, Spring 2024)

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Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.