Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is
currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani.
The 91st work to introduce for this
week is “Pierre Edouard Baranowski” in 1918.
This work is an expressionist style
portrait and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 111 x 56 cm and possessed
in private collection.
The painter Pierre Edouard
Baranowski, known as “Bara”, was a member of the Polish colony of Paris.
A
habitue of the Montparnasse cafes in the 1920s, he seems to have met Modigliani
either through his friend and dealer Leopold Zborowski, or through his friend
Moise Kisling.
Portrait of Leopold Zborowski (1917)
Portrait of Moise Kisling (1916)
This painting is the only known portrait of Baranowski, who
painted flowers, still lifes and landscapes and exhibited at the Salon
d'Automne, the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon des Independants between 1920
and 1929.
In this painting, he occupies the entire space of the painting with
his androgynous grace. His pose also has Mannerist style, with the bent face,
the barely noticeable smile, and a left hand that seems to hang loosely.
The
black color of the jacket and tie, the light blue color of the eyes and the
background, the dark blue color of the trousers and the paleness of the model's
skin are emphasized by the white color of his shirt, and the slanted model's
head seems to avoid the symmetry of the painting.
Modigliani said, "To do any
work, I must have a living person, I must see him in front of me."
Baranowski was one of the artists
and intellectuals who flocked to Paris from Central Europe, whose talents were
not recognized and dreams could not be realized, but he seems to have been the
kind of model Modigliani liked.
This week's lecture is “Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart”, the 7th topic of “Classical
Music”, which is a summary of the contents of “92. Classical Music: 7. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart” introduced on June 14th, 2017.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
was a composer of the Classical era who was born on January 27, 1756 and died
on December 5, 1791.
Mozart's birthplace, Salzburg
Portrait of the child Mozart
Born in Salzburg,
Mozart showed outstanding musical talent from an early age. He started
composing at the age of five and performed in front of European royalty as he
embarked on a grand tour.
The Mozart family on a grand tour
At the age of 17, he worked as a musician at the
Salzburg court, but he traveled to find a better position. Dismissed from Salzburg
position during a visit to Vienna in 1781, Mozart decided to stay in Vienna,
where he composed his most famous symphonies, concertos, operas and parts of
the Requiem that was mostly unfinished at his death.
The first page of Mozart's autograph score in the Requiem
After Mozart's death,
his wife, Constanze, entrusted the unfinished Requiem to his pupils to complete
the work, and finally Franz Xaver Süssmayr completed the work.
Constanze Mozart, Hans Hansen
Franz Xaver Süssmayr
Although Mozart died at
a young age, he composed more than 600 works in almost every genre due to his
rapid pace of composition, and many of which are recognized as the best works
in the genres of symphonies, concertos, chamber music, opera and choral music.
He is regarded as one of the greatest classical composers of all time, and his
influence on Western music is immense. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his early
works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote: "posterity will not
see such a talent again in 100 years".
Mozart Monument, Vienna
As the cause of his
death is largely uncertain, it has been much mythologized, and researchers have
suggested more than a hundred causes of death, including acute rheumatic fever,
streptococcal infection, trichinosis, influenza, mercury poisoning, and a rare
kidney ailment.
Mozart's most famous
pupil was Johann Nepomuk Hummel, whom Mozart took to his home in Vienna when
Hummel was young and lived with him for two years. He was a transitional figure
between the Classical and the Romantic eras.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Mozart had a great influence on
composers of later generations, and many composers have paid homage to Mozart
by composing variations on Mozart's themes.
Ludwig von Köchel was the first to
organize Mozart's works, and in 1862 he organized Mozart's works according to
the Köchel index.
Currently, I am
introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the
title “Interesting
Art Stories”.
The 54th story is “Portrait of
Madame X” by John Singer Sargent.
“Portrait
of Madame X” is the title of a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent,
depicting Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, a young socialite and wife of the
French banker Pierre Gautreau. The painting depicts Madame Gautreau posing in a
black dress with jeweled straps, featuring the pale skin tone of the model
against a black dress and background.
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau (c. 1878)
The model for this painting,
Madame Gautreau, was an American expatriate, and her unique beauty has
attracted many artists. Sargent was also impressed with her and actively asked
her to be his model, anticipating that her portrait would garner a lot of
attention at the upcoming Paris Salon.
Self-portrait, John Singer Sargent (1906)
Although she turned down
numerous similar requests from many artists at the time, she accepted Sargent's
offer. However, little progress was made in painting after she accepted his
model request because she was so busy with many social activities that she
could not pay much attention for the model. At her suggestion, Sargent began
drawing a series of preparatory works for this painting at her estate in
Brittany, resulting in about thirty drawings.
Madame Gautreau, A figure study by Sargent in watercolor and graphite (c. 1883)
Another painting by Sargent
depicting Gautreau, "Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast," also shows her
profile against a dark background, but is more freely brushed and informal than
this painting.
Madame Gautreau Drinking a Toast, John Singer Sargent (c. 1882–83)
As in his previous works
exhibited at the Salon, “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit” and “El Jaleo,”
Sargent selected a large-sized canvas to make his painting stand out among the
many paintings exhibited at the Salon.
The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, John Singer Sargent (1882)
El Jaleo, John Singer Sargent (1882)
In this painting, Gautreau is standing
with her head turned and her right arm extended behind her and her hand on a
low table. While this painting was in progress, Gautreau showed a passion for
this paintings, and she believed that Sargent was painting a masterpiece.
Sargent in his Paris studio (c. 1885)
However, when the painting first appeared at the Paris Salon in 1884, people
were shocked and scandalized. The poor public and critical reception was a
disappointment to both Sargent and his model, Gautreau. Gautreau was humiliated
by the incident, and Sargent soon left Paris and moved permanently to London.
Since 1905, Sargent
exhibited this painting in many international exhibitions and sold it to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1916. An unfinished version of the same pose is
in the Tate, London.
Study of Madame Gautreau, John Singer Sargent, Tate, London, UK (1884)
Seven years after Sargent
painted Gautreau, Gustave-Claude-Etienne Courtois also painted her. Like
Sargent's portrait, Courtois' portrait shows her face in profile, but his
portrait was well received by the public.
