"Hearts are Trumps," John Everett Millais, 1872.

Millais (1829-1896) was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite school, & one of its most praised & successful members, getting many society commissions & earning a knighthood.

Starting in the 1850s, though, he began moving away from strict Pre-Raphaelism to a more Realist style, which caused some of his old crowd to view him as a sellout. But today it's seen as a natural evolution of his style, & his own refusal to be corralled by a particular school. Some feel his marriage to Euphemia, the former wife of art critic John Ruskin, a champion of the Pre-Raphaelites, had something to do with it; Effie had received an annulment on the grounds that her marriage had never been consummated. Millais was said to be very uneasy around Ruskin after that.

The women here are the three daughters of writer and collector Walter Armstrong, who was hoping to bump up his family's social status. The pose of the three women at cards is seen as a hint of a competition to marry. Of note is that Mary, to the right and looking out at us knowingly (with the King and Jack of hearts in her hand) married an Irish politician a few years after this was painted.

Happy Portrait Monday!

From the Tate Britain, London.

#Art #PreRaphaelite #JohnEverettMillais #PortraitMonday #WomenInArt

Women in GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums).

#womeninart #multimedia #culturalheritage #youtubeshorts #takecareofart

https://youtube.com/shorts/PX9fBzAcU-E?is=sZinW18jPdc4_9Ws

"The Flower Sellers," Alfredo Ramos Martinez, c. 1935-8.

Ramos Martinez (1871-1946) was a painter, muralist, and teacher who is regarded as the father of Mexican Modernism.

He came from a well-off family, which ultimately supported his decision to be an artist rather than going into the family business. At the age of nine he won a prize in an exhibition that included a art school scholarship; he won many awards and made many sales while still a student. He designed and painted placemats for a state dinner organized by then-president Porfirio Diaz; one of the guests, Phoebe Hearst (feminist, philanthropist, and mother of William Randolph) saw them, was impressed by them, and financed his further education in Europe.

His later life had him moving to Europe, then back to Mexico, then ending his days in Los Angeles, always with great success, although since his passing he was fairly forgotten until recently, when interest in his work revived.

His work was very modernist, but at the same time serene, depicting indigenous peoples in a dignified and respectful way, a style that is winning him new fans in the 21st century.

Happy Flower Friday!

From the Minneapolis Museum of Art.

#Art #AlfredoRamosMartinez #MexicanModernism #FlowerFriday #WomenInArt

"Sunlight," Richard E. Miller, c. 1913.

Miller (1875-1943) was an American Impressionist painter, known mostly for works like this, showing women posing languidly, either outdoors or in sunny rooms.

A native of St. Louis and the son of a noted civil engineer, Miller began drawing early in life and ended up studying art at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, the first art school in the US that was part of a university (Washington University of St. Louis). He won many prizes there and began to exhibit locally, but traveled to Paris to continue his education in 1898. Later he spent his summers at the Giverny art colony, where his later style truly came into being.

He returned to the US at the start of WWI, taught in Pasadena for a few years, and then moved to the art colony at Provincetown, MA, where he spent the rest of his life.

Miller's sunny scenes didn't tell stories; although his style was very Impressionist, his philosophy, of not being afraid to be simply decorative, was definitely Nabi. But his work was popular in his time although his star has faded somewhat in the 21st century.

From the Art Institute of Chicago.

#Art #Impressionism #RichardEMiller #AmericanImpressionism #WomenInArt #Sunlight

"Girls on the Bridge," Edvard Munch, 1901.

Norwegian painter and printmaker Munch (1863-1944) is one of the world's best-known and most iconic artists, but he's known primarily for his justly famous "The Scream" and he did so much more...

Munch's early life was marked by loss, ill health, depression, and a fear of inheriting mental illness, so much of his work explores themes of melancholy and alienation. However, this work comes from a happier time of his life....but it's still fairly downbeat.

In 1897, he bought a summer home in the village of Åsgårdstrand, which he dubbed the "Happy Home" for the joy it brought him. By the time he was free of the worries about mental illness, but still had health issues and was also drinking heavily. But he was also very productive at his summer home.

This is based on an encounter he had on a local bridge with three girls. He painted several versions of this scene, with different focus each time. This time, the viewer is almost a participant; it's from the perspective of someone walking across and seeing the three girls. Although a pleasant scene on the surface, the one in the white dress seems isolated from the other two, and they all seem lost in their own thoughts.

From the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

#Art #EdvardMunch #Expressionism #WomenInArt

The Bennett Collection: The Rising Glory of Women Painters

From 16th-century nuns to modern masters, this collection’s focus on female figurative realists drives a $50,000 biennial boost for the next generation of icons

Michael Pearce

https://www.mutualart.com/Article/The-Bennett-Collection--The-Rising-Glory/45A7C277840FAFCA

Women painters at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=Women+Painters

#art #culture #womeninart

How Medieval Women Expressed Their ‘Forbidden’ Emotions

Upper-class women used letters and embroidery to reflect on their inner lives

by Pragya Agarwal (from the archives)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-medieval-women-expressed-their-forbidden-emotions-180983953/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

Medieval women at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=medieval+women

#books #literature #womeninart

"Girl from Mora Skiing," Anders Zorn, 1915.

Zorn (1860-1920) was a Swedish painter, sculptor, and printmaker, who for a while was a popular portraitist. His portraits include various members of Swedish royalty, and three U.S. Presidents: Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1910, after traveling widely, he and his wife settled near the Swedish town of Mora (his home is now a museum), where he was struck by the rural traditions of people around him. At the time, there was some concern about traditional ways being displaced by modernism, and much of Zorn's work of this period reflects that.

Here we have a peasant woman in traditional attire, skiing through a pine forest, a VERY traditional image. She looks over her shoulder at us, as if asking if we're going to join in. Or perhaps one last glance at a way of life that may be vanishing.

Internationally acclaimed in his life, he established Sweden's Bellman Prize, awarded to outstanding Swedish poets, on his death in 1920.

Now go watch the Olympics!

From a private collection.

#Art #AndersZorn #WomenInArt #Skis #WinterOlympics #TraditionVsModernism

"Four Girls," August Macke, 1912-3.

German painter Macke (1887-1914) experimented with many styles over his career, including Impressionism, Fauvism, Orphism, and others, creating his own version of Expressionism late in his life.

He was a significant member of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue RIder), a collective of Expressionist artists in prewar Germany that encouraged their members' work and organized exhibitions that toured Germany and neighboring countries.

Painted during his time in Bonn, this work shows his Expressionist style at its best. His version wasn't as much overwrought and dramatic, and dark, as Expressionism often could be; here he's giving us bright colors, but an enigmatic situation. The girls all have downcast eyes; are they all sad? Or are they looking at something on the ground?

Macke had a ton of promise, but his career was cut short. Serving in the German Army in WWI, he was killed in France in 1914.

From the Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf.

#Art #AugustMacke #Expressionism #WomenInArt