Saturday, August 11, 2018

Public Parks, Private Gardens, and my Roses

Public Parks, Private Gardens at The Met exposits the development of gardening in France between the 1789 Revolution and World War I. Expansive green spaces were created to ensure the "pleasures of the king would be the pleasures of the people." With renewed interest in flowers and the common man, outdoors became places of leisure and inspiration. Is it any wonder artists moved their easels    outdoors, too?

Surprise! Wasn't this work at the Art Institute of Chicago last month? No; this is the final study Seurat made before his masterpiece. What a treat to see it again... with the same painted inner border.

Study for "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte"
by Georges Seurat, 1884.

According to the information card, the Monet family was in their back yard where Claude worked on the flower beds when Edouard Manet dropped by and started painting them - and their chickens. Before he finished setting up, Auguste Renoir came over, borrowed some of Edouard's supplies, and started his own study which is at the National Art Gallery. Claude is not in Auguste's painting because he'd quit gardening and started his own picture of Edouard. An early example of groups working on a common challenge just like quilters today.

The Monet Family in their Garden at Argenteuil
by Edouard Manet, 1874.

There were several Cassatt's including one of her earliest plein air paintings of her beloved sister, Lydia. I love the way her brushstrokes changed from Lydia's delicate face, to broader details of her clothing to the sweeping strokes of the garden.

Lydia Crocheting the Garden at Marly
by Mary Cassatt, 1880.

Fashion icon, Empress Eugenie, was painted as if she was outdoors. The detailing of her clothing is exquisite but the background looks more like a stage flat. Results like this pushed artists to move their work outdoors.

The Empress Eugenie
by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1854

Altogether this was an excellent showcase of the style variations of studio versus extemporaneous painting in daylight. In some ways it mirrors planned versus improvisational quilting. What do you think?

The day after we returned I became ill and still have little energy. I can't do much except think about the quilt on the design wall. Where should the stems lie? Do they need buds? How realistic do I want to be? {Since friends must point out the rose leaf structure my answer is, "Not very."}

Adding leaves to the rose stems
on Chinese Coins VIII: Strewing Roses


Then I cut some leaves. And pondered. And moved a few. And added more leaves.

Moving leaves on the rose stems
on Chinese Coins VIII: Strewing Roses

It still needs some tweaking. Once I turn the edges everything will be smaller so more leaves may be in order. We'll see.

The quilt looks amazingly different as the details are filled in.

From the first layout of Coin sheets...

Random light blue Coins 
form a background 

To the addition of pieced roses...

Quilt with Chinese Coins
background and pieced roses

To the thought of stems.

Adding stems on the roses
of the Chinese Coin quilt
Who'd a thought?

Enjoy the day, Ann

24 comments:

Linda said...

Adding those roes, stems and leaves has really brought this quilt to life. Absolutely gorgeous!

Julierose said...

Just such a lovely Summer memory piece--those roses and blue skies...feel better soon..hugs, Julierose

LA Paylor said...

they are stylized. Not to be realistic. You are implying them, while implying a background of sky/flora with rectangles. The flowers are rectangular and implied. I think stay with your abstraction and don't try to be realistic. Lead us to see our own flowers and leaves. Less is more. It's a really good impression of a garden. I think when the impressionists introduced their style, it probably wasn't accepted because it wasn't realistic enough, but now we know artistic impressions and abstractions involve the viewer more, invite the viewer to put themselves in a piece and interpret not just passively view it. Feel better soon. LeeAnna

Robin said...

The leaves are a lovely addition. I think the fabric choice is perfect. Enjoyed the whole post!

Janie said...

I hope you get better soon!
I think your roses and their background are perfect.
And LA Paylor is right on, less is more.

Quiltdivajulie said...

LeeAnna nailed it -- keep it simple. Hope you feel better soon!

Mystic Quilter said...

Get well soon Ann - the quilt will be quite happy sitting on the wall until you're ready to to go!!

Mel Beach said...

I really enjoy living vicariously through all your fun travel adventures. And I love watching how your quilt designs evolve. This one is quite breathtaking!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Wow your quilt is exquisite! Love the roses on the Chinese coins. I always feel tired after a trip too. I think it has to do with all the energy it takes to run around and take it all in while it is available. I hadn't thought of painters getting together like that to paint the same scene, but it makes perfect sense.

patty a. said...

I am sorry to hear you are a bit under the weather. I hope you feel better soon. I think the roses on this coins quilt is so fabulous. It is so unexpected, but add such interest to the piece. Take care!

Ann said...

Thanks, Linda. I agree. It was too empty before.

Ann said...

Thanks, Julierose. I'm glad you like the piece, too. Getting well is slow but there's progress every day.

Ann said...

I don't abstract very well. Thanks for the reminder, LeeAnna. Your idea to "invite the viewer to put themselves in the piece" is mind expanding to me. I'm slowly improving, too.

Ann said...

It looked empty before, Robin. I wasn't sure leaves were the solution and am glad they are working out. I'm glad you enjoyed the museum visit, too. It's always difficult to decide if it will interest anyone.

Ann said...

Thanks, Janie. I'm getting better; it's just taking longer than expected. Thanks for commenting about the roses and the background. I was amazed by the change the leaves made.

Ann said...

Thanks, Julie. LeeAnna does write well. And thanks for the well wishes.

Ann said...

It's really knocked me out but I am getting better. I'm just glad there was something up to look at and make small changes. That's all I can manage right now.

Ann said...

You travel more than I, Mel, and always show such fun photos of your classes. Thanks for the compliment.

Ann said...

Yes. I felt I had to get up and move every day I was there. Fortunately I stopped for good lunches. I've read they shared models because they were so poor but hadn't seen groupings of their common work before. Not that they are grouped but thanks to the internet, we can often look them up.

Ann said...

I thought I'd caught the first flu of the season but fortunately it's not. Just wiped me out though. "Tossing" the stems made a big difference and adding the leaves makes it even better. Thanks, Patty.

Cathy said...

I wasn't sure about the addition of your roses to begin with but I sure love how they look now with stems and leaves. I probably say this each time you make a new Chinese Coin quilt but I think this is now my fav of the bunch.

FYI - in re Seurat's painting...we have a historic island here: "On Credit Island one can ride by an Art in the Park wooden sculpture display, which is a 3-D replica of Seurat's painting entitled "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."
http://www.visitquadcities.com/partners/credit-island-park

Get well soon!

Ann said...

This has been a truly improvisational quilt. I just started and then looked at each step to figure out what it needed next. Like you, I wasn't sure how the roses would work out and didn't like the empty feeling of the rest of the top. Adding the stems looked terrible but I help hoping the leaves would change the look and they did - even better than my dreams.
How fun that you have a 3-D of Seurat's painting. I enjoyed looking at it so much. The figures are close to life size in his final rendition.
I am getting better but I wear out quickly in the early afternoon.

KaHolly said...

Wow, Ann, this is shaping up to be magnificent! You have such incredible vision! I’m looking forward to this finish. I hope you are feeling better and better each and every day. Don’t overdo it!

Ann said...

It’s working out better than I expected. Hope it finishes well. I am feeling better but get tired easily. Thanks for writing, Karen.