Docent in Training - Research, Notes, Interpretation

Feb 21, 2019 Class.

Hello again.

Ever since the first human picked up a stick of charcoal and drew on a rock, artists have recorded for posterity what was happening in their world during their time. The art at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (ACMAA) gives insight into what was happening in America in the last two centuries.

Chauvet Cave  (France) 32,000 years ago

This week we met in the library room of the Amon Carter to discuss our assignment of defining a piece of art not on display. I thought we were only going to discuss our research and notes so all would have them for their collection. However, it was a cross between that and interpretation.

There will not be a lengthy write up of each presentation but I will include links that you may use if you are interested in the art or artist. This is all new stuff so enjoy! Before I get into all of that I want to mention that I met with my mentor Subie to learn how to best use the library for research. Since my piece was "Ball Play of the Dakota on the St Peters River in Winter," I asked her to show me research on Seth Eastman. She showed me the mother lode, folders that have articles on all or almost all of the artist in the museum. The folder on Eastman even has photographs of some of the works I had researched for my presentation. Thank you Subie for your time.

Now on to this weeks class:

Wrapped Oranges - 1889

William McCloskey (1859-1941)

Ross presented the Trompe L'oeil "Wrapped Oranges" by William Mccloskey.

His wonderful description of this painting really made you want to reach in and grab one of the juicy jewels.

Find out more about William's collaboration with his very, very talented wife Alberta here William and Alberta









I could not find a portrait of Alberta but here is one of William.

Ease 1887

Pat presented another Trompe L'oeil artist William Harnett. This is the same artist that painted "Attention Company!" interpreted by Morganna in another week.

This work depicts a gentleman's library showcasing what was important to him. It was commissioned by Mr. James Abbe, a paper manufacturer and newspaper publisher, thus the envelope in the center.

William Michael Harnett (1848-1892)

For more on Ease see here Ease


For more on Harnett see here William Harnett

Oregon City on the Willamette River  1850

John Mix Stanley (1814-1872)

Suzanne took us across the country for an artist-explorers work, "Oregon city on the Willamette River."  John Mix Stanley traveled from New York to Hawaii making him an explorer indeed. He had a most interesting life but was snakebit because twice his paintings were destroyed by fire. Once at the Smithsonian and once at P. T. Barnum's museum.





To learn more about the very interesting Stanley read here
John Mix Stanley













We stayed in the West with Suzi presenting Thomas Moran's painting "Cliffs of Green River." Reading the copy of her notes on this subject awes me on how she managed to describe for us this painting and how Thomas Moran may have felt about this area. Great work on Suzi's part.

Cliffs of Green River - 1874

Thomas Moran (1837-1926)

Thomas Moran will give you a bit more insight into Mr. Moran and how his work helped create our national parks. Mr. Moran so loved these cliffs he painted them many times.

Bill gave us a very apt description of "Marion Crossing the Peedee" by William Tylee Ranney. Although Brigadier General Francis Marion was not a striking figure, he was very brave and wonderful with militiamen. He was named the Swamp Fox and his work helped the revolution beyond measure.

William Tylee Ranney (1813-1851)

William Tylee Ranney was a very important painter known for his depictions of Western life, sporting scenery, and historical subjects.

William Ranney will give you a bit more insight into Ranney.

Francis Marion will certainly give you more insight into Marion.

Marion Crossing the Peedee - 1778

Paul Howard Manship (1885-1966)

In 1914 Paul Manship made these two beautiful sculptures to adorn the ends of his mantle. Beth introduced us to the sculptures and Manship who became a major force in what we now call the Art Deco movement. As with most sculptures, there is more than one copy.

Indian Hunter and Pronghorn Antelope - 1914

Find out more about Manship here Paul Manship.














Indian Hunter will give you a bit more insight into the sculptures.










To my thinking, the most beautiful flag in the world is the United States flag. When I saw that Julie was giving an interpretation of Childe Hassam's "Flags on the Waldorf", I was thrilled because his impressionist rendition of our flag is magnificent. There was an exhibition of flags during WWI although this one predates that exhibit. Check out Hassam here Hassam and the art here
flags.

Childe Hassam (1859-1935)

Flags on the Waldorf - 1916

Nancy gave us a very lively interpretation of a sculpture by Henry Kirke Brown, "Filatrice".
Brown was the first artist to cast bronze sculptures in the United States. Although the subject Filatrice is from ancient Italian mythology the artist is American making it American art.

Filatrice - After 1850

Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1866)

More on this lovely sculpture here Filatrice






















About Henry Kirke Brown here
Brown




















Last but certainly not least was Morganna with an interpretation of "Alice Vanderbilt Shepard" by John Singer Sergeant. An introduction to Sergeant is an introduction to one of the best portrait painters ever. Alice Vanderbilt was a beautiful child that had a very interesting life, mostly against her father's wishes.

John Singer Sergeant (1856-1925)

Read about Sergeant here: Sergeant





and more about the very lovely Alice here: Alice

Alice Vanderbilt Shepard - 1888

We do not have a class this week so I will be using my time to study even more and to pick out about 18 works I wish to do for my final interpretation.

So until next time;

Warmly,

Caroline

Docent in Training - A New Assignment

Ballplay of the Dakota on the St. Peters River in Winter _ 1848
Seth Eastman - 1808-1875

Hello,

I once again missed last weeks class, due to my back, and worse I missed working with my mentor.

However, I have my assignment for next weeks class and it will be such a fun thing to do. I am to research and come up with tour notes for a collection piece not on display at this time. I have chosen the painting at the right and will have the notes on it in the blog that will be after the class.

There will also be notes on the artist, Seth Eastman, a very interesting man. More on both later.

I will be meeting with my mentor Subie on Thursday the 21st to learn how to best use the library for research before a tour. We were taken through the library (a former post) but that was so much at one time I could not really wrap my mind around it. So with that in mind, this is just a footnote in this trip to become a tour guide at the ACMAA.

Until later,

Keep art in your heart and in the schools.

Caroline

Docent In Training - Working With Our Mentors

Hello again,

Tonight's class with our mentors was a lot of fun and very informative. I am always impressed with how much knowledge about art is possessed by all of the people I am lucky enough to study with at the Amon Carter.

Pat and I were able to share the expertise of the active docent Subie who is also my mentor. We broke into groups so it was impossible to follow everyone and their mentor, and I did not take notes, so can only tell you about a couple of interpretations I witnessed with the group.

I was able to interpret Frederic Remington's "A Dash For The Timber" and "Fall Of The Cowboy."  I do not know if it was because there was only the three of us or because we sat instead of standing, but I was very relaxed and able to deliver my take on both of these paintings. Subie, Pat and I also had a lively discussion about them.

 I suggested we look at A Dash For The Timber as a movie picture with Lucas sound. Indeed this painting lends itself to just that very easily, with the depth and sense of movement Frederic has painted. The question then is what sounds would possibly be heard.

Frederic was a much in demand illustrator for two of the magazines of the time and for books including one for Teddy Roosevelt.

He was also a writer and illustrated his own books. One is "Pony Tracks" which you can find on Kindle, sadly sans the illustrations. Speaking of illustrations the painting on the left "Fall Of The Cowboy" was one of several illustrations Frederic did for Owen Wister's article, "Evolution of the Cow-Puncher." Owen wrote "The Virginian" and is considered the father of western fiction. Charles Russell and Frederic Remington paintings of the wild west left such an impression that the western movies that followed were a natural extension.

One of the paintings Pat interpreted "The Swimming Hole" by Thomas Eakins. She touched upon the painting's rich history with Ft Worth and how it ended up in the ACMAA. The citizens of Ft Worth helped in making sure it stayed here when there was a chance it would be sold elsewhere. I wrote about some of the histories of this painting and Thomas Eakins two blogs ago. However; Pat added to my knowledge the fact that Eakins studied the human anatomy to the point of watching surgeries.

Self Portrait - 1919

And now, for something new. Pat gave us an interpretation of this Stuart Davis "Self Portrait".  There will be a bit more on Davis in this blog. Davis painted this self-portrait in 1919. Some say it was influenced by his recent bout with influenza. Others by his viewing a Vincent van Gogh self-portrait. The bright colors do remind one of van Gogh. At any rate, Pat gave a great interpretation of it.

She was going to give an interpretation of my all time favorite by Charles Demuth but we were called back together as a group. Will have to wait until another time to hear it.

Stuart Davis - 1892-1964

You can read more about the lively life of Stuart Davis on Wikipedia here Stuart Davis Painter

After we were called back together as a group, there were interpretations done by a few of the docent interns. I am so sorry that I was not taking notes but I do remember three of them for sure. If you gave one and I missed writing about you please forgive me.

Since we are discussing Stuart Davis I will continue with him. Ross gave us "Blips and If's" and "Swing Landscape". Ross actually sat us in the between the two paintings and compared them. Not an easy feat.

Blips and Ifs - 1963-1964

This painting "Blips and Ifs" was completed shortly before Davis's death. There are words on it but exactly what do they mean? Davis even put his signature at the top as if it was one of the words. I think the symbol on the left side looks like it fell off the Maryland state flag.

Swing Landscape - 1938

Ross also discussed "Swing Landscape". This painting is on loan from Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University. Ross hit the nail on the head with his analysis of this painting in that Davis's love of jazz deeply influenced his paintings. The Eskenazi Museum has a great write-up of it found here
Davis, Swing Landscape.

Marsden Hartley - 1877-1943

The last two interpretations I remember were by Morganna and Katherine about Marsden Hartley and Will Barnet. You can find a very good bio of Hartley here Marsden Hartley Bio by the Phillips Collection. As well as the ACMAA announcement of acquiring American Indian Symbols here Hartley, American Indian Symbols.

American Indian Symbols - 1914

Morganna gave us a stellar interpretation of this painting. Mentioning the repetition of patterns. I found it interesting that this was one of the paintings in Hartley's "Amerika" series and was tailored for a German audience.

Self-Portrait - 1952-1953

Katherine discussed Will Barnet's "Self-Portrait" with us. I say discussed because she asked if we could find a human in the portrait and that led to a very large discussion. This is a quote from Wikipedia that helps explain the sawtooth or arrowhead design in this painting.


"He was a key figure in the 1940s New York movement called Indian Space Painting, artists who based their abstract and semi-abstract work on Native American art; a striking movement which had a handful of practitioners."


There is a great Obituary by the NY Times on Will Barnet found here Barnet Obit. He lived to be 101 and painted for over 80 years. Wow!!


I leave you today with this question. If you were asked to create a self-portrait what would it look like?

Until next week,

Caroline