Highlights from the American Wing 19th and Early 20th Century: VMFA

 One of the first artists whose work I immediately recognize is that of George Inness (1825-1894).  I have an innate connection to his works.  They just speak to me on some visceral level that I can't easily explain.  But one thing I do love is how his style grows and becomes more emotive over time.  I appreciate that in artists who are so in tune with their inner eye, they never let it stop becoming.  In these rooms you have two of his paintings.  One from 1863 when he was 38 and in the prime of his career.  The other is from 1893.  Thirty years later and less than a year away from death in 1894.  

"Evening," 1863

George Inness, 1825-1894

Detail from "Evening" by George Inness

"Sunset," 1893

George Inness, 1825-1894

"Yachting on the Mediterranean," 1896

Julius Leblanc Stewart, 1855-1919

Detail, "Yachting on the Mediterranean" by Julius Leblanc Stewart

Very much in the vein of another one of my favorite painters from this period, the French painter James Tissot, 1836-1902, this is an image of the uber rich living the good life at a time when what it meant to be uber rich was being upended by the barons of the industrial revolution.

"A Lady Sewing--Elizabeth, Mrs. Henry Lyman," 1913

Edmund C. Tarbell, 1862 - 1938

Women in domestic settings is a genre of painting that has never really received its due.  A wide range of artists on both sides of the Atlantic engaged in these sorts of works.  They are not simple snapshots of domesticity, but they are a crack in the wall of what constitutes a work of fine art.  An elevation of the common and a glimpse, however privileged, into the lives of women.  Because they depict pedestrian activities, they are not portraiture either.  Even look at the title.  It's three titles in one.  "A Lady Sewing," very nearly a through back to the Renaissance with its anonymous subjects who could only be described by their industry in the moment.  "Elizabeth," very nearly shocking in its repudiation of Victorian Societal norms--such puckish familiarity!  But then, "Mrs. Henry Lyman," we mustn't in the end forget that for better or worse she is still the property of Mr. Henry Lyman.

I'll end with a couple of pairings.  The first are works by Childe Hassam, 1859-1935.  Hassam is a regional New England painter who also traveled the world and did more to bring the Impressionist aesthetic in America than nearly any other artist of his time.  He was close to both Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman (another personal fav of mine).  In 75 years of life he managed to produce over 3,000 works of art, watercolors, oils, lithographs, etc.   He's a very under-rated artist in my opinion.

"Winter Nightfall in the City," 1889

Childe Hassam, 1859-1935

Moonlight, New England Coast," 1907

Childe Hassam, 1859-1935

Finally, I will close with a pair by absolutely one of, and possibly my favorite artist, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)  Sargent was born in Italy, but considered himself an American citizen.  His technique, honed in the sketchpad, refined with watercolor, and brought to spectacular perfection in oils is simple the most intuitively unhampered execution of artistic skill and style on the planet.  There is always a chaotic freedom in the details of his work, but rarely--if ever--a sense of in-cohesion.  Every stoke, every hue, feels perfect.

"Venetian Tavern," 1902

John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925

"The Rialto," 1909

John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925