Modersohn-Becker and the Horvitz Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago

Paula Modersohn-Becker, (1876 - 1907 )Reclining Mother with Child II, 1906

Death of Demosthenes 1805,  Georges Rouget (1783-1869)

I doubt the Art Institute of Chicago had any intention of mounting  these two shows simultaneously.

but they do complement each other quite nicely:

The world of men — the world of women

Public — private

Aristocrats — commoners

Theater stage — bedroom.       

Three dimensions — two dimensions    

Strong colors —  muted colors

 Dynamic, complex anatomy — blockish, simplified anatomy

Extraordinary—ordinary.      

Violence — nurture

Melodrama — no drama 

Historically, the one might well be understood as a strong reaction to the other,

especially with the examples of  French Neoclassicism as collected by Jeffrey E. Horvitz.

Evidentially, he had no interest in painterly quality except as it delivers overwrought melodrama.

Jacques Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784

We can’t blame Horvitz for collecting Rouget instead of the unavailable work of his master, David.  One  might attempt to characterize how the above differs from "The Death of Demosthenes" - but if you’re reading this blog, you already know. Rouget could render strong figures  but he had no talent for graphic design or narrative staging.  And the same might be said for the entire  Horvitz collection. 

The 2006 Girodet  exhibition at the A,I.C., however, proved, at least to me, that artists trained in French Neo Classicism could make masterpieces despite being  quite unfamiliar to contemporary American eyes.  I’ve posted some examples below:

Regnault, Judgment of Paris, 1820

Here’s Neo-Classical painting at its colorful, saccharine, well-staged best, even though the artist is neither David nor Ingres.

Jean-Germain Drouais (1763-1788). Marius at Miturnae, 1786

and here’s a much better variation by another pupil of David

Regretfully, Horvitz did not find work at this level - so no more attention need be given to his collection.

( Norman Bryson's chapter on French Neo-Classicism is discussed here )

Hilaire LeDru, Indigence and Honor, 1804

One more large piece from the Horvitz collection - if only to show that he did not limit himself to collecting Neoclassic subject matter or academy trained artists.

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The Paula Modersohn-Becker exhibit, however, is fascinating.  Traditionally ( and  probably universally) motherhood  is the crowning achievement of a woman’s life. So it was no surprise that Mary Cassatt, one of the few pre-modern women to have a career in art, painted women with children. But what other names come to your mind? It seems that motherhood and a career in art have long been conflicting interests for women in the modern, and post modern world.

Elizabeth Catlett, 1956

There are, course, exceptions.

Here’s a small terracotta from the fifties

Rose Frantzen

Here’s a contemporary oil painting by the queen of Maquoketa, Iowa.

With the millions of  talented contemporary women around the world, there are bound to be many more good examples - but you will be challenged to find them in galleries or museums - and indeed, Paula Modersohn-Becker was probably an unfamiliar name to almost everyone who visited this exhibit. 

She did not make paintings about painting (Cubism) or about the challenged  psyche (Surrealism) or social justice (social realism).  She just depicted a healthy,  ordinary woman’s life, including her own She was a total outlier.

Kathe Kollwitz (1867-1945)

Modersohn-Becker

Here’s how compares with a much better know woman of her era.

Self portrait with Two Flowers, 1907

Mummy portrait, Egypt, 120-140 CE

Here’s how she compares with a piece referenced by gallery signage. 

There’s less gravitas than Kollwitz and less eternity than the ancient  Fayum portrait. Taken from one of her letters, "I am me" is the title given to this show - and maybe we’d like to see her striving for something a little more.

But still …. there a competent and engaging presentation of her life spirit - something which is rarely found among contemporary artists unless it is non-objective.  It’s like what Van Gogh did - though not as powerful or delicious as that great visionary. 

Here are some of my other favorite pieces from the show, all of it pleasant and engaging as a unique point of view — but not quite as timeless and stirring as this sculptural monument by a friend commemorating her untimely death:

Bernard Hoetger (1874-1949 ) Mother and Child , 1907

Hoetger was one of the great sculptors of that period,  yet sadly he remains even more obscure than his subject.