Art

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida
Saturday, April 24, 2010, 2 p.m.

Question One
Guide to Croaghan

Question Two
Robert Henri

Question Three
Henri is a realist of the Ashcan School, an American movement in the early twentieth century that sought to depict working-class people and neighborhood as they really were.

Question Four
The piece is dated 1913.

Question Five
Henri is an American artist, born in Cincinnati.   Guide to Croaghan is a portrait of Brian OMalley, an Irishman who escorted Henri and his wife to the cliffs of Croaghan.

Question Six
The subject is placed over a dark background indicated by swirling brushstrokes of black and green, perhaps a depiction of a green velvet curtain. The subjects pale complexion stands in stark contrast to the background and the subjects dark clothing. The ruddiness of the subjects cheeks immediately catches the eye as it moves from the cool depths of the background to the face in the foreground.

Question Seven
Though the work is decidedly realistic, the artist has brought out the sharp angles in the subjects face.  His cheekbones descend to his bony chin in what is little more than an embellished triangle. His head sits atop the triangle of his body as his shoulders slope away from his neck.  His torso and clasped hands form a diamond.  Henri has gone out of his way to make the subject look very angular.

Question Eight
 The portrait seeks to convey a stark realism. The subjects wind-burnished face makes the viewer wonder what kind of life he has led, the things he has seen.  His proud gaze and erect posture, even in old age, testify to the dignity of the working man--in this case, the Irish servant. Henri is asking the viewer to respect the subject.  Though the subject is old, he looks spry, his clasped hands and bent knees seem to indicate that he could stand at any moment and go back to work.

Question Nine
Henri and his fellow artists dominated the Armory shows from 1904 to 1913.  It is likely that a wealthy Jacksonville collector purchased the portrait of the hard-working guide.  It was mentioned that Ashcan artists often clashed with their wealthy patrons.

Question Ten
The portrait is oil on canvas.

Question Eleven
The piece is approximately 41 inches by 33 inches.  I felt I had to step closer to the portrait to see who or what was looking back at me.

Question Twelve
The texture of a brush can be seen in the paint used to create the background.  The redness of the subjects face seems to have been done with paint applied by a knife--perhaps even an impasto technique.  The sharp angles of the subjects face seem thick with paint while his hands and clothes have a thin texture.  This directs the eye to the subjects face.

Question Thirteen
There does not seem to be a natural source of light on the subject.  His face seems to glow. The effect is dramatic.

Question Fourteen
The portrait reflects the social and political values of the Ashcan school in showing the dignity and virtue of a working man.  The Ashcan artists were subversive in their attempts to apply turn-of-the-century realism to poor and working-class subjects.  In its subject matter, and not its style, The piece almost seems like a rebuke of a John Singer Sargent portrait.

Question Fifteen
The subjects body and the portraits background lack depth--they seem to exist on the same plane.  The subjects face has a vivid tree-dimensional quality, and his nose seems at a different depth than his mouth.

Question Sixteen
In an effort to draw the viewers eye to the subjects face, the background and the subjects torso have been flattened with long, smooth brush strokes.  The subjects face takes on an entirely different texture.  His cheekbones, thick with paint, seem to stand out from the canvas. The subjects eyes are a very wet blue--they seem to glisten.

Question Seventeen
The subject is not exaggerated.  The work is realistic.

Question Eighteen
The realism of Sargent seems to be an influence.  Heavy brush strokes are used to create depth in the face.  Degass attention to the inner lives of real people might also have influenced Henri in his choice of a subject.

Question Nineteen
The portrait reminds me of Van Goghs self-portrait in the way he defiantly stares at the viewer.

Question Twenty
Self-portrait, Vincent Van Gogh, p. 186, 1887, Dutch.

Question Twenty-one
I would take John Singer Sargents In the Alps.  It is probably the most expensive painting in the museum, and it would be a good investment.

Question Twenty-two
I like the way the Cummer presents their collection.  The lighting in the galleries was done well with very little light away from the paintings.  The walls were a dark pastel color--surely this is better that white museum walls.  I was not familiar with most of the artists in the collection, but I enjoyed the visit very much.  The gardens were lovely.  I was amazed at the gnarled oak trees, many of them over a hundred years old, in the gardens by the river.