Tag Archives: Spotlight Talks

Spotlight on The Uprising: Revolution then and now

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Honoré Daumier, The Uprising, between 1848 and 1879. Oil on canvas, 34 1/2 x 44 1/2 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1925

Honoré Daumier, The Uprising, 1848 or later. Oil on canvas, 34 1/2 x 44 1/2 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1925

Given the current political uprisings in Egypt, this week’s Spotlight Talk on Honoré Daumier’s The Uprising (1848 or later) seemed eerily contemporary. The talk, led by Paul Ruther, Manager of Teacher Programs, focused on the timelessness of the work’s subject matter, what Duncan Phillips described as a “symbol of pent up human indignation.”

Paul began by asking members of the group what themes and images they saw in the painting. The desire for change and revolution immediately came to mind, with several participants comparing the imagery presented in the work to that of the current revolutions in Egypt and the Middle East. The painting is thought to portray the 1848 revolution in France and subsequent overthrow of King Louis-Philippe. In the painting, there is a crowd of people all dressed in similarly colored clothing except for one man, the central figure, who, dressed in white, has a raised fist. The crowd is flanked by tall buildings, creating a city-like setting, with only a slight glimpse of sky and sunlight visible at the top right corner of the painting. Paul noted the feeling of claustrophobia present in the painting, which results from Daumier’s use of light and color—while there is apparent sunlight in the painting, the crowd is darkly colored with little to no light being shed on them, helping create this tight, closed-in feeling. Paul explained how Daumier uses the harsh diagonal line of the raised fist that seems almost to try to reach the light above. I noticed how the only person touched by light is the man with the raised fist, and perhaps he is the symbolic representation of social change that the light conveys.

Many art historians during Daumier’s time considered this work “unfinished,” because of the lack of dark coloring at the base of the image. One tour attendee brought up the idea that perhaps Daumier created an impressionist-style painting years before his time!

And, because it is always nice to end with a Phillips connection tidbit, this work was not publicly displayed until Duncan Phillips purchased it in 1925. Phillips referred to it as the “greatest painting in the Collection.”

Hannah Hoffmann, Marketing Intern

Spotlight on The Open Window

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Pierre Bonnard, The Open Window, 1921. Oil on canvas, 46 1/2 x 37 3/4 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1930

Pierre Bonnard, The Open Window, 1921. Oil on canvas, 46 1/2 x 37 3/4 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1930

A couple of days ago,  I attended a spotlight talk focused on one of my favorite paintings in the Collection: Pierre Bonnard’s The Open Window (1921). We began with a quiet reflection on the painting, after which Phillips Librarian Karen Schneider guided our group to an understanding of the subject matter, palette, and structural lines of the work.

Examining the painting, the viewer is drawn first to the scene out the window–the serenity of the lush green trees and fading blue sky of the world outside. Then we observe the hard lines of the window frame and the bright, warm colors of the interior setting. Last, we notice a woman sitting, perhaps sleeping, in the bottom right hand corner, blurred and barely discernible. I almost didn’t notice her at all. This was in fact the artist’s intent, I learned. With contrasting hues and structural lines, Bonnard is recreating the experience of going out into the bright light and then coming back inside. We are caught in the moment when vision is temporarily impaired, and we only catch the outline of a form out of the corner of our eye. The outside is still beckoning.

Did you know that Pierre Bonnard actually visited The Phillips Collection in 1926? After complementing Marjorie Phillips on her paintings, he asked to borrow a brush so he could touch up one of his works in the Collection. Fortunately, she said she didn’t have one with her and convinced him not to alter the work!

Jane Clifford, Marketing Intern

Spotlight on Studio, Quai Saint-Michel

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Henri Matisse, Studio, Quai Saint-Michel, 1916. Oil on canvas, 58 1/4 x 46 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1940

Henri Matisse, Studio, Quai Saint-Michel, 1916. Oil on canvas, 58 1/4 x 46 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1940

Weekday Spotlight Talks at the Phillips are an ideal way to spend some quality time with a particular work in the permanent collection and can often lead to new insights into composition, materials, and the artist’s intentions. Last month, our Teacher Programs Coordinator Meagan Estep led a small group of visitors in discussion about Henri Matisse’s Studio, Quai Saint-Michel (1916), currently on view on the second floor of the Goh Annex.

Meagan began by asking about the group’s initial impressions of the painting. Visitors were largely struck by Matisse’s use of two-dimensional shapes (particularly the flattened table) alongside three-dimensional shapes (such as the two chairs that show perspective in the room). Aside from these technical aspects of his composition, visitors also remarked on the absence of the artist in the scene. A nude model reclines on a sofa and a canvas sits upon one chair, yet the chair directly across from the canvas (where the artist would sit) is conspicuously empty. The consensus among the group was that Matisse’s composition not only depicts a reclining nude but also documents his workspace and artistic process as it is unfolding.

Upon close inspection, the group also noticed an area of cracked paint just above the reclining nude. This subtle detail is visible in person but wouldn’t necessarily be apparent in a reproduction of the work online or in print (just another example of the new discoveries that are possible when visiting artworks in person). Meagan revealed that the Phillips conservators have studied this cracked area closely and discovered that Matisse reworked this area with additional layers of paint. The cracking occurred because one of the earlier layers did not dry completely before the artist painted over it with a faster drying paint. The cracks mirror the curves of the woman’s figure, suggesting she was originally placed slightly higher in the composition. It is thought that Matisse’s lack of effort to disguise this and other changes was intentional, to allow the evolution of the composition to be part of the experience of the work. Therefore, the conservators have left it as (perhaps) Matisse intended.

Elizabeth Kachavos, Marketing Intern