Ernst Kirchner The Most Influential Modern Artist That You Have Probably Never Heard Of

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1880 – 1938, was a German expressionist painter and printmaker. He was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge",which was a group of artists that helped establish and build the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century art.

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Die Brücke (The Bridge) was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, after which the Brücke Museum in Berlin was named. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller. The seminal group had a major impact on the evolution of modern art in the 20th century and the creation of expressionism.

Die Brücke is sometimes compared to the Fauves. Both movements shared interests in primitivist art. Both shared an interest in the expressing of extreme emotion through high-keyed color that was very often non-naturalistic. Both movements employed a drawing technique that was crude, and both groups shared an antipathy to complete abstraction. The Die Brücke artists' emotionally agitated paintings of city streets and sexually charged events transpiring in country settings make their French counterparts, the Fauves, seem tame by comparison.

From Wikipedia

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Self Portrait by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

In 1898 Kirchner was impressed by the graphic art of the German late Gothic artists, especially Albrecht Dürer, and Edvard Munch both of whom influenced Kirchner’s art. Despite access to the Jugendstil movement and contemporary artists Kirchner chose to simplify his forms and brighten his colors.

Kirchner studied architecture in Dresden, Germany from 1901-1905. But art was his true passion and in 1905 he founded Die Brücke with Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Other artists, including Emil Nolde, subsequently joined the group. For Kirchner, art was a translation of inner conflict into visual terms. He cited the emotive work of Vincent van Gogh and Munch as artistic role models. (see note above)

Kirchner’s use of color and his respect for the paintings of Henri Matisse and the Fauves in France may be seen in Girl under Japanese Umbrella (1906) and Artist and His Model (1907), Much of Kirchner’s work of this period exhibits his preoccupation with malevolence and eroticism. In Street, Berlin (1907), the curvy forms of the fashionable women on the Street focus the sensuousness of the women despite their solemn dress.

Kirchner’s artwork focused upon the human form for a time.  During this period, he was obsessed with nudes.  His studies of the nude, are often explicitly erotic and very Intense.

Illustration for 'Peter Schlemihl' by Adalbert von Chamisso

In 1911 the members of Die Brücke moved to Berlin, where Kirchner produced masterful woodcuts for Der Sturm, Germany’s leading avant-garde periodical before World War I. His illustrations for Adelbert von Chamisso’s novel Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte (1915; “Peter Schlemihl’s Wonderful Story”) and for the poem Umbra Vitae (1924) by the Expressionist poet Georg Heym are considered to be among the finest engravings of the 20th century.

Umbra Vitae (1924) by the

Expressionist poet Georg Heym

At the outbreak of World War, I in 1914, Kirchner joined the German army, He found life in uniform rigid and constraining and he suffered a nervous breakdown and returned home.

A Berlin Street Scene by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Even while he was ill and during his recover, Kirchner continued to produce many works; paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture. He sought help at a sanitarium in the Swiss Alps. The cold, dry air in Davos, Switzerland, was considered therapeutic. In 1917, he moved permanently to Davos, Switzerland, where he stopped painting nudes and focused on landscapes and personalities as he started included images of rural life and the surrounding Alps. Through the 1920s major exhibitions of his work were held in Berlin, Frankfurt, Dresden, and other cities. In 1931, he was made a member of the Prussian Academy of Art.

Landscape Under a Winter Moon by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

In 1932 Kirchner was labeled a degenerate artist by the Nazis.  Kirchner was asked to resign from the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1933.  In 1937, more than 600 of his works were confiscated from German museums and were either destroyed or sold. Kirchner was called un-German by the Nazis. His works were removed, some were destroyed. His artwork was cleared out of Germany and in his own country Kirchner felt his work would not be known. That was a devastating blow to Kirchner.

In March of 1938, the Nazis invaded nearby Austria, and Kirchner felt besieged. As an historian recounted "The Nazis were 12 miles away from Davos," … "Kirchner is sitting there in his mountain house with his paintings and his drawings, his prints, his sculpture and so forth, and he got more and more this idea, 'My God, they're 12 miles away and they've destroyed my art in Germany and now they're coming for me.” Kirchner thought it would be better to destroy his own artwork rather than let the Nazis do it so he destroyed it himself.

View of the Basil and the Rhine by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

He tried to persuade his long-time girlfriend, Erna, to commit suicide with him but she refused, and could not stop him. Kirchner died from a self-inflicted gunshot, he was just 58 years old.

The first public exhibition of Kirchner's work in the United States was at the Armory Show of 1913, the first comprehensive exhibition of modern art in America. U.S. museum acquisitions of Kirchner's work began in 1921 and steadily increased through the next four decades. Kirchner was given his first one-man museum show in the U.S. at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1937. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, held a monographic exhibition of Kirchner's art in 1992, based on works in the collections of the Gallery and its donors, and then held a major international loan exhibition of Kirchner's art in 2003.

Self Portrait by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

One of his surviving paintings -- a street scene in Berlin -- sold in 2006 for $38 million dollars.

And in Germany, a country whose rejection tortured him, Kirchner is now revered as one of its greatest modern artists.

 Be Sure to check out our Counted Cross Stitch and Counted Needlepoint Charts inspired by Kirchner's work!

Mary Cassatt The Grand Dame of Impressionist Artists

“There's only one thing in life for a woman;

it's to be a mother... A woman artist must be...

capable of making primary sacrifices.”
 Mary Cassatt

So ironic since Mary had no children and never married.

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Pennsylvania, but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with an emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children. She was described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" (3 grand Ladies) of Impressionism alongside Marie Bracquemond and Berthe Morisot.

Tea by Mary Cassatt, 1880, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926), born in Pennsylvania and spent her early years traveling with her family in France and Germany. Although her family objected to her becoming a professional artist, Cassatt began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia at the early age of 15.  Part of her parents' concern may have been Cassatt's exposure to feminist ideas and the bohemian behavior of some of the male students. Although about 20 percent of the students were female, most viewed art as a socially valuable skill; few of them were determined, as Cassatt was, to make art their career.  She continued her studies from 1861 through 1865, the duration of the American Civil War. Among her fellow students was Thomas Eakins, who later became the director of the Academy.

Self Portrait 1878 Metropolitan Museum of Art

Discouraged and unhappy with the lessons and the chauvinistic attitude of the male professors and students Mary decided to study the old masters on her own. Female students could not use live models, until somewhat later, and the principal training was primarily drawing from casts.

 When Cassatt decided to end her studies, no degree was granted. Despite her father's objections, she moved to Paris in 1866, with her mother and family friends acting as chaperones. Since women could not yet attend the École des Beaux-Arts, Cassatt applied to study privately with masters from the school and was accepted to study with Jean-Léon Gérôme, a highly regarded teacher known for his hyper-realistic technique and his depiction of exotic subjects. Cassatt augmented her artistic training with daily copying in the Louvre, obtaining the required permit, which was necessary to control the "copyists," usually low-paid women, who daily filled the museum to paint copies for sale. The museum also served as a social place for Frenchmen and American female students, who, like Cassatt, were not allowed to attend cafes where the avant-garde socialized. One famous couple met this way In this manner, fellow artist and friend Elizabeth Jane Gardner met and married famed academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

The Mandolin Player by Mary Cassatt 1868 Private Collection

In 1868, Cassatt’s painting The Mandolin Player was accepted at the Paris Salon, the first time her work was represented there. After three-and-a-half years in France, the Franco-Prussian War interrupted Cassatt’s studies and she returned to Philadelphia in the late summer of 1870.

Lilacs in the Window c. 1880 Private Collection

Cassatt returned to Europe in 1871 where she spent eight months in Parma, Italy, in 1872, studying the paintings of Correggio and Parmigianino and working with the advice of Carlo Raimondi, head of the department of engraving at the Parma Academy. In 1873, she visited Spain, Belgium, and Holland to study and copy the works of Velázquez, Rubens, and Hals. In June 1874, Cassatt settled in Paris, where she began to show regularly in the Salons, and where her parents and sister Lydia joined her in 1877.

Mary Cassatt Seated, Holding Cards painted by Edgar Degas c. 1880–84

In 1877 Edgar Degas invited her to create an impressionist painting . Mary was amazed and accepted the invitation. “It changed my life. I saw art then as I wanted to see it.”  Mary Cassatt

In 1877, Edgar Degas invited her to join the group of independent artists later known as the Impressionists. The only American officially associated with the group, Cassatt exhibited in four of their eight exhibitions, in 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886. Under their influence, Cassatt revised her technique, composition, and use of color and light, manifesting her admiration for the works of the French avant garde, especially Degas and Manet. Degas, her chief mentor, provided criticism of her work, offered advice on technique, and encouraged her experiments in printmaking. Like Degas, she was chiefly interested in figure compositions. During the late 1870s and early 1880s, the subjects of her works were her family (especially her sister Lydia), the theater, and the opera. Later she made a specialty of the mother and child theme, which she treated with warmth and naturalness in paintings, pastels, and prints.

Children Playing with a Cat c. 1908 Private collection

She became extremely proficient in the use of pastels, eventually creating many of her most important works in this medium. Degas also introduced her to etching, of which he was a recognized master. The two worked side-by-side for a while, and her draftsmanship gained considerable strength under his tutelage. He depicted her in a series of etchings recording their trips to the Louvre. Mary simplified her impressionist style around 1886. Mary was a role model of many artists in America, Europe and Canada.

The Boating Party by Mary Cassatt, 1893–94 National Gallery of Art, Washington

62 windows located in the Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Indiana were created by Louis Comfort Tiffany

“The pursuit of beauty” was the single goal of the amazing talented Louis Comfort Tiffany who was one of the most creative and prolific designers of the late 19th-century.

Photograph of Louis Comfort Tiffany 1915

One of America’s most acclaimed artists, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s was an artist whose career experimented and influenced many artistic and decorative mediums.  Tiffany designed and directed artisans in his studios to produce leaded-glass windows, mosaics, lighting, glass, pottery, metalwork, enamels, jewelry, and interiors.

Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1848-1933, was the son of the founder of Tiffany & Company which is an upscale jewelry and luxury home goods store.  Tiffany chose not to join the family business and instead followed his artistic endeavors. 

Cairo Travelers Resting by Louis Comfort Tiffany

1869, oil on canvas New Britain Museum of American Art

Garden Landscape and Fountain ca. 1905–15

Louis-Comfort Tiffany Studios

Starting in the late 1870s, Tiffany focus changed to the decorative arts and interiors.  He started designing and overseeing the creation of elaborate stained glass windows and art glass installations. Tiffany designed private interiors and public spaces for family, friends and institutions.

Window with Hudson River Landscape by Louis Comfort Tiffany

at the Corning Museum of Glass

Leaded glass home furnishings, windows and installations brought Tiffany him the greatest recognition. Tiffany and John La Farge, modernized the creation and the look of stained glass. The pair of artisans experimented and created a new type of glass that showed a blended palette with richer colors and hues.  different colors were blended together in the molten state, achieving subtle effects of shading and texture.  In 1881, both Tiffany and LeFarge  patented an opalescent milky multi colored glass.

Dragonfly Lamp 1906

With Tiffany glass production and the vibrant colors that his artisans were creating in the late 1890’s Tiffany and his studios turned toward creating lighting and lamps. 

 Vase 1903

From there Tiffany mastered, created studios where he assembled and trained artists in enamel work, blown glass works, pottery and jewelry. Tiffany used all his skills in the design of his own house, the 84-room Laurelton Hall, in the village of Laurel Hollow, on Long Island, New York completed in 1905. Later this estate was donated to his foundation for art students along with 60 acres of land, sold in 1949, and was destroyed by a fire in 1957.

 My Favorite picture of tiffany in all his colorful glory

by his friend the artist Sorolla Joaquin

For Further Browsing and Reading

• Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany: Rebel in Glass (1964),

• Susie Hodge, Louis Comfort Tiffany (2014)

• The Macklowe Gallery:

• The Louis Comfort Tiffany Story on The Tiffany and Company Site

The Cello Player 1921

Issachar Ber Ryback was a respected and prolific artist of Russian French Jewish descent. His artworks are extraordinary and 80 years after his death his work has become involved in a case misidentification or forgery in a modern day art scandal not of his making.

An article on Art.com written by is Konstantin Akinsha recounts the selling of a painting by Ryback titled the Progrom and the selling of two strikingly similar paintings by Stanislaus Bender titled saving the Torahs.

"A painting attributed to a prominent Eastern European Jewish artist that sold at Christie’s London last November 29 for $198,450 is a fake, a number of experts say. The work, called Pogrom, is attributed in the sale catalogue to Issachar Ber Ryback (1897–1935) and shows two bearded Jews fleeing, with Torah scrolls cradled in their arms. It more than doubled its high estimate of $78,200 to reach a price much higher than any previously paid for this artist’s work.....The same picture—or at least the same image, in a slightly different size—was sold for $3,700 at Christie’s Amsterdam on June 19, 1991, where it was attributed to Stanislaus Bender and called Saving the Torah Scrolls. Complicating the situation, a third and slightly larger version had been sold at Sotheby’s New York on June 25, 1990, for $35,750. This one was attributed to Bender and was called Saving the Torahs."

THE ARTIST

Issachar Ber Ryback was born in 1897 in Yelizavetgrad (Ukraine).  He studied at the Kiev Academy in Moscow from 1911 – 1916.  Ryback was an early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in virtually every artistic format, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints.  Ryback attended the art school in Kiev until 1916. He joined a progressive group of painters and was influenced by advocates of a modern Jewish literature such as David Bergelson and David Hofstein. Painters Alexander Bogomazov and Alexandra Exter were in Kiev at the time, and they taught him. In 1916 El Lissitzky and Ryback were given the task to make Jewish art memorials of Schtetls from Ukraine and Belarus. When he participated in an exhibition of Jewish paintings and sculptures in Moscow the spring 1917, his works were highly reviewed.

Woman Knitting in Living Room from In my Village 1932

As a young artist he initially experimented with Cubism and then began painting Jewish subject matter in the 1920s when critics and collectors began to appreciate his analytic Cubism and recognize his importance in the Russian vanguard movement. During the October Revolution in 1917, he took part in multiple activities to redefine avantgarde Yiddish culture, and moved to Moscow. In April 1921, after his father was killed by soldiers in the Pogroms in Ukraine, he fled to Kaunas and in October 1921 he obtained a visa for Germany.  Note:  A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at the massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group, particularly one aimed at Jews. The term originally entered the English language in order to describe 19th and 20th century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire. He became a member of the Novembergruppe and exhibited his Cubist pictures at both the Berliner Secession and the Juryfreien Kunstausstellung.

Berlin Woman 1926

In 1921 Ryback moved to Berlin, where he participated in the “Der Sturm” group. He was invited back to Moscow in 1925 to design costumes for the Moscow Theatre.

The Lion 1924

Ryback illustrated three small Yiddish fairy tale books for Miriam Margolin. His Shtetl-litographies was published in 1923 by Schwellen-Verlag. At the time the Jewish education organization World ORT was situated in Berlin and he made the draft for its logo. Issachar returned to Moscow where he created sets for Yiddish theaters. He was unhappy in Russia and in 1926 he emigrated to Paris France and never returned to Russia.

In My Village 1932

When Ryback moved to Paris he adopted a new style of Realism, portraying Russian Jewish “shtetl” life, bringing out the forceful, distinctive character of his Yiddish-speaking subjects without resorting to sentimentalism.

Ryback was an important member of the Russian Jewish, modernist movement that included Lissitsky, Altman, Aronson and Chagall. Edouard Roditi said of him, “Ryback may be generally recognized as an artist whose genius bears comparison only with that of Chagall.” He died suddenly in Paris in 1935, a few days after the opening of a retrospective exhibition of his work organized by the Wildenstein Gallery.

The  Circus Elephant 1925

Rybak was a contemporary of the Jewish-Russian artists Natan Issajewitsch Altman, Boris Aronson and Marc Chagall, who worked with handing down the Jewish tradition in modern art.

Most of the works he left behind are in Museum Ryback in Bat Yam in Israel.

Be Sure to check out our counted cross stitch and counted needlepoint charts inspired by the works of Issachar Ber Ryback with this link!

In my thoughts by Alfons Mucha

“Art exists only to communicate a

spiritual message.” Alfon’s Mucha

  
 The Arts Poetry Sketch

 Rosa Gallica

Mary Delany was famous for her highly accurate and beautiful botanical illustrations. Unlike most botanical illustrations, these are not paintings, but paper collages created from hundreds of tiny pieces of cut paper.

Mary Delany was famous for her highly accurate and beautiful botanical illustrations. Unlike most botanical illustrations, these are not paintings, but paper collages created from hundreds of tiny pieces of cut paper.

 MARY GRANVILLE PENDARVES DELANY

Mary Granville Pendarves Delany, 1700 –1788, was born at Coulston, England. She was one of 4 children of Colonel Bernard Granville and Mary Westcombe Granville. Both of her parents were Tory supporters of the Stuart Crown.  When Mary was young, her parents moved the family to London.  Mary became a regular visitor to the Court when she was sent to live with her aunt, Lady Stanley, who was childless.  While living with Lady Stanley, Mary was educated in English, French, history, music, needlework and dancing. The plan for Mary's to become a lady in waiting were thwarted when Queen Anne died 1714.  The Granvilles moved to Gloucestershire, where they were very isolated from English society. Mary was able to concentrate and continue her education.

Magnolia Blossom and Leaves

Near the end of 1717, Mary was invited to stay with her uncle, Lord Lansdowne, in Wiltshire. She was introduced to Alexander Pendarves a man that her family hoped would marry her.  Pendarves who was a Member of Parliament was 60 years old and Mary was 17 when the two were married in 1718.

The Pendarveses lived in Roscrow Castle in Cornwall until 1921 when her husband’s ill health caused the couple to return to London.  Mary became the primary caregiver of her husband and although it was a busy time as it was also a nice for Mary to be reunited with family and friends. In 1724, Mr. Pendarves died in his sleep, leaving his young wife a widow at the age of 23.

Mary Granville Pendarves

Mr. Pendarves had not altered his will after his marriage, and so Mrs. Pendarves did not inherit what remained of his estate. Despite her lack of resources, widowhood provided new opportunities for Mrs. Pendarves. Widows, unlike unmarried women, were able to move more freely in society, and for the first time in her life, Mrs. Pendarves was able to pursue her own interests without the oversight of any man. Because she had no home of her own Mrs. Pendarves spent time living with various relatives and friends. She spent time in Ireland with her friend Mrs. Donnelly and while there Mrs. Pendarves made the acquaintance of Patrick Delany, an Irish clergyman who was already married. In 1743 Patrick Delany married Mrs. Pendarves.

The Delany’s passed a year in London before moving to Dublin, where Patrick Delany had a home. Both husband and wife were very interested in botany and gardening: They shared a mutual pleasure in their garden at Delville near Dublin.  Patrick Delany supported and encouraged Mary in her gardening, painting, shell-work and needlework much of which was inspired by flowers and their garden.

Tiger Lily

In 1768, after twenty-five years of marriage, and at the age of 84, Patrick Delany died. So once again, at the age of 68, Mary Delany found herself a widow. As a widow, Mary Delany spent even more of her time at Bulstrode, the home of her close friend, Margaret Bentinck, Dowager Duchess of Portland. The two shared a love of botany, often going out to look for specific specimens. It was during her frequent stays at Bulstrode with the Duchess that Mary became acquainted with two well-known botanists of the time Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. This contact with the botanists only continued Mary’s education and her interest in botany.

Mary Delany was a gifted and talented artist.  The fact that she actually started creating her paper mosaics when she was in her seventies show what an extrodinarily gifted artist she was.

Passion Flower

Mary Delany had always loved the arts. During her marriage to Dr. Delany she had the time to hone her skills.  She was an avid gardener, and was also good at needlework, drawing, painting, however, she was best known for her paper-cutting skills.  "For these 'mosaicks' are coloured paper representing not only conspicuous details but also contrasting colours or shades of the same colour so that every effect of light is caught” From the book Mrs Delany: her life and her flowers by Ruth Hayden (London: British Museum Pubs. Ltd., 1980.

She teamed up with a friend who was a watercolourist and miniaturist, with whom she embarked on a number of artistic projects.

Fritilaria Flower

In 1771, when Mary was in her early 70s and as a way of dealing with her grief, Mary began to create cut out paper artworks (decoupage) as was the fashion for ladies of the court. Her works were exceptionally detailed and botanically accurate depictions of plants. She used tissue paper and hand colouration to produce these pieces. She created 1,700 of these works, calling them her "Paper Mosaiks", from the age of 71 to 88. From the book Mrs Delany: her life and her flowers by Ruth Hayden (London: British Museum Pubs. Ltd., 1980.

Her process was to set the plant in front of her and cut minute particles of colored paper to represent the petals, stamens, calyx, leaves, veins, stalk and other parts of the plant, and, using lighter and darker paper to form the shading, she stuck them on a black background. By placing one piece of paper upon another she sometimes built up several layers and in a complete picture there might be hundreds of pieces to form one plant. Mary took great care to make sure that each of her flowers were correct, in number of stamens and petals. She also became so well known that many donors began to send her flowers to create Mosaics from. Today, her mosaics can still be seen at the British Museum in the Enlightenment Gallery.

Water Lily

 “Mary Granville, then Pendarves, then Delany was a complicated character in a multi-leveled, socially ornate world. But if a role model in her seventies isn't layered with contradictions – as we all come to be – then what good is she? Why bother to cut the silhouette of another's existence and place it against our own if it isn't as incongruous, ambiguous, inconsistent, and paradoxical as our own lives are?

A few of the papers she used — all of the papers in the eighteenth century were handmade — in fact were wallpapers, but mostly she painted large sheets of rag paper with watercolor, let them dry, then cut from them the hundreds of pieces she needed to reproduce — well, to re-evoke might be a better word — the flower she was portraying. There is no reproduced hue that matches the thrill of color in nature, yet Mrs. D. went after the original kick of natural color, and she did it like a painter. If you look at photographic reproductions of her work in a book like this, you may swear to yourself that her flowers are painted. But if you go to the British Museum Web site, zoom in on the image, then zoom in again and again, at last you will see the complicated overlapping layers of cut paper that this book shows in enlargements of details.” From the book The Paper Garden: An Artist (begins Her Life's Work) at 72.by Molly Peacock, New York, NY ; Berlin Bloomsbury, 2011

 We are so excited to introduce to you the counted cross stitch and counted needlepoint charts inspired by Mary Delany's magnificent work!

For further reading:

1.) Mrs Delany: her life and her flowers by Ruth Hayden (London: British Museum Pubs. Ltd., 1980

2.) The Paper Garden: An Artist (begins Her Life's Work) at 72.by Molly Peacock, New York, NY ; Berlin Bloomsbury, 2011

Wikepedia

John Ruskin, Parrot and Plant, 1870, drawing of a red Parrot and Plant

The Beginning of the Arts and Crafts Movement and John Ruskin

The Arts and Crafts movement was a British and American aesthetic movement that developed during the last years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century. The movement was in part a reaction to the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution. The movement was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and his romantic idealization of the craftsman taking pride in their personal handiwork.

The reformist arts and Crafts Movement influenced British and American architecture, decorative arts, cabinet making, crafts, and even garden designs. Its best-known proponents and practitioners were William Morris, Charles Robert Ashbee, Edward Burne-Jones, T. J. Cobden -Sanderson, Walter Crane, Nelson Dawson, Phoebe Anna Traquair, Herbert Tudor Buckland, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Christopher Dresser, Edwin Lutyens, Ernest Gimson, William Lethaby, Edward Schroeder Prior, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustav Stickley, Philip Webb, Christopher Whall and  Pre-Raphaelite movement artists: William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner.

According to the Victoria and Albert Museum in England “The Arts and Crafts Movement was one of the most influential, profound and far-reaching design movements of modern times. It began in Britain around 1880 and quickly spread across America and Europe before emerging finally as the Mingei (Folk Crafts) movement in Japan.

It was a movement born of ideals. It grew out of a concern for the effects of industrialization: on design, on traditional skills and on the lives of ordinary people. In response, it established a new set of principles for living and working. It advocated the reform of art at every level and across a broad social spectrum, and it turned the home into a work of art.

The Movement took its name from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in 1887, but it encompassed a very wide range of like-minded societies, workshops and manufacturers. Other countries adapted Arts and Crafts philosophies according to their own needs. While the work may be visually very different, it is united by the ideals that lie behind it.

This was a movement unlike any that had gone before. Its pioneering spirit of reform, and the value it placed on the quality of materials and design, as well as life, shaped the world we live in today.

The origins of the Movement

In Britain the disastrous effects of industrial manufacture and unregulated trade had been recognized since about 1840, but it was not until the 1860s and 1870s that architects, designers and artists began to pioneer new approaches to design and the decorative arts. These, in turn, led to the foundation of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

The two most influential figures were the theorist and critic John Ruskin and the designer, writer and activist William Morris. Ruskin examined the relationship between art, society and labor. Morris put Ruskin's philosophies into practice, placing great value on work, the joy of craftsmanship and the natural beauty of materials.

By the 1880s Morris had become an internationally renowned and commercially successful designer and manufacturer. New guilds and societies began to take up his ideas, presenting for the first time a unified approach among architects, painters, sculptors and designers. In doing so, they brought Arts and Crafts ideals to a wider public. “

Portrait of John Ruskin by John Everett Millais 1853

John Ruskin

John Ruskin, 1819 – 1900, was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era. Ruskin was truly a well-rounded individual. He was an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, well known social thinker and philanthropist. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. Ruskin penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy. In all of his writing, Ruskin emphasized the connections between nature, art and society.

Born into the close-knit family of a prosperous wine merchant in London, England, Ruskin attended Christ Church College.  He became known as a brilliant critic of landscape painting and a champion of the works of the painter J.M.W. Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites. From the 1850s he championed the Pre-Raphaelites who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and laborers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organization that endures today.

View of Amalfi painted by John Ruskin 1844

Ruskin is most famous for his two books; "The Seven Lamps of Architecture" (1849) and "The Stones of Venice" (1853). These works established the criteria for judging the value of art(s) for several generations in both Britain and America.

John Ruskin's Lion's profile from life. Pencil, ink, watercolor and body color on buff paper 1870

Ruskin came to public attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defense of the work of J. M. W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". Ruskin’s influence reached across the world. Tolstoy described him as, "one of the most remarkable men not only of England and of our generation, but of all countries and times" and quoted extensively from his writings. Proust admired Ruskin and helped translate his works into French. Gandhi wrote of the "magic spell" cast by him (Ruskin), calling it for "The Advancement of All".  In Japan, Ryuzo Mikimoto actively collaborated in Ruskin's translation. He commissioned sculptures and sundry commemorative items, and incorporated Ruskinian rose motifs in the jewelry produced by his pearl empire. He established the Ruskin Society of Tokyo and his children built a dedicated library to house his Ruskin collection.

Self Portrait with Blue Neckcloth, by John Ruskin. Watercolor 1873

Ruskin’s work has been translated into numerous languages including, in addition to those already mentioned (Russian, French, Japanese): German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Chinese, Welsh.

If John Ruskin was the Grandfather of The Arts and Crafts Movement then William Morris is the Father of the Arts and Crafts Movement.......

Check back for our next blog William Morris the Father of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Tom Thomson and Emily Carr were artists whose names are often associated with the Group of Seven but were in fact not actual members. 

TOM THOMSON              

Thomas John "Tom" Thomson, 1877 – 1917, was an influential Canadian artist of the early 20th century. He is the most famous Group of Seven painter, which is ironic as he was not actually in the group. He had great influence over the group of Canadian painters, which would come to be known as the Group of Seven, before they formed the group when they were painting together and sharing philosophies. Tom Thomson died under mysterious circumstances before the Group of Seven were formally created.

Thomas John "Tom" Thomson was born near Claremont, Ontario to John and Margaret Thomson and grew up in Leith, Ontario, near Owen Sound. In 1899, he volunteered to fight in the Second Boer War, but was turned down because of a medical condition.  He served as a fire ranger in Algonquin Park during this time. In 1907, Thomson joined Grip Ltd., an artistic design firm in Toronto, where many of the future members of the Group of Seven also worked.

Tom Thomson's Autumn Foliage 

Thomson often traveled around Ontario with his colleagues, especially to the wilderness of Ontario, which was to be a major source of inspiration for him. In 1912 he began working, along with other artists who would go on to form the Group of Seven after his death, at Rous and Mann Press, but left the following year to work as a full-time artist.  He first exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists in 1913, and became a member the following year. He would continue to exhibit with the Ontario Society until his death. In 1914 the National Gallery of Canada began acquiring his paintings, which signaled a turning point in Thomson's career.  For several years he shared a studio and living quarters with fellow artists. Beginning in 1914 he worked intermittently as a fire fighter, ranger, and guide in Algonquin Park, but found that such work did not allow enough time for painting. During the next three years, he produced many of his most famous works, including The Jack Pine, The West Wind and The Northern River. Thomson disappeared during a canoeing trip on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park on July 8, 1917, and his body was discovered in the lake eight days later.

 Tom Thomson's Northern Lights

Almost 100 years have passed since Tom Thomson’s death and almost as many conspiracy theories of murder or suicide abound.  There have been lengthy books, newspaper articles, movies and TV shows full of theories. In an essay entitled, "The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson," published in 2011, Gregory Klages describes how testimony and theories regarding Thomson's death have evolved since 1917.  Assessing the secondary accounts against the primary evidence, Klages concludes that Thomson's death is consistent with the official assessment of 'accidental drowning'. For more Information google Tom Thomson, Check out the biographies at the end of this article or refer to: http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/thomson/home/indexen.html

Since his death, Thomson's work has grown in value and popularity. In 2002, the National Gallery of Canada staged a major exhibition of his work, giving Thomson the same level of prominence afforded Picasso, Renoir, and the Group of Seven in previous years. In recent decades, the increased value of Thomson's work has led to the discovery of numerous forgeries of his work on the market.

Tom Thomson's Winter Morning

For more reading:

1.) Wikipedia

2.) Tom Thomson: Artist of the North, 2011 by Wayne Larsen

3.) The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, 2011 by David Silcox

Emily Carr                     

Emily Carr, 1871 – 1945, was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a Modernist and Post-Impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until late in her life. As she matured, the subject matter of her painting shifted from aboriginal themes to landscapes—forest scenes in particular. As a writer, Carr was one of the earliest chroniclers of life in British Columbia.  

Emily Carr's Winds of Heaven

Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1871.  Emily was the second-youngest of nine children born to English parents.  The Carr children were raised on English tradition.  They lived on Vancouver Island, a colony of Great Britain.  Carr's father encouraged her artistic inclinations.

In 1898 Carr made the first of several sketching and painting trips to aboriginal villages, visiting Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, home to the Nuu-chah-nulth people, then commonly known to English speaking people as 'Nootka'. After her parents deaths Carr attended the San Francisco Art Institute for two years (1890–1892) before returning to Victoria. In 1899 Carr travelled to London where she studied at the Westminster School of Art. She travelled also to a rural art colony in St Ives, Cornwall, returning to British Columbia in 1905.

Determined to further her knowledge of the age's evolving artistic trends, in 1910 Carr returned to Europe to study at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. In Montparnasse with her sister Alice, Emily Carr met modernist painter Harry Gibb. Upon viewing his work, she and her sister were shocked and intrigued by his use of distortion and vibrant color: "Mr. Gibb's landscapes and still life delighted me — brilliant, luscious, clean. Against the distortion of his nudes I felt revolt." Carr's study with Gibbs and his techniques shaped and influenced her style of painting, and she adopted a vibrant color palette rather than continuing with the pastel colors of her earlier British training. Carr was greatly influenced by the post-impressionists and the Fauvists she met and studied with in France.

Emily Carr's kispiax-village British Columbia

In the summer of 1912, Carr again traveled north, to Haida Gwaii and the Skeena River, where she documented the art of the Haida, Gitxsan and Tsimshian. At Cumshewa, a Haida village on Moresby Island.  Carr painted a carved raven that she later turned into her iconic painting Big Raven. Tanoo, another painting inspired by work gathered on this trip, depicts three totems before house fronts at the village of the same name.

During the next 15 years, Carr did little painting but ran a boarding house known as the 'House of All Sorts'. Overtime Carr's work came to the attention of several influential and supportive people, including Marius Barbeau, a prominent ethnologist at the National Museum in Ottawa. Barbeau in turn persuaded Eric Brown, Director of Canada's National Gallery to visit Carr in 1927, and Brown invited Carr to exhibit her work as part of an exhibition on West Coast aboriginal art at the National Gallery. Montreal.

It was at the exhibition on West Coast aboriginal art at the National Gallery in 1927 that Carr first met members of the Group of Seven, at that time Canada's most recognized modern painters. Lawren Harris of the Group became a particularly important support: "You are one of us," he told Carr, welcoming her into the ranks of Canada's leading modernists. The encounter ended the artistic isolation of Carr's previous 15 years leading to one of the most prolific periods, and the creation of many of her most recognizable works. Through her extensive correspondence with Harris, Carr also became aware of and studied northern European symbolism. The Group influenced Carr's direction, and Lawren Harris in particular, not only by his work, but also by his belief in Theosophy, which Carr struggled to reconcile with her own conception of God.

Emily Carr's The Raven

Carr is remembered primarily for her painting. She was one of the first artists to attempt to capture the spirit of Canada in a modern style. Previously, Canadian painting had been mostly portraits and representational landscapes. Carr's main themes in her mature work were natives and nature.

For more information see:

1.) Wikipedia

2.) Emily Carr: A Biography, 2007 by Maria Tippett

3.) Emily Carr: At the Edge of the World, 2003 by Jo Ellen Bogart and Maxwell Newhouse

Group of Seven Canadian Naturalist Artists Part 2 of 3

Frank Johnson Fire Spotters 1919

Group of Seven Canadian Naturalist Artists Part 2 of 3

Frank Johnston

Frank Johnston, 1888 –1949, was born in Toronto Ontario. As a young man he began to work as a commercial artist at Grip Limited. In 1921, he left Toronto to work at the Winnipeg School of Art, and had officially broken away from the Group of Seven by 1924. In 1927 he changed his name to Franz Johnston and continued to make decent money off of his paintings.

Arthur Lismer Isles of Spruce 1922

Arthur Lismer

Arthur Lismer, 1885 –1969, was born in Sheffield England. At age 13 he apprenticed at a photo-engraving company. He was awarded a scholarship, and used this time to take evening classes at the Sheffield School of Arts from 1898 until 1905.  In 1905 he moved to Antwerp Belgium where he studied art at the Academie Royale. Lismer immigrated to Canada in 1911, and settled in Toronto where he began to work at Grip Limited – a commercial design company. While at Grip he met MacDonald, Carmichael and Thomson and they eventually became members of the Group of Seven.

J.E.H. MacDonald Falls on the Montreal River

E. H. MacDonald

James Edward Harvey MacDonald, 1873 –1932, was born in Durham England. He immigrated to Canada with his English mother and Canadian father when he was only fourteen. Once he completed his studies of art in both Hamilton and Toronto he began to work at Grip Limited from 1895 to 1911 along with other members of the Group of Seven.

Frederick H. Varley Night Ferry-in Vancouver 1937

Frederick H. Varley

Frederick Horsman Varley, 1881-1969, was born in Sheffield, England where he lived until 1912 when he moved to Canada. During the first 31 years of his life he studied art in both Sheffield (Sheffield School of Art) and Belgium (Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts When longtime friend Arthur Lismer arrived in England for his own wedding, he encouraged Varley to move to Canada. He and his family packed up and moved to Ontario, and it wasn’t long before he began to work at Grip Ltd where he met his fellow painters in the Group of Seven.

A.J. Casson Farmhouse Winter-Sun

A.J. Casson

Alfred Joseph Casson, 1898 –1992, joined the Group of Seven in 1926 at the invitation of Franklin Carmichael. Casson is best known for his depictions of landscapes, forests and farms of southern Ontario, and for being the youngest and eighth member of the Group of Seven.

Tom Thomson and Emily Carr The Ninth and Tenth Members of the Group of Seven

Tom Thomson was never formally a member of the group, because he died (disappeared in northern Ontario, presumed drowned) before the group was formed. He is often linked to the Group of Seven. Emily Carr was also closely affiliated with the group.

We will be exploring the works of Tom Thomson and Emily Carr in our next blog: The Group of Seven Canadian Naturalist Artists Part Three of 3

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Group of Seven Canadian Naturalist Artists Part One of 3

 Tom Thomson The Pool-1915

Group of Seven Canadian Naturalist Artists

Part One of 3

Well, I can honestly say that some of my favorite landscapes were painted by members of Canadian landscape painters known as the Group of Seven.  A bit of a misnomer as there were actually 10 artists affiliated or associated with this group.

Group of seven artists: Frederick Varley, A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Barker Fairley, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and J. E. H. MacDonald

The group was formed in 1920 and consisted of seven members – hence the name: Group of Seven. Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald and Frederick Varley.

Arthur Lismer-Isles-of-Spruce-1922

According to Brandi Leigh’s Posting in 2008 on The Art History Archive of Canadian Art

“MacDonald, Lismer, Varley, Johnston and Carmichael all met at Grip Limited – a design firm in Toronto. Jackson and Harris both became acquainted with the group when Lismer befriended them at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. This informal group was split up during World War I, when Jackson and Varley served as war artists.

Once the war was over, the informal group reconvened and began to travel throughout Ontario. They sketched landscapes and developed different techniques to better their art. The group was greatly influenced by European Impressionism. It was in 1919 that they began to call themselves the Group of Seven – they couldn’t come up with a name, and so Harris dubbed them the “Group of Seven” and it stuck.

The group was initially funded by Harris – heir to the Massey-Harris fortune – and Dr. James MacCallum. Together they built the Studio Building to serve as a meeting and working place for the new Canadian art movement.

In 1920, the group had their first exhibition. At this time many people considered the Canadian landscape ugly and unworthy of being painted. They were proved wrong however over the next decade by the Group of Seven. The group became known as pioneers to a new Canadian art, finding new and different ways to portray the beauty of the landscapes.

Frank Johnston left the group in 1921 to pursue a job in Winnipeg and a new spot was open for a replacement artist. In 1926, A.J. Casson was added to the group. Members of the group began to travel further across Canada, some visited the west coast, while others went north to the arctic; they were the first artists of European descent to paint the arctic.

The Group of Seven's last show took place in 1931; they had come to realize that people were more open to their art and no longer needed the group to stand up against criticism. “

The Solemn Land by James MacDonald-1921

The Group of Seven’s Eight Members were:

Franklin Carmichael

Franklin Carmichael was born to Scottish-Canadian parents in Orillia, Ontario. Perhaps Carmichael's greatest contribution to the Group was in reviving the neglected art of watercolor painting. He was also a founding member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolor, of which he was president from 1932 to 1934.

 “It is imperative that the artist reveal through the medium in which he is happiest, what he sees, thinks and feels about his surroundings." - Franklin Carmichael.

Franklin Carmichael-Mirror-Lake-1929

Lawren Harris

Lawren Stewart Harris, 1885 – 1970, was a Canadian painter born in Brantford, Ontario, who was one of the best known landscape painters in the Group of Seven.  He pioneered a distinctly Canadian painting style in the early twentieth century.