Lilla Cabot Perry

 

Giverny Landscape, in Monet's Garden, Lilla Cabot Perry                  

Little Girl on a Lane, Giverny,
Lilla Cabot Perry

Yesterday, In discussing my recent visit to Claude Monet's estate at Giverny, I briefly mentioned the fact that it had become something of a mecca for art lovers, especially those enamored with Impressionism. Although I wouldn't exactly place myself in the "enamored" category, I do have a liking for such works as well as an interest in the gardens which inspired the man which inspired the movement. Let me note that there is really nothing new in all this. Monet, the man, his art, and his gardens have long had an attraction for other artists, dating back to as early as 1885 before Monet was more than just another en-plein-air painter renting a cottage nearby. He bought a home there in 1890. His famous gardens came later, as did the bulk of his admirers. Among those drawn to Giverny in the early days were several American artists such as Theodore Robinson, John Breck, Willard Metcalf, Louis Ritter, and Theodore Earl Butler. Although no one kept a record of such things at the time, it's also likely the American expatriate painter, Mary Cassatt, was also a visitor and brought along her friend from Boston, Lilla Cabot Perry.

Late Afternoon--Giverny, Lilla Cabot Perry

Lilla Cabot Perry, Self-portrait, ca. 1889-98

Although written records of those coming and going from Giverny might be scarce, the painted records are not. Lilla Cabot Perry learned Impressionism there from the source, Monet himself. Her Giverny Landscape, in Monet's Garden (top), though of uncertain date (she visited nine different summers over the course of twenty years), Monet's influence is obvious, notably in her Late Afternoon--Giverny (above), perhaps to the point of even being her instructor. Perry's Little Girl on a Lane, Giverny (above, left), would seem to indicate more than simple observation on her part. Even as Monet continued to struggle, his impact upon the avant-garde art world can hardly be overstated. Likewise, his near constant need of funds during these years would suggest he had more than a few paying students.

Thomas Sergeant Perry Reading a
Newspaper, Lilla Cabot Perry

Lilla Cabot was born in 1848, the eldest of eight children. Boston was then, and now, a city nearly synonymous with the name, Cabot. Her father was a noted surgeon, one of her brothers, Samuel Cabot IV, became a chemist. Another brother became a distinguished surgeon like his father, while yet another brother founded the Cabot Corporation which made and marketed the Valspar Cabot Stains developed by the chemist in the family. In short, the Cabot family had money and social standing in Boston society second to none. Lilla grew up studying literature, foreign languages, poetry, music, and sketching. Her family were staunch abolitionists, helping runaway slaves and caring for the wounded during the Civil War. Household guests included such names as Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and James Russell Lowell. Apparently those names also included Thomas Sergeant Perry (left), a Harvard scholar and linguist whom Lilla married in 1874. They had three daughters.


La Petite Angele, II, 1889, Lilla Cabot Perry

Portrait of an Infant (the artist's daughter, Margaret),
1876, Lilla Cabot Perry, her first portrait.

Lilla Cabot Perry first became interested in painting through her acquaintance with Boston artist, John Lafarge, who created a stained glass window for the Perry home in Boston where they often entertained such literary notables as Henry James and William Dean Howells. Her Portrait of an Infant (right) dates from 1876 and is said to be her first surviving portrait. With the death of her father-in-law, an inheritance allowed Perry to study painting with several local Boston artists during the early 1880s. She received her first introduction to Impressionism from Robert Vonnoh, who encouraged her to continue her studies in Paris, first at the Académie Colarossi then at the Academie Julian, as well as brief periods in Madrid, Munich, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Her La Petite Angele, II (above), from 1889, marks a distinct shift in her work in the direction of impressionism, painted around the time she first visited Giverny.

The Trio (Alice, Edith, and, Margaret Perry), Lilla Cabot Perry

Open Air Concert, Lilla Cabot Perry

In returning to Boston, Perry was one of the first to introduce Impressionism into the mainstream of American art thru exhibitions of her own works as well as those by Monet, Pissarro, and others. Her portraits of her musical daughters (above), The Trio and her Open Air Concert, (left) capture with a mature sense of Impressionist confidence her favorite subjects--her children. On rare occasions, however, she also painted boys, as seen in her Boy Fishing from 1929. The painting now hangs in the White House.

Boy Fishing, 1929, Lilla Cabot Perry

 

Theodore Robinson



The Old Bridge, 1890, Theodore Robinson

Photo of Claude Monet by
Theodore Robinson, 1890

When people talk about a nation's imports and exports, they're usually talking about economics, and for most people, it's instant MEGO (my eyes glaze over). However, there's an element of art involved in imports and exports, and generally, it has little to do with economics. Starting early in the 19th-century, France had as one of it's major export products, art training, centered mostly in Paris around its famed Ecole des Beaux Arts. Paris was, in effect, the art capital of the world, both in producing art and in offering the highest level of art training available anywhere in the world. No artist could consider his training complete unless he'd spent time honing his skills under the tutelage of a French master. However, as the century wore on a somewhat strange phenomena evolved. Artists went to Paris to study at the Ecole, or two or three other major academies offering similar training, but without the prestigious name. They went to Paris to study under Gerome, or Carolus-Durand only to end up studying with Claude Monet at Giverny, some 45 miles down the Seine.

Père Trognon and His Daughter at the Bridge, 1891, Theodore Robinson

Theodore Robinson Self-Portrait, 1884-87

Theodore Robinson was among the first (perhaps the first) American painter to make this trek downriver. He arrived at Giverny almost before Monet. Monet first came to the quaint little village in 1883. Robinson landed on his doorstep in 1884. Monet hadn't even acquired his property there at the time. In the coming years, Robinson was just one of many, including Willard Metcalf (another early arrival) Theodore Earl Butler, (who was married at Giverny and whose Wedding March Robinson painted) Childe Hassam, Julian Alden Weir, John Twachtman, Cecilia Beaux, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Lilla Cabot Perry, the latter names, along with several others, being late arrivals. Giverny was never an "art school" as such with Monet (above, left) as its headmaster but rather more of an art colony with Monet as its headliner.

La Débacle, 1892, Theodore Robinson (I've no idea how the title applies.)

The Cow Girl, 1888,
Theodore Robinson

Some of the later arrivals at Giverny, during the 1890s up through the early 1900s, came already well versed in Impressionism, eager only to study with "the master," sometimes for fairly short periods of time, long enough to say they "knew" or were "best friends" with Monet, while others stayed longer or came and went repeatedly. Robinson stayed eight years; and in his case, he and Monet were, indeed, good friends. Unlike some of the late arrivals, when Monet first welcomed Robinson to Giverny, the American painter was no Impressionist, though his loose brushwork, readily lent itself to the new style. Robinson's early work was quite Realist, not unlike his The Old Bridge (top) from 1890, or his World's Columbian Exposition (below), from 1894, though both paintings date from well after Robinson had switch to Impressionism. Apparently he was quite adept at returning to his earlier style. His The Cow Girl (left) from 1888 and his The Debacle (above), from 1892, are more in keeping with his work bearing the influence and atmosphere of Monet and Giverny.

Worlds Columbian Exposition, 1894, Theodore Robinson



Theodore Robinson at work ca. 1872,
with Canadian painter William Blair Bruce

Theodore Robinson was born in 1852. He began life in a small town located in Northern Vermont, until his family moved to Evansville, Wisconsin, probably sometime in the 1860s. He began studying art in Chicago for a time before moving on to New York to the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. He first hit Paris and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1876 where he was thoroughly indoctrinated in the academic Realism firmly ensconce there at the time. He displayed at the Salon the following year. After brief trips to Bologna and Venice, Robinson returned to the U.S. in 1879. If he encountered the struggling early Impressionists during stay, they apparently made little impression upon the young artist.

Nantucket, 1882, Theodore Robinson, one of his pre-Impressionist works.

In a Daisy Field, Theodore Robinson

For the next five years Robinson was a typical American painter--mostly genre and landscapes. His Nantucket (above), dating from 1882, is typical of his work around this time, as is his In a Daisy Field (right). Then, in 1884, perhaps disillusioned with the "same old, same old" of American painting during the Gilded Age, as Mark Twain called it, Robinson headed back to Paris; and this time, discovering Monet and Giverny, he stayed for eight years, absorbing the best Impressionism had to offer, straight from the source. Although it's uncertain when the two met, of all the American painters who later flocked to Giverny, none were closer to Monet than Robinson. They lived next door to one another and its quite obvious Robinson benefited most from their friendship; though Monet is said to have sought Robinson's advice nearly as often as the reverse. Despite the twelve-year difference in their age, there's was apparently something of a mutual admiration society.

Stepping Stones, 1893, Theodore Robinson, his authentic French Impressionism at its best.

The Forge (or An Apprentice
Blacksmith), Theodore Robinson

Robinson returned to America in 1892 to take up a teaching position at the Brooklyn Art School, and conduct summer workshops in the Catskills of Northern New York. He brought with him what had become one of France's most important exports--Impressionism. The style was not an overnight success in this country. It hadn't been in France either. However here, there was less than two-hundred years of artistic tradition weighing in. In France, there were several centuries of hardnosed resistance to anything new. In France, art was still controlled and defined by the state through the Academie des Beaux-Arts and their yearly salons, though this power was starting to wane somewhat as the century drew to a close. Back in the U.S., the number of "authentic" Impressionists, who, like Robinson, had actually studied the new style in France, were far outstripped by those who had taken up the style second-hand. This is where Robinson and his summer workshops came in. Yet, when not teaching Impressionism, Robinson often fell back on his more traditional roots in genre as seen in The Forge (or An Apprentice Blacksmith) (left) or his On the Tow Path, a Halt, (below) from 1893. Theodore Robinson died quite young in 1896 following an acute asthma attack. He was forty-three years old.

On the Tow Path, a Halt, 1893, Theodore Robinson--genre Impressionism.

Nantucket Girl, Theodore Robinson--something for the girls.

 

Edmund C. Tarbell

Mother and Child in a Boat  (Emeline with Josephine). 1892, Edmund C. Tarbell

One of the most dramatic and traumatic experiences artists have traditionally faced is having to come to grips with a changing art world. It's tough enough making a living as an artist when styles and tastes are relatively stable. But pity the poor artist who has come of age accepting and being trained in one style or manner of painting, only to find that which is new has gradually, or perhaps suddenly, caused his or her work to appear stilted and old-fashioned. To some extent, this tide of change has always been a constant factor. That's called evolution. But when evolution becomes revolution, the artist is forced to either ignore the changes, hoping they're mere fads, or adopting the new in order to remain fashionable (and salable). French artist in the latter part of the 19th-century and again in the early years of the 20th-century faced this quandary. Do you adhere to the tried and truisms of Academic Art or swing over to Impressionism? Later when Impressionism became the predominant style, changes came along in rapid succession--Expressionism, Cubism, Symbolism, Futurism, Surrealism, and by mid-century, Abstract Expressionism. Each "next big thing" had its day. The question was, would (or could) a given artist "go with the flow" or resist in favor of traditional styles, techniques, and ideals? For a foreign artist studying in Paris during one of these transitional periods, there was a certain advantage. Since they were still malleable students, they could embrace both, a firm academic foundation coupled with that which was up and coming. That's precisely the course chosen by New England portrait artist, Edmund C. Tarbell.

Flanked on the left by self-portraits, the couple with the dog are Tarbell's son
 (also named Edmund) and his wife, Mary. The painting dates from 1920.

Born in 1862, Tarbell arrived in Paris twenty-one years later to study at the Academie Julian. Paris exposed him to rigorous academic training, which invariably included copying Old Masters at the Louvre, but also to the Impressionist movement then sweeping the city. Though he studied in Paris for only about a year, while in Europe, he availed himself of a Grand Tour including Italy, Belgium, Germany and Brittany. In returning to Boston in 1884, Tarbell set up a studio, began teaching at the Boston Museum School, and two years later, married Emeline Souther, one of his students and the daughter of a prominent Dorchester family.

The artist at work and the work of the artist.

Besides painting portraits, Tarbell was an early avid proponent of the Colonial Revival movement. He began collecting American antiques (back when most were considered simply used furniture). He arranged them with Chinese ceramics, Japanese prints and other art objects as studio props. Even though his models (mostly family), their attire, the settings, and activities have a distinctly Victorian air of upper-class indolence, his Impressionist painting style appears surprisingly modern looking--very Frenchy--despite his relatively short period in Paris. His wife and daughter depicted in Mother and Child in a Boat (top), dating from 1892, is typical of his blending of Academicism and Impressionism, a knack the French seem to have lacked. Tarbell's Preparing for the Matinee (above), dating from 1907 offers an insight into the artist's manner of painting, though the easel seems to have been moved to behind his model to accommodate the photographer.

The Boston School: Seated (left to right): Edward Simmons, Willard L. Metcalf, Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Robert Reid. Standing (left to right): William Merritt Chase, Frank W. Benson, Edmund C. Tarbell, Thomas Dewing, Joseph De Camp

The Bath ca. 1892-93,
Edmund Charles Tarbell

From 1889 to 1912 Tarbell taught at his alma mater, the Museum of Fine Arts School. His students were so devoted to the man and his teaching manner they came to be called "Tarbellites." Then the museum hired Huger Elliott from the Rhode Island School of Design as a supervisor charged with reorganizing the school. Tarbell and others resisted. Elliott began lecturing Tarbell as to how to teach, then how to paint. Tarbell was irate, making no secret of the fact he considered Elliott artistically inept. In December, 1912, Tarbell resigned along with Frank W. Benson, a friend and fellow instructor. The two discussed founding a society to encourage art and artists in the city. With financial backing from the painter and affluent Boston Brahmin, Lilla Cabot Perry, Tarbell and Benson started The Guild of Boston Artists in 1914. For the next ten years, Tarbell was its president. His The Bath (left) from around 1892-93 is yet another example of Tarbell's "academic Impressionism." During this same period, Tarbell was also a member of "The American Ten," (also called the Boston School), a loosely organized, but highly influential group of Boston and New York artists (above) who had embraced French Impressionism and given it a distinctly American look and feel.

Woodrow Wilson,
1921, Edmund C. Tarbell

Helen Frick and her father, Henry Clay
Frick, 1910, Edmund Charles Tarbell

As his reputation grew, Tarbell painted portraits of several notable individuals, including the industrialist Henry Clay Frick and his daughter (above, left), and U.S. presidents Woodrow Wilson (above, right), Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. And quite apart from painting notables with only two legs, Tarbell became popular for his four-legged equine portraits such as New Castle Poppy (below) from 1926. Likewise, Tarbell has long known for the number of family portraits he painted from the time he married in 1886 until his death in 1938. The Portrait of a Boy Reading (bottom, left), dating from 1913, is probably his son, while Edmund on His Pony, Peanut, (below, right) from 1930, is definitely his grandson.

New Castle Poppy, 1926, Edmund Charles Tarbell

Portrait of a Boy Reading,
1913, Edmund C. Tarbell

Edmund on His Pony, Peanut,
1930, Edmund C. Tarbell