Docent in Training - It is finally over

Hello again after a long time,

We have finished our classes and are now doing our demo tours. I did mine today and I can now call myself an active docent with the Amon Carter Museum of American  Art. This is so exciting for me. My demo tour was attended by Nancy our instructor, of course, Subie my mentor, Subie's sister, Julie, and Beth. Thank you ladies. It was great fun.

Thursday we have our newbie reception. The Amon Carter knows how to do it right. They appreciate all of their volunteers and let us know it. Thank you ACMAA.

I have not been able to attend any other demo tours due to a lot of work around this very old house. Sorry to my fellow intern docents for missing your tours. It would be interesting to see the difference in our presentations.

During my tour today I mentioned that Stuart Davis had five watercolors in the 1913 Armory Show in NY. The fact that he was participating at such a young age was extraordinary. I located two of them (Servant Girls and Babe la Tour) and indeed they are great. They were priced at $100.00 each but I do not know if they sold. However, Stuart said the Armory Show turned him to modern art. Whatever he painted in whatever medium Stuart was fantastic. Even though these are not part of the ACMAA I thought they were too beautiful to not share.

As I stated early in the blog this would only last as long as the class, so this is it. I have put a lot of the collection of the ACMAA on these posts, but not all. The museum is once again going through a renovation and the work now put up will be returned to the walls. I will start a new blog at that time about what is happening at the ACMAA.

Until then, keep art in your life and in schools.

Caroline

Servant Girls 1913

Babe la Tour 1912

Docent in Training - Approaching the End

March 14, 2019

Hi,

Tonight's class was about being sensitive to labels as applied to people. It can be confusing, but, common sense should prevail when addressing a person's ethnicity or perhaps a disability. We are not talking about the degrading words that should never be used anyway, but rather whether to use Native American or American Indian, as an example. I was raised in an era when anyone that was not white was colored. Using that term today may get you a much-deserved stick in the eye. I have had the most pleasure and the sometimes pain of living through civil rights (still being challenged), women's liberation (still being challenged), Americans with Disability Act, Equal pay for equal work, etc.., etc.. We struggle as a country to be better and more aware of how we address others. It may never be truly solved but one can hope.

Nancy our leader reminded us that only if an artist's ethnicity has bearing on the work being interpreted do you mention it. Otherwise, leave it alone as it really means nothing. Thank you Nancy for this class and reminding us to stay focused.

The rest of the evening was spent in interpretations which I bowed out of doing. I must do something as Nancy needs to hear me before I do my final interpretation. I have my 18 to 20 pieces picked out and am working on my final interpretation. With the help of my mentor Subie I will be ready for sure.

Morganna gave us a brief art lesson even including handouts. It is very useful to know the correct terms and to understand what makes up a painting or sculpture. She used these two pieces below to point out where the terms apply.

Gaston Lachaise's beautiful bronze Woman Seated

Nancy (another docent in training) also gave an interpretation of this wonderful sculpture. This woman was also the love of  Gaston's life and his wife. He used her as the model for all his Woman series.

















Also included in Morganna's art lesson was
George Bellow's stunning work "The Fisherman"  

Bill gave a great interpretation of Georgia O'Keeffe's "White Birch". The intense colors in the above and below paintings make one remember why we enjoy seeing what these exceptional artists have created.


We are working with our mentors on March the 21st and have no class on the 28th. Our last class will be on April 4 and then we must do our final interpretations. We are invited to meet at the Modern Art Museum to take a tour on the 21st by Beth and Pat. Really looking forward to it. After the class, I am attending a book club at the ACMAA.

 Lots of work to do until then and plenty more after. But it is all good.

Until next week,

Caroline

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

Docent in Training - More Interpretations

Well Hello,

I am a week late writing this blog and should be ashamed, but, the world did not stop on its axis so I assume all is ok. Last weeks class was more interpretations with the addition of transitions from one piece to another by our docent interns. I bowed out as I was not prepared. It was much to the disappointment of the class as they wanted to see if I could once again walk on my tongue while talking. I will not be so fortunate to escape on the 31st class as we will be having to do interpretations with our mentors. It really should be fun and Subie (my mentor) is so wonderful I know it will be most beneficial to me.

In the meantime, this weeks presenters once again did a stellar job. They included:

Pat presenting  Diana by Agustus Saint-Gaudens. This 126-year-old, 7-foot cement and plaster statue of Diana, in Roman mythology, goddess of the moon and the hunt, was a gift from Saint-Gaudens to the renowned architect Stanford White. It stayed in the garden on White's estate for 30 years and in the 1980s was purchased by the ACMAA ending up in the basement.  Curator Maggie Adler was at the forefront of getting the statue restored under the guidance of Adam Jenkins and Diana is now once again in her glory. Word of note, this statue never had a bow with or an arrow and I learned the difference between concrete and cement. Write up of the ACMAA work on Diana can be found here Amon Carter Museum and Diana

Diana - 1894

There have been rumors that the model was the mistress of Stanford White, however, she was born in 1884 and not old enough to be the model or mistress when Diana was created. There is a movie about the rumor "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" starring none other than the beautiful Joan Collins. You can read more about the original Diana here Diana.

Augustas Saint-Gaudens - 1848-1907

Augustas Saint-Gaudens was born in France but was brought to America as a baby. We are truly a nation of immigrants. 

Sunrise, Yosemite Valley - 1870
Albert Bierstadt - 1830-1902

Julie interpreted Albert Bierstadt's painting Sunrise, Yosemite Valley, shown above. This painting's luminous appearance cannot be done justice on a computer screen. Bierstadt was born in Europe and again was brought to this county at a very early age. He loved the Rockies and took every opportunity to go there. His paintings were very large and so wonderfully bright. The majesty of the Rockies is evident throughout.

Bill interpreted Thomas Cole's The Hunters Return. Again you can see the wonderful use of light in this work. The story in Bierstadt's Yellowstone painting is the beauty of nature, but the story in Cole's Hunter's painting is a happy family greeting the hunters who are saddled with a heavy load of meat. There is a garden and one knows the food will be put by for the winter that will be coming soon by the looks of the trees. Cole was also concerned with the destruction of the forest by settlers. Both Cole and Bierstadt were part of the Hudson River School.

The Hunter's Return - 1845
Thomas Cole - 1841-1848

Beth gave a wonderful interpretation of three paintings that were created in a span of 100 years by three different artists. You will see in these paintings how art changed during that span of time.

Up first is Raphaelle Peale's Peaches and Grapes in a Chinese Basket. Peale was from an artist family and painted in trompe l'oeil. He was the first American still life painter as his family did portraits.  Portrait below of Raphaelle was Charles Wilson Peale.

Raphaelle Peale - 1774-1825

Find out more about Raphaelle here Raphaelle Peale.

Next is Still Life of Flowers and Fruit With a River Landscape in the Distance by Severin Roesen.  This rather large painting with a rather large title was a recurring theme for Roesen an immigrant from Germany.  His attention to detail combined with his exceptional skill makes this painting a joy to stand and study. The flowers, of course, would not all be in bloom at the same time. The beer glass is a nod from Roesen to his favorite beverage.

Still Life of Flowers and Fruit With a River Landscape in the Distance - 1867

Severin Roesen - 1816-1872

Last in Beth's presentation is The Lobster by Arthur Dove shown below. Arthur was considered America's first abstract painter.

I will go out on a limb here and say I find The Lobster to be more impressionist than abstract so please let me know (politely) if you disagree. More about abstract art here what is abstract art? and impressionist art here What is impressionism?

The Lobster - 1908

Arthur Dove - 1880-1946

No matter the style during a tour with Subie one of the guests announced that "the lobster looked drunk." Arthur was part of the Stieglitz group and was friends with Charles Demuth and Georgia O'Keeffe. He was expected to have a profession that would achieve wealth by his parents but chose art instead. He was a commercial illustrator early in his career. You can find out more about this interesting person here More about Dove .

And there you have it. 100 years of art in three paintings by three different artists. Thank you Beth.




The last two interpretations were done by Katherine and Susie and included two sculptures and one painting. To keep this post as short as I like to I will not include their presentations, but, trust me they were outstanding. Thank you, ladies.

Time to publish this piece or I will be in next weeks class.

Until next time,

Caroline

Docent in Training - More Interpretations and Shadowing a Mentor

Hello,

January 2019 is upon us. What with NFL playoff games, my binge watching of Chinese movies on Netflix, trying to get back into the groove of eating less and exercising more, and learning more and more about the Amon Carter Museum of American Art collection, my cup runneth over. I usually watch TV and work on my computer at the same time but, subtitled Chinese movies do not allow such luxury. Unless one understands Mandarin they must keep their eyes on the TV or forever be lost. The one thing about these movies is they are historically correct and take me back to the beginning of the first empires of China. So it is not mindless TV watching as much as catching up on my history. At least that is what I want to think.

I missed the class on 20th-century photography last week and regret doing it. Not only because I missed a learning opportunity but also because the curator took his time to give the class. However,  I did make this weeks class and it was outstanding. We started with a class discussion on the proper way to offer questions on our tours. The object is to get the guests we are giving the tour to an opportunity to get involved with the art. The trick is to not put them on the spot and in some cases to not let them take over the tour. It will take practice but I know I can do it.

Attention Company!

The second half of the class was spent with a few giving interpretations of the permanent collection. I was so impressed with their skill and learned a great deal about different ways of presenting the works. One in our class is a docent at the Modern Art Museum here in Ft Worth and also an art teacher. The work she interpreted was Attention Company! by William Harnett.

I have shown this picture before in another post. That interpretation was a comparison between this and a Mary Cassatt. This interpretation was just on this work and how it lent itself to the abstract. I found this to be an interesting take and one worth exploring more.

Two others did Thunderstorm on Narragansett Bay by Martin Johnson Heade. They pointed out that no one seems to be in a hurry to leave so maybe the storm is on its way out rather than in. The Civil War had happened shortly before Heade painted this piece. The question, was reconstruction on his mind? Hard to say without his input. At any rate, it is a lovely rendition of a thunderstorm.

Thunderstorm on Narragansett Bay

Although there were many great interpretations I only have room for one more and it is one with a significant history.

The Swimming Hole

The Swimming Hole by Thomas Eakins is a masterpiece that was not used by The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts during an exhibition because the students and Eakins himself are recognizable. Eakins had been forbidden to use students as models. He eventually had to resign because of having a male nude in his class where a woman student was present. The work became part of the collection of the Fort Worth Art Association, the institutional predecessor of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. When the Art Association decided to sell it The Amon Carter purchased it. Ruth Carter Stevenson chose it as one of the paintings to hang in President John F. Kennedy's hotel room the night he and the First Lady spent in Ft Worth.

I wish I could tell you about more of the wonderful interpretations by our class but need to move on to lunch with my lovely mentor Subie. We enjoyed lunch at The Cafe Modern in the above mentioned Modern Art Museum. Then I followed along on her tour of the ACMAA. We had a large group and it was great that they were interactive with Subie. This is what our goal is, to hopefully have the guests get involved with the art. We ended the tour upstairs with the western art of Remington and Russell. I am ashamed to say I had not yet been up there and was not aware that the ACMAA has every one of Charles Russell's western sculptures plus one he did of Douglas Fairbanks as D'Artagnan in 1921.  Mary Pickford actually asked him to create it. Just proves every art piece has a history and some of them have a very interesting story to tell.

Douglas Fairbanks as D'Artaganan - 1921

If you have a chance you must make it to ACMAA and view all of the terrific works by Charles Russell and Frederic Remington. Thank you Subie for a wonderful tour.

Well an NFL playoff game is coming on and it appears it is snowing in Kansas City so until next week please keep art on your mind and in the schools.

Warmly,
Caroline