Giovanna Garzoni

Giovanna Garzoni, 1600-1670, was a successful and talented Italian Baroque painter who traveled around Europe and worked for the Medici family for a decade.  She was best known for both her miniature portraits and her botanical paintings.

Chinese Porcelain Plate with Cherries, Giovanna Garzoni, c- 1651-62

Garzoni was born in Ascoli Piceno (in the Marche region) in 1600 to Venetian parents. While she was still young the family moved to Rome where she was raised.  Garzoni was the daughter of painter Nunzio Garzoni, who worked as a miniaturist and also the niece of painter Pietro Gaia. It is thought she studied painting under them.  As a young woman she moved to Venice with her brother where she studied calligraphy and received several important painting commissions for religious altarpieces.

Not much is known about her early life, she may have been married while young and a short time later had the marriage annulled.  She traveled and worked in several major Italian cities such as Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome.

After her time in Venice Garzoni briefly moved to Naples and while there worked for the Viceroy, which attracted the attention of the Duchess of Savoy, Christine Marie of France (shown below).



Christine Marie of France, Duchess of Savoy, wife of Vittorio Amedeo I,
Giovanna Garzoni, 1635, miniature painting, Uffizi Gallery, Florence,

 Among Garzoni's best known works were her miniature portraits, done while she was working for Victor Amadeus I, the Duke of Savoy.  The Duchess of Savoy, Christine Marie of France (1606–1663), (pictured) was one of the daughters of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.   Following her husbands death, Duchess Christine Marie served as regent of the Duchy from 1637 to 1663.

Portrait of Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1587-1637), Giovanna Garzoni, 1635,
miniature portrait, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

As the Duchess was part of the Medici family, Giovanna was introduced to them through her, they were impressed by her skill as a painter and she traveled back an forth between the Medici courts in Rome and Florence working from them.  During this time Garzoni mainly painted botanical subject matter for which she is now best known.

 

Still Life with a Bowl of Citrons, Giovanna Garzoni, late 1640's, tempera on vellum, Getty Museum

The Medici Court in Florence had a tradition of commissioning botanical paintings. In addition to Garzoni Florentine painters Jacopo Ligozzi (1541-1587) and Bartolomeo Bimbi (1648-1729) also painted hundreds of botanical and still-life paintings for the family. In the 16th and 17th century the Medici were quite interested in plants and the natural world, and their love of botanical paintings stemmed from that.

While Garzoni may have been influenced by the paintings of Ligozzi during her time in Florence, she had been commissioned to paint a herbarium in Rome as a teenager and therefore had previous experience painting botanicals.

Figs, Bartolomeo Bimbi, 1696, oil on canvas (116 x 155 cm) Villa Medicea (Poggio a Caiano)

Based on his work and subject matter and the fact that he would have been exposed to her work, it appears that Bartolomeo Bimbi was influenced by the work of Garzoni.  Compare their two versions of paintings of figs.

Figs, Giovanna Garzoni, 1650's, watercolor on parchment,
Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence, 9.65 " x 13.5 " (245 x 345 mm)

Giovanna Garzoni's very detailed, carefully rendered and exquisitely painted botanical works were praised and sought after.  She spent at least a decade working on these at the Medici courts.  During this time she painted a wide variety of plants, fruit and vegetables, birds and insects.

China Bowl with Figs, a Bird, and Cherries, Giovanna Garzoni, 1650's, watercolor on parchment, 

Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Florence, 10.2" x 14.9" (260 x 380 mm)

Giovanna Garzoni was one of the most successful women painters in the 17th century. Her patrons included several Dukes of Savoy (Turin), the Medici Family (Florence and Rome) and the Colonna family (Rome).  The 17th century artist, art historian and author Carlo Ridolfi included her in his "Le Maraviglie dell'Arte" which was his comprehensive volume on artists and their are, and her botanical paintings continue to influence artists centuries after her lifetime. 

2017-18 Art History Lecture Series at Gage

2017-18 Art History Lecture Series at Gage, will start in October and run through May, we are now in our 3rd year of this fantastic lecture series!

 

Featuring Gage teaching artists as well as art historians from the Seattle art community, these lectures feature an intimate look inside the artists and movements that helped shape art from the Renaissance through the 20th Century.
 

Register online for a single lecture, a quarterly series or the entire 2017-18 program, and delve into the techniques, ideologies and personalities that define art in our world. This year's series is really interesting and will rang from a variety of topics from Medieval through Modern.  The series will start off with a look at Giotto and end with an overview of Op Art.  There is more information on each along with info on the artist or art historian below.

Lamentation of Christ, Giotto, c-1305, fresco, Arena Chapel, Padua    

Oct 18 – Rob Prufer – Giotto and the Arena Chapel

Local art historian Rob Prufer will discuss this important work of early Italian Renaissance Art. Prufer is well known for his popular Loggia Lecture series on art and art history at the Bellevue Arts Museum.



The Arena Chapel’s frescoed interior transports you with its ultramarine vault of heaven and its earthy embrace of human experience. Giotto’s use of gestures, glances and fleshy postures infuses the Christian story with a gravity and a levity that were astounding 700 years ago—and still resonate today.

 

The Chess Game, Sofonisba Anguissola, 1555, Museum Navrodwe, Poznan, Poland

 

Oct 25 – Carol Hendricks – Italian Renaissance Women Painters

In addition to my art history blog and working at Gage Academy of Art I also enjoy lecturing on a variety of art history topics and am looking forward to this topic.

The Renaissance provided new opportunities for women in the arts, though they remain less well known.  Several talented painters such as Sofonisba Anguissola, Marietta Robusti, Lavinia Fontana and Fede Galizia made important contributions to painting in the 16^th century.

David, Michelangelo, marble, 1501-1504, Accademia Gallery, Florence




photo- © Rico Heil / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons  

Nov 1 – Gary Faigin - Michelangelo’s David


Join painter, arts writer and art history Gary Faigin to learn more about this masterpiece. One of the world’s most famous works of art, Michelangelo’s David is not as straightforward as it might seem.  We’ll learn about the fascinating and surprising backstory of this monumental masterpiece – why it was commissioned, how it was carved, and its complicated life after its completion.
 





The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, 1483, Louvre


 

Nov 8 – Jim Phalen – Chaos vs. Control throughout Art


Jim Phalen is a painter who says this about his work-

"I am committed to the practice of working from life. I seek to capture the integrity of experience through seeing. Without nature there is no conversation. For me painting is a physical manifestation of the act of seeing- a manifestation capable of deep emotion."

 Phalen will be discussing an overview of painting with a really interesting viewpoint-

Through the history of painting there has been an ongoing tension between the desire to control the process and a willingness to let go and allow the material to fully express itself. From da Vinci to Titan, from Ingres to Gericault and from Chuck Close to Lucien Freud, the back and forth continues. 
 

The Last Supper, Tintoretto, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1592-94

Jan 17 – Charles Emerson - Renaissance Painting and the Roots of Abstract Expression

 

Popular Modernist painting and instructor Charles Emerson wants to explore how the Italian Renaissance had a direct influence on Abstract Expression in the 20th century.

An artist’s personal expression and passion is sometimes revealed more clearly when we have caught up aesthetically with them, now able to appreciate the often surprising results that perhaps hold more resonance for our time than theirs; often anticipating future developments while still being relevant and exciting.

Homage to Delacroix, Henri Fantin-Latour, 1864, Musee D'Orsay, Paris

Jan 24 – Larine Chung – Henri Fantin-Latour

The most celebrated 19th-century French painter of flower, still life and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers, Fantin-Latour was among the first artists who started the art movement of Impressionism.


Join painter and art instructor Larine Chung for her insight into this famous painter.

Larine Chung, Aqua, 2016, oil on canvas

Jan 31- Terry Furchgott – Gustav Klimt

 

Terry Furchgott, On The Other Side, 2014, acrylic on paper

Terry is known for her large scale work with pastel and acrylic, she has had a number of important public art commissions and is represented by Harris Harvey Gallery in Seattle.  Gustav Klimt is one of her favorite painters.



Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, 1907-08

Gustav Klimt, Austrian Symbolist painter and founding member of the Viennese Secession, is known for the decorative opulence of his surfaces, rich use of color, and sensual beauty of his women.  We will explore the elegant portraits, intricate landscapes, and vibrant eroticism of this most unique artist.   





Poussin, Arcadian Shepherds, 1650



Feb 7 – Kimberly Trowbridge- Search for Arcadia: Poussin, Delacroix, Cezanne

In this lecture we will explore how Cezanne was influenced by the works of Poussin and Delacroix in his rigorous attempt to unite form with color. We will consider how each of these artists sought a new unity, a new visual paradise, to express the truth of their experience. 
 

Kimberly Trowbridge, Arcadia Wheel, Oil on Canvas, 64" x 60," 2013

Kimberly Trowbridge is a painter, a musician, an instructor and an art historian. 
She  writes-
"Painting is how I stay awake. It is how I cultivate and arrange my thoughts. It is how I come to understand the relationships between things, through rhythm and color.
I gather information from the visual realm and compose the parts into an articulate expression of my experience. This is the practice I have developed through painting. I use this method both on and off of the canvas: I paint images, construct theatric installations, layer video footage, compose music, and perform my body through space all through the language of painting."

Emperor Justinian and his Attendants, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 547 AD, mosaic

April 11 – Kathleen Moore – The Enigma of Byzantine Art

The Byzantine empire started in antiquity and lasted for a thousand years. Best known for their glittering mosaics in Ravenna and Istanbul, their art continues to fascinate contemporary audiences.

What secrets are those wide-eyed Byzantine figures keeping from us? Come with painter, instructor and art historian Kathleen Moore on a journey into the ancient world to find out!

 

Johannes Vermeer, The Milkmaid, c-1660

April 18 – Tenaya Sims – Vermeer’s Milkmaid

Come here painter and Atelier instructor Tenaya Sims talk on Vermeer's Milkmaid and the Camera Obscura controversy.

Vermeer's compositions are legendary, and the painting, 'The Milkmaid' is a hallmark example of his expertise. Does it matter if he used optical technology? If so, was he limited artistically by these tools?

Käthe Kollwitz, Die Mütter (The Mothers), Plate VI from the series Krieg (War), 1922-1923,

Woodcut printed in black on Japan paper

 

April 25 – Rebecca Albiani – Käthe Kollwitz

 

A graphic artist in the tradition of Goya and Daumier, Kollwitz worked in Berlin through two world wars, depicting starving children and grieving mothers.  Through her powerful imagery she had hopes of promoting social change. 

 

Jeffrey Simmons, Strength of Strings, 2016

May 2 – Jeffrey Simmons – The Op Art movement
Abstract painter Simmons will discuss this key 20th century painting movement.  Jeffrey is represented by the Greg Kucera Gallery and started teaching abstract painting at Gage this past summer.




The Op Art movement, typified by the works of Bridget Riley, Jesus Rafael Soto, and New York-born Seattle resident Francis Celentano, had its fascinatingly brief moment during the 1960's, when it influenced fashion and contributed to the popular perception of what "modern" painting looked like. Well received by the public but occasionally derided by critics as mere gimmickry, the movement has been the subject of an ongoing historical reevaluation and has become a source of inspiration for recent generations of artists.

 

On this Date in History, September 5: Birth of de la Tour and Friedrich

What happened on this date in art history?  September 5 brings us two birthdays of painters born in the 18th century, French Rococo painter Maurice Quentin de la Tour and German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.

Maurice Quentin de la Tour, Self-Portrait, 1751, Amiens, Musée de Picardie

Maurice Quentin de La Tour (September 5, 1704 – February 17, 788) was a French Rococo painter best known for his pastel portraits.


Pastels were a new art media in the 18th century, they solidified pigments into portable sticks and were useful for quick sketches that could be translated into larger paintings later as well as landscapes and portraits that would allow for shorter lengths of time for the subject to sit.

De la Tour's own self-portrait is one of his best known works, the artist was able to portray a variety of textures quite beautifully from fabrics such as his velvet coat to hair and skin.

He was a popular artist in France and painted portraits of the King, the royal family, the King's mistress, Voltaire and other distinguished people in France.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art writes of de la Tour on their website-

"In the age of Enlightenment when the medium of pastel gained immense popularity, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour was perhaps its most gifted practitioner. He was distinguished from his peers by his ability to capture the inner spirit and intellect of his sitters."

Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1817-1818), Hamburg Art Museum

Caspar David Friedrich (September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840) was a German Romantic painter known for his landscapes.  Friedrich spent much of his life and career in Dresden.  He began his painting career in 1807, but had been drawing for several years beforehand.

Unlike the work of de la Tour during the time of the Enlightenment, a period known for its reason, the era of Romanticism focused on mood and emotion, theatricality, passion and dramatic settings.

There was a new interest in and reverence for nature which is why elements of landscape frequently appear in Romantic art, particularly in the work of Friedrich. Friedrich often combined figures in his landscape work in interesting compositions (he painted himself into the work below on the right). 

Caspar David Friedrich, Two Men Contemplating the Moon (1825-30), Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Wyeth and more Wyeth this fall in the Pacific Northwest

Everyone in the Pacific Northwest who is a fan of Andrew Wyeth and the rest of the talented Wyeth family is in for a treat this fall with a big exhibit at both the Portland Art Museum and the Seattle Art Museum which will be running concurrently starting in October 2017.

The PAM show, The Wyeths: Three Generations, runs from Oct 7, 2017 – Jan 28, 2018 and the SAM show, Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect, runs from Oct 19 2017 – Jan 15 2018.  More information from the website of each museum is listed below.  This will provide an excellent opportunity to view some of the most influential representational painting from the 20th century.  I can't wait to attend both exhibits later this fall!




Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917-2009), On the Edge, 2001, Tempera on panel, Bank of America Collection.

Portland Art Museum

The Wyeths:Three Generations

Works from the Bank of America Collection

OCT 7, 2017 – JAN 28, 2018

The Wyeths are one of America’s foremost artistic families. Their work has captured the admiration of audiences for three generations, spanning the golden age of illustration to mid-century portraiture. Drawing from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection, The Wyeths: Three Generations includes more than eighty paintings and drawings by N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945), his son Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) and his grandson Jamie Wyeth (born in 1946). All showcase a commitment to realism, technical brilliance, and narrative sensibility.

 Patriarch N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945) was one of the country’s foremost illustrators at the turn of the twentieth century. His ability to beautifully traverse fantasy and realism made him one of the most versatile American artists of his time. N.C.’s son Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) became known for his detailed realism and haunting scenes of American life inspired by the history and beauty of the American northeast.

 Although not as well-known as her brother, Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997) painted striking portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. She is also represented in the exhibition, as is her husband Peter Hurd (1904-1984), who chronicled the landscape of the American West. Lastly, Andrew’s son Jamie (b. 1946) represents the family’s third generation of artists. Jamie, too, utilizes a realistic style, but adds his own twist of magic and mystery to his subjects.

This exhibition is provided by Bank of America’s Art in our Communities®.

MAJOR SPONSORS: Bank of America, Joanne Lilley in memory of Pete Mark

SPONSORS: The Flowerree Foundation, Laura S. Meier in memory of Pete Mark



Andrew Wyeth, Winter 1946, 1946, Tempera on hardboard panel, 31 3/8 x 48 in., North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina, © 2017 Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS).

Seattle Art Museum

Andrew Wyeth:In Retrospect

Simonyi Special Exhibition Galleries

Thu Oct 19 2017 – Mon Jan 15 2018

Enter Andrew Wyeth’s reality. On the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth, Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect examines the American master’s 75-year career and offers unexpected perspectives on his art and legacy. Organized in partnership with the Brandywine River Museum, this major exhibition presents over 100 of the artist’s paintings and drawings. It looks back on a century in America when Wyeth confounded critics and deviated from the American art mainstream, but continued to figure prominently in much of the country’s artistic discourse.

 Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect follows the evolution of one of America’s most famous painters by bringing together well-known and rarely seen works. From depictions of his life in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, to the coastal villages of Maine, Wyeth created timeless images of places, people, and things—layered with acute observation and a boundless imagination—all imbued with the artist’s mysterious temperament. Often out of synch with the time, Wyeth’s art challenged the norms of realism and abstraction.

 The exhibition begins in the late 1930s with Wyeth’s breakthrough works of brilliantly colored, boldly gestural, transparent watercolors of the Maine coast. These were soon set aside for the somber-toned and tightly rendered tempera paintings often associated with the artist. They include some of the artist’s most famous paintings, such as portraits of Christina Olson of Maine and Karl Kuerner, his neighbor in Chadds Ford.

 Also on view are the artist’s little known portraits of African Americans, a major focus of Wyeth’s work in the 1950s and ‘60s, followed by work from the 1970s and ‘80s, including the eroticism of the once-secret Helga paintings, and other deeply psychological but lesser known paintings from the Helga years. Finally, the exhibition reflects on images of his later life as he closed the book on his earlier subjects and looked for new ones. It brings to Seattle Wyeth’s last painting, Goodbye, which has not been seen since it was briefly shown to those who attended the artist’s memorial service in 2009.

 Andrew Wyeth investigated the possibilities of the portrait, the figure, and the places we inhabit—shunning narrative and rising above cliché—to convey the very emotions that make us human.

 The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue co-published by Yale University Press.

Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect is co-organized by the Brandywine River Museum of Art and Seattle Art Museum.