Fralin Catalog (6-21-23) - Flipbook - Page 21
The Portrait
Celebrity & Intimacy
M
uch of the art on view emerges from traditions of
illustration that flourished within a burgeoning
publishing industry energized by freedom of speech
and independence of the press. The emergence of
photography provided a technology that better met the demands for
rapid illustration of current news, which greatly influenced the look
of immediacy and feel of the instantaneous that was increasingly
sought within both graphic drawing and painting styles.
The only American painter to participate in the earliest exhibitions
of the French Impressionistss, Mary Stevenson Cassatt devoted her
artistic career to the portrayal of the intimate and domestic life of
women and children in modern-day society. Her portrait of Françoise
Wearing a Big White Hat counts among her most captivating images.
With pronounced brushstrokes, Cassatt skillfully conveys a young
sitter who, through pose and attitude, expresses a personality of
strong character and formidable self-assurance.
In the early years of the 20th century, the Ashcan School of painters
sought a new art that presented the blunt realities, unvarnished
character, and admittedly more seedy side of urban life. The
core of this artistic group – including William Glackens, Robert
Henri, George Luks, Everett Shinn and John Sloan – honed their
representation skills as professional illustrators for tabloid journals
and sensationalist newspapers in Philadelphia.
Karl Emil Willers, Ph.D.
CHIEF CURATOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF
COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS
TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART
The imagery of Norman Rockwell’s well-known covers for
the Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s magazine, and other popular
publications emerges out of this pictorial and narrative American
tradition. His always humorous storytelling abilities reveal telling
insights into the American experience. With an enduring charm
and light humor that belies his profound insight, Rockwell skillfully
intimates complex ideas about identity formation and construction
of the self within the social world.
Opposite: detail of Norman Rockwell, The Little Model, 1919 , illustrated page 35
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