Saturday, July 19, 2014

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2007. Mattie went from a child who hated the water and bath time to one who you couldn't kick out of the tub. He could spend hours in the water if you let him. This was Mattie's rendition of "Santa Mattie!" A character he played often in the tub. He could play a whole cast of characters when taking a bath and mind you he never bathed alone..... there were always cars, trucks, and toys in the tub with him. It was always a party in there, which was why bath time was a major production!


Quote of the day: "I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art," she once wrote to a friend. "It changed my life. I saw art then as I wanted to see it." ~ Mary Cassatt, speaking about how Edgar Degas transformed her life

I had a relatively computer free day today. Which was absolutely needed given my mental state. Peter and I took a five mile walk through Washington, DC and along our journey we passed this Sponge Bob mailbox. If Mattie could have seen this he would have gone absolutely hysterical. I am NOT a Sponge Bob fan, but in honor of Mattie, I posed by it! This mailbox is on Pennsylvania Avenue and it gets a lot of tourist attention. In fact, Peter snapped a photo of a family in front of the mailbox right before taking my photo. 

Our destination today was the National Gallery of art. We wanted to see their special exhibit entitled, Degas/Cassatt. Some how when I go to museums in DC, I can't help but think of my friend Margaret. She was my museum buddy. In fact my only friend in DC who really enjoyed going to museums with me. We had the same interests, went through exhibits in the same way (THOROUGHLY reading every placard and then discussing them!), and together we had a way of bringing the art alive. As I stepped foot into the Museum today, it reminded me of who I lost on June 1 and the tragic way I lost my friend. 

The Huffington Post wrote an article/conducted an interview about the exhibit Peter and I saw today, and entitled it, "An exquisite exhibit." I attached the link here in case any one wants to read it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christian-josi/a-most-exquisite-exhibit_b_5281656.html. Do I think Degas and Cassatt were extraordinary artists? Indeed, but do I think this exhibit was extraordinary? Absolutely NOT! I hate to break it to the National Gallery! I even got the audio tour too, so I can't say I missed out on content. But unfortunately the content wasn't to be had! Instead, I had to come home and spend an hour or more of my own time to learn about the lives of Degas and Cassatt. Seems to me that is counter intuitive of going to a museum. There was virtually no biographical information about Degas and Cassatt within the exhibit. If they are expecting people to know this off hand, I think that is a stretch. 

The exhibit intimates that there is a great relationship between Degas and Cassatt, however, they really do not go into detail about what level of closeness we are talking about. This troubled me to NO END, especially as I moved from room to room and kept observing the art work which I will highlight for you below. So I found that the exhibit left me with many unanswered questions, which I had to come home to answer. Perhaps human dynamics do not intrigue every museum goer, but it seems to me the way the National Gallery had set up this exhibit, the question of whether Degas was IN LOVE with Cassatt???? practically screamed off the canvases to each museum attendee! 

(Overview from the National Gallery) Mary Cassatt, American born, made her debut in 1879 with the group of artists known as the impressionists, her name has been linked with French artist, Edgar Degas. Cassatt stated that her first encounter with Degas’s art “changed my life,” while Degas, upon seeing Cassatt’s art for the first time, reputedly remarked, “there is someone who feels as I do.” It was this shared sensibility as much as Cassatt’s extraordinary talent that drew Degas’s attention. The affinity between the two artists is undeniable. Both were realists who drew their inspiration from the human figure and the depiction of modern life. Both were highly educated, known for their intelligence and wit, and from well-to-do banking families. They were peers, moving in the same social and intellectual circles. Cassatt, who had settled in Paris in 1874, first met Degas in 1877, when he invited her to participate with the impressionists at their next exhibition. Over the next decade, the two artists engaged in an intense dialogue, turning to each other for advice and challenging each other to experiment with materials and techniques. Their admiration and support for each other endured long after their art began to head in different directions: Degas continued to acquire Cassatt’s work, while she promoted his to collectors back in the United States. They remained devoted friends for forty years, until Degas’s death.

"At the Theatre" by Mary Cassatt. Cassatt loved to paint women and the reality of every day scenes. Over time her subjects seemed to change from aristocratic scenes and women to that of mothers and their children. Nonetheless, her scenes were always real and candid.

"The Loge" by Mary Cassatt. These two young women were at the theatre, being chaperoned of course. In the 1870s, this was the only respectable way women could meet men. Notice that the women were NOT wearing jewelry. Jewelry was worn by married women only. Which explains the velvet choker around the young girl's neck. The only flair and adornment allowed were the fans and flowers worn by these unmarried girls.   

"Rehearsal in the Studio" by Degas. While Cassatt liked painting people observing the movement, Degas preferred painting the movers! He loved capturing people behind the scenes such as dancers. 

"Girl in the blue armchair" by Mary Cassatt. The period leading up to Cassatt’s debut with the impressionists 
in 1879 was one of keen experimentation for both artists. They worked closely together during this time, exploring new and 
unconventional media. The most intriguing work to result from this intense dialogue was this one. With its loose brushwork and light palette, it is arguably Cassatt’s first true impressionist painting. In fact through infrared technology, they have discovered that Degas actually worked on the background of Cassatt's painting. He really revamped the whole background in a way. The dog at one point was on the floor by the couch, rather that on the chair. If you look closely, you can still see the covered spot on the floor where the dog used to sit. Also Degas extended the painting in height. In Cassatt's original work, it cut off right above the girl's head and there was no back corner where the sunlight is now coming in!

 (info from National Gallery website:) "Scene from the Steeplechase: The Fallen Jockey" was one of Degas' most ambitious early works. Painted in 1866 for exhibition at the Paris Salon, this painting marked a transition from the classically inspired history paintings of his youth toward the depiction of subjects drawn from modern life that would dominate his art for the rest of his career. The subject he chose was both fashionable and relatively novel: the steeplechase. First introduced into France in the 1830s, the steeplechase was—and remains today—a dangerous and at times controversial cross-country obstacle race. The sense of immediacy the painting seeks to evoke contrasts sharply with the artist's own working method, which was complex and painstaking. Degas produced several preparatory drawings for this painting, including several of the fallen jockey for which the artist's younger brother Achille served as model. Despite his efforts, neither the contemporary appeal of the subject nor its impressive dimensions piqued the interest of the critics, and it passed largely unnoticed. Soon after the exhibition closed, Degas appears to have reworked at least part of the canvas. It was but the first of at least three transformations carried out by the artist over the span of some thirty years. In 1880, with the intention of selling the painting to Alexander Cassatt, the brother of the painter Mary Cassatt, Degas began reworking the painting a second time, altering the original composition and introducing another horse. Dissatisfied with the results, Degas refused to release the painting. In a letter to her son, Cassatt's mother observed bleakly of the painting: "I doubt if he ever sells it—he says it is one of those works which are sold after a man's death & artists buy them not caring whether they are finished or not." In the mid-to-late 1890s, Degas returned to this painting a third time, transforming its appearance even more dramatically by adding an overlay of vibrant color to the sky and the jockey's silks. Virtually every inch of the canvas was reworked with one notable exception: the delicately painted face of the fallen jockey—Achille, who had died in 1893—was left untouched. True to Mrs. Cassatt's prediction, the painting remained in the artist's studio until his death.

There was one room within the exhibit that featured sketches Degas made of Mary Cassatt at the Louvre. Cassatt was the woman with the umbrella. Not just one sketch mind you, BUT MANY! The audio tour skirted around this by saying that he needed a subject for his scene or something like that. I wasn't buying it. 

Then on the next wall we saw a series of etchings by Cassatt. These etchings were entitled "The Visitor" by Mary Cassatt. Keep in mind they were a SERIES! MANY!!!! Guess what? Degas bought all of them. Degas had over 100 of Cassatt's works in his home. The exhibit kept pointing to the fact that they admired each other's work, understood each other, spent time with each other, and so forth. That he sketched her, painted her, and collected a great deal of her works. When you look at this exhibit what came to my mind was he was in love with her. 

When you read the Huffington Post link above, and see the response to just that same question posed to the National Gallery representative, her response is NO. That they did not have a romantic relationship. That this did not interest either one of them! That may indeed by the case. But one does not need to be romantically involved with someone to be enamored, obsessed, and captured by a person. I would say that was what Degas was with Cassatt. Certainly I can't know this for sure, but his art work spoke volumes to me. 

This painting is entitled "Mary Cassatt" by Degas. Degas painted this when Cassatt was in her 30s. At the time, he wanted to show the serious, intense, and persistent side of Cassatt. In all intensive purposes, he painted it devoid of feminine attractiveness. It was to prove a point about her brilliance. Of course when one is in their 30s, that makes a wonderful statement. Yet as Cassatt aged, she did not value this painting nor the statement it made anymore. In fact, she hated the painting and did not want it in her home any more, and wanted to sell it. But she also did not want anyone to know that this was her depicted in the painting. Ultimately, she was very explicit that she did not want it going to an American collection because she didn't want her name attached to it and the American collectors knowing it was her. Ironically, it now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC with her name very much attached to it. 

It saddens me that Cassatt's wishes about this painting are known and yet despite that no one has a problem displaying this painting for the world to see. She apparently has an heir, and I guess this woman has no problem with Cassatt being on display, but if it where my family member's wishes, I would think twice about it. I also wonder what was the deeper emotion behind the disgust with this painting? To me it points to a bigger falling out between Degas and Cassatt and frankly I wish the exhibit gave us a better understanding of their lives together. They hinted at it, but I felt like Hansel and Gretel today at the National Gallery. I was picking up bread crumbs on a trail and instead found a half eaten ginger bread house.