The DAM is publishing a blog series that will highlight some of the artists whose work is in Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. We will share a little about the artist’s biography and inspiration, and details about a key artwork in the exhibition. Check back to learn more about some of the superstars of modern art whose work is on view in Modern Masters.
For Wassily Kandinsky, music and color were inextricably tied to one another. So clear was this relationship that Kandinsky associated each note with an exact hue. He once said, “the sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble.”
Boulder niche perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes is becoming somewhat of a creative fixture at the Denver Art Museum. She’s taken inspiration from various exhibitions and programs to develop custom-made perfumes that relate to the works of art on view. For Passport to Paris, she crafted nine signature scents based on drawings and paintings from all three exhibitions. I spent some time sniffing my way through each scent in the Court to Café gift shop, and marveled at the variety of aromas that announced themselves to my nose.
Linda Aguilar is not a typical basket maker. Her horsehair baskets combine traditional Chumash Indian basketry techniques with non-traditional materials. Think bingo chips, beads and sequins, and even bits and pieces of credit cards. Actually, nothing about Linda is typical. Not the way she learned to weave, her teaching style, or her apple pie—all of which are extraordinary.
Alfred Sisley was born and lived in France for most of his life, but inherited British nationality from his father and never received French citizenship. Although he was raised in Paris, he lived in the outskirts of the city for most of his life, finally settling near Fontainebleau in 1880.
Key piece to look for: Seine at Bougival (La Seine à Bougival), 1873
Édouard Manet primarily worked in Paris, where he painted café singers, horse races, outdoor social gatherings, and other scenes of modern urban life. “We are not in Rome and we don’t want to go there,” he said, expressing his concern that artists should paint contemporary life as they knew it, instead of following the tradition of copying Italian Old Master paintings. “We are in Paris, let’s stay here.” He did occasionally travel to Spain and the Netherlands to study other artists’ work, and to the coasts of France, where he painted The Beach at Berck.
Berthe Morisot lived and worked primarily in the Rue des Moulins district of Paris. Her proximity to Paris’ museums and circle of artists gave her the opportunity to study under Camille Corot and become close friends with Édouard Manet, whose brother she eventually married.
Key piece to look for: Lesson in the Garden (La Leçon au Jardin) 1886.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s family moved to Paris when he was a child, and he worked there for the rest of his career. Always looking for new motifs to paint, he traveled extensively, visiting North Africa, Genoa, and many major European cities. Later in his life, he spent winters in southern France, increasingly preferring the idyllic countryside to the bustling city.
Key piece to look for: Banks of the Seine, Bougival (Bords de la Seine, Bougival),1871
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec worked in Paris from 1882 to his death in 1901. He is most known for his work between 1891 and 1900, when he lived in Montmartre, a neighborhood of Paris famous for its cabarets, cafes, nightclubs, and brothels.
Key piece to look for: Jane Avril Leaving the Moulin-Rouge¸1892
Note: Passport to Paris was on view October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014. Degas: A Passion for Perfection opens at the Denver Art Museum February 11, 2018.
Edgar Degas was born in Paris in 1834 to a wealthy banking family. After spending three years in Italy copying Italian master paintings, he returned to Paris, focusing on a variety of contemporary subjects—including dancers, race horses, seascapes, and brothel scenes. Although he travelled extensively in the early 1870s, Degas spent the majority of the rest of his career in Paris.
Camille Pissarro was born in St. Thomas (then part of the Danish West Indies) and lived there most of his young adult life, except when he attended school in Paris from 1842 to 1847. He moved to France in 1855, first establishing himself in Paris and then living in various towns in the countryside outside the city. He did not travel as extensively as other impressionists, choosing to focus on painting the landscapes around the villages he lived in.
Vincent van Gogh was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and lived there during his formational years as an artist. He briefly attended the Academie des Beaux Arts in Brussels and moved around the Netherlands, immersing himself in the lives of the peasants that he painted. In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he met Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro through his brother Theo, who ran a successful art dealership. He moved to southern France in 1888, where the bright sun and rich landscapes further inspired his vibrant use of color.