Lovely "Public Parks, Private Gardens - Paris to Provence"

Camille Monet painted by Claude Monet, 1876
Downstairs from the "Heavenly Bodies" exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Robert Lehman Wing is another beautiful show that I really enjoyed called "Public Parks, Private Gardens - Paris to Provence." In the nineteenth century, Paris was transformed into a city of tree-lined boulevards and parks, and in the country gardeners cultivated their private lands. The Impressionists, who were renowned for recording the fleeting moment, were the perfect artists to capture this combination of nature and refinement. This show is made up of art from the museum's permanent holdings, and it's like a vacation to floral France.

Below we have Adolphe Monet Reading in a Garden by Claude Monet from 1867. Adolph is Monet's father and this bucolic scene is set in his aunt's garden on the coast  of Normandy –

The elegant father is dressed in the men's fashion of the day including black jacket, white shirt, dove grey trousers and straw hat with a black band. This is a good look to copy!

Here is the detail of another Monet painting in the same garden and same gentleman from a different view. I like this outfit –

This is an 1884 study for Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. Seurat's final masterpiece hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago and inspired Stephen Sondheim's breathtaking musical Sunday in the Park with George, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985. In a shimmering pointillism style, this painting illustrates how much the Parisians enjoyed their city parks –

Manet painted this vision of his wife Suzanne in a garden in 1880. Manet renders his subject in broad, joyful, energetic brush strokes. As Madame Manet rests under the shade of her hat, the green verdant garden behind her comes alive –

I particularly like the paintings where the people seem to blend into the flowers, like the painting at the top of this post of Mrs. Monet who fades into the sun-dappled garden.
Below is the Garden at Vaucresson by Edouard Vuillard from 1920. In a garden in front of a pale pink house with a bright red roof, the woman on the right appears to bloom out of the roses –

The garden come inside in Degas' A Woman Seated Beside a Vase of Flowers from 1865. The sitter seems to be enveloped by the arrangement and appears to be one of the blooms.

The beauty on view shows a lovely style for living that still inspires. See it if you can - this show ends July 29.

The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden

(click on photos to enlarge)
I went recently with my high school friend, Suzy Ferenczy MacEnroe, to the New York Botanical Garden located in the Bronx to see the Garden's annual Orchid Show. What a treat it was. I had previously been to the gala dinner which launches the Orchid Show but not to the Show itself.

The New York Botanical Garden is situated on 250 acres where over one million living plants grow in extensive collections. Besides its different gardens, it's a major educational institution dedicated to conservation and research, employing 80 Ph.D. scientists. The Garden was created at the end of the nineteenth century and was inspired by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London. The great New York financiers of the day funded the Garden which was designed by Calvert Vaux, who designed Central Park with William Olmstead. At the end of the nineteenth century, New York City was becoming a great world capital, with a new library and a new art museum, and the Botanical Garden was part of that development, as it brought plants and the beauty of nature to the city and its urban dwellers.

The jewel of the Garden is surely the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, which is the largest Victorian glasshouse in the United States. Opened in 1905 and recently renovated, the glass and iron marvel includes ten glass greenhouses where all kinds of plants are displayed. Suzy and I took the MetroNorth train together to the Botanical Garden stop and headed straight to the Conservatory to see the Orchid Show.

Inside, we followed the signs to the Orchid Show. We filed through the various plant exhibitions - the rain forest garden, the desert garden, the water lily garden. It felt like we went through all ten greenhouses! "Where are the orchids?" we thought, "Did we miss it?" We kept following the signs. Finally, we came upon it - an explosion of orchids -

The Orchid Show was in two rooms and there were orchids everywhere - sprouting out of rocks, hanging from trees, lining a waterfall, displayed on tables. It really was an eyeful.




On the clear sunny day, outside the glass windows, the beautiful garden was in view and the blue sky beyond.

There was Debussy piano music playing in the background which added to the delight -

Suzy and I paused in front of a orchid-covered waterfall for a pic -

Orchids were crowded onto tables - what luxury.

Boxes of orchids packed in a crate on the floor were ready to be displayed. It would be nice to have just one!

We kept walking around looking at everything. There were so many flowers to take in. Each petal looked like it was handpainted.

Finally we left, satisfied that we had found it. We walked to a nearby cafe and sat outside and ate lunch. Inside the gift shop, an array of orchids were presented for sale - smart!

A ride on a tram offers a tour of the full Garden and all that it includes. As it was early in the season, there was not a lot in bloom on our view from the tram as it rolled up and down the verdant hills -

but I know from experience that the Garden is glorious in season. Go in June to see the rose garden in bloom! The Brooklyn Botanic Garden also offers a rapturous rose garden in June. Suzy and I were so glad to see the annual Orchid Show, which ended on April 17. Coming up May 14 - Sept. 11 is an exhibition called Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas, which sounds wonderful too.

A Trip to the Frick to See Drawings and Prints from the Clark

A view into the Garden Court of the Frick (click on photos for a larger view)
I recently visited the Frick Collection, the perennial New York City favorite on the upper east side, in order to see a current exhibition called The Impressionist Line from Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec: Drawings and Prints from the Clark. Readers of this blog probably know that the Frick Collection was created by Henry Clay Frick, the turn-of-the-century American industrialist, financier and art patron.

His home on Fifth Avenue was built in 1912-1914, and when he passed away in 1919 the house became a museum filled with his old master paintings and French furniture, which we enjoy today. The Frick offers an elegant, Edwardian trip back in time at the corner of 70th and 5th. I hadn't been in a while, so I took a spin through.

Eight canvases painted by Francois Boucher line the walls of this salon. The romantic canvases originally were installed in Mrs. Frick's boudoir upstairs.

Painted panels by Fragonard decorate the walls of the drawing room. The large, poetic panels picture the different stages of love.

In 2011, an outdoor walkway was enclosed with glass to create the new Portico Gallery. Currently, it houses an exhibition of important clocks and watches.

The West Gallery was where Mr. Frick displayed many of the paintings he collected. In his time, paintings were hung on top of each other, salon-style.

The peaceful Garden Court was originally an exterior courtyard. It was covered with glass when the house was converted into a museum. 

In the smaller gallery downstairs, a visitor now finds The Impressionist Line from Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec: Drawings and Prints from the Clark. The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute in Williamstown, Mass., has a great collection of nineteenth century French art, and 58 of its works have traveled to the Frick with this exhibit which was organized by curators Jay A. Clarke from the Clark and Colin B. Bailey and Susan Grace Galassi from the Frick. Emphasising spontaneity and expressiveness over a polished finish, these drawings and prints capture contemporary life in nineteenth century France. 
A busy Paris street by Pissarro -

Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)
Boulevard de Rochechouart, 1880
Pastel on beige wove paper
23 9/16 x 28 15/16 inches
© Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1996.5

Bathers by Cezanne -

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906)
The Bathers: Large Plate, 1898
Lithograph printed in black, green, yellow-green, orange, gray, blue, and purple-blue on cream laid paper
19 x 24 13/16 inches
© Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1962.26

An entertainer by Toulouse-Lautrec -

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901)
The Seated Clowness (Miss Cha-U-Kao), from Elles, 1896
Lithograph printed in green-black, black-brown, yellow, red, and blue on cream wove paper
20 11/16 x 15 13/16 inches
© Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1962.108

Boating by Morisot -

Berthe Morisot (1841–1895)
Before a Yacht, 1875
Watercolor over graphite on cream wove paper
8 1/8 x 10 9/16 inches
© Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1955.1964

I am right now reading Rosamond Bernier's memoir Some of My Lives, where I learned that Berthe Morisot married Eduard Manet's brother Eugene Manet, and they had a daughter, Julie Manet. Did you know that? This Morisot watercolor also reminded me of the Morisot paintings now on view at the Impressionism and fashion exhibit currently mounted up the street at the Met. This drawings and prints show at the Frick, up until June 16th, dovetails nicely with the Impressionism and fashion show at the Met. Go!

Don't Miss Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity

For a peaceful visit to a more elegant era, go see Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, up now through May 27th. It's a wonderful trip to late nineteenth century France complete with masterpiece paintings, clothes from the period, and accessories to match. This show, which came from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris (one of my very favorite places to visit) and goes next to the Art Institute of Chicago, celebrates how fashion and art merged in Impressionism paintings to create truly modern works.

Previously, artists of the nineteenth century had looked for inspiration to ancient Greece (Neoclassicism) or to nature (Romanticism). But the Impressionists were inspired by contemporary life and how people were living every day. With the rise of the department store, ready-made garments, and fashion magazines, clothes and style became prominent subjects for these artists. "The latest fashion is absolutely necessary for a painting. It's what matters most," declared Edouard Manet.

The show consists of 80 paintings plus 16 period costumes and an array of accessories. You can almost hear the rustle of silk, and imagine settling into a box seat at the Paris Opera as you move through the exhibit which transports to another time and place. No photography is allowed inside but I gathered up images of some of my favorite paintings on display –
James Tissot painted the family of the Marquise de Miramon on their terrace. With dramatic high boots, the Marquise is wearing a dove grey suit, but it's a relaxed country suit and not a structured city suit. (click on images to enlarge)

Here is The Sisters by Berthe Morisot. I love how the pale wall, Asian art, floral chintz and dotted dresses all go together in this painting.

Albert Bartholome captured his wife reading. The details of the carved frame, vase of flowers, gold bracelets, glossy hair comb and printed pillow create a pleasing scene. The information card said that this pictured her before entertaining. Doesn't everyone lie down and read a book before entertaining?

A woman is portrayed relaxing in a summer dress in July by Tissot. Although you can imagine it is a hot day, she is pictured in tiers of fluttering ruffles and silk bows.

This is one of my very favorite paintings and I was so happy to see it in person as it's on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in London. Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby is pictured by Tissot languidly smoking in his captain's uniform which flatters and elongates his 6' 4" body. I love the contrast of the soft shabby-chic upholstery and chintz with the severity of the military paraphernalia. The scene captures an easy elegance.

Here is a picture of Eduard Manet painted by Georges de la Tour in 1867 in which Manet wears a typical menswear outfit of the late nineteenth century – white shirt, blue tie, black jacket and vest plus light grey pants and brown leather gloves – easy to replicate minus the silk top hat and walking cane.

The show closes with Paris Street by Gustave Caillobotte, a very large painting which perfectly captures urban life in 1877 as these Parisians stride confidently and with style into the future. 

The show is accompanied by a luxurious, thick catalogue

which includes many interesting essays on the paintings and clothes presented.

This show inspires the visitor to live a more refined life. I hope to see it again.

Monet in Chelsea

Darlings, run don't walk to the show up now at the Gagosian Gallery at 522 West 21st Street on the late work of Claude Monet. It's there until June 26th and it's a beautiful thing. A year ago Mr. Gagosian mounted a show on the late work of Pablo Picasso. Hats off to the gallerist for bringing these shows to the public, free of charge.

Off course you know that French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) created some of the most poetic and idyllic paintings in Western culture. This show focuses on the end of his career when he was enjoying some prosperity, and had bought the house and gardens in Giverny which would inspire and comfort him. He turned his attention to the gardens and the water gardens for subjects, and created his meditative, transporting water lily paintings. You may remember when Jane and I visited his famous Water Lily series at the Museum of Modern Art.

At the Gagosian, the paintings are hung in four rooms. The gallery has very high ceilings and openings of light that imitate sky lights. It's like being in a very modern church.
(Images from Gagosian web site)

My favorite paintings were light and sunny. Green, blue, pink and olive green swirl together suggesting reflection and water depth in this painting from 1907.

This take from 1908 was more greenish, suggesting a bright day.


One painting of water lilies from 1916-1919 featured pink lilies that looked like fat roses floating on light green leaves in a pond of light blue water. Dark green tendrils of weeping willows hung down the sides. What a vision. Claude Monet once said, "I perhaps owe becoming a painter to flowers."

I have long been drawn to the work of Claude Monet. When I first arrived at college at McGill University and even before I became an art history major I bought myself in the college bookstore a poster of this painting by Monet.

It's titled The Regatta at Argenteuill from 1872. I loved it's buoyant, cheerful colors. The brushstroke streaks of pink and orange reflection in the water just made me happy.
Monet famously lived a life of great style at his house in Giverny which I have wanted to visit. I have some books about his art of living including Monet's House which covers how the house was decorated

and Monet's Table which includes recipes, for he and his wife were renowned entertainers.

The house at Giverny included a big studio where Monet painted. Here is the old man now.

I like the wicker furniture, the polished wood floor and the paintings hung high up on the walls. Isn't it fun to think of Monet painting here some of the works now on display at the Gagosian Gallery.