"The Victor," Ottilie W. Roederstein, 1898.

Swiss-German Roederstein (1859-1937) was primarily known for her portraits, although it's unknown if this was meant to be a portrait of someone, or just a symbolic work.

By this time in her career, Roederstein was a successful artist who had achieved an education and had exhibited both in Europe and the U.S., notable for a woman at the time. I wonder if perhaps this is an expression of her personal success....but perhaps not.

Still, it's a nicely composed piece; the model is almost like a sculpture, and it's overall an interesting mix of classical elements with modern style. And his determined pose makes him memorable.

From the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.

#Art #OttilieRoederstein #Realism #AcademicArt #WomenArtists

"Still Life: Basket with Fruit on a Table," Ottilie W. Roederstein, 1909.

I've written about Roederstein before; she was a Swiss/German painter, mainly portraits, and was the partner of Elisabeth Winterhalter, a pioneering doctor. (I've featured a number of queer artists this week, purely by chance.)

This still life may have been done as an exercise; it's not her usual thing. It's appropriate for late summer, with the apples and pears, but also a nice juxtaposition of colors. Still lifes can be bland, but here she has colors meeting each other while not being overwhelming. A very nice work.

Roederstein was fairly famous in her day as a portrait painter, but is largely forgotten today and deserves rediscovery. Look for her self-portrait with a hat; I love that painting.

From the Städel, Frankfurt.

#Art #StillLife #AcademicArt #OttilieRoederstein #WomenArtists #LBGTQArt #QueerHistory

Ending the Trip to my old school with this cast painting. Well, the casts were locked away, but we’ll make do! :D

Trying to paint reflections when doing alla prima was probably a terrible idea, but overall I like what came out of it.

#castpainting #academicart #art #oilpainting #painting #allaprima #kunst #mastoart #fediart

The fellowship trip for my school’s alumni here is coming to an end and I got to wrap up a longpose that we were painting for five days. pose was super hard and intricate but the model wanted the challenge and did a stellar job! Incredible to see the difference to models back home. Oh well, was fun to do this again, literally never have the opportunity for making one of these anymore.

#oilpainting #academicart #anatomy #painting #art #kunst #mastoart

"Basket of Roses," Henri Biva, 1891.

Biva (1848-1929) was a Realist/Naturalist painter of landscapes and the occasional still life. His work is recognizable for a degree of realism and attention to detail that prefigures the photorealism that would rise in the late 20th century.

I once showed one of his landscapes to a friend, who gazed at it for ages, then said, "You can almost HEAR that painting," as in it was easy to imagine the calls of birds and buzzing of insects. It was as if one could step through the frame into a lovely, but realistic, scene.

His attention to detail, his skill as a colorist, and his ability to depict natural light and make it LOOK natural on the canvas, are remarkable to me. He is scandalously overlooked and deserves greater attention....a lot of his work may not look like much at a glance (views of meadows or wooded glades or the shore of a pond or creek) but reward your attention with their amazing detail and realism. Go look him up.

Happy Flower Friday!

From a private collection.

#Art #Naturalism #AcademicArt #HenriBiva #FlowerFriday #Realism #Roses