The Wilbur J. Cohen Building in Washington, D.C. is managed like most federal office buildings by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the agency overseeing the government’s new “accelerated disposals” process. The building is architecturally important and notably includes some of the most important New Deal–era murals.
South buttress carving -- Union Terminal, Cincinnati OH -- PunkToad - https://www.flickr.com/photos/punktoad/6331320122/
#AmericanArt #UnionTerminalCincinnati #Cincinnati #Thirties #Relief #Sculpture
"Madame X," John Singer Sargent, 1884.
Y'all know Sargent by now.
It's funny that this picture, now sometimes called "the American Mona Lisa," almost ended Sargent's career. He pursued Paris socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wanting to paint her, and it took almost a year to complete. Originally it featured a shoulder strap sliding off her shoulder, which, when combined with the lack of jewelry and gloves, and the gown's plunging neckline, was seen as too sexual and salacious; some thought it hinted at an affair between artist and subject. Not likely, Sargent was a very active gay man.
The New Orleans-born Gautreau was one of the great beauties of Parisian society, and was pursued by several portraitists. Although it's often said her reputation was ruined by this painting; it really wasn't as most of the backlash was directed at Sargent. She did become more choosy about which functions she would attend, and she had several more portraits done, one almost identical to this but was greeted only with praise.
Now it's regarded as one of the great classic works of American art!
Happy Portrait Monday!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
#Art #JohnSingerSargent #AmericanArt #MadameX #PortraitMonday #Scandalous #WomenInArt
The British reception of US abstract expressionism.
A Companion to American Art by John Davis, 2015
A Companion to American Art presents 35 newly-commissioned essays by leading scholars that explore the methodology, historiography, and current state of the field of American art history.
"Tom Po Qui (Water of Antelope Lake/Indian Girl/Ramoncita)," Robert Henri, 1914.
Born in Cincinnati and raised in Nebraska, Robert Henri (1865-1929) is one of the great American artists. Starting off as a fan of the Impressionists (which you can see in the background of today's painting), he rejected the standards of American academic art and instead was a leader of the Ashcan school, a realist movement that specialized mostly in scenes in the everyday lives of the urban poor. As WWI loomed on the horizon, he traveled in California and New Mexico, where he painted some local subjects.
Not much is known of Tom Po Qui, aka Ramoncita Gonzalez, except that she was of the Tiwa people, a linguistic subgroup of the Pueblo. She was an artist, producing painted pottery, and performer, perhaps performing as a "show Indian" for tourists at the 1914 Panama Exposition, where this was painted. But in this portrait she looks out at us in a very self-possessed manner, confronting us as equals. Her outfit has an air of authenticity about it; she doesn't seem dressed up as a stereotype, but is simply reflecting her heritage and letting us see who she is. She is not being exploited; one thinks she won't allow it.
From the Denver Art Museum.
#Art #AmericanArt #RobertHenri #TomPoQui #IndigenousPeoples #Tiwa #PortraitMonday
rogue_corq
Little Art Histories
Regina Kammer
Jonathan Emmesedi
Hotspur🏳️🌈🇺🇦
earthling