MUSEUM VISIT February 15, 2009.On Saturday afternoon February 15, 2009 I visited the Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, Texas.
A Special Exhibition, “The Elegant House: Paintings & Decorative Art from the Graham Williford Collection” was on display featuring Paintings, works on paper, Porcelain items, Silver, sculptures, and other items. The exhibit was on display from November 16, 2008–March 1, 2009.
A view of The Elegant House exhibition
http://www.tylermuseum.org/ElegantHouse.htm
The exhibition brings together an array of decorative art, primarily in the form of silver and sculpture, and paintings from the Williford Collection to explore the expressions of opulence and elegance of “conspicuous consumption” in late 19th-century America. Among the highlights of The Elegant House are landmark paintings by American masters including Dennis Miller Bunker’s Portrait of Kenneth Cranford, Walter Gay’s La Feintre Ouverte, Clement Grant’s Lady at Cupboard, Pinckney Marcius-Simons’ The Writer, and Marcus Waterman’s Turkey, an iconic 1860 image evoking the spirit of Thanksgiving. The paintings and works on paper are integrated among sculptures such as Victor Brenner’s portrait relief of Abraham Lincoln, Elihu Vedder’s Mermaid, a pair of works by famed numismatist and Civil War monument designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and a rarely seen bronze by celebrated African American artist Richmond Barthe.
---from the website of the Tyler Museum of Art website. http://www.tylermuseum.org/ElegantHouse.htmThe painting from the collection that captured my attention was “Reflections in a lake,” c. 1880 by Elizabeth Strong (1855-1941). A landscape, the painting was in an impressionist style, utilizing obvious brush strokes in oil paint with single colors rather than blending. At a distance of twenty feet the small (12” x 16”) canvas appeared photographic, strikingly clear and vibrant. The artist emphasized the horizontal lines to create an expansive feel on the small canvas. A landscape, the painting featured three major elements, earth, sky and water. The trees that were reflected in the lake projected an organic element onto the water, normally an inorganic element. The lake itself, where it did not function primarily as a reflective surface provided a large essentially featureless expanse that dominated the lower half of the canvas, but it served to shift the focus up to the trees, and most importantly to the reflections, only slightly imperfect negative reproductions of the trees. The light is diffused throughout the scene, its source obscured by the atmospheric perspective in the mottled sky above the trees. The perspective of the piece was created primarily through the foreshortening of the lake and the reflections that were foreshortened negatives of the trees on the opposite shoreline. Overall the painting was dominated by blues and whites lending a cool mood to the scene. The feeling that the scene was a depiction of a mountain lake was reinforced by the color choices as well as the trees appearing to be coniferous. The painting had a very balanced feel with the earth, water sky elements seeming to occur in equal proportions. The reflections of the trees were the obvious focal point as they appeared almost real only in inverse. Overall the painting exhibited an amazing apparent depth that was all the more impressive when one came close and realized that the artist had created this appearance utilizing dabs of color.
The visit to the museum was a meaningful experience, permitting the utilization of newly learned critical skills and terms to more deeply appreciate the artistic effort involved in creating the items viewed.
The Tyler Museum of Art, accredited by the American Association of Museums, is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave., adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus off East Fifth Street. The Museum’s growing Permanent Collection focuses on early to contemporary Texas art, as well as works in decorative arts, Asian art, and prints and photographs of American masters.
---from the website of the Tyler Museum of Art website. http://www.tylermuseum.org/ElegantHouse.htm
ELIZABETH STRONG (1855 - 1941)Born in Westport, CT on Feb. 1, 1855. The Strong family lived in Hawaii until 1858 when they settled in Oakland, CA. Elizabeth began her art studies in San Francisco at the School of Design under Virgil Williams and, during her two years there, won gold and silver medals for her work. In 1879 she sketched on the Monterey Peninsula while sharing a home with her brother Joseph. Through the sales of her pictures of pets of wealthy patrons she was able to save enough money for a lengthy stay in Paris. During the next eight years there she had further study with animal painter Emil van Marcke. Returning to the U.S., she studied at the ASL of NYC under Wm M. Chase (1892-93) and then returned to Paris where she lived until 1905. While there, she ran a small school of her own and exhibited often at the prestigious Paris Salon. From Paris, she returned to California and lived in Berkeley until 1920. After settling on the Monterey Peninsula, she was active in the local art scene until her death in Carmel on Oct. 30, 1941. Since she specialized in paintings of animals (especially bird dogs), she was sometimes called “the Rosa Bonheur of America.” Member: SFAA; Sketch Club (SF); Carmel AA (cofounder); Carmel Arts & Crafts Club. Exh: SFAA, 1875-1912; Mechanics' Inst. (SF), 1875-79; Calif. Midwinter Expo, 1894; Calif. State Fair, 1894, 1930, 1935; Paris Salon, 1901; Berkeley AA, 1908; Sketch Club, 1909; Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909 (silver medal); Del Monte Art Gallery, 1910. In: Monterey Peninsula Museum.
Source:Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
http://www.trottergalleries.com/Artist_Bios/bio_strong_elizabeth.htm
A Special Exhibition, “The Elegant House: Paintings & Decorative Art from the Graham Williford Collection” was on display featuring Paintings, works on paper, Porcelain items, Silver, sculptures, and other items. The exhibit was on display from November 16, 2008–March 1, 2009.
A view of The Elegant House exhibition
http://www.tylermuseum.org/ElegantHouse.htm
The exhibition brings together an array of decorative art, primarily in the form of silver and sculpture, and paintings from the Williford Collection to explore the expressions of opulence and elegance of “conspicuous consumption” in late 19th-century America. Among the highlights of The Elegant House are landmark paintings by American masters including Dennis Miller Bunker’s Portrait of Kenneth Cranford, Walter Gay’s La Feintre Ouverte, Clement Grant’s Lady at Cupboard, Pinckney Marcius-Simons’ The Writer, and Marcus Waterman’s Turkey, an iconic 1860 image evoking the spirit of Thanksgiving. The paintings and works on paper are integrated among sculptures such as Victor Brenner’s portrait relief of Abraham Lincoln, Elihu Vedder’s Mermaid, a pair of works by famed numismatist and Civil War monument designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and a rarely seen bronze by celebrated African American artist Richmond Barthe.
---from the website of the Tyler Museum of Art website. http://www.tylermuseum.org/ElegantHouse.htmThe painting from the collection that captured my attention was “Reflections in a lake,” c. 1880 by Elizabeth Strong (1855-1941). A landscape, the painting was in an impressionist style, utilizing obvious brush strokes in oil paint with single colors rather than blending. At a distance of twenty feet the small (12” x 16”) canvas appeared photographic, strikingly clear and vibrant. The artist emphasized the horizontal lines to create an expansive feel on the small canvas. A landscape, the painting featured three major elements, earth, sky and water. The trees that were reflected in the lake projected an organic element onto the water, normally an inorganic element. The lake itself, where it did not function primarily as a reflective surface provided a large essentially featureless expanse that dominated the lower half of the canvas, but it served to shift the focus up to the trees, and most importantly to the reflections, only slightly imperfect negative reproductions of the trees. The light is diffused throughout the scene, its source obscured by the atmospheric perspective in the mottled sky above the trees. The perspective of the piece was created primarily through the foreshortening of the lake and the reflections that were foreshortened negatives of the trees on the opposite shoreline. Overall the painting was dominated by blues and whites lending a cool mood to the scene. The feeling that the scene was a depiction of a mountain lake was reinforced by the color choices as well as the trees appearing to be coniferous. The painting had a very balanced feel with the earth, water sky elements seeming to occur in equal proportions. The reflections of the trees were the obvious focal point as they appeared almost real only in inverse. Overall the painting exhibited an amazing apparent depth that was all the more impressive when one came close and realized that the artist had created this appearance utilizing dabs of color.
The visit to the museum was a meaningful experience, permitting the utilization of newly learned critical skills and terms to more deeply appreciate the artistic effort involved in creating the items viewed.
The Tyler Museum of Art, accredited by the American Association of Museums, is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave., adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus off East Fifth Street. The Museum’s growing Permanent Collection focuses on early to contemporary Texas art, as well as works in decorative arts, Asian art, and prints and photographs of American masters.
---from the website of the Tyler Museum of Art website. http://www.tylermuseum.org/ElegantHouse.htm
ELIZABETH STRONG (1855 - 1941)Born in Westport, CT on Feb. 1, 1855. The Strong family lived in Hawaii until 1858 when they settled in Oakland, CA. Elizabeth began her art studies in San Francisco at the School of Design under Virgil Williams and, during her two years there, won gold and silver medals for her work. In 1879 she sketched on the Monterey Peninsula while sharing a home with her brother Joseph. Through the sales of her pictures of pets of wealthy patrons she was able to save enough money for a lengthy stay in Paris. During the next eight years there she had further study with animal painter Emil van Marcke. Returning to the U.S., she studied at the ASL of NYC under Wm M. Chase (1892-93) and then returned to Paris where she lived until 1905. While there, she ran a small school of her own and exhibited often at the prestigious Paris Salon. From Paris, she returned to California and lived in Berkeley until 1920. After settling on the Monterey Peninsula, she was active in the local art scene until her death in Carmel on Oct. 30, 1941. Since she specialized in paintings of animals (especially bird dogs), she was sometimes called “the Rosa Bonheur of America.” Member: SFAA; Sketch Club (SF); Carmel AA (cofounder); Carmel Arts & Crafts Club. Exh: SFAA, 1875-1912; Mechanics' Inst. (SF), 1875-79; Calif. Midwinter Expo, 1894; Calif. State Fair, 1894, 1930, 1935; Paris Salon, 1901; Berkeley AA, 1908; Sketch Club, 1909; Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909 (silver medal); Del Monte Art Gallery, 1910. In: Monterey Peninsula Museum.
Source:Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
http://www.trottergalleries.com/Artist_Bios/bio_strong_elizabeth.htm
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