Liberal Arts Blog — Don’t Miss the Wertheim Collection at the Fogg! 32 Works! One Room!

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Today’s Topic: Don’t Miss the Wertheim Collection at the Fogg! 32 Works! One Room!

I’m serious. Under no circumstances should you ever come to Cambridge, Massachusetts without making time for a visit to the Fogg. And under no circumstances should you visit the Fogg without spending some time in the room just to the right of the entrance that is home to the Wertheim Collection. And, finally, under no circumstances, forget to take pictures of each and every one of the 32 works contained therein. In past posts, I’ve written about the paintings — the Van Goghs, the Monet, the Renoirs. Today, a few notes on three sculptures — two by Antoine Maillol (1861–1944) and one by Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1851–1944). But there are more worthy of note — such as the “Seated Man” and “Suzanne de Waroquier” by Charles Despiau (1874–1946). Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.

ANTOINE MAILLOL (1861–1944): ILE DE FRANCE

1. Centered on Paris, which is centered on the Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame, is the “Ile de France” the most populous and wealthy region of France. It was historically also the most fertile.

2. “Like Renoir in the 1880s, Maillol studiously focused on the female form, reinterpreting the classical tradition of the nude bather in modern terms. He first explored this subject in his paintings, but turned to a more dramatic expression of the theme in his monumental sculptures of the early twentieth century. This bather, meant to be wading in shallow water, is the culmination of fifteen years of work, after which Maillol made only six bronze casts.”

3. “The title identifies the work as an allegorical representation of the fertile region surrounding Paris, bound by the Seine and its tributaries.

NB: Maillol’s work can be found in the Tuileries Garden in Paris as well as along the staircase of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. See the second link below for details.

MAILLOL’S SCULPTURE OF THE HEAD OF HIS FRIEND PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR LOOKS LIKE THAT OF DON QUIJOTE RAVAGED BY A CRUEL WORLD

1. In Renoir’s case, it was the pain of incurable arthritis.

2. His pain is in striking contrast to the glee and joy of so many of his paintings.

3. From the perspective of Maillol, the sculpture is also unusual — he specialized in female nudes.

NB: Room 1220 in the Fogg includes three Renoir paintings — a self-portrait as a young man, and two female portraits — “Seated Bather” and “Gabrielle in a Red Dress.” The juxtaposition of the sculpture with the paintings is unforgettable. Also, check out the self-portraits of Renoir from 1910 in the fourth link below.

HILAIRE-GERMAIN-EDGAR DEGAS (1834–1917) — GRAND ARABESQUE

1. Degas was both a painter and a sculptor. And he was obsessed with dance. “More than half his works depict dancers.”

2. The Wertheim Collection includes an absolutely mesmerizing painting of a dance rehearsal with three large windows and even some outdoor scenery. See the fifth link below.

3. The Arabesque is a challenging move with all limbs extended. For variations on the position see the sixth link below.

NB: Three of my favorite Degas paintings are the Dance Class and L'absinthe (both at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris), and “A Cotton Office in New Orleans” at the Musee des Beaux Arts de Pau, a town in the Pyrenees in southeastern France. See the last link below for more on Degas.

Harvard Art Museums

Aristide Maillol — Wikipedia

Aristide Maillol | Portrait of Auguste Renoir | French | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of Renoir, Aristide Maillol ^ Minneapolis Institute of Art

Pierre-Auguste Renoir — Wikipedia

From the Harvard Art Museums’ collections The Rehearsal

Arabesque (ballet position) — Wikipedia

From the Harvard Art Museums’ collections Ile-de-France

Edgar Degas — Wikipedia

Quote of the Month:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”

THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY ARE AVAILABLE HERE:

PDF with headlines — Google Drive

#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).

#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20

YOUR TURN

Please share the coolest thing you learned recently or ever related to art, sculpture, design, architecture, film, or anything visual.

This is your chance to make some one else’s day. And to cement in your own memory something cool or important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that is close to your heart.