Ruth Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, California, and she died in San Francisco in 2013. Her parents were immigrants from Japan. They worked on a truck farm picking seasonal crops until 1942, when the family was placed in Japanese internment camps. Her father was interned in a separate camp. The family did not see him for six years. 

Asawa became interested in art in elementary school, and her third-grade teacher encouraged her. She won first prize in the school competition. She and her six siblings attended elementary school and Japanese school on Saturdays, where she learned calligraphy using brush and ink. At the internment camp, located at the Santa Anita Racetrack, Asawa studied drawing with three Walt Disney Studio artists, also Japanese.

Asawa and her family later were transferred to the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas, where she finished high school in 1943. She was awarded a Quaker scholarship to attend Milwaukee State Teachers College. She completed the course work; however, she was not allowed to student teach and Wisconsin withheld her teaching certificate because she was Japanese. The College finally awarded in 1998 the degree she had earned all those years ago.

Asawa attended Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina, from 1945 until 1949.  Among her instructors were Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Jacob Lawrence, Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, and Joseph and Anni Albers, all major influencers on the direction of American arts, dance, music, painting, and sculpture after the War. 

Ruth Asawa created wire sculptures beginning in the 1950’s. The Ruth Asawa Commemorative United States Postage Stamp (2020) is a depiction of a relatively narrow range of her looped wire sculptures. She did not name her pieces, only numbered them. Information about the dates and measurements is not readily available. This forever postage stamp provides ten examples of Asawa’s looped wire sculptures. The hanging pieces range in length from three feet to twelve feet.

In the summer of 1947, while on a trip to visit Joseph Albers during his sabbatical in Toluca, Mexico, Asawa was inspired by a crocheting technique used to make baskets with galvanized wire: “I was interested in it because of the economy of a line, making something in space, enclosing it without blocking it out. It’s still transparent. I realized that if I was going to make these forms, which interlock and interweave, it can only be done with a line because a line can go anywhere.” The sculptures are looped wire constructions and are numbered, not titled. At her first exhibition at the Peridot Gallery in New York City, Asawa described her sculptures as a “woven mesh not unlike medieval mail. A continuous piece of wire, forms envelop inner forms, yet all forms are visible (transparent). The shadow will reveal an exact shape.” Asawa’s childhood drawings were lines that repeated forms and were evocative of flowers and plants.

“Untitled” (Ruth Asawa on bed kneeling inside looped wire sculpture) (1957) (7.75”x7.5’’) is a gelatine silver print photograph by Imogene Cunningham, one of America’s best-known women photographers. Cunningham and Asawa met in 1950, and they became fast friends despite their 43-year age difference. Cunningham’s photographs add to the public’s understanding of Asawa’s process. She experimented with several types of wire, including the more common copper and brass, but also bailing wire. The looped wire sculptures were very large, very intricate, and required a major effort to construct.

Asawa married architect Albert Lanier in 1949, and they had six children. Her internment had taught her to persevere despite obstacles, as did the prejudice against the Japanese people when she was denied the degree she had earned. At Black Mountain College she had experienced equality of treatment on the campus, but not in the town. The newly married couple moved to San Francisco’s Noe Valley because interracial marriage was illegal in all states but California and Washington. Asawa triumphed. She was the subject of a feature article in Life Magazine in 1954. Her work had become a commercial success early in the 1960’s. 

Asawa became interested in a new technique called tied wire sculpture in 1962, when a friend brought her a desert plant from Death Valley.  She tried to draw it: “It was such a tangle that I had to construct it in wire in order to draw it…I began to see all the possibilities, opening up the center and then making it flat on the wall, and putting it on a stand.” She experimented with new branching forms and with some of the Mexican wire crocheting forms. “Desert Flower” (1962) is geometric with a core at the center, similar to the Mexican star and sun patterns.  Asawa bundled multiple pieces of wire and tied them before shaping them into the branch forms. 

Asawa then became interested in cleaning the wire. She was turned down by several industrial plating companies because they considered her work to be insignificant and feminine. She recalled that C&M Plating “took pity on me and were willing to try new things.” After much experimenting, the company was able to electroplate the wire so that it would not rust or otherwise deteriorate. At the center of “Tied Wire Sculpture” (1960’s) is a star pattern. Asawa made the tied wire pieces to be hung on the wall. The diameters of the pieces vary from 36 inches to 60 inches or more, and the pieces extend several inches from the wall.

Asawa extended her work in metal by experimenting with cast sculpture: “I am fascinated by the possibilities of transforming cold metal into shapes that emulate living organic forms.” She received her first public commission from the City of San Francisco to create a fountain sculpture in Ghirardelli Square.  “Andrea” (1966-68) (cast bronze) is a depiction of two mermaids, sea turtles and frogs. One of the mermaids nurses a merbaby. Controversy arose; the work was too feminist for public art. The architect who designed Ghirardelli Square called it a lawn ornament and demanded it be removed. Asawa responded to the criticism: “For the old, it would bring back the fantasy of their childhood, and for the young, it would give them something to remember when they grow old.” The women of San Francisco supported Asawa’s fountain, and it remains in Ghirardelli Square today.

“San Francisco Fountain” (1970-73) (cast bronze) was commissioned for the front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Union Square. Asawa recruited over 200 school children, friends, family members, and visitors to mold their images of San Francisco in simple baker’s clay. The molds were cast in bronze, and Asawa assembled them to create the fountain. The Apple Corporation built a new store nearby and wanted the fountain removed. Public outcry prevented its destruction. The fountain was shifted a few feet to accommodate the new building.

The two “Origami Fountains” (1976) were placed in Buchanan Mall in San Francisco’s Japantown, their design based on the ancient Japanese paper folding art origami. San Franciscans called Asawa the fountain lady. She also designed “Aurora Fountain” (1986) along the Embarcadero waterfront, and the “Japanese-American Internment Memorial Sculpture” in San Jose (1994). 

Not only was Asawa the San Francisco fountain lady, she was a San Francisco artist through and through. Appointed in 1968 to the San Francisco Art Commission, she lobbied for the support of art programs for young children. She was co-founder of Alvarado Workshop for school children. By 1970, Alverado had become a prototype for projects funded by the U.S. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act to employ artists to create public works of art for cities. In 1972 Asawa became a board member of the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She served on Jimmy Carter’s Mental Health Commission in 1977. Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to the California Arts Council during this period. 

In 1982 she was one of the founders of the San Francisco School of the Arts, a public high school that later was renamed the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arta. The day of February 12, 1982, was declared Ruth Asawa Day to acknowledge her many contributions to the City as both an artist and a teacher. From 1989 until 1997 she was a trustee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. 

Asawa’s last public commission was the “Garden of Remembrance” (2002) at San Francisco State University. Nineteen Japanese San Francisco State students were removed from their classes by the United States military and taken to internment camps along with 120,000 others. There are 10 boulders placed on the lawn, each from one of the ten internment camps.

The waterfall represents energy and forward movement. Ruth Asawa said, “It was in 1946 when I thought I was modern. But now it’s 2002 and you can’t be modern forever.” She was a teacher, a sculptor, a painter, a printmaker, and did not stop working until she died in 2013. Since then, her work has been recognized in countless exhibitions. The United States Postal Service honored her with ten stamps.  Images of them are included at the beginning of this article.

“A child can learn something about color, about design, and about observing objects in nature. If you do that, you grow into a greater awareness of things around you. Art will make people better, more highly skilled in thinking and improving whatever business one goes into, or whatever occupation. It makes a person broader.” (Ruth Asawa)

 

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

Mizue Sawano, born in Osaka, Japan, in 1941 became interested in making art at age five. She now lives in New York City. Her father was a novelist and journalist for the Asahi newspaper. After World War II, her family had to move often. They lived in the beach town of Oiso from 1949 until 1958. Mizue walked the dunes and observed the effects of the wind on the movement of water and plants. She always carried a palate and paint. She won the Gold Prize in the competition for Contemporary Students Oil Painting Exhibition in 1953 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. After she moved to Tokyo in 1959, she attended both Hiratsuka Municipal Konan High School and Tokyo Metropolitan Mita High School. She went on to earn a BA (1965) and an MA (1969) from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. With a two-year scholarship from the French Government, she studied at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Sawano moved to New York City in 1969 with a US merit scholarship to support her studies the Art Students League. 

 

Mizue Sawano’s “Water Lilies” (1976) (10’x27’) was selected for the Waldorf Astoria Backdrop Competition by stage designer Oliver Smith.  Sawano’s subject matter of choice had been and would continue to be water lilies and cherry blossoms. She is an Impressionist. Her paintings glow with pastel colors and with just enough energy in her brush work as she stated to enter “engagement and dialogue with nature.” Sawano remained connected to Japan and in 1974 won the Gold Prize as Artist of the Year in the Mitsukoshi Department Store competition in Tokyo and Osaka.

The Japanese Hill and Pond Garden opened in 1915 in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Her first visit there was in spring 1975. Every spring Sawano takes small canvases to the garden daily, rain or shine, to paint the water lilies and cherry blossoms as studies for her large-scale oil paintings. 

“Rain Growing” (1991) (58”x96”) emphasizes the circles created by raindrops on the surface of the lily pond. Circles of sunlight spread as the raindrops hit the blue water in the pond. Sawano described her reaction: “In the light of the sun, in the light of the moon, in the winds and in the rain, my heart always touches nature and trembles. I think plants are sexy, be it a flowering plant or a tree. I am attracted strongly to the way sexual things survive. I want to hold them tightly for their vitality. However, I am aware that I cannot possess them. In this world, my hidden passion and desire that are extremely controlled will be moved on with time before they are fulfilled. Unbearable loneliness forces me to pick up my painting brush. I release the pent-up emotion in my body into a form on canvas, praying the universe stays in peace forever. All reality dies. I want to set life force and beauty that last forever on canvas to establish themes immortal. Water circles the earth transforming to clouds and rain. A ripple spreads widely, and the light of the lines extends infinitely. I want to use the scenery that comes into me through my eyes, and I want to give life to my paintings with hopes and love, the energy of the earth and the world of beauty that nobody can see.”

 

“Water Lilies in the Rain” (1994) (48”x84’’) is an example of one of Sawano’s unique artistic devices: diagonal lines cross the composition indicating the falling rain. She uses diagonal and crisscrossed lines to indicate wind in other paintings. Her color choices are vibrant pinks, soft greens and blues, and the colors of the 19th Century Impressionists. Her paintings remind viewers of Monet, but they maintain Sawano’s vision and originality throughout. Sawano is one of the unique artists who finds endless meaning and beauty in a few themes.  She never tires of painting them, always seeing and finding something new and exciting.

“Burst of Spring” (1997) is a depiction of the trunk and branches of a cherry tree.  The trunk is painted in multiple colors, including dark green, brown, red, and purple. It is similar to the work of the Impressionists, who painted nothing black that was not naturally black. The pink and yellow blossoms of the tree in the distance are suggested. The white blossoms in the foreground have distinct petal edges and shapes. The spring breeze is suggested by the white angled lines passing through the trees.

“Through the Blossoms” depicts another of Sawano’s favorite views, looking up into the branches and blossoms of a tree. Although by Sawano, the work is not dated and no dimensions were found. Even if there were no title, the painting would have the same presence and beauty. 

“Hope I” (20’’x30’’) (oil on linen) is a small painting of cherry blossoms. The title “Hope 1” suggests there are more paintings with this title. Unfortunately, dates are often hard to find on her paintings, and no other works with this title surfaced in research for this article. 

Sawano’s work is popular internationally. Beginning in 1992, solo exhibitions of her work have been presented every four years by the Takashimaya Art Gallery. In 1998 a solo exhibition of her painting was presented by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC. The 100th Anniversary of Tokyo’s original gift of 3000 cherry trees to Washington, DC, “as a living symbol of friendship between the Japanese and American peoples,” was celebrated in 2012. The celebration included an exhibit of fifteen Sawano oil paintings. Since 2000, she has been invited on a regular basis to present solo exhibitions and create murals for the International d’Assilah in Morocco. The Japanese-American Association has recognized her for her donations of several works of art over a period 20 years, benefitting New York Japanese communities. 

 

Sawano designed exhibition posters for the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. This 2016 poster, also made into a postcard, is a depiction of various plants reflected in water moved by a gentle breeze. Cherry tree branches hang over the water. Sawano’s brush work is as fluid as the water. 

Every aspect of a Sawano painting represents her love for her subject and her hope for peace.

 

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

“Trees are Terrific…and Forests are Too” is the national theme this year for Arbor Day. Since ancient times trees have held a significant place in cultures worldwide. Trees have been considered sacred, offering immortality, and the axis mundi, the cosmic axis connecting heaven, earth, and the underworld. 

This image of the sacred Tree of Life (883-859 BCE) (Palace of Nimrud) is carved onto slabs of alabaster in the corridors of the palace of the first great Neo-Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II. The tree of life is the central figure, and the king’s image is repeated on both sides of the tree. The fruit and seeds provided sustenance. They are also associated with fertility. The straight tree trunk is covered with fruit, and growing from it are rows of three and single branches. Round fruit is placed among the branches, and palmettos at the end of the branches. The fruit is often identified as a pomegranate. A crown of leaves tops the trunk. 

On both sides of the tree are duplicate images of King Ashurnasirpal II, both pointing above the tree to the circular disc supported by wings. In the circle is the image of the supreme god Ashur, God of war, wisdom, justice, and agriculture. Ashur’s placement above the divine tree legitimized the king’s rule of the heavens and the earth. He presents Ashurnasirpal II the ring that conveys the authority to rule. 

Beyond the king are winged genies, each carrying a pail of water and a pine cone. Frequently presented with the tree of life, the image is a depiction of the genie fertilizing and tending to the tree. Genies also are guardians of the king. Both the king and the genie are dressed in imperial robes. Long fringes of hair hang from the shoulders of the robes. The king wears a necklace and bracelet containing images of flowers and other sacred symbols. Men in Mesopotamia traditionally are depicted with long elaborately curled hair and beards, detailed mustaches and eyebrows, and fringes or tassels of hair on their robes. Hair was a symbol of strength. From the same location and time, Samson, from the Old Testament of the Bible, had long hair which was his strength. The male figures have exaggerated musculature in their arms and legs to show strength, noticeable in the figure of the genie. 

 

The Jewish Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible, relates the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The prominent trees are the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God offers Adam and Eve the fruit of the trees to eat, including the Tree of Life, which would confer eternal life in Paradise. God forbids them to eat the fruit of only one tree, the Tree of Knowledge, which would confer the knowledge of good and evil.  

“Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden” (1526) (46”x81’’), painted by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), depicts the story in which the serpent tempts Eve to eat the fruit, and she in turn convinces Adam to eat. The Tree of Life is rarely is depicted in the illustration of the story, whereas the Tree is Knowledge in prominent. The animals of Eden live together in peace: the lion and the lamb, deer, elk, wild boar, quail, heron, and white unicorn. Grape vines encircle the trunk; the tree produces an abundance of apples.  Slithering down the trunk, the serpent looks at Eve. A somewhat reluctant Adam scratches his head while making his decision. Cranach’s painting is typical of those telling this story. 

“The Garden of Eden” (1655-61) (23’’x35’’), by Flemish painter Isaak van Oosten (1631-1661), is a depiction of a large and glorious Paradise. Animals of all kinds are in pairs, and the birds are painted in great numbers. The trees are in full bloom. Plants, fruit, and flowers are abundant. Van Oosten preferred painting landscapes and animals, and created several of Eden. Although he was a Protestant, his paintings associate the Torah’s theological emphasis on Eden as the Promised Land for God’s people.  

“Tree of Life” (1362-1367) (Court of the Myrtles) is one of the many times this Islam motif appears in the Quran and the Hadiths. Hadith is the Arabic word for a report or account of an event, and they are the sayings of Mohammad. The Quran mentions only one tree in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Immortality, from which Allah forbids Adam and Eve to eat. They are tempted by Satan and eat from the tree.

Muslim prayer rugs frequently contain the image of the tree of life in the design. “Tree of Life” (1362-1367) is carved stucco on the walls of the Court of the Myrtles in the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The design is symmetrical and balanced. Rather than one trunk, the design starts with three pine cones, surrounded by flower petals and a supporting geometric structure. The second level has two sayings from the Quran, and the geometric structure continues. The third level has a trunk-like design in the center which blooms into a peak at the top.  The curving sides of the tree, and the various designs within it create upward movement.  The Islamic Tree of Life is designed to show a connection between Heaven and Earth.

 

“Yggdrasil” (1847) is a depiction of the cosmic tree that is the central axis of the Norse universe and connects all nine realms. It has three roots. It is a sacred Ash tree, the source of all wisdom. Depicted here are the eagle with the head of a hawk perched in the tree and reports what it sees to the gods in Asgard who meet under it.  The four stags represent the four winds. They eat branches of the tree, and their antlers drop dew on the earth below. The first root leads to the well of Urd where the three fates (Norns) live. They tend the tree and determine the lifespan of people. The squirrel Ratatosk is the messenger to the gods, running back and forth from Asgard to Niflheim, the realm of the dead. In Asgard, the Bifrost Bridge is the rainbow that connects Midgard and Asgard. Heimdall stands guard over the bridge. He keeps his horn with him, and he will blow it to signal Ragnarök, the end of the world. Slain Viking warriors rest in Valhalla until they return to fight in this last great battle. 

The second root leads to Midgard, the realm of humans. Midgard also contains the regions of the dwarfs, the giants, and the dark elves. Midgard, mentioned in Beowolf, is surrounded by the Midgard serpent Jormungand. The third and lowest root leads to Niflheim. The goddess Hel presides over the dark realm Helheim, a world of ice where the dragon Nidhogg, tearer of corpses, presides. 

Yggdrasil represents the connection between life, death, and rebirth in Norse mythology. Unfortunately, the myth was passed down verbally and much of it has been lost. The Prose Edda, the first known writing of Norse mythology in Iceland during the 13th Century, has been attributed to Snorri Sturluson. The illustrations of Yggdrasil are not from the 13th Century; they were added to later printings of the Prose Edda. 

The symbolism of trees is significant for many belief systems and for many reasons. Buddha received enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Christ’s lineage is traced through the Tree of Jesse, and today family trees have become more and more important. Arbor Day in Chestertown will be celebration this Saturday. For those who attend, saplings to plant will be distributed. Trees are important to sustain the environment. Enjoy Saturday in the park in Chestertown and plant a tree.

Note: Maryland Governor Wes Moore proclaimed April 2, 2025 as the 142nd annual Maryland Arbor Day celebration. In 2021 a Maryland initiative was to plant five million trees. As of this writing, Maryland has celebrated a milestone of one million trees planted.

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

The Limbourg brothers, Herman, Paul, and Jean, born between 1385 and 1388, were Dutch painters from Nijmegen, but they were active in Burgundy and other parts of France. King Philip the Bold of France employed Paul and Jean to paint manuscripts in February 1402. When Philip died in 1404, his brother Jean du France, Duke de Berry, employed the Limbourg brothers.  Their first commission was the Belles Heures (beautiful hours). They completed the work in 1409, followed by the Tres Riches Heures du Duke de Berry, the Grandes Heures du Duke de Berry, and others. The more famous Tres Riches Heures had not been finished when the brothers died in 1416, possibly of plague. 

Belles Heures of Jean du France, Duc de Berry, was intended for the duke’s private devotion. It contained prayers to be said at the nine canonical hours during the day. The manuscript contains nineteen different story cycles. Duke de Berry was an avid collector who wanted and could afford the very best. The fine parchment that was used has been critical to maintaining the rich colors of the illuminations. J.D. Rockefeller, Jr., purchased the manuscript in 1954 and gave it to the Metropolitan Museum, where it is installed in the Cloisters. The only manuscript entirely completed by the Limbourg brothers, it is considered to be one of the finest illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages.

There are too many images of the Easter story to include here. The Limbourg brothers were thorough in their illustration. They enclosed the pictures with elaborately detailed frames and extended the frames with borders of flowers.  

“Garden of Gethsemane” illustrates the artists’ interest in creating a realistic background. Properly proportioned figures, use of light and shadow to create depth, and interest in nature were new. In their manuscripts, the Limbourg brothers melded the existing International Gothic style with new ideas of the Renaissance. With the exception of the red and gold background of tree branches, the figures and landscape, including a road leading up to the city and a river flowing by, appear to be three-dimensional. Peter, John, and James, the three figures with Christ, have fallen asleep. Peter, the oldest with the white beard, has a red sword, around which a snake has coiled. Next to Peter is the young John. Christ touches James’s head. In the background, behind the wattle fence, Christ prays to God to take away the cup. God presents Him with a cross, a symbol of what is to come. The snake slithers up the nearby hill toward the town.

The Limbourg brothers concentrate on various participants among the crowd in the “Betrayal by Judas.” The figures get full attention, while the background is a simple flat pattern of dark blue and gold to indicate the scene takes place at night. Jesus and Judas are at the center. Judas gives the betraying kiss.  Halos are placed above both figures. A Roman soldier, in blue and yellow armor, grabs Christ’s robe. Another soldier has been pushed to the ground in front, and several helmeted soldiers stand in the background holding spears. One soldier holds a lantern just above Christ’s head. The Jewish official in pink, the same color as Judas’s cloak, holds a torch.  

Peter, standing at the right of Christ and Judas, has cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Christ reaches down with his right hand to heal Malchus’s ear. Christ says to Peter, “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” (Mathew 26:52) The blue dragon, at the border of the manuscript, spits red fire.

After his arrest, Christ was taken to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest of the Jewish Sanhedrin. In “Christ Before Caiaphas,” the pattern of the dark blue and gold night sky is repeated. However, the scene is placed indoors. Caiaphas sits on an elaborate, three-dimensional throne with a gold canopy above him. The artists have paid great attention to the throne. It has three steps, leafy carvings on the sides of the steps and the chair, and a row of arches beneath the gold canopy. 

Caiaphas is depicted as an elderly man, holding an exceptionally large sword. Two figures, among the scribes and elders who have come to examine Christ, whisper their suspicions to Caiaphas. Christ is surrounded by soldiers holding flags and spears. On questioning, He will state that He is the expected Messiah, will be condemned for treason, and will be sent to the Roman governor. The blue dragon spits fire in the direction of Caiaphas.

“Christ Before Pilate” is the first of three scenes with Pilate. The second scene in the sequence is “Pilate Washing his Hands.” Both scenes take place in an elaborate interior setting. Pilate sits on a carved stone throne similar to the throne of Caiaphas. However, the artists have created additional levels: three columns supporting the gold canopy, the back of the throne and onlookers, and a roof and second-story addition. The basin into which the water is poured for Pilate to wash his hands of the condemnation of Christ is a mishap in perspective. It does not sit flat. The next scene will show Pilate offering to release Christ, but the crowd selects Barabas the thief instead.  

“Carrying the Cross” is a depiction of the event as a parade. At the front, Jews blow trumpets and carry banners. Christ looks back at his mother who is accompanied by John, the young disciple. Others follow out the city gate to Calvary Hill. Judas has hung himself from a tree on a green hill in the background. Several events during the crucifixion are depicted next. 

The Limbourg brothers created an unusual scene for their time in “The Death of Christ.” They included all the events recorded by Matthew 27:45, 51-54: “From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.” (45) ”At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’ “ (51-54) In the background, the unrepentant thief is blasted by fire, and the repentant thief is saved.

After the crucifixion, Christ’s body was taken to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy Jew and follower of Christ. It was newly completed and unused. “Soldiers Asleep at the Tomb” contains the largest landscape attempted in this manuscript. The three soldiers who were sent to prevent the Christians from removing the body are asleep. Each has a weapon: a sword, a pike, and a shield. The shield, bearing a grotesque face, is prominently placed at the lower right. Unfortunately, the artists’ depiction of the carved stone tomb defies the rules of perspective. Instead of diminishing in size as the tomb recedes into space, it appears to become larger. Perhaps its location on a slight hill led to the mistake. 

A rocky ledge separates the foreground from the background landscape. The green trees and barren Calvary hill work well, except for the three slightly over-sized crosses. The thieves remain hanging on their crosses. The center cross of Christ is empty. Behind the hill, the towers of Jerusalem stand against the blue sky.

“Resurrection” repeats the scene of the soldiers sleeping beside the tomb. The resurrected Christ emerges from the tomb, carrying a red banner attached to the staff of a gold cross. It is a symbol of His victory over death. Red is a reference to the blood He has shed. His chest is bloodied where the Roman soldier Longinus pierced His side to confirm death. An angel supports Christ as He rises from the tomb. The golden globe of heavenly light is placed above Christ in the clear blue sky.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter 

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

It is Primavera, or Spring in English. The term is derived from the Latin primus tempus. Spring began this year on March 20, and it will come to an end on June 20. Jonquils, forsythia, and cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom in Chestertown and surrounds.

 

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), born in Florence, Italy, became one of the most renowned painters of the Renaissance.  His painting “Primavera” (1487) was commissioned by Lorenzo di Medici.  The work is tempera on a wood panel (80”x124”). Botticelli enlisted several Greek writers’ mythological sources for the painting, including Ovid, Virgil, Hesiod, and Plato. He also was influenced by the then popular philosophy of Neoplatonism as proposed by Marsilio Ficino (1422-1499). The Medici’s interest in Classical Greek and Roman literature led them to embrace Neoplatonism which valued the teachings of the ancients.  The Medicis sought to integrate Neoplatonism into the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Church did not agree or approve. 

“Primavera” (the coming of Spring) is not a depiction of any one story, rather it is a combination of many. The painting is read from right to left starting with Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, painted in cold blue. He represents the March wind. He chases and captures the beautiful wood nymph Chloris. She is dressed in a diaphanous gown, and her blond hair and gown are blown by the wind. She represents the beginning of Spring, a rose vine in her mouth. Zephyrus marries her and changes her into Flora, the goddess of Spring. As Flora, her hair is fashionably styled with a crown of flowers, and her dress is patterned with numerous flowers. 

She carries a large bouquet of white, red, and pink roses. The symbol of the three colors of roses often appears in Christian art. In the Old Testament Song of Solomon (2.1), the declaration “I am the Rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley” establishes Mary’s identification with the rose. The rose is also called the queen of flowers, associating it with Mary as Queen of Heaven. The connection between Mary and the rose continued in the writing of many Medieval scholars. The rose was linked with Mary’s purity, glory, and sorrow. The white rose is a symbol of her purity; she often is referred to as the rose without thorns because she is without sin. The pink rose is a symbol of her joy at the birth of her Son, Jesus. The red rose is a symbol of her passion, when blood was shed by Christ’s sacrifice.  

Paintings in the Middle Ages and Renaissance often depicted Mary and other female saints in a rose garden, a paradise. The ground on which they stand is a Flemish millefleur (thousand flower) carpet design, often interpreted as paradise. The image is not intended to be realistic. The base color is a solid dark forest green with perfectly painted flowers of all seasons and types. According to one report, 190 plants and flowers are depicted in “Primavera,” of which 130 are identifiable.

The central figure is Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, with Cupid and the three Graces who often accompany her. Cupid is blindfolded and aims his arrow at one of the three Graces, who dance in a circle. Here, Venus represents the month of April. Fully clothed, she represents not earthly passion, but married women and motherly love. Her head is surrounded by the loose foliage of a myrtle tree. Hesiod described the birth of Venus as she arises naked from the sea and moves on land, clothing herself with the branches of a myrtle tree. The tree became sacred to Venus. Neoplatonists believed Venus ruled over both earthly passion and heavenly love, connecting this aspect of Venus with Mary. The goddess looks directly at the viewer, her hand raised in the peaceful gesture of welcome often seen in paintings of Mary.

The other trees forming the forest background are orange trees. The Medici crest contained five gold balls, and orange trees became symbolic in Florence of the Medicis. Venus’s bodice is decorated with gold chains decorated with flames. The flame was the symbol of St. Lawence who was martyred by burning. The painting was commissioned by Lorenzo (Lawrence) de Medici.

The three Graces were sisters who often accompanied Venus. Hesiod wrote that the three graces were Aglaea (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Joy), and Thalia (Good Cheer). Mercury, messenger of the gods is placed at the far left. He is dressed in red and wears winged sandals and carries a sword. Many scholars agree that he is modeled after Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco di Medici, cousin to Lorenzo the Magnificent. The painting was commissioned to celebrate his wedding. Mercury leads the entourage forward into the beauty of a new Spring.

Although the story of Botticelli’s “Primavera” is still being discussed, Monet’s painting “Springtime” (1872) (12’’x16’’) (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore) offers the viewer the quiet pleasure of Spring. It depicts Monet’s first wife Camille Doncieux who is reading in their garden at Argenteuil. The couple were married in 1870, and Monet frequently used her as a model. In fact, she was such a good model, Manet and Renoir also employed her.  Monet’s garden was a favorite background, enjoyed by him, his wife, and their son Jean. Madame Monet is dressed in a pink muslin dress, partly in shade and dappled by sunlight passing through the branches. 

 

“Springtime” (1886) (26”x32’) was painted by Monet in his garden in Giverny. In an orchard of cherry trees, Monet’s 18-year-old step-daughter Suzanne Hoschede talks with his son Jean. The closeness of Monet with his family is evident in many of his paintings. Suzanne will become Monet’s second wife. 

This painting also demonstrates Monet’s advanced techniques in Impressionism. The integration of spring colors throughout the painting presents the viewer with a world filled with sunlight. His brushwork has become looser. The painting presents a field of sweet-smelling flowers, and the peace and comfort in the soft breeze of this spring day.

“Spring Bouquet” (1866) (41”x32”) (Fogg Museum, Harvard University) is an early work by Renoir. The Impressionist style of painting outdoors (en plein air) was a new direction that emphasized how sunlight gave flowers a transient beauty. The still-life with flowers was a tradition with 17th Century Dutch painters who worked inside without the natural light of the Sun. As a student, Renoir had studied Dutch still-lives. Early in his career he was a porcelain painter. He chose a white Japanese vase with blue flowers to hold the bouquet, a tradition of Dutch painters and in keeping with the very popular Japanism of the French at the time.   

Renoir’s arrangement is casual and bountiful. Purple lilacs, white hydrangeas, and peonies are included. White and purple iris are at the top of the bouquet. Daisies poke their heads out around the edges. Four bunches of yellow cowslips, or perhaps primroses, draw the eye around the composition and form the necessary complement to the purple flowers. 

Instead of the using the dark, almost black background of Dutch paintings, Renoir has set his spring bouquet against a lightly speckled stone wall and on a light stone garden ledge. The sunlight produces the nuance of colors as it touches various petals in the bouquet. The bouquet casts a light gray blue shadow. Whether one knows the flowers or not, the viewer experiences joy, and serenity.

HAPPY SPRING 

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

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was one of the most prolific and popular Ukiyo-e artists in Japan. The word Ukiyo-e means pictures of the floating world. They were woodblock prints developed during the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo [Tokyo] period. A time of increased wealth, the Edo period embraced kabuki theatre, geishas, and courtesans. The early Ukiyo-e prints were produced from the late 17th to the early 18th Century. They began as black and white woodcuts. White was the color of the paper. Color was added later. The color palette was limited as each color was cut from a different block.  A certain amount of shading could be added to a block as artistically needed.

Utagawa Hiroshige was the last great master of the style. Born in Edo into a samurai family, he was orphaned in 1809. His father held the position of fire warden in charge of preventing fires in the Edo palace, a responsibility passed down to Utagawa. The fire warden had much free time, so Utagawa entered the Utagawa Art School, from which he took his first name. He was permitted to sign his work at age 12, and he took his art name Hiroshige.

“Evening Snow at Takanawa” (1842-47) (8.5’’X13.5’’) (scene 2) is one of eight scenes Hiroshige made for the portfolio Eight Snow Scenes in the Eastern Capital. Unlike other ukiyo-e artists whose subjects were mostly images of geishas, courtesans, and kabuki actors, Hiroshige focused on landscapes. His early prints were of flowers and birds. Most of his works were his series of travel prints that he began in 1829-1830. He was invited in 1832 to join an official procession on the Tokaido Road from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto. “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road” (1833-34), completed from his sketches and notes when he returned home, made him one of the most recognizable and popular ukiyo-e artists of his time. 

“Evening Snow at Takanawa” (1842-47) (8.5’’X13.5’’) (scene 2) is a panoramic view of a vibrant snow-white bank by deep blue water and under a grey sky. White snowflakes dot the sky and the water. Aware of European perspective, Hiroshige depicts the snow bank with a slightly gray front edge and a darker blue at the front edge of the water. The closer the object the more intense is its color, which then diminishes as distance is created. In reverse, the sky is a lighter gray at the water’s edge and becomes darker as it recedes into the distance. Holding it all together are the clouds and land at the front and back edges of the print, repeating the beige and gray pattern.

Fishing boats are anchored in the harbor. The colors of the boats repeat the black, white, and yellow-orange used to define the other objects in the print. The stone building is composed of gray, and a darker gray blue, with the white snow covering the roof. The house is gray with yellow-orange windows, and covered by a gray roof covered with the white snow. Several yellow carts are placed next to the stone building. The palanquin, a one passenger litter, is carried by two bearers dressed in green. Trudging through the snow is a man in bright blue pants, leading a horse and rider. Behind them, a man carrying an umbrella wears green pants and a dark blue jacket.  Also carrying an umbrella, is a woman who wears a purple kimono and geta shoes that are built up with wood to keep her feet out of the snow. An obi, the red tied decoration on her back, is not a backpack but an elaborately tied part of the kimono.  The artist’s signature, a go or geimei, also is in red.  

“Snow in the Grounds of the Fudo Shrine at Megura” is the third print in the series. It is a depiction of a Buddhist Temple dedicated to the deity Fudo Myo-o, the immoveable or unshakable one, a fierce looking and powerful deity who protects Buddhism and its believers. The shrine, located on a tall hill covered with pine trees, still exists. The red shrine is placed at the center of the composition, and it is balanced with a narrow blue lake and brown building, a long set of stone steps on the hill, and the red signature of the artist. The dark green of the surrounding trees is the complementary color to the red shrine with its green shutters. The day is bright, and the few people present do not engage with each other. The shrine, as depicted by Hiroshige, is a beautiful and restful place just outside the hustle and bustle of the city below.

“Street View, Looking Down the Kasumigaseki after a Snowfall” is number 5 in the series. Kasumigaseki was, and is today, a busy hill street in Edo (Tokyo). Hiroshige depicts the panorama of Edo roof tops and a tower at the bottom of the hill. He concentrates on the people at the top of the hill who are going about their daily tasks. It is the morning after a snowfall, and workers on either side of the road are clearing the snow. Two men with shoulder poles carry boxes and cages. Buildings line the street. Kasumigaseki Street will become the street of important government buildings.

In the “Street View, Looking Down the Kasumigaseki after a Snowfall,’’ viewers have the opportunity to witness the brilliance of Hiroshige’s wood cut details produced in such a small area.

Japanese New Year is a celebration which begins on January 1 and continues until January 3. “Snow at New Years Dawn at Susaki,” plate 8 of the series, depicts the first sunrise that will represent the entire year. On this January day, the sky is clear, and new snow has fallen. A few people have come out to witness the rising of the Sun.  A woman in a purple kimono and a man with a fishing pole greet the day. Two others stand at the water’s edge of Susaki Bay, one man with his shoulder pole and the other balancing something on his head. Five sails move across the blue water. The nearby village is peaceful.  All last year’s business has been settled so that the New Year will begin afresh. New Year’s Day is supposed to be free of stress and anger left in the past. The day is to be full of joy and new beginnings.

Hiroshige created over 8000 Ukiyo-e wood cuts during his career. Many were in series formats. His final series was One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856-1859). He was never a wealthy man, as he was paid little for his work. He had two wives and one daughter, who may have been adopted. In 1856 he became a Buddhist Monk and retired from the world to complete One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. Ten years later the trade between Europe and Japan brought hundreds of Japanese woodcuts to Paris. Artists such as Monet, Van Gogh, and Whistler became collectors of Hiroshige’s prints, and his works influenced their own. Japonisme started a craze that exists today. Hiroshige died in 1858 and left this final message for his friends: 

“I leave my brush in the East, 
And set forth on my journey. 
I shall see the famous places of the Western Land.”

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