Beverly Hall Smith - Talbot Spy

Looking at the Masters: Marc Chagall

January 12, 2023 by Beverly Hall Smith

Marc Chagall (1887-1985), a Jew born in Vitebsk, Russia, would become a renowned artist. His father was a herring merchant, and his mother sold groceries from their home to support their nine children. Chagall’s memories of his childhood under the Pale of Settlement, the pogroms established in Russian to greatly restrict Jews, his Hasidic Jewish upbringing, and memories of his beloved home town Vitebsk were the strongest influences on his art. As a Jew he was not allowed to attend school, except Yeshiva (Jewish school), but he was highly intelligent. His mother enrolled him in a regular high school when he was 13. He recalled his mother’s actions: “In that school, they don’t take Jews. Without a moment’s hesitation, my courageous mother walks up to a professor. She offered the headmaster 50 rubles to let me attend, which he accepted.”

At school, Chagall watched a fellow student draw. In his autobiography My Life (pub. 1923), he described it as “like a vision, a revelation in black and white.” Never having seen art before, Chagall knew what he was meant to do. He moved to St Petersburg in 1906 to attend art school. He studied under Leon Bakst, a Russian Jewish artist who would become famous as a designer of sets and costumes for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe. Bakst also introduced Chagall to the theater. Chagall remained in Russia from 1906 until 1910. He was able to move to Paris in 1910, when a member of the Russian Duma who liked him and his art, gave him a monthly stipend of 40 rubles to support his art.

“I and the Village” (1911)

Chagall saw the art of Picasso and Matisse and the other young artists of Cubism and Fauvism, and the various other “isms” then in Paris. He began to realized that Jewish traditions so much a part of his life were in decline and that he needed to document them. “I and the Village” (1911) (75”x 60’’) (MoMA) is one of his earliest paintings in Paris. Vitebsk, a busy crossroads for trade, had both churches and synagogues and a large Jewish population. Influenced by the vibrant colors of Fauvism, and the geometry of Cubism, Chagall created a dream-memory of his hometown.

Looking eye-to-eye at each other are the green face of a Jew, Chagall, and the large multicolored head of a lamb. They recognize each other and smile slightly. They are joined compositionally by a large multicolored, overlaid circle, symbol of inclusion and wholeness. Connecting the man and the lamb is a triangle formed by a hand holding a flower. The triangle extends from the center bottom of the composition to the lamb’s mouth. Enclosed in the lamb’s head is the image of a woman milking a white cow. Scenes of Vitebsk that include farm animals such as cows, sheep, chickens, and roosters are common images drawn from Chagall’s childhood memories.

Floating between the foreheads of the two main figures, are a farmer carrying a scythe and a woman dancing upside-down. Behind them arranged on a circular ground is the colorful town of Vitebsk, including a Russian Orthodox church, its dome bearing a cross, and five brightly colored houses, two of which are upside down. People and objects float in the air devoid of gravity, and existing upside-down, become another characteristic of Chagall’s art. The painting is carefully composed using primary and secondary colors and overlapping geometric shapes. Chagall created a space based in reality, but a world beyond. “I and the Village” combines Chagall’s memory, dreams, and fantasies that are so much a part of his art.

Why Chagall depicted himself as green is a question. The cultural identify of Jews was a major issue in Chagall’s time. He wrote, “Back there (Russia), still a boy, at every step I felt—or rather people made me feel!…that I was a Jew.” Throughout his life, Chagall had to deal with the perception that Jews were less than human. He frequently used green for himself and fellow Jews because to him the color green symbolized rebirth and joy.

“The Fiddler” (1912-13)

Chagall loved Paris, but in his early years there he struggled to learn the language and to earn money. “The Fiddler” (1912-13) (74”x 62’’) was painted on a brown checkered tablecloth. He leaves portions of the tablecloth unpainted on the fiddler’s shoes, pants, coat and in the brown of the houses and churches. Music and dance were an important part of the Hasidic tradition, seen as a way to commune with God. Fiddlers played throughout a person’s life, from birth, to marriage, and at death.

Chagall’s fiddler stands on one leg on the roof of a house, while his other leg kicks out into space as he dances. At his left, dressed in native costumes, three small figures dance to the music. A blue tree at the right shelters white and yellow birds. A figure in yellow floats in the clouds above the fiddler. Chagall cleverly played white triangles against the partially black earth and sky. Despite the heavy black areas that surround the fiddler, or perhaps because of them, the painting is a haunting reminder of life and death.

“Paris, no word sounded sweeter to me!” Chagall reveled in his new life: “No academy could have given me all I discovered by getting my teeth into the exhibitions, the shop windows, and the museums of Paris.” Paris proved to be one of the major turning points in Chagall’s life, although he remained homesick for Vitebsk. After his initial adjustment period, he became a welcomed member of the Paris avant-garde.

“Paris Through the Window (1913) (53” x 56”) (Guggenheim Museum, New York) expresses his delight in Paris and the influence of his new friend and colleague Robert Delaunay. Delaunay had developed a style called Orphism (named after the Greek musician) that brought bright colors to Cubism and had influenced the use of pure colors in “I and the Village” and “The Fiddler.”

Positioning himself in the lower right corner, Chagall is Janus, the two-faced figure. The face at the right looks back to Vitebsk, while the blue face at the left looks to the future. The window is rainbow colored. A yellow cat with a remarkable human face sits on the window ledge and looks into the sky, where a parachutist, Chagall, floats past the Eiffel tower. A man wearing a black suit and carrying a cane, and a woman in green and black wearing a hat, float in the white clouds at the base of the Eiffel tower. The city of Paris stretches across the canvas.

Smaller details catch the viewer’s attention. On the ground behind the window, a steam train puffs along, upside down. In front of the window, a chair supports a yellow pot full of brightly colored flowers. Beside it, in a light beige triangle is the artist’s signature. The two-faced portrait of the artist includes his blue fingers spread open to display a yellow heart on the palm of his hand. Is Chagall in love with Paris? Yes. Is he in love with Vitebsk? Yes. Is he in love with a woman? Yes.

Through his art, Chagall tells many stories of his life and loves. He uses his art to express his response to world in which he lived: World War I, the Russian Revolution, Nazism and World War II, and the aftermath of war.

Closing note: This article deals with Chagall’s early art. His long career will be discussed in future articles in the SPY, as his art has much to say about the world 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.

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Looking at the Masters: Franz Marc

January 5, 2023 by Beverly Hall Smith

The art world went through major changes at the beginning of the 20th Century, as did the world at large. European artists were moving far from the classical traditions of the past 500 years (1400-1899). Absolute representation of the world was no longer the goal of the new Paris avant-garde. Picasso led artists into the direction of Cubism, inspired by the geometry of the then available African sculpture. Matisse started the expressionistic style of Fauvism, inspired by the flowing lines of Art Nouveau and an emotional attachment to strong colors inspired by van Gogh, Gauguin, and Munch. The Japanese woodcut had inspired a relaxation of the traditional rules of perspective.

This new wave of art and artists also had a strong presence in Germany. Franz Marc (1880-1916), a native of Munich, was one of the prominent artists arising in Germany. The son of a minor landscape painter, Marc began to paint early in his life. After fulfilling his military service, he studied art at the Munich Academy of Fine Art from 1900 until1902. Unsatisfied with the traditional realism being taught, he went to Paris in 1903, and for the first time saw Japanese woodcuts. Returning to Paris in 1907, he discovered the strong color palettes of Gauguin, van Gogh, and Matisse, and the new Cubist work of Picasso and Delaunay. Marc wrote in 1908, ‘’I am trying to heighten my sense of the organic rhythm that beats in all things, to develop a pantheistic sympathy with the shivering and flow of blood in nature, in trees, in animals, in the air…I am trying to make a picture from it with new movement and with colors which are a mockery of the old kings of studio pictures.”

“Red Deer II” (1912)

Marc’s interest in painting animals began early. He supported himself by giving animal anatomy lessons from 1904 until 1910. His painted series of horses, cows and bulls, dogs, foxes, and deer which he studied from life and at the zoo. “Red Deer” (1912) (39’’x 27’’) is an example of his moving away from realism to find what he described as “the inner mystical construction of the world.” Marc thought that animals represented the innocence lost by man, and that animals were one with the rhythm of nature. In this painting, the sweeping curves of the “Red Deer” are applied equally to the deer and the landscape. The clouds, mountains, paths, and plants are integrated into a symbiotic relationship with the deer. The beauty, strength, and grace of nature is revealed.

“Deer in the Forest” (1913)

“Deer in the Forest” (1913) (40” x41”) (Phillips Collection, Washington, DC.) expresses Marc’s concept of what a painting should depict: “I can paint a picture: ‘The Deer.’ However, I may also wish to paint a picture ‘The Deer Feels.’ How infinitely more delicate the artist’s sensibilities must be to paint that.” Four brown deer nestle together in the forest, while a fifth curls up nearby. The trees surround them and provide shelter. Marc has composed the four deer in a triangle, the most stable composition artists have used for centuries. The surrounding environment is composed of geometrical Cubist shapes.

A solitary bird flies over, and like the deer, seems undisturbed by a glowing red behind it and the black swirls that suggest a coming storm. Questioning the state of the world in which he lived, Marc asked, “must they (paintings) not be full of wires and tension. Of the effects of modern lights, of the spirit of chemical analysis which beaks forces apart and arbitrarily joins them together?” Very much aware of the new scientific discoveries of Rutherford in1911, the study of the atom, Marc’s reaction was immediate “Today we dissect nature, which is always illusory, and put it back together again in accordance with our will. We see through matter. Matter is something which man today can tolerate at most; he cannot acknowledge it.” Marc’s colleague Kandinsky stated; “The crumbling of the atom was to my soul like the crumbling of the whole world. Suddenly the heaviest walls toppled. Everything became uncertain, tottering and weak.”

“Animal Fates” (1913)

“Animal Fates” (1913) (6’5’’ x 8’10’’) is extremely large and takes a different direction from most of Marc’s paintings. The animals are in extreme danger. The composition is crisscrossed with slashing forms in red, black, and dark blue. The forest is burning, and a large tree trunk falls diagonally across the composition.

Marc’s choices of colors were intentional. He describes his theory in detail: “Blue is the male principle, severe and spiritual. Yellow is the female principle, gentle, cheerful and sensual. Red is matter, brutal and heavy, the color that has to come into conflict with, and succumbs to the other two…But then if you mix blue and yellow to make green, you rouse red, matter the earth, but here, as painter, I always sense a difference: it is never possible altogether to subdue eternal matter.”

The two powerful green horses at the upper left of the painting symbolize power, referring to the horsepower of engines. They are caught in the burning red forest. The horse on the left cries out in agony. At the lower left, two red boars symbolize ferocious male strength but are subsumed by the fire. The central figure of the composition is a blue male deer. His exaggerated posture, neck thrown back parallel with the falling tree trunk, illustrates his fear and imminent death. The red tree trunk will surely crush him. At the middle right, four reddish-brown deer, their noses all pointed into the forest, are perhaps the only possible survivors. Marc, along with many, anticipated the conflagration of World War I. On the back of the canvas Marc wrote, ”and all being is flaming, suffering.”

“Deer in the Forest” (1913-14)

Marc and Kandinsky were founding members of the Blue Rider group in Munich in 1911. Both loved horses and the color blue, thus the name of the group. They also agreed on many philosophical points. They believed in the symbolism of colors. Marc expressed their view: “Namely the one great truth is that there is not great pure art without religion, that the more religious art has been the more artistic it has been.” The purpose of the group was not only to mount art exhibitions but also to introduce the proletariat to new ideas. The first Blue Rider Almanac (1912) contained woodcuts and announced the artists’ purpose “to create forms which could take their place on the altars of the future intellectual religion.” Kandinsky’s book On the Spiritual in Art (1912) has never gone out of publication.

“Deer in the Forest” (1913-14) (43’’ X 39’’) clearly represents the idea of spiritual. It does not refer to a religion, but that art had the power to evoke inner emotions and feelings. The composition is made up of three deer, all lying comfortably and at peace. The top most deer is the blue male. His body stretches from side to side of the composition as to protect the other two deer. At the left, the doe, composed of green, yellow and reddish brown, looks toward the male. Between the two is the faun. Marc has chosen the natural camouflage coloring of a faun, with some of the forest colors, light spring green and blue, to integrate the faun into the setting.

The light green shape at the upper left of the composition resembles the new growth of a plant. At the right, balanced against the plant, is a rich array of purples. From the top center, a yellow stripe representing sunlight enters the scene. The introduction of square shapes and black outlines were intended to remind the viewer of the leaded glass in church windows.

“Animals in a Landscape” (1914)

As World War I approached, Marc’s paintings began to show his apprehension and fear. In “Animals in a Landscape” (1914) (43’’x 39’’) powerful red takes control of the composition. Placed within the red is a large bull with black horns. His head is pointed in the direction of a yellow deer, partially integrated into the green forest, her front legs in the blue water. She does not yet feel the wrath of the red. At the upper left, a yellow cow rests peacefully, still unaware of the red danger moving in her direction. Tall black serpents command the right edge of the painting. The red menace emanates from the serpents, and it is in position to sweep over all in the painting.

In his last paintings, Marc began to see an ugliness in nature he had thought existed only in humans, and he expressed his disgust with the modern world. For a short time, his paintings were abstract. He served in WWI as a cavalry officer, and he was put to work camouflaging artillery. His respect and love for nature returned, and in a letter to his wife in 1915 he wrote, “People with their lack of piety, especially men, never touched my true feelings. But animals with their virginal sense of life awakened all that was good in me.” Unfortunately, Marc was sent to the front and died at the battle of Verdun on March 4, 1916. The order to withdraw him from the front and from combat because he was a notable artist came a few days later. Beside his body was his sketchbook” Magic Moments, Plant Life Coming into Creation.”

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Looking at the Masters: Yayoi Kusama

December 29, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

Yayoi Kusama (b.1929) is an internationally popular artist whose works have delighted, entranced, and entertained people for decades. She was born in Matsumoto, Japan to wealthy parents. By the age of 10, she was experiencing what she described as “flashes of light, aura, or dense fields of dots.” These visual and aural hallucinations were diagnosed as obsessional neurosis and depersonalization. Obsessional neurosis, visions and sounds, recurred against Kusama’s will, but her ability to reason and remain lucid remained. They had an enormous impact on her art. As a child she wanted to study art, and she made a deal with her mother to study art if she also went to etiquette school. Kusama began to study Japanese Nihonga in 1948.

“The Hill” (“A (No. 30”) (1953)

Nihonga is as much a philosophy as it is a style. The word Nihonga means empty space (ma). Outlines are emphasized, images are two-dimensional, and gold is frequently used. The image is not intended to be seen as solid, and beauty can be found in impermanent things. Nihonga also brought back several aspects of traditional Japanese art. “The Hill” (“A (No. 30”) (1953) (gouache, pastel, oil on wax paper), an early drawing by Kusama, allows the viewer to begin to understand how Kusama’s mental condition appeared in her art. The painting is abstract, an imaginary space that allows multiple interpretations. The title “The Hill” was given later. The flat black space can be thought of as the night sky. The gold ground between the black is crisscrossed with green lines containing repeated triangles, which suggest rows of evergreen trees. However, some triangles point upward and others downward, creating an inconsistent visual space. Over everything are light green dots, the beginning of Kusama’s signature polka dots.

After Kusama saw the work of Georgia O’Keeffe in 1955, she sent her a letter. O’Keeffe responded, offering advice and encouragement. She suggested Kusama come to America. Kusama arrived in Seattle, Washington, in 1957. Following an exhibition of her work there, she moved to New York City. In the 1960’s she participated in Viet Nam War protests and protests for marriage and gender equality. She dressed in polka dot clothing and frequently dressed other participants in dots. She initiated several “Happenings.” Andy Warhol and Claus Oldenburg spoke of Kusama as influential in the development of Assemblage art, environmental art, and performance art. She experimented with soft sculptures, and in 1965 she began to experiment with mirrors, music, and light. Polka dots always were included.

“Phalli Field” (1965)

“Phalli Field” (1965) was Kusama’s first mirrored room. It was filled with white soft sculptures with red polka dots. Viewers could look into the room and engage with the multiple reflections of themselves and the sculptures. “Phalli Field” was the beginning of what Kusama calls Infinity Rooms. The following year, Kusama performed in the room, renaming it “Peep Show or Endless Love Room,” at the Castellane Gallery in New York City. The “Phalli Room” in these photographs has been installed several times. It was purchased in 2016 by the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.

“Narcissus Garden” (1966)

Kusama’s work became immediately popular. “Narcissus Garden” was included in the 1966 Venice Biennale where she placed hundreds of mirrored globes on the ground. Like “Phalli Fields” and other of her works, “Narcissus Garden” has been commissioned several times. The photo here is of “Narcissus Garden” at the New York Botanical Garden in 2021.

Kusama returned to Japan in 1975, and two years later she checked herself into the Seiwa Hospital, a psychiatric institution. Her mental conditions were diagnosed, and she realized that documenting her hallucinations was a way to learn to deal with them: “Recording them helped to ease the shock and fear of the episodes. That is the origin of my pictures…particularly of my mental disease… painting pictures has been a therapy for me to overcome the illness.” She is a voluntary resident at the hospital, leaving when her work takes her away. She purchased a building next door to serve as her studio.

“Obliteration Room” (2002) (2017)

Depersonalization, Kusama’s second diagnosed condition, is described as a feeling of being an observer, outside yourself. She commented, “I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space.” “Obliteration Room” (2002) was first created in the Queensland Gallery, Australia, and it was immediately popular. The room was originally entirely white including the furniture. Kusama thought of it as a project for children. Visitors to the room were given sheets of circular stickers of various colors and sizes and told to put them anywhere. After a period of time, as this photograph shows, the room covered with dots does begin to disappear. When installed at the Hirshhorn Museum in 2017, “Obliteration Room” attracted thousands of visitors who covered it with over 800,000 stickers.

Kusama recalls her childhood experience that influenced “Obliteration Room: “One day I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up, I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows, and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body, and the universe.” A film titled “Self-Obliteration, made in1968 with Jud Yalkut, won prizes that year at the Fourth International Experimental Film Competition in Belgium, the Second Maryland Film Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

“Pumpkin” (2016)

Pumpkins are another image that Kusama includes in her works: “I love pumpkins because of their humorous form, warm feeling, and a human-like quality and form. My desire to create works of pumpkins still continues. I have enthusiasm as if I were still a child.” Kusama’s family owned a nursery and seed farm. Pumpkins were a part of her childhood.

“All the Eternal Love I Have for Pumpkins” (2016)

Kusuma created an Infinity Room with pumpkins at the 1993 Venice Biennale. Pumpkins have become another of her signature images in sculptures, paintings, and prints. The Hirshhorn Museum held a major exhibition of her work in 2016. “All the Eternal Love I Have for Pumpkins” was a new Infinity Room. Kusama’s popularity is evidenced in the number of visitors to this exhibition. When it went on tour in 2017, four of the six museums on the tour reported the highest attendance records in their histories.

“My Heart is Dancing in the Universe” (2018)

“My Heart is Dancing in the Universe” (2018) features colorfully lit paper lanterns covered with dots and mirrored walls that allow visitors to wander through an enchanted world, viewing their reflections while the colors gradually change around them.

The Hirshhorn Museum has collected Kusama’s work since1966. “My Heart is Dancing in the Universe” was first shown at the Museum in 2018. It acquired the work in January 2022. One with Eternity is the title of the current Kusama exhibition at the Hirshhorn. It was scheduled to close at the end of 2022, but the popularity of her work caused the Museum to extend the exhibition until Spring 2023. “Phalli Field” and “My Heart is Dancing in the Universe” are two Infinity Rooms in the current exhibition, along with “Pumpkin” (2016), “The Hill” (1953), as well as sculptures and photographs by the artist. Also in the exhibition are a few Kusama paintings, begun in 2009 and continuing to the present. These paintings are from her series My Eternal Soul, which now numbers over 800 works.

Kusama has received numerous commissions to create large scale sculptures of pumpkins, flowers, and biomorphic shapes in sculpture gardens world-wide. She collaborated with Coca-Cola, BMW, Selfridges of London, and Louis Vuitton in New York and London. In 2020 a painting sold for 6.8 million dollars. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art (2006). The prestigious Art Newspaper named her “the most popular artist in the world” based on museum attendance in 2014. The Yayoi Kusama Museum was opened in Tokyo in 2017.

Yayoi Kusama will by 94 years old on March 22, 2023. She faced many difficulties but overcame them to lead an amazing life. Her art has brought so much pleasure to the world. In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, she felt the need to send the following message to the world.

A MESSAGE FROM YAYOI KUSAMA TO THE WHOLE WORLD

Though it glistens just out of reach, I continue to pray for hope to shine through
Its glimmer lighting our way
This long awaited great cosmic glow

Now that we find ourselves on the dark side of the world
The gods will be there to strengthen the hope we have spread throughout the universe

For those left behind, each person’s story and that of their loved ones
It is time to seek a hymn of love for our souls
In the midst of this historic menace, a brief burst of light points to the future
Let us joyfully sing this song of a splendid future
Let’s go

Embraced in deep love and the efforts of people all over the world
Now is the time to overcome, to bring peace
We gathered for love and I hope to fulfil that desire
The time has come to fight and overcome our unhappiness

NOTE: One with Eternity at the Hirshhorn is free to the public. However, timed passes are necessary as a result of the enormous response. Go to https://hirshhorn.si.edu for all information.

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Looking at the Masters: Conrad von Soest

December 22, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

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.

“Annunciation” (1403)

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.

“Nativity” (1403)

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.

“Adoration of the Magi” (1403)

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.

“Presentation” (1403)

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.

“Crucifixion Altarpiece” (1403)

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.

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Looking at the Masters: Alfred Sisley

December 15, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

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.”

“Early Snow at Louveciennes” (1870-71)

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.

“The Frost” (1872)

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.

“Road to Louveciennes, Snow Effect” (1874)

“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.

“Winter in Louveciennes” (1876)

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)

“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!

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Looking at the Masters: Florine Stettheimer

December 8, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

“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 Cathedrals of Wall Street” (1939).jpg

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.

“The Cathedrals of Wall Street” (right side detail)

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.

“The Cathedrals of Wall Street” (lower right detail)

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.

“The Cathedrals of Art” (1942)

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.

”The Cathedrals of Art” (self-portrait of the artist)

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.

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Looking at the Masters: Florine Stettheimer

December 1, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

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)

“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.

“The Cathedrals of Broadway” (lower left corner)

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.

“The Cathedrals of Broadway” (lower right corner)

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)

“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)

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Looking at the Masters: Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith

November 24, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith, (b.1940, St. Ignatius Flathead Reservation, Montana) is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and also is of French-Cree, Metis, and Shoshone descent. She was named Jaune, the French word for yellow, in recognition of her French Cree ancestry. Her grandmother gave her the name Quick-to-See because of her ability to understand things quickly. Smith received a BA in Art Education (1976) from Framingham State College in Massachusetts. She was told that she was more skilled than the men in her class but could not expect a career as an artist. Undaunted, she began earning a living as an artist in the 1970’s. In1980, she received an MFA from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Untitled (From Portfolio of Indian Self Rule) (1983)

Untitled (From Portfolio of Indian Self Rule) (1983) (24” x10’’) (color lithograph) (Smithsonian American Art Museum) depicts five buffalo, for Smith a symbol for Native Americans. The print features a yellow frame around a field of red ochre, Indian red. The buffalo at the top is brown and black, but the inclusion of yellow indicates a tanned hide. The red circles on its back may represent wounds. Smith’s use of black represents smoke or charcoal. The second buffalo is yellow and blue with seven black wounds. Smith uses blue to represent America. The third buffalo hide has blue stars and red bars of the American flag. The two lower buffalo are blue, yellow, red, and black. The herds of living brown buffalo have disappeared. This print was included in the book Indian Self Rule: First-Hand Accounts of Indian-White Relations from Roosevelt to Reagan (1983).

Smith’s paintings developed to include drawing and collage. Collaged items incorporated were taken from mass media, advertisements, maps, cartoons, scientific articles, newspapers, photographs, and other materials that seemed appropriate for her subject. Her time in graduate school had introduced her to Abstract Expressionist artists including Pollock, Still, and Rothko, thus her use of patches of color and drips of paint. Smith researches her subjects until she fully forms her intention for the work.

“Indian, Indio, Indigenous” (1992)

“Indian, Indio, Indigenous (1992) (60’’x 100’’) (National Museum of Women in the Arts) is part of Smith’s series The Quincentenary Non-Celebration, created in 1992. It was a response to the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in America. Spain and Italy held celebrations for Columbus in 1992, and the United States Mint struck a Columbus Quincentenary one-dollar coin. However, Indigenous People’s Day honoring Native Americans was a popular American response.

Smith collaged the masthead of her tribal newspaper Char-Koosta, and next to it collaged a drawing of a bear. She placed in the center a gray wash drawing of an Indian. The title of the painting is written boldly in red capital letters. Smith includes a smaller drawing of an Indian warrior’s head with the words OH! ZONE in a cartoon bubble. A reindeer petroglyph is placed at the top of the work.

“Indian, Indio, Indigenous” (detail)

Beneath the drawing of the Indian is a flower with leaves drawn in black and the words IT TAKES HARD WORK TO KEEP RACISM ALIVE.

Indian, Indio, Indigenous” (detail)

Farther right are the words MONEY IS GREEN/ IT TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER NATURE and a black and white photo print of an Indian. Below the Indian, Smith has collaged part of a BLONDIE comic strip.

“State Names” (2000)

Smith began painting a series of American maps in 1992, and she continues to add pieces. In 2000 she painted the map “Browning of America.” The 2001 “Tribal Map” includes the names of Native American tribes. “State Names” (2000) (48”x72’’) (SAAM) includes the names of 27 states that have Indian names. Among the state names included are Connecticut (from the Algonquin language meaning long tidal river), Idaho (from the Apache language), Michigan (meaning large lake), Mississippi (from the Choctaw language meaning great water, or father of waters), and Oklahoma (also from the Choctaw language meaning red people).

Discussing the maps in 2004, Smith stated, “We are the original owners of this country. Our land was stolen from us by the Euro-American invaders…. I can’t say strongly enough that my maps are about stolen lands, our very heritage, our cultures, our worldview, our being. Every map is a political map and tells a story — that we are alive everywhere across this nation. …”

“War is Heck” (2002)

Smith’s work consistently responds to world events. “War is Heck” (2002) (lithograph) (59”x 57”) (Whitney Museum, New York) includes Native American images as a protest to war. She frequently uses the image of a horse as a stand-in for herself. The horse does not run, but it prances proudly in the center of the composition.

The center of the composition is light blue and includes the image of an Indian with wings riding the horse. In this work blue was not intended to represent America, but peace. Faintly written at the top are the words peace pipe. Below are four small buffalo and a peace pipe. A double image of the American flag, with a bird perched on a tree branch is next to the peace pipe.

The small light red area at the left speaks of blood and war, and a black bull running forward may indicate a rush to war. Below, rows of smaller bulls are stopped with an upraised hand. A small image labeled IL SOLDADO (soldier) appears at the top left. Numbers of buffalo walk behind the major images.

Smith’s comments regarding this print are timeless: “Are we so inured to war that we accept it as the way to solve problems between countries? Americans have come to believe that we can single out some international bad guys and with high tech equipment ‘take them out,’ neatly, cleanly solving problems for the whole planet…. People are herded from their homelands and treated like sub-humans by corporate governments who value oil over humanity.”

“I See Red” (1992)

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, purchased “I See Red” (1992) (11’x 42’’) in 2020. It was the first work by a Native American artist purchased by the Gallery. Above the painting is a dart board with the darts arranged in a semi-circle around the target to resemble feathers in an Indian headpiece. The eleven-foot painting is complex and is divided into ten layers alternating painted red sections with a repeated patterns of Indian photographs taken from the Flathead reservation newspaper Char-Koosta News. The text COMMUNITY SERVICES, FIND INTERESTS, COURSES WORKSHOPS appears at the top of each photograph. Under the target are the words Destroy the Myth, which Smith has stated mean, “The myth is that Native warriors were at war all the time like the Europeans. Only we didn’t have horses or steel swords or guns.”

“I See Red” (detail)

Very clearly in the second red section is a Redskins Super Bowl XXVI Champions pennant, and an image of the team’s helmet. The Redskins’ victory was over the Buffalo Bills on January 26, 1992. Smith includes her usual images of buffalo as an additional comment. Beneath the pennant are the words FOR PEOPLE WHO INHERITED BRAINS INSTEAD OF WEALTH. Smith states, “I reference Indians being the Target of the corporate world of mascots and consumer goods.”

The misuse of Indian names was a long-standing issue for Native Americans. It was not until 2021, when the National Gallery purchased this painting, that the Redskins organization agreed to change the Team name.

“I See Red” (detail)

The fourth red section begins with the words Operation Déjà Vu and the cover of Son of Tomahawk, one of a DC comic series published from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. In one text bubble GET INTO THE GUTTER…WHERE YOU BELONG INJUN!” gets a response in another text bubble, TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY BROTHER. At the right side of the painting are the words Guarding Your Good Name. At the lower left side of the painting is an announcement of the 2nd Annual Flathead Reservation Culture Fair. Smith’s use of color and text in her painting need little explanation. She stands strong for her people and the way they are perceived.

In 2022 Smith stated, “My painting is caught in a perfect storm: Black Lives Matter, the death of George Floyd, Covid-19, the presidential election, the Standing Rock Sioux temporarily winning a stay on the pipeline and add to that the supreme court saying the Creek Indians do exist and their treaty is valid.”

Smith refers to the purchase of “I See Red” as breaking the buckskin ceiling: “Those of us who went to college were overlooked or disqualified as not being authentic. So, our artwork was considered to be bastardized. Many of our museums are filled with antiquities, but no contemporary art made by living Indians.”

Smith’s contributions include more than her enormous production of paintings and prints. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants. She brought indigenous artists from all over to participate in organized symposiums and collectives, and she curated over 30 exhibitions of their work. She has had more than 125 solo exhibitions and participated in over 680 group shows. Her work is in numerous museums and she has lectured at 200 universities, museums, and conferences.

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Looking at the Masters: Katharina Cibulka

November 16, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

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)

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)

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)

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)

Cross-stitch at the NMWA (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)

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Looking at the Masters: Roger Fenton

November 10, 2022 by Beverly Hall Smith

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.”

“Marcus Spalding Seated on Fenton’s Photograph Van” (1855)

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)

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.

Wounded Zouave and French Cantonniere” (1855)

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)

“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.

“Valley of the Shadow of Death” (1855)

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.

“Major Hallewell, his day’s work done” (1855)

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.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

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