I'm not an art expert, but I am very
interested in the arts, and I think my six-year association with -- and photography work for -- the Garfield Shakespeare Company community theater group in Indianapolis (as well as two other theater groups in Indiana's capital city) in recent years is ample evidence of that.
And for a good 30 years or more, I've also been interested in the works of the French impressionism movement led by esteemed painters Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste-Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin and Edgar Degas.
So when Lee Ann and I arrived in Savannah last month and learned that the local
Jepson Center for the Arts was hosting a limited-time visiting exhibit of some of the heavyweights of French impressionism, we added a stop there onto our itinerary. We each purchased a $20
Telfair Museums ticket and used it for admissions to both the Jepson and the
Owens-Thomas House (previous post).
The Jepson exhibit
Monet to Matisse: Masterworks of French Impressionism opened Sept. 27 and continues through Feb. 10, 2019. It was made possible through a loan by the
Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., which, when researching this post, I found to be a fascinating place to include as a travel destination some day. Although much of the Jepson exhibit does contain classic French impressionism work, there are also examples of what the art community considers post-impressionism and European modernism material.
As for my photographs, I lead with
Port of Dieppe, Evening, Monet's 1882 effort to capture the old harbor town along the Normandy coast as the sun set over the bell tower of Saint Jacques. Throughout his career, Monet was fascinated by transitory light like the luminous reds, yellows and greens you see in the sky and reflected in the harbor at sundown.
As always, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on it. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog using a mobile device. So see
all my shots from the impressionists art exhibit at Jepson Center of the Arts, follow the link in this sentence.
Photo geek stuff: All shots were taken with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens and bracketed for three exposures to meld into one in post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software.
Above: It is believed that Monet painted Village Street -- possibly even in one day -- when he and his new bride, Camille Doncieux, visited Trouville, also on the Normandy coast from 1869-71.
Above: Berthe Morisot painted Peasant Girl among Tulips in 1890 when she, her ailing husband, Eugene Manet (brother of artist Edouard Manet), and 12-year-old daughter Julie visited the rural village of Mezy, where they hoped the countryside air would help heal Eugene. Morisot shaped her subject's face like that of a tulip, and made a point to make clear her browned hands to denote the girl's work in the countryside.
Above: By the late 1890s, Pierre-Auguste Renoir had tired of impressionism and turned to family members for inspiration. It is believed this portrait, The Picture Book (circa 1897), represents his son Jean reading a brightly illustrated children's picture book. Renoir had a tendency to feminize his three sons when painting them, exaggerating their rosy cheeks and golden hair.
Above: Henri Rouart was a schoolmate and lifelong friends of Edgar Degas, but when Degas chose to pursue art as a career, Rouart joined the military and later took up engineering. But he also was very interested in art; not only did he collect it, but he eventually became active in it. The subject of Woman Playing the Guitar (circa mid- to late 1880s) is believed to be Rouart's daughter, Helene, with some of the artist's collection in his home serving as the background. In 1897, Pierre-Auguste Renoir would also paint a canvas titled Woman Playing the Guitar.
Above: Camille Pissarro painted The Jetty at Le Harve, High Tide, Morning Sun, in 1903, shortly before his death the same year. Thirty-five years earlier, Claude Monet would paint a canvas that he titled The Jetty at Le Harve.
Above: There is so much to ponder when taking in Marc Chagall's Dreamer (1945), which the artist painted a year after the death of his wife, Bella. His signature layered colors in the basket of fruit are evident, and he floats a newly wedded couple at the top, a traditional symbol of youth and fertility. Another couple, at the completion of their consummation, lie below the basket. At the left, a goat symbolizes an affirmation of life despite death's recent triumph. Chagall was 97 years old when he died in 1985. He is one of the featured artists in this exhibit who is not really associated with French impressionism. In fact, he is regarded as the last survivor of the first generation of European modernists.
Above: Edgar Degas was best known for his dance images, and Ballet Scene (above) from 1880 is an example of one of them. While Degas did join and work with the impressionist artists in 1874, he was often at odds with them and mocked their penchant for painting en plain air (outdoors). He eventually left the group in 1886. In the late 1880s, Degas developed an interest in photography, and one of his most interesting images (to me, anyway) was an 1895 portrait he made of Renoir with French poet and critic Stephane Mellarme, which you can find following the link in this sentence. Make sure you check out the reflection of Degas' in the mirror.
Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, considered one of the best-known post-impressionists, began working in Paris about the time Edgar Degas was opertaing a studio there. The diminutive Lautrec, who stood only 4-foot-8, immersed his work in entertainment and theater life and, like Degas, took to using dancers as subjects. The style seen in Dancer Seated on a Pink Divan (above), which he painted at the age of 20 in 1884, was relatively subdued compared to his flamboyant efforts later on. Lifelong medical issues, which were responsible for his stunted growth, along with alcoholism contributed to Lautrec's death at age 36 in 1901.
Above: Another post-impressionist, Paul Cezanne concentrated on patterns and structure. His austere palette and taut, interlocking brushwork, as evidenced in this work, Trees and Rocks, Near the Chateau Noir, would eventually lead to abstract cubism, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism would dominate early 20th-century art. This painting was finished sometime circa 1900-06.
Georges Seurat's The Picnic was finished around 1885 and might have been among several sketches he worked on while preparing his famous A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte even though this grouping of children does not appear in the final masterpiece.
Next up: Small shops in the historic district
Previously in the series:
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