Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别
This exhibition of paintings, drawings, and watercolors by Paul 颁茅锄补苍苍别 (French, 1839鈥�1906) traces his lifelong attachment to Hortense Fiquet (French, 1850鈥�1922), his wife, the mother of his only son, and his most painted model. Featuring twenty-four of the artist's twenty-nine known portraits of Hortense, including Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in the Conservatory (1891) and Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in a Red Dress (1888鈥�90), both from the Metropolitan Museum's collection, the exhibition explores the profound impact she had on 颁茅锄补苍苍别's portrait practice.
The works on view were painted over a period of more than twenty years, but despite this long liaison, Hortense Fiquet's prevailing presence is often disregarded and frequently diminished in the narrative of 颁茅锄补苍苍别's life and work. Her expression in the painted portraits has been variously described as remote, inscrutable, dismissive, and even surly. And yet the portraits are at once alluring and confounding, recording a complex working dialogue that this unprecedented exhibition and accompanying publication explore on many levels.
The depictions of Hortense in oil, watercolor, and graphite provide the only material clues to her partnership with 颁茅锄补苍苍别, which began in Paris in 1869, while she was working as a bookbinder. Although the circumstances of their first encounter are unknown, an early portrait from 1872 (now lost) suggests that she was modeling for 颁茅锄补苍苍别 by the age of twenty-two. 颁茅锄补苍苍别 took great pains to conceal his mistress and their only child, Paul, from his family, fearing his authoritative father's disapproval. This complicated subterfuge led to separate residences, frequent and often desperate appeals for funds, and long periods of living apart, even after their marriage in 1886. Despite this seeming neglect, the portraits attest to the constancy of a relationship that was critical to the artist's practice and development. Their story is a compelling one indeed, perhaps all the more so for the absence of its particulars.
Highlights of the painted portraits in the exhibition include Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in a Red Armchair (ca. 1877) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 (ca. 1885) from the Nationalgalerie, Museum Berggruen in Berlin; Portrait of Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 (ca. 1885鈥�87) from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in a Striped Dress (1883鈥�85) from Japan's Yokohama Museum of Art; Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in Blue (ca. 1888鈥�90) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the aforementioned canvases from the Metropolitan Museum's collection. Highlights of the works on paper include three striking watercolors, fourteen drawings, and three rare sketchbooks containing affectionate studies of Hortense and young Paul.
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This exhibition of paintings, drawings, and watercolors by Paul 颁茅锄补苍苍别 (French, 1839鈥�1906) traces his lifelong attachment to Hortense Fiquet (French, 1850鈥�1922), his wife, the mother of his only son, and his most painted model. Featuring twenty-four of the artist's twenty-nine known portraits of Hortense, including Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in the Conservatory (1891) and Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in a Red Dress (1888鈥�90), both from the Metropolitan Museum's collection, the exhibition explores the profound impact she had on 颁茅锄补苍苍别's portrait practice.
The works on view were painted over a period of more than twenty years, but despite this long liaison, Hortense Fiquet's prevailing presence is often disregarded and frequently diminished in the narrative of 颁茅锄补苍苍别's life and work. Her expression in the painted portraits has been variously described as remote, inscrutable, dismissive, and even surly. And yet the portraits are at once alluring and confounding, recording a complex working dialogue that this unprecedented exhibition and accompanying publication explore on many levels.
The depictions of Hortense in oil, watercolor, and graphite provide the only material clues to her partnership with 颁茅锄补苍苍别, which began in Paris in 1869, while she was working as a bookbinder. Although the circumstances of their first encounter are unknown, an early portrait from 1872 (now lost) suggests that she was modeling for 颁茅锄补苍苍别 by the age of twenty-two. 颁茅锄补苍苍别 took great pains to conceal his mistress and their only child, Paul, from his family, fearing his authoritative father's disapproval. This complicated subterfuge led to separate residences, frequent and often desperate appeals for funds, and long periods of living apart, even after their marriage in 1886. Despite this seeming neglect, the portraits attest to the constancy of a relationship that was critical to the artist's practice and development. Their story is a compelling one indeed, perhaps all the more so for the absence of its particulars.
Highlights of the painted portraits in the exhibition include Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in a Red Armchair (ca. 1877) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 (ca. 1885) from the Nationalgalerie, Museum Berggruen in Berlin; Portrait of Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 (ca. 1885鈥�87) from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in a Striped Dress (1883鈥�85) from Japan's Yokohama Museum of Art; Madame 颁茅锄补苍苍别 in Blue (ca. 1888鈥�90) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the aforementioned canvases from the Metropolitan Museum's collection. Highlights of the works on paper include three striking watercolors, fourteen drawings, and three rare sketchbooks containing affectionate studies of Hortense and young Paul.
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