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Art Impressions by Wenda Reed

Women dominate as subject matter — and begin to emerge as artists — in Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past, now in its last month at the Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle.

More than a third of the subjects are women and children, and most are released from the confines of religious poses or idealized portraits and shown naturally and engagingly in their everyday lives. Renoir’s studies of confident, natural women bathing are worth the price of admission, along with his luminous “Child with a Hoop” and “Confidences,” showing two young ladies sharing secrets. His studies of mothers nursing babies and of a friend’s children dominate the room dedicated to ‘Family Life Immortalized.’

The section entitled ‘Images of Everyday Life’ includes charming portraits of women reading, sewing and working. Camille Pissarro’s “The Little Country Maid” and “The Maidservant,” give dignity and beauty to women rarely noticed by society.

Feminist Mary Cassatt, an American transplanted to Paris, focused on the social and private lives of women, especially bonds between mothers and children. The exhibit includes her painting, “The Family,” showing a mother seated with her baby and daughter and is contrasted with a formalized 16th century painting with the same structure, “Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John.” Cassatt’s “Mrs. Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa, Reading” is a casual, non-idealized study of an upper middle class lady.

Although Cassatt and French artist Berthe Morisot were welcomed into the inner circles of Impressionist painters, their choice of subjects was limited by their roles in society and the places they were allowed to go. Consequently, they often used family and friends as models. Morisot’s lovely painting, “In the Garden at Maurecourt,” depicts her sister and a little girl, probably her own daughter, “en plein air” (in the open air) at her sister’s estate.

Following the exhibit’s theme of tracing the Impressionists’ roots to the Old Masters, two of Morisot’s paintings are her interpretations of classical paintings, “Venus Asking Vulcan for Arms” and “Crucifixion.” Women were not allowed to attend the renowned École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, but Morisot and Cassatt joined the legions of artists copying the classic works in the Louvre and found masters from the École who agreed to teach them privately. They were influenced by — and influenced — their friends Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet, both of whom are well represented in this SAM exhibit.

Inspiring Impressionism contrasts and compares the works of the Old Masters and identical or similar subjects painted by the Impressionists. Paired pieces allow you to draw your own conclusions — indeed, sometimes the older pieces seem more freely brush-stroked and “impressionistic” than the newer paintings. The contrast is greatest in the masterful pieces by Claude Monet and others in the 'Landscapes' section because often the exact same view is depicted by two different artists.

Don’t miss this chance to see the Impressionists and those who inspired them before this collection from more than 70 museums and private collections leaves Seattle.

Wenda Reed is a frequent contributor to Seattle Woman.

IF YOU GO

Location: Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave.
Dates: June 19 - Sept. 21, 2008
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m–5 p.m., plus Thursdays and Fridays, 5–9 p.m.
Admission: Adults $20, seniors $17, students $14, children 12 and younger free; First Thursdays, adults $10, seniors and students $7.
Contact: 206-654-3100; www.seattleartmuseum.org.
Art for All: A Northwest Sinfonietta impressionism-inspired concert, featuring works by Ravel, Debussy and Falla, will be held in the Brotman Forum, 6– 8 p.m. Sept. 4; it’s free and open to the public.

©2008 Caliope Publishing Company