Conrad von Soest (c1370-c1422), a native of Dortmund, Germany, was one of the most significant artists of his time. The capital of Rhine-Westphalia, Dortmund was a prosperous city and as a member of the Hanseatic League. Founded by north German towns and merchants abroad, the League dominated commerce in Northern Europe from the 13th Century until the 15th Century. Conrad von Soest had a flourishing workshop, and he was a member of the elite social circles of Dortmund. Art historians credit him with introducing to Germany the International Gothic style of painting that had been developed by French and Italian artists.

The “Annunciation” (1403) (28.9’’ x23.8’’) (tempera on wood) is part of the large winged “Crucifixion Altarpiece” painted by von Soest for the parish church of St. Nicholas in Bad Wildungen. The left wing contains four scenes from the life of Mary, the large middle section is a scene of the Crucifixion, and the right wing contains four scenes of events in the life of Christ. The “Annunciation” is the first scene in the story. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and delivers God’s greeting. It is written in Latin on the white scroll: “Hail Mary, Gracious One, the Lord is with you!” The International Gothic style that von Soest introduced to Germany is well represented. The setting is a lavishly decorated private chamber with embossed leather on the back wall, a decorative wooden roof, and green brocade drapes with fringe. Courtly settings, ornamental details, richly dressed persons, and rich colors and gold are components of the elegant International Gothic style.

Mary kneels at her prie-dieu (prayer desk) in the private chamber of her house. She reads from a book. To signify her intelligence, von Soest includes several other volumes on the wooden shelf behind her. A delicately wrought silver vase holds three white lilies, symbolic of the Trinity. However, the third lily is behind the curtain since Christ is not yet born. Hanging over the edge of the prie-dieu is a patterned cloth with a crest containing a tower and double eagles, symbols of Germany.
The scene includes the dove of the Holy Spirit and the gold winged angel Gabriel, who kneels beside Mary. Gabriel holds a staff bearing a crest with a fleur-de-lies (lily) on top. Mary, dressed in red brocade with a blue cloak lined in green, listens to the Angel’s message. Both figures wear gold halos, indicating their holiness. The figures are intentionally elongated to give them a royal presence, most clearly seen in their gestures and elongation of their fingers. Mary wears a red crown decorated with white pearls that spell her name, an unusual addition. Von Soest signed the painting on the underside of the page in the book that Mary holds.

The “Nativity” scene is next on the panel. Mary has given birth to the Christ child and holds him gently in her arms. As was typical of Nativity scenes, the baby was not ordinary, able to sit up by himself and respond as an adult to others. Although the scene is set in a stable, the roof is in unusually good repair. Mary has several pillows; one is red with gold crisscross braid. She is kept warm by a large red cover with a gold braid edge. The wattle fence separates her from an ensemble of red winged seraphim.

The ox and the ass/donkey are at the manger. The ox represents strength and service and is identified with the people of Israel. The ass/donkey represents pagans, those who will not accept Christianity. At the upper right corner of the scene, an angel announces to the shepherds that they should go to Bethlehem to see the Christ child.

Joseph, often portrayed as being asleep or at a distance in the Nativity scene, is placed prominently in the foreground. He blows on the fire as he prepares food for Mary. The Bible tells us that Joseph was a widower with children and much older than Mary. Von Soest has depicted him with white hair and beard.

The prominence of Joseph in the scene is tied to the German tradition of celebration on Christmas Eve, December 24. In the Middle-ages, German families gathered in their homes on Christmas Eve to wait for the first star to appear in the evening sky. This event meant Christ was born, and the family then could prepare and eat a feast.

The third scene “Adoration of the Magi” (1403) is set in an elegant Gothic Church, not in the stable. Mary wears the same red gown, blue and green cloak, and crown as depicted in the “Annunciation.” Joseph stands behind her at the left and holds a cane. The emphasis here is on the Magi/Kings. The oldest Magi kneels before Christ child and kisses his hand. His crown has been removed and set on the ground, a symbol that Christ is the new King. Elegantly dressed, the middle-aged and the young Magi look on with respect. Both carry gold vessels containing their gifts for the child. Of note are the heavy gold belts worn by two Magi.

When viewed close-up, the rich brocade painted by von Soest contains an extraordinary amount of detail characteristic of the International Gothic style.

According to the Law of Moses (Mosaic Law) the circumcision of a male was to take place eight days after his birth. In the “Presentation” scene, Mary has come to the Temple in Jerusalem to keep the Jewish covenant that a firstborn male was to be consecrated to the Lord. She offers the gift of two white doves, held in a basket by the woman dressed in red, to redeem her son. Mary holds the child and stands at the altar. The mohel (a Jewish person specifically trained to perform circumcisions) prepares to take hold of the child and perform the circumcision. He is well dressed in a gold and blue brocade gown. The red bag hanging from his belt holds the instruments of the circumcision. The blue peaked hat identifies him as a Jew, a common tradition in painting. The Christ child receives his name, Jesus.

In this scene, the Temple of Jerusalem has the round arches of a Romanesque church. Frequently, scenes of the early life of Christ use a Romanesque church to represent the old law of Moses, and as in the “Adoration of the Magi,” a Gothic church represents the new law. The four additional figures witnesses the circumcision; perhaps they are the donors of the altarpiece.

Von Soest’s “Crucifixion Altarpiece” remains in the parish church of St. Nicholas, Bad Wildungen today, and it is a tribute to the artist and his talent. Few works by von Soest remain, but those that have survived are as remarkable as they were in 1403.

Happy Holidays to one and all.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

The Englishman among the Impressionists, Alfred Sisley was born in Paris of English parents. Except for 1857 through 1861, when he was sent to London to study business, which he abandoned and then returned to Paris in 1861 to study art.  Sisley was a founding member of the Impressionist movement in1873, and he participated in most of their eight exhibitions. His specialty was landscape which he always painted in plein air. Several short trips to London to study the work of English landscape painters Constable and Turner convinced him to embrace nature as a theme for his paintings. When asked by Adolphe Tavernier, writer, art critic, collector and journalist, who his favorite painters were, Sisley mentioned the Barbizon landscape painters Corot, Millet, and Rousseau, and the Realist painter Courbet. Sisley referred to them as masters “who love nature and had deep feelings for it.”

It was not until the Impressionists started painting outdoors that paintings of snow became popular. “Early Snow in Louveciennes” (1870-71) (21.1’’ x 29’’) (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), was one of Sisley’s first paintings of snow. Painting in the Realist style meant that the color used was the perceived color of the object. As a result, snow was a thick layer of white paint applied to the canvas. Sisley followed the prescribed tradition and rendered an affectionate vision of Louveciennes–road, houses, people, trees, sky, and the village. Sisley moved to Louveciennes in 1871, and he found the town and its surroundings an endless source of subject matter. 

By 1872, the ideas of Impressionism were beginning to appear is Sisley’s work. In “The Frost” (1872) (18’’x 22.4’’) he begins to apply the recent scientific discovery that light, sunlight, candle light, fire light, do not contain the colors white or black. Natural light is the spectrum of colors in the rainbow: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Sunlight shining on white frost began to be represented by the colors yellow and orange on white. Shadows were not gray, but blues and purples. Sisley continued to depict the dark sides of the brown trees as black. However, his composition explored the play of the sun’s complementary colors.  The oranges of fall foliage are complemented by the blues and purples found throughout the composition. Sisley’s use of blues and purples has created the atmosphere of chill on this frosty day. His brushwork consists of dabs of paint that create a sparkle on the frost.  

   “The Road to Louveciennes, Snow Effect” (1874) (26.5’’x 36’’) fully embraces Impressionism. The village of Louveciennes is covered in snow. Viewers are invited to trudge through the snow, turn left, and walk with two figures who pass by the fences and fields of the rural village. Houses, large and small, appear in this panoramic view. Church towers reach into the sky. The day is sunny, and the snow glistens. Peace and well-being radiate from this blissful scene.

A similar Sisley painting “Effect of Snow in Louveciennes” (1874) was sold in 2017 at Sotheby’s for $9,064,733. Sisley’s paintings have become quite valuable.

Sisley’s ability to render all the seasons in all their variation is masterful. “Winter in Louveciennes” (1876) (23.25’’ x28.75’’) depicts a long cold winter when the snow lingers on the roof tops and in the trees. The atmosphere is thick with cold. The blues and purples are balanced against the browns of the houses. Mixing any of the six colors on the color wheel with its complementary color, orange with blue, red with green, or yellow with purple, produces brown. Sisley added small dashes of black where no light was available inside rooms and under roofs. The postures of three male figures dressed in black clothing with black hats let the viewer know that it is indeed cold.

“Snow at Louveciennes” (1878) (24’’x 20’’) (Phillips Collection, Washington, DC) is an example of Sisley’s continued fascination with nature and his local environment. Louveciennes is in the western suburbs of Paris between Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Louveciennes and the near-by village Marley-le-Roi were home for Sisley and his family. In this later work, Sisley developed a style that combined Impressionist colors with the traditional use of black and white. He chose what worked on the day and the feeling he wanted to represent. Here, the snow is unmarked by footsteps. A lone woman wearing black walks toward the town in the background.

Art historians usually interpret Sisley’s winter scenes as relating to personal difficulties and struggles to take care of his family. “Solitary,” “empty,” and “bleak” are frequent descriptions of his paintings. However, if you enjoy the solitude of a snowy day, and find beauty and peace in a winter landscape, as this writer does, you will find Sisley’s winter paintings are exhilarating.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

“The Cathedrals of Wall Street” (1939) (50’’ x 60’’) (Metropolitan Museum of Art) focuses on the New York Stock Exchange. The building is painted in gold. Corinthian Greek Columns support the pediment, and a large gold curtain hangs as if on a stage, and is drawn back to reveal a gold medallion containing the portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Stettheimer, a strong supporter of New Deal programs such as Social Security and unemployment insurance, gave Roosevelt this prominent position in the composition. On the pediment above, she placed labeled portraits of Bernard Baruch, John D. Rockefeller, and JP Morgan, Roosevelt’s financial advisors who helped bring the Great Depression under control. Flags extend from either side of the Roosevelt medallion, and a length of ticker-tape in blue, white, and red is placed under his portrait. A stickler for accuracy, Stettheimer sent her lawyer to get a piece of ticker-tape from the parade which took place on April 30, 1939, the inspiration for the painting.

The 1939 parade celebrated the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington on April 30, 1789. Marching in from the left, the drum and bugle corps is led by a strutting majorette. They are followed by six uniformed service men carrying flags. Stettheimer requested information from the armed services to assure that their uniforms were correct. At the right of the Stock Exchange, a Boy Scout holds a flag; another plays the trumpet. Next to them, the woman wearing a flowing white and gold gown and presenting an American flag is Grace Moore, who sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at the ceremony. Moore, an opera singer and musical theatre performer, was known as the Tennessee Nightingale. Stettheimer had her hair done by Moore’s hairdresser in order to meet Moore.

Stettheimer placed the figure of Eleanor Roosevelt, who wears the long blue dress and carries a bouquet, in the center foreground. Stettheimer tried to meet Eleanor, but without success. The man in the black suit, who stands behind Eleanor, is Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. He delivered a speech at the celebration. Also in the forefront are a Marine in his dress blues and an American Indian in gold with a red, white, and blue feathered head dress.

At the upper left, white buildings are labeled US BANK, GUARANTY BANKERS TRUST NEW YORK and MORGAN & COMPANY. At the lower left, a red platform holds members of the Salvation Army. Two Salvation Army women sing “God Bless America” while a third accompanies them on the piano. Although the Great Depression was mostly over, Stettheimer recognized that people still are in need and the Salvation Army was there to WELCOME.

At the upper right, Stettheimer depicts two columns labeled BANKER and LAW. Running vertically down the columns are the words INSURANCE and MORTGAGE. Behind the pediment, in the New York Harbor, stands the Statue of Liberty. Beside and behind the Stock Exchange the gray stone tower of Trinity Church rises. Stettheimer depicted the exact location of the Church that can be seen at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway.

Stettheimer included the 1939 re-enactment of the 150th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration on the steps of the New York Sub Treasury Building. The large gold statue of Washington is Stettheimer’s stand-in for the person who played Washington in the reenactment. The New York World’s Fair opened on the same day, April 30,1939, in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. President Roosevelt invited Stettheimer to be present at the cornerstone laying for the Fair. The statue of George Washington, standing 71 feet tall, was the main feature of the World’s Fair. Visible in this detail are Trinity Church, the two Boy Scouts, and Grace Moore.

A charming self-portrait depicts Stettheimer, wearing a red dress and red stilettos and holding a large bouquet with a long ribbon bearing the inscription “To George Washington from Florine Stettheimer, 1939.” Although she was nearly 70 years old, she depicted herself as a young woman.

Of the four paintings in the series The Cathedrals of New York, “The Cathedrals of Art” (1942) (50’’ x 60’’) (Metropolitan Museum of Art) was the most personal for Stettheimer whose paintings had been included in over 40 important exhibitions in New York and Paris. The Museum of Modern Art is set at the left, the Metropolitan Museum at the center, and the Whitney Museum at the right. On the column between MoMA and the Metropolitan, Stettheimer labels their collections ART IN AMERICA. On the column separating the Metropolitan and the Whitney, she aptly describes the Whitney’s collection as AMERICAN ART.

Stettheimer includes at the Museum of Modern Art a Cubist style portrait, a la Picasso, of a lady in a green hat. The man wearing the black suit and sitting on a chair designed by Corbusier, is Alfred Barr, the first director of MoMA. On the first floor of the Museum, as if they were real people, are two running figures in white togas drawn from Picasso’s painting “The Race” (1922). Next to them is the yellow lion from Henri Rousseau’s “The Sleeping Gypsy” (1897). Just below, the man with red hair and wearing a gray suit, tries to escape from the Museum and the new modern art. On MoMA’s ceiling, the artist has signed her name backwards, next to the name of Picasso.

At the right, the Whitney Museum is represented by a red American eagle. Juliana Force, director of the Museum, is depicted with red hair and wearing a green dress. She stands in front of a gold statue of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Museum (1931). “The Cathedrals of Art” was the last in Stettheimer’s series and it remained unfinished on her death in 1944. She worked on this painting until a few weeks before her death as a result of cancer. Many of the specific details and finishes so important to this painting were not completed.

The Metropolitan Museum is placed at the center of the composition. The unfinished portrait of a woman in a black dress with a large white collar was a Queen or a 17th Century Dutch woman from the Met’s collection. The importance of the subject was emphasized by the red drapes on either side. A seated Egyptian statue and other works from the Museum’s collection are visible. At the top of the stairs, Francis Henry Taylor, the Met’s Director, holds the hand of a small baby with a gold halo, and hewogestures as if giving the child a tour of the Museum’s collection. Several other figures stand to either side of the red-carpeted stairs.

Alfred Stieglitz, the famous photographer, stands draped in a black cape at the bottom of the stairs. At the right side of the stairs, the critic Henry McBride wears a gray suit and holds two small flags with the words GO and STOP. A chauffeur, dressed in a red uniform, leans casually against the opposite pedestal.

The chauffeur watches the photographer George Platt Lynes, leaning in to photograph “Baby Art.” The flash of the camera and the spotlight held by Lynes’s assistant place the baby in a glow of light similar to that of the heavenly light in Nativity paintings. The baby represents the birth of new art. The image of the baby is repeated walking at the top of the stairs with Taylor.

Two distinct figures remain. At the lower left, a well-dressed man in a tuxedo leans against a Corinthian column. The banner at his feet contains the word COMPERE, the person who is responsible for introducing performers in a stage show. At the lower right corner, under a very elaborate white canopy with gold fringe, is Florine Stettheimer. She wears a white gown, red stilettos, and carries a bouquet. The banner beneath her feet declares she is COMMERE, a gossip. In traditional altarpieces, patron saints are placed at the left and right foreground of the scenes.
#5 “The Cathedrals of Art” (self-portrait of the artist)

Stettheimer was a notable salonniere, hostess of important writers, artists, philosophers, and intellectuals in discussions of significance. Stettheimer was also a poet. Crystal Flowers was published by her sister Ettie in 1949. Her paintings were clever and flamboyant, and always had something to say about the state of New York society. On her death in 1944, her close friend Marcel Duchamp organized a retrospective of her paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It was the first retrospective of a woman artist at MoMA. The exhibition traveled to the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum and Arts Club of Chicago. Stettheimer told her sister to give her paintings to museums, not to sell them. The Cathedrals of New York were given to the Metropolitan.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

   Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944) was one of two best-known women artists in America in the 1930’s; the other was Georgia O’Keeffe. Stettheimer was born in Rochester, New York, but her family spent time in Europe where she was able to visit all the great museums and study art. Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, and Fauvism were her artistic influences, along with the ballets performed by the Diaghilev company in Paris. Returning to New York in 1914, she became involved with the New York art scene, the Harlem Renaissance, Dada, and the Jazz Age. Stettheimer lived with her mother and sisters in an up-scale apartment overlooking Bryant Park between 5th and 6th Avenues and 40th and 42nd Streets. The Stettheimers hosted salons (social and intellectual gatherings) and entertained writers, artists, musicians, intellectuals, and emigres. Among Stettheimer’s closest friends were Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz, and Marcel Duchamp.

From 1929 until 1944, Stettheimer painted four paintings titled “The Cathedrals of New York.” She used the term cathedral in the non-ecclesiastical sense to include important centers of commerce and the arts.

Her artistic training in Europe and New York had been in the classical European tradition. However, responding to the excitement of the City, she decided to invent her own style to depict modern 20th Century New York. 

“The Cathedrals of Broadway” (1929) (60’’ x’50’’) (Metropolitan Museum) was composed as a theater set design. Stettheimer had designed several stage sets. The cathedral represented here is the new Paramount Theater that opened in November 1926. A gold and black arch decorated with the Paramount gold stars and winged figures support a white star. At the top of the arch is a black clock in an elaborate gold case with the word PARAMOUNT written in flowing script. The clock is topped with a crystal ball. Red curtains with gold fringe hang from the arch. The pillars supporting the arch contain classical marble sculptures in niches.  A red-draped door is set at the left, and a painting and EXIT sign are at the right. 

On stage, elaborate pink drapes set off a Classical Roman domed temple. Dancers dressed in pink perform in a circular formation around the temple, reminding the viewer of a Busby Berkeley chorus line. Other figures dressed in gold perform on the stage. A gold Wurlitzer pipe organ is at the left of the stage.

A newsreel of Mayor Jimmy Walker ready to throw out the first pitch in a baseball game plays on the movie screen over the stage. The Paramount presented both live shows and new talking pictures. During the Depression movies provided inexpensive entertainment for everyone. 

In the sky at the upper left, the names of two other Broadway cathedrals, the Rialto (1916) and the Mark Strand (1914), sparkle with neon lights. A green and white sign contains the words House of Talkies. The large red banner floats in the wind and declares Broadway 1929. What appears to be fringe at the bottom is the banner are the words Florence Stettheimer.

A large golden chandelier hangs from a frescoed ceiling at the upper right. The chandelier inside the theater was famous.  Depicted below are signs for the Roxy (1927) with three flags and the Capital (1919) theaters. Centered at the bottom of the painting is the red-carpeted theater entrance. Six uniformed ushers stand at the ready to show patrons to their seats.  Written on the red-carpet is the word Silence; the new talkies had arrived.

 

An African-American usher wearing a white uniform holds the theater door open for a well-dressed gentleman and his two lavishly dressed companions. Just behind them a red rope has been set up to keep the ordinary people back while the rich arrive. Although she was a member of the upper-class, Stettheimer was socially conscious, and she often pointed out in her paintings the reality of the times. Her paintings often contained in her witty but concerned way commentary on the social injustices of society.

A Caucasian valet in a yellow uniform ushers the wealthy couple to the ticket office.  A family stands at the ticket window. Stettheimer’s cathedrals were popularly called movie palaces. They were elegant, opulent, and an entertaining, experience for everyone. 

“The Cathedrals of Fifth Avenue” (1931) (60’’ x50’’) (Metropolitan Museum) depicts an elaborate wedding at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The Gothic pointed arch of the Cathedral is at the center of the composition. The wedding couple pose for a photo on a red carpet. Lavish weddings were a popular topic in the society section of the New York newspapers, with specific details expected by the readers. The bride, hardly visible enclosed in a frothy white gown, carries a bouquet of long-stemmed white lilies. The groom stands tall and proper in his tux. Two flower girls swing a garland. A mounted policeman halts the traffic on Fifth Avenue. The photographer in a tan jacket and tall leather boots is Arnold Genthe, a well-known photographer at the time. A young woman in a gold dress, sways delightfully, vying with the bride for attention.  

Inside the Cathedral, the families of the bride and groom stand to either side under a large red canopy. A priest in gray and gold vestments raises his hand to bless the couple, while a Bishop, with cross, mitre, and crosier, offers his blessing as well. Wedding bells ring out from the top of the Cathedral. 

Floating in the sky are the names of the cathedrals of Fifth Avenue, the shops where the couple have purchased the necessities for their wedding. At the left, Tiffany’s stands out. Above Tiffany’s is Hudnut’s, where the bride purchased face creams. Just below, fancy white letters in the shape of furniture spell out Altman’s, a furniture store. Stettheimer has depicted on the street below the ticker-tape parade, held on May 7, 1929, to celebrate Charles Lindbergh’s successful flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

In the sky at the right floats a red rose, its green leaves spelling out Thorley, a store where fine Staffordshire bone China could be purchased. The round white box is from Maillard, where chocolates could be found. Circling the box, in yellow letters, is the name of the famous restaurant Delmonico’s. An orange banner displays champagne in a cooler. A white heart-shaped balloon with lacey edges carries the name Sherry, a store where sugar candy could be found. A green awning bears the name Bendel’s, a department store for women. Under the blue awning labeled Tappe, wedding dresses are on display. The gilded figure of Nike, the winged goddess of victory, leads the horse of the equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman, placed in the Grand Army Plaza in New York City (1903).

The bride and groom and the bridesmaids in pink pose under the red canopy. Two choir boys dressed in red and white cause a bit of mischief. The choir boy at the left may be adjusting the bride’s gown, but with Stettheimer’s usual wit, more likely he is trying to peak under her dress. The choir boy at the right is about to swing his censer at a dog trying to climb the steps, the owner attempting to control it.

Like Alfred Hitchcock, Stettheimer includes herself in her work. With her mother and sister, she arrives in a limousine for the wedding. The license plate contains the date 1931 along with her name.

Stettheimer loved America and she loved New York.

(To be continued next week) 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

Katharine Cibulka (b.1975, Innsbruck, Austria) studied at the New York Film Academy (1999) and at the School of Artists Photography in Vienna (2000-01). She continued her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (2004-10) and received in 2010 her diploma in performance art.

Cibulka is a visual artist, film maker, and project developer for artistic and sustainable processes. She developed the project SOLANGE in 2016. The German work SOLANGE means “as long as.” The project was started to increase awareness of social injustice, gender injustice, racism, and other issues import to women. SOLANGE is a collaboration with Vivian Simburger and Tine Themel.  The purpose of placing SOLANGE art in public spaces was to generate discussion and dialogue toward overcoming prejudices.

AS LONG AS THE ART MARKET IS A BOYS’ CLUB, I WILL BE A FEMINIST (2018) was installed at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. The works are placed on the façades of buildings that are under construction or renovation. The pieces are created by weaving the cross-stitch message in bright pink tulle to cover the protective net on the scaffolding. Vienna’s world-famous Academy of Fine Arts was happy to fund the project since it had made gender equality a priority. Eva Blimlinger, Head of the Academy said, “It is the only university in Europe or the United States whose staff and student body is 50 percent female.” She continued, saying Cibulka’s project “helps raise awareness for the fact that the international art market itself is still pretty much dominated by men.” The sculpture that sits in front of the statement is of Frederick Schiller, who once stated that “art is a daughter of freedom.”

Cibulka reflected on her experience as a woman artist in an interview with Artnet: “As a woman in the art world, you still have a tougher job, especially when you become a mother like me…. As a middle-aged woman, you hardly stand a chance, especially if you have a family.” In 2018 Cibulka and her team created four other SOLANGE messages, two of which are AS LONG AS A GENDER EQUALITY STAYS A NEVER-ENDING BUILDING SITE, I WILL BE A FEMINIST (Innsbruck, Austria) and AS LONG AS POWER ENTICES MEN TO MISUSE WOMEN, I WILL A FEMINIST (Landek, Austria). 

 

AS LONG AS HE MAKES THE CASH WHILE I WORK FOR CHANGE, I WILL BE A FEMINIST (2020) is located in Tuchlauben, Golden Quarter, Vienna. On the web-site for Vienna Trip Advisor, the Golden Quarter is described as a “Luxury paradise in the heart of Vienna, Flagship stores of over 20 fine international brands.” The building under renovation sits between Louis Vuitton and Rolex.

AS LONG AS GENERATIONS CHANGE BUT OUR STRUGGLES STAY THE SAME, I WILL BE A FEMINIST (2022) (82’ X 82’) was installed on the north façade of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, on October 28, 2022, and it will remain on view until February 26, 2023. SOLANGE was commissioned by the members of the NMWA and the Share Fund.  It is Cibulka’s first work in the United States. SOLANGE messages are created from research of the local environment and community. For the NMWA message, an on-line survey was conducted asking women what was important to them. Cibulka was greatly influenced by the Dobb’s decision of the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, one of the considerations for the message.

Cibulka states that working on construction sites brings another set of challenges because workers at construction sites are traditionally male. “Our team of women insert ourselves into this sphere to work on equal footing with the guys. Together, we need to overcome every obstacle, a process that requires open communication, discussion, asserting ourselves, and a lot of compromise.” (NMWA website, 2022)

 

Throughout history, women have been responsible for spinning wool into thread, weaving thread into cloth, sewing cloth into clothes, and decorating the clothes. Cross-stitch is the oldest form of embroidery. Cibulka explains her choice of cross-stitch in in public spaces: “Playing with traditional roles and material is what makes the project so appealing to me.”

“We are a small team of women from a small country, and we have already achieved great things that we are very proud of. We have found a medium and language that speaks to a lot of people and hopefully makes them think with sensitivity, imagery, and a bit of ambiguity and wit that puts a smile on your face.” (NMWA website, 2022)  

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

English photographer Roger Fenton (1819-1869) was commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to photograph the Crimean War during 1855. Photography was in its infancy, but it had progressed beyond Daguerre’s first presentation of the Daguerreotype to the French Academy of Science on January 7, 1839.  His process produced only one direct positive, and it required up to 30 minutes of exposure. Frederick Scott Archer (1813-1857) invented the wet collodion process in1848 to produce a negative that could made into several positive images, and it required only two to three seconds of exposure. Collodion was the newly discovered sticky substance of gun cotton in ether, used as a medical dressing. The wet collodion process was used for the next 30 years and allowed photographers to travel and photograph everywhere.

The immediate cause of the Crimean War was the years-long conflict over the rights of British and French Christians and Roman Catholics and the rights of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church to have access to the Holy sites in Palestine (Ottoman Empire). A second cause was Russia’s desire to expand into the Ottoman Empire, particularly to take the sea port of Constantinople. In 1853, Russia invaded the Ottoman Turkish principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia (Romania), and Varna (Bulgaria). Britain and France declared war in 1854 and bombarded the city of Odessa.

Roger Fenton was a lawyer who became interested in the newly invented photography and founded the Photographic Society of London in 1853. His work for the British Museum and Royal family resulted in his commission to photograph the Crimean War. Fenton arrived in March 1855 as the official campaign photographer. “Cossack Bay, Balaklava” (1855) (now Ukraine) depicts ships of the British fleet and the dock holding pens for cattle. Horses, baskets with supplies, and tents can be seen on the dock. The ship labeled “69” is the Albatross, recently arrived from Constantinople. Aboard was Mary Seacole (1895-1881) who set up a store and hotel for the British with food, drink, and medical supplies. In a letter home, Fenton said the port was like “the emptying of Noah’s ark.”

Fenton and two assistants brought with them from England a traveling darkroom. The photo wagon was a converted wine merchant’s wagon. The wagon was supplied with 700 glass plates and 5 cameras stored in 36 chests, along with tools, water, a stove, and Fenton’s supply of tinned food, trays, and dishes. The wagon was divided into a cooking area, a living and sleeping section, and a darkroom. Large black letters on the van read “photographic van.” Despite the signage the light color of the van made it a target for Russian fire.

In a letter to a friend in England, Fenton wrote, “As soon as the van door was closed to commence the preparation of the plate, perspiration started from every pore, and the sense of relief was great when it was possible to open the door to breathe even the hot air outside.” The wet collodion process required the glass plates to be coated with an iodide solution mixed with collodion and applied to the glass plate. Moving the plate around to coat it could be done outside. In the darkroom, the wet plate was dipped into a solution of silver nitrate and put into a view camera the size of the glass plate.  Outside, the plate was exposed by removing the lens cap for 20 seconds to 5 minutes. Back in the darkroom, the plate was removed from the camera and a solution of the liquid fixer, iron sulfate and acetic acid, was used to wash the plate and to fix the image. Water then was used to remove the developer. The plate was dried and stored until ready to be printed. Fenton made a few test prints while in the Crimea, but most of the negatives were transported back to England, and Fenton printed them there.

Allied Encampment on the Plateau before Sevastopol” (1855) is a photograph of the port of Sevastopol in the distance. It was the capital city of the Crimea and the port that held the Tsar’s Black Sea fleet. Fenton’s wet collodion camera limited his ability to take pictures during battle. His mandate from the Crown and the Manchester publisher Agnew & Sons, who financed the venture, stated that Fenton was “intended to illustrate faithfully the scenery of the camps; to display prominent incidents of military life, as well as to perpetuate the portraits of those distinguished officers, English and French, who have taken part in the ever-memorable Siege of Sebastopol.” The Victorians at the time did not want to see the bloody side of war. 

Vivandieres or Cantonniere, usually wives of non-commissioned officers, provided soldiers food and drink in addition to their rations. The women were dressed in a female version of the uniform of the regiment in which they worked. The wounded Zouave soldier and the Zouave soldier helping him were part of a Light Infantry regiment of the French Army. A short open front jacket, baggy pants, sash, and fez hat were the unique uniform of Zouave soldiers. Originally from Algeria, they gained in the early 19th Century the reputation as superior soldiers when they fought for the Ottoman rulers. In a letter to his wife, Fenton wrote about the posed photograph: “She is giving assistance to a wounded soldier. It was great fun the soldiers enjoyed it so much & entered so completely into the spirit of the thing.” Florence Nightingale made her reputation as a nurse during the Crimean War. However, she resisted having her picture taken and does not appear in Fenton’s work. 

“Lord Balgonie” (1855) is a photograph of Captain Alexander Leslie-Melville, the eldest son of the 8th Earl of Leven, a Scottish peer. Balgonie is standing in front of a sheet Fenton used for a backdrop. Many of Fenton’s photographs were of high-ranking officers posing on their horses or in their tents. Balgonie’s photograph is unusual because he is unkempt, his hair and beard are disheveled, and his stare is unfixed. He returned to Britain and died a few years later, thought to be the result of the hardships he had faced in the war. More recently, this photograph is considered to be the first portrait of shell-shock.

The Battle of Balaclava took place on October 25, 1854. It is better known as the charge of the Light Brigade, a reference to Tennyson’s poem of the same name. Fenton photographed the scene of the famous battle. Under fire at the time, he managed to take photographs of the scene from different points of view. This print shows more cannon balls, suggesting he may have added a few more to the scene. However, the photograph of Marcus Spalding in the photography van probably was taken shorty before they entered the valley.  Fenton wrote in a letter that he decided to take a picture of the van before it was destroyed by fire in the valley of death to preserve it as a memory. The title “Valley of the Shadow of Death” is a reference to the 23rd Psalm: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death….”

The charge of the Light Brigade was mounted by 670 soldiers. Approximately 100 were killed and160 were wounded. Approximately 375 horses died. Fenton’s photograph, although absent soldiers or horses, was powerful.

 

lWhen Fenton’s photographs were shown in England, a concerned British public prompted the formation of a committee to look into the conduct of the officers.  When the soldiers returned home, the British also learned more about the horrible conditions their soldiers had suffered. Members of the General Staff were criticized for living in relative luxury while the soldiers were suffering. Some were accused of leaving the battle before the end of the campaign. “Major Hallewell, his day’s work done” (1855) was one of Fenton’s photographs that brought this fact to the public’s attention. Fenton’s title “his day’s work done” was perhaps intended to catch the attention of viewers. Major Hallewell, having shed his uniform and weapons, reclines on the ground in front of his large tent, a servant pouring him a drink.

Fenton contracted cholera in June 1855, and returned home. He was allowed to lie on a couch while showing his photographs to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He produced 350 images.  The photographs were exhibited to help raise funds for returning soldiers. The exhibition Shadows of War: Roger Fenton’s Photographs of the Crimean War, opened at Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh Palace.  Fenton photographed architecture and landscapes until 1862, when he sold his equipment and returned to the practice of law. He died in 1869. 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

 

 

 

Thomas Cole (1801-1848) is best known as founder of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Members of the group included Frederick Edwin Church, Asher Durand, Albert Bierstadt, and John Kensett, who painted the wildness and beauty of the untouched American landscape. Cole also wanted to create a “higher style of landscape” with a moral message. His second series The Voyage of Life (1839) (National Gallery, Washington, DC.) included four paintings that traced the life of a man through birth, youth, middle age and old age. His first series The Course of Empire was painted between 1835 and 1836. Cole wanted to save America’s beautiful and wild natural landscape from encroaching industrialization. The Erie canal was completed, and the railroad was expanding during that time. 

The Course of Empire (1835-36) included five paintings. Cole convinced his patron Luman Reed (1785-1836) to commission the project. A successful merchant from Coxsackie, New York, Reed moved to New York and opened an art gallery. The series was to be displayed on the third floor of Reed’s mansion at 13 Greenwich Street, New York City. The inspiration for The Course of Empire was Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-1818), Canto IV: 

There is the moral of all human tales;

‘Tis but the same rehearsal of the past.

First freedom and then Glory—when that fails,

Wealth, vice, corruption—barbarianism at last.

And History, with all her volumes vast,

Hath but one page…

Cole placed a newspaper ad for the series that included Byron’s poem. 

Cole and Reed were not alone in their fears that America would follow the unfortunate course of empire.

 Cole had conceived of The Course of Empire in 1833, and he painted the series while he lived in the Catskill Mountains. “The Savage State” or “The Commencement of the Empire” (1834) (39.5”x 63.5”) begins the series. It depicts clouds that are clearing at the dawn of a new day, and a vast landscape including nearby stream, wild trees, a distant bay, and a tall mountain. The same landscape appears in all five paintings, but viewed from different locations on the river. The mountain peak with a boulder at its top is the constant in all the paintings. The paintings also proceed through the course of a day.

At the left of the painting, a man clothed in animal skin and with bow in hand runs after a fleeing deer he shot with an arrow. The deer crosses the stream in the lower center of the landscape. In the middle of the composition, a group of people with a dog chase a fleeing deer. At the right, canoes are paddled up a river, and above a village of tipis can be seen. Smoke rises from a campfire, and natives dance around it.

Although the images are unclear to viewers of this painting, Cole described this scene in detail: “In this picture, we have the first rudiments of society. Men are banded together for mutual aid in the chase, etc. The useful arts have commenced in the construction of canoes, huts, and weapons. Two of the fine arts, music and poetry, have their germs, as we may suppose, in the singing which usually accompanies the dance of savages. The empire is asserted, although to a limited degree, over sea, land, and the animal kingdom. The season represented is Spring.” Cole added extensive descriptions to each of the paintings in the series.

“The Arcadian or Pastoral State” (1834) (39.5”x 63.5”) has moved down the river and a second mountain peak can be seen at the center of the work. A Doric style Greek temple is placed below the two mountains, and smoke rises from a sacrificial fire. The land has been cultivated. In the middle left of the composition, a man drives an ox, and a field is being plowed. A shepherd tends his sheep in the center of scene. To the far right, a group of women dance while a flautist plays for them. In the right foreground, a woman in white stands on a small bridge and holds a distaff (spindle). In front of her, a young boy draws a picture. At the left, an elderly man wearing a toga uses a stick to draw a geometric design in the dirt. 

Cole spent time in Europe studying art and history. He commented upon this scene reminiscent of Archaic Greece: “The unracked and rude has been tamed and softened…It is evident that the useful arts, the fine arts, and the sciences, have made considerable progress.”

“The Consummation of Empire” (1826) is larger than the other four paintings (51”x 76”). Inspired by the Roman Empire at its height, the scene takes place where the river flows into the bay beyond. The simple bridge has become a massive marble structure with a triumphal arch at the end. A procession crosses the bridge. The victor in red rides on a vehicle drawn by elephants. A large group of soldiers and captives march in the procession. The triumphal arch is richly draped with gold cloth, and gold medallions adorn the top. Two gold military statues hold up a victor’s laurel wreath. 

An unusually shaped tall black fountain spurts water. Next to the fountain, at the right, a well-dressed woman and her entourage watch the proceedings. Above them, a statue of Minerva (Roman goddess of war and wisdom) stands upon a tall structure. She wears her traditional toga and helmet, holds a spear, and in her right hand is a small statue of Athena Nike (Winged Victory). The bay is filled with ships of war and merchant vessels. The entrance to the river is guarded by two phari (lighthouses). Cole explained this painting: “In this scene is depicted the summit of human glory. The architecture, the ornamental embellishments, etc., show that wealth, power, knowledge, and taste have worked together, and accomplished the highest need of human achievement and empire. As the triumphal fete would indicate, man has conquered man—nations have been subjugated.”

“Destruction or Desolation” (1836) (39.5”x 63.5”) is set in the late afternoon. Storm clouds swirl as the city falls to an invading enemy. The buildings crumble and fires rage. Half the parade bridge has collapsed, and the make-shift wooden bridge collapses under the weight of those trying to escape the invading soldiers. Warships battle in the river, one sinking and another set on fire. Citizens pour out of the buildings to escape the fires, only to be slaughtered. A gigantic marble statue of a charging warrior commands the right side of the composition. Although he still holds his bronze shield, his head lies on the ground below. Cole has given the figure the pose of the Hellenistic Greek statue, the “Borghese Warrior.” The painting references the fall of Rome to the Vandals in 455 CE.

Cole describes the view of the drama taking place in the right corner of the painting: “In the fore-ground are several dead and dying; some bodies have fallen in the basin of a fountain, tinging the waters with their blood. A female is seen sitting in mute despair over the dead body of her son, and a young woman is escaping from the ruffian grasp of a soldier, by leaping over the battlement; another soldier drags a woman by the hair down the steps that form part of the pedestal of a mutilated colossal statue, whose shattered head lies on the pavement below. A barbarous and destroying enemy conquers and sacks the city. Description of this picture is perhaps needless; carnage and destruction are its elements.”

Cole returns the viewer to the same landscape seen in the first painting of the series. Day is dying, and the moon rises in the same location on the horizon where the sun rose. Scattered ruins of columns, colonnades, bridges, and temples still appear above trees and ivy that reclaim the land. A tall column that once supported the bridge now is the home of a heron and her nest. No human life is shown. The mountain with the boulder at the top, visible in all of the paintings, remains.

Cole concludes his description of this painting: “But, though man and his works have perished, the steep promontory, with its insulated rock, still rears against the sky unmoved, unchanged. Violence and time have crumbled the works of man, and art is again resolving into elemental nature. The gorgeous pageant has passed—the roar of battle has ceased—the multitude has sunk in the dust—the empire is extinct.” 

The original agreement with Cole’s patron Luman Reed was to display the works in the Reed home. Unfortunately, Reed died in 1836. The series was acquired by the New York Historical Society in 1858, and hangs there today.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paola de la Calle (b.1992), a Columbian-American artist, grew up with her family in the Mission District of San Francisco. Her artistic talent was recognized early, and she entered the New York Foundation of the Arts Immigrant Artist Program: “We connect artists with services and resources to foster their creative careers, gain support and exposure for their work, and integrate into the cultural world of New York and beyond while upholding their distinct identities.” (IAP on-line) She graduated from IAP in 2019. In her multi disciplined work she explores themes of family, migration, childhood memories, borders, nostalgia, food, politics, and justice. She is now an artist in residence at the Galeria de la Raza, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that promotes Latinx art and culture.

Paola da le Calle is one of the promising new artists who is creating significant Latinx art. Through her residency at Galeria de la Raza, she became the lead artist in the 2021 Caravan for the Children Campaign. She contributed five quilts to bring recognition of former President Trump’s separation of children from their parents at the border. “How Many More” (2021) (9’x14’) depicts a mound of turquoise backpacks with bright pink straps, colors that children would pick. Popping out of the backpacks are teddy bears, stuffed elephants, monarch butterflies, and worry dolls. The presence of teddy bears and stuffed elephants represents the few precious things children can manage to bring with them from their homelands. 

The monarch butterflies and worry dolls appear in several of de la Calle’s quilts and other works of art. Monarch butterflies are the most recognizable and most tracked butterflies in the world. Millions of monarchs migrate 3,000 miles from northeast America, their fall breeding ground, to central Mexico where they hibernate for the winter. Their journey reflects in reverse the journey of Latin people across the southern border for refuge in the United States. Monarch butterflies represent strength, endurance, and freedom, all attributes required for their journey north.

Worry dolls (trouble dolls) originated in the legend of a Mayan princess who received the gift from the sun god to solve any problem a human can worry about. Worry dolls are hand-made and originate in Guatemala. Children place them under their pillows at night, and by morning they have received the knowledge necessary for dealing with their worries. Paola de la Calle also incorporates worry dolls into her works. Text in Spanish is embroidered on the quilt: “Justice and freedom run intertwined like roots, older than the borders, and more resistant than the weapon of the suppresser.”

“Uncage/Libera” (2021) (9’x14’) places the image against a blue sky.  Clasped hands support a cluster of white flowers; the centers are six small gold picture frames with children’s portraits inside. Olive branches extend from some of the frames. Above the flowers is a larger gold picture frame with a mother holding up her baby. Large butterfly wings complete this image.  A Spanish saying is woven around the bottom of this image: “That our branches of olive repair the cage of oppression and delay.”

 The lower half of the quilt is covered with the image of a barbed wire fence. Two silhouetted hands grab the wire, while two monarch butterflies fly above the hands. A second Spanish statement is included: “I know that here are people walking with children in their arms with their feet broken with degeneration and hope.”

“Reunify/Reunificar” (2021) (9’x14’) features an old blue suitcase with a plastic toy house on top. Beneath the suitcase are dozens of green poblano peppers, the most popular mild pepper that comes from Puebla, Mexico. Below the peppers are the clasped hands perhaps of a mother and her child who wears a blue sweater. A monarch butterfly sits upon the child’s arm. Between the clasped hands is a child’s drawing. Above the house a Luna moth spreads its wings. Rarely seen by humans because they fly at night, Luna moths symbolize new beginnings and heightened awareness as they see the light of a new day. On either side of the moth’s wings are embroidered words. Unfortunately, they are too small to translate.

Above the barbed wire at the bottom of the quilt is embroidered writing: “Remember that our beginnings are infinite, laughter, dark soft baby cheeks, sunrise over the horizon, and uncle’s smile as he shucks corn, to remember that beauty is a seed as well, and decomposing flesh fertilizes flowers after half-a-dozen days in the hot sun.” (punctuation added)

Healing was a subject de la Calle believed was missing from the mission of Uncage and Reunify: “I think art sometimes does what words can’t. And the call here is to take these children out of cages and reunite them with their families. I think there is a missing step here, and that is the step of healing. These children are facing a lot of trauma.” The “Heal/Senar” (2021) (9’x14’) quilt contains some of her usual symbolic messages: a cactus, a worry doll, and monarch butterflies. In addition, she has added soil, water, and a map of North and South America. The child’s hands reaching to the sky are presumably those of a little girl, this time identified by the open pink ballerina music box containing a few mementos. The cactus is balanced by a dark gray image of the raised hand of the Statue of Liberty, holding her torch to light the way to liberty. 

Three kites soar high into the sky, their tails containing additional embroidered messages too small to read in the picture. The statement at the right side of the quilt can be read: ‘If the arch of history bends towards justice, entonces, quero volar como una aquila, stitch a quilt full of colorful faces, affix it round my neck, wear it like a cape and swoop around batallando la injusticia, so I can fly like an aquila battling injustice.” An Aquila is a golden eagle.

“Victorius/Vencenermos” (2021) (9’x14’) depicts a hoped-for reunification of mothers and their children. At the center of the composition are two sets of clasped hands, a mother and child reach from the top and bottom, the north and south, and are reunited. Their hands are placed on top of a child’s drawing of the fence they were kept behind. Two very green, tall cacti call attention to the border of photographs of families walking together and hugging. Hopefully, they are being reunited. The large banner across the top announces the purpose of the Caravan for the Children Campaign.  At the bottom of the quilt is a pyramid of brightly colored children’s shoes.

The embroidered inscription is in both English and Spanish: “We will be the new covenant of this earth, wind harvest of tears and seeds, rain washing shame with mercy, fire inviting the promise of death, new life some and become victorious.” 

The Caravan for the Children Campaign began on January 1, 2021, with a caravan of cars through San Francisco. De la Calle organized several events that highlighted immigrant poets, storytellers, and advocates of the campaign. The quilts include the poems of ten Central American poets, who according to de la Calle “offer different perspectives on resistance, liberation, and home. Some of them imagine different futures, some of them imagine different gifts. It was important to me that these voices shined and informed the images that were created for the quilts because this isn’t something a single person can have a full perspective on. It’s about community, it’s about uniting people to work together to request the reunification and the healing of these children.”

The making of quilts was inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt that was placed in 1987 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Caravan went to San Diego where de la Calle and Caravan members hosted music and poetry events at the border. On May 1, 2021, the 100th day of the Biden Administration, the quilts were unveiled on the National Mall in Washington, DC, for the May Day Immigration Justice March.

October is Hispanic Heritage Month. Paolo de la Calle, a young Hispanic artist, is a strong voice for the Latinx community.     

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

 

 

 

Dutch painters of the 17th Century were the first European artists to start painting landscapes, because land was owned by commoners as well as by nobles. Throughout the history of art, the subject matter that was most depicted was an indication of what was most important at the time. The newly freed Dutch had no king, and the various new Protestant churches had no single religious authority as previously exercised by the Catholic church. The Dutch became the merchants and tradesmen of Europe, and most trading ships sailed into the port of Amsterdam, where goods were then distributed to the rest of Europe. The Dutch owned their land and their homes, and they looked for small works of art that would fit on the walls of their small homes. The people, rather than the church or state, became patrons of the arts, and a thriving art market developed as a result. Three new subjects were added to painters’ repertoire: genre (paintings of everyday life), still life, and landscapes. European artists frequently painted horses and dogs since they were commissioned by the wealthy owners. Even though the Dutch were responsible for initiating landscape painting, ordinary farm animals were painted by a very few artists, but those artists were masters. 

 “The Young Bull” (1647) (93” x 133”) by Paulus Potter (1625-1654) was considered to be one of the best Dutch landscapes; landscape painting including animals was Potter’s specialty. The bull was considered a symbol of prosperity by the Dutch, and it represented strength and confidence. This painting is an exceptionally large painting for the time. Potter added canvas to both sides and the top after it was finished in order to include other animals. Potter added a cow, the symbol of fertility, motherhood, and nurturing. Likewise, the ewe supplies milk for many Dutch cheeses. She protects her lamb, a symbol of innocence and gentleness, and reminded viewers of the lamb of God. The ram represents virility and is known for its determination and agility when climbing hills. These animals were as significant to the prosperous life of the Dutch as they are today. The landscape depicts the Dutch town of Rijswijk. A herd of cows graze peacefully on the green pasture. Potter also captures the flatness of the Dutch landscape and the cloudy sky that will bring rain to the land. 

 

Chickens, ducks, and other foul were valued for their eggs, feathers, and meat. “Seven Chicks” (1665-68) was painted by Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-1695), a Dutch painter who specialized in bird studies. The “Seven Chicks” includes several poses, colorings, and head studies of baby chicks. The artist captures the lopsided walk of one chick, two feeding chicks, a nesting chick, and baby chicken heads from various views. The sketch shows his exceptional observational skill and his devotion to his beloved subject matter.

 

 De Hondecoeter’s “Ducks” (1675) depicts several species of ducks and a white dove. Among the various birds represented by the artist were brent geese, Egyptian geese, red-breasted geese, fieldfares, partridges, pigeons, ducks, northern cardinals, magpies, peacocks, African grey crowned cranes, Asian sarus-cranes, Indonesian yellow-crested cockatoos, Indonesian purple-naped lory, and Madagasgar grey-headed lovebirds. The port of Amsterdam bought a wide variety of exotic plants, spices, and birds to Holland. It is easy to understand why this period is known as the “Dutch Golden Age.”

 

“Young Boy Looking into a Pigsty” (1749) was painted by English artist George Morland (1763-1804). Although his works include a variety of subjects, he was famous for his genre scenes, many including farming and hunting. He was inspired by “Dutch Golden Age” paintings. Three pigs rest in the straw in a sturdy pigsty. The standing pig enjoys a leafy green nibble, and the viewer can see a large carrot placed diagonally in the right corner. Although pigs are usually thought to be dirty animals who love to roll in the mud, these well-nourished pigs are clean and comfortable. They appear to be well cared for and will someday provide a nourishing dinner. Resting his arms on the gate, a little boy admires the pigs. All is well.

“Guinea Pigs” (1792), also by George Morland, depicts three pets nibbling on a large green leaf. Symbolic of friendship and community, the guinea pigs are comfortably grouped together. Guinea pigs were introduced into Europe in the 16th Century, and they became favorite pets from then on. They were frequently depicted in history, myth, and religious paintings to represent the importance of social connections. They are small and soft, like to be cuddled, make a whistling sound when they are happy, and purr like cats. Morland’s painting is the first known painting of guinea pigs, and it is generally considered one of the finest paintings of any animal.

 

There were not many master painters of Europe who specialized in animals, but those who did excelled. “Two Rabbits” (1841) by Rosa Bonheur is a charming painting. Bonheur is best known for her large-scale paintings of horses, plowing scenes, and other working animals. Her paintings brought her wealth enough to purchase the estate at By, where she kept a menagerie that included a lion. Her love of animals both large and small is apparent in this delightful painting of rabbits. Like other animals, rabbits have a symbolic meaning; they are known for their fertility and therefore represent abundance and prosperity.  The lucky rabbit’s foot has a long history in many cultures. Bonheur’s painting, like others in this article, simply lets the viewer appreciate and enjoy the scene.

This article is inspired by the exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Kent Clover Calf 4H Club, the oldest continuously chartered 4H club in Maryland. The exhibit is on display at the Bordley History Center (Kent County Historical Society) in Chestertown.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.