Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Women in art: Sargent, Whistler, Bellows
Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 2:51 PM
Three portraits of women by James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and George Bellows are on loan from the National Gallery of Art at Crystal Bridges for the next 12 months, grouped with portraits from Crystal Bridges' own collection. The ensemble represents portraiture of the turn of the 20th century: ladies in lovely clothing rendered, in the case of Whistler and Sargent, in quick, competent and lush brushstrokes.
A review of a Bellows retrospective at the National Gallery in the New Yorker magazine (subscription required to read the whole piece, but not to see a slideshow or an abstract of Peter Schjeldahl's review) says Bellows, in his portraiture, was struggling to find his artistic voice and would "lavish attention attention on settings and clothes, at the expense of vital presence." If you go to Crystal Bridges, look at Bellows' portrait of Florence Davey, with the National Gallery apparently decided it could spare from its Bellows show, and see if you agree. Sargent's portrait of Mary Crowninshield Endicott Chamberlain and Whistler's "Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian" predate the Bellows portrait by a decade or more and employ the brushy "wet on wet" style Bellows used to such good effect in his earlier boxing scenes.
Speaking of...
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Offbeat at Bentonville's 21c Hotel
May 9, 2013New art-obsessed hotel opens with bike tricks and parkour, naturally. /more/
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"Genre Painting and Everyday Life," "Genre Scenes on Paper" open Saturday
May 8, 2013And museum extends Saturday hours for Norman Rockwell exhibit. /more/
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Keith Haring sculpture debuts at Crystal Bridges
April 24, 2013The graffiti artist's depiction of a two-headed creature is installed on the grounds. /more/
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Two from the Louvre at CBM
April 15, 2013Joining American genre paintings for traveling exhibit. /more/
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Villareal's "Buckyball" on loan to Crystal Bridges
April 4, 2013On May 2, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will install its first temporary sculpture. /more/
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A little bit more on Warhol, etc.
March 26, 2013Eye Candy has been swamped with other duties at the Times and so is a bit late posting this news about the five acquisitions Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art recently announced. /more/
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More by Leslie Newell Peacock
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Dallas Bump: Living Treasure
Maker of the Bump Rocker, from his shop in Bear, Ark.
- May 8, 2013
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Envision Little Rock, why don't you?
StudioMain sponsors a contest to give downtown an entry point.
- Feb 22, 2013
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