A SHOULD? A COULD? OR A MUST?
There are quite a few exhibitions that I «umm and ahh» at. Will I or wont I go. «Impressionism and Fashion» and a retrospective of Mary Cassat’s etchings were two such events. Both are ending next week. The first had very mitigated criticism from friends. "Brillant" or "boring". You can’t get too much between the two.
Upon arriving, this is what I faced. On the left crowds without tickets and on the right, groups or priority passage. I noticed that the latter was moving so sighed and made the effort. 20 minutes later I was in the exhibition.
There was no possibility of reading the documents. Heads bowed and bobbing to see them prevented this. So I contented myself with the fashion and what I could see of the impressionist portraits
Trends may have changed and a lot but even in the 19th century
men and women wishing to keep up with the current fashions could consult a number of fashion magazines that disseminated and commented on the creations of fashion houses, milliners, tailors and those of the department stores. Probably what is the biggest change is that there are not too many milliners around today.
Crinolines went out in1866 as the trendsetters were starting to move away from these, considering them ordinary and too uncomfortable. They favoured dresses with trains and shorter, looped up dresses, which can’t have been much easier to cope with when out walking - if one did walk in the street.
When I think that the clothing for the woman at home varied according to the time of day, from wearing very little – a simple dressing gown for the “morning” that required her to wear a corset – she would move on to a morning dress, and then a more elegant outfit for the afternoon. I have friends who changed a couple of times in the day. I dress and stay that way......
As to the bedroom or more private circumstances, the were corsets, hooks, petticoats and who knows what else....I guess all that wasn’t whipped off in a flash but the beau.
I always felt that men had an elegance about them during that period which in a funny way hasn’t changed that much today - except of course for the hats and dress coats. Sometimes I feel that men’s fashions is far more elegant that what is proposed for my age group.
For the Impressionists, the representation of outdoor leisure activities was closely linked to the world of fashion. Whether it was the parks of Paris, suburban gardens or even the forest of Fontainebleau, these spaces were perfect for displaying fashionable clothes.I have a photograph taken of me on that swing on the right but my outfit is not quite the same!
It was not a MUST exhibition but I would not be so cut and dried as saying it was brilliant or boring. It was pleasant.
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The Mary Cassatt exhibition at the Mona Bismark centre was captivating.
She was the American Impressionist (1844-1926) who lived most of her adult life in Paris, and saw the artistic possibilities of making prints, using them to focus on the essentials of form, gesture and expression. Degas who was one of her friends actually made the remark that he was amazed that a woman could be so talented! She did of course work with the impressionists but was better known for her portraits of mothers and children.
Ambroise Vollard, an avant-gardist dealer in Paris at the time, was stunned by the vitality and modern vision of her works on paper. He acquired Cassatt’s entire studio collection of her own prints and drawings, and kept them in his collection until his death.
I saw perhaps 70 of them which have not been shown since her death. She was never married and never a mother and yet her portraits, mainly of women and children or women are very touching, warm and minimalist which of course I like.
Again, not a must to see, but a great pleasure.
And how is this for a hommage to Edward Hopper (also at the Mona Bismark Centre) ......Clark and Pougnaud: photo assemblage combining a scaled down version of Hopper’s painting and photographs of live models in perhaps 6 works.....apparently they mix photography, painting and doll's house models. Quite a tribute !
Upon arriving, this is what I faced. On the left crowds without tickets and on the right, groups or priority passage. I noticed that the latter was moving so sighed and made the effort. 20 minutes later I was in the exhibition.
 |
| The fast line |
 |
| Three lines deep |
There was no possibility of reading the documents. Heads bowed and bobbing to see them prevented this. So I contented myself with the fashion and what I could see of the impressionist portraits
Trends may have changed and a lot but even in the 19th century
men and women wishing to keep up with the current fashions could consult a number of fashion magazines that disseminated and commented on the creations of fashion houses, milliners, tailors and those of the department stores. Probably what is the biggest change is that there are not too many milliners around today.
Crinolines went out in1866 as the trendsetters were starting to move away from these, considering them ordinary and too uncomfortable. They favoured dresses with trains and shorter, looped up dresses, which can’t have been much easier to cope with when out walking - if one did walk in the street.
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| Pierre-Auguste RenoirPortrait of | Madame Charpentier and her Children |
When I think that the clothing for the woman at home varied according to the time of day, from wearing very little – a simple dressing gown for the “morning” that required her to wear a corset – she would move on to a morning dress, and then a more elegant outfit for the afternoon. I have friends who changed a couple of times in the day. I dress and stay that way......
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| Summer outfit |
 |
| Edouard Manet :La Parisienne |
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| Or this for the afternoon |
As to the bedroom or more private circumstances, the were corsets, hooks, petticoats and who knows what else....I guess all that wasn’t whipped off in a flash but the beau.
 |
| Edouard Manet: Nana |
I always felt that men had an elegance about them during that period which in a funny way hasn’t changed that much today - except of course for the hats and dress coats. Sometimes I feel that men’s fashions is far more elegant that what is proposed for my age group.
 |
| Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1870)Paris Street, Rainy Day |
For the Impressionists, the representation of outdoor leisure activities was closely linked to the world of fashion. Whether it was the parks of Paris, suburban gardens or even the forest of Fontainebleau, these spaces were perfect for displaying fashionable clothes.I have a photograph taken of me on that swing on the right but my outfit is not quite the same!
 |
| Claude Monet :Women in the Garden |
 |
| Pierre-Auguste Renoir:The Swing |
The Mary Cassatt exhibition at the Mona Bismark centre was captivating.
She was the American Impressionist (1844-1926) who lived most of her adult life in Paris, and saw the artistic possibilities of making prints, using them to focus on the essentials of form, gesture and expression. Degas who was one of her friends actually made the remark that he was amazed that a woman could be so talented! She did of course work with the impressionists but was better known for her portraits of mothers and children.
Ambroise Vollard, an avant-gardist dealer in Paris at the time, was stunned by the vitality and modern vision of her works on paper. He acquired Cassatt’s entire studio collection of her own prints and drawings, and kept them in his collection until his death.
I saw perhaps 70 of them which have not been shown since her death. She was never married and never a mother and yet her portraits, mainly of women and children or women are very touching, warm and minimalist which of course I like.
 |
| Peasant Mother and Child, |
 |
| Baby with left hand touching a tub 1890-91 |
 |
| Celeste and Marjorie 1898 |
 |
| Head of Adele 1908-09 |
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| Two ladies in Loge facing right 1879-80 |
Again, not a must to see, but a great pleasure.
And how is this for a hommage to Edward Hopper (also at the Mona Bismark Centre) ......Clark and Pougnaud: photo assemblage combining a scaled down version of Hopper’s painting and photographs of live models in perhaps 6 works.....apparently they mix photography, painting and doll's house models. Quite a tribute !
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