Fleur de Lis
Hello friends! Happy Sunday! And what a beautiful Sunday it is here in NYC. I hope this blog post finds you all well.
A few days ago I found a little time in my busy schedule to stop in to the Metropolitan Museum for a quick visit. It was a Saturday, which at the Met means crowds. Major crowds. But no amount of crowds could stop me from seeing and enjoying the newly renovated American Wing Galleries, something I’ve been looking forward to for months. A more extensive blog post will probably be forthcoming. Until then I thought I’d share this one lovely work that is on display in the collection. The artist is Robert Reid, an American Impressionist painter who was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and studied in Boston and then New York. As with most American artists of the 20th century, Reid’s bio invariably mentions places where I have also worked as an art model. He studied at the Art Students League and later became a member of the National Academy of Design. By the early part of the century, Reid was focused on mural projects which might explain my attraction to his style. I adore mural painting and large panel works. On my trip to Boston last December, I was in heaven while viewing Sargent’s murals at the Boston Public Library. What I should have done was also visit Reid’s Paul Revere mural at the State House. I think another trip to Boston is in order!
This enchanting painting by Reid is called Fleur de Lis, ca. 1885 – 1900. I think one of the reasons it struck me was the exquisite color (I love purple) and depiction of irises, and the realization that those flowers will soon be blooming with the coming of spring! Can’t wait! I took this photo and decided not to crop out the frame, but it enlarges beautifully with a couple of clicks:
I also recorded the wall text for this piece that might be of interest. From the Met curators, this painting “suggests an analogy between his female figure and the fragile irises that surround her . . . His combining of a high-keyed palette and expressive brushwork with allegorical references reflects American artists’ concurrent interest, during the 1890s, in Impressionism and the universal imagery associated with the mural movement.”
A nice collection of Reid’s work can be found at Wikimedia Commons.
Bill MacDonald said,
March 4, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Yes, it is nice — yet another reason to visit NYC this Spring. Did you see the Renaissance Portrait exhibit, by any chance? I was wondering what you thought of that.
And yes, another visit to Boston is always a good idea (not that I’m biased
artmodel said,
March 4, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Bill,
Yes I did see the Renaissance Portraits exhibit and it was incredible! I wrote a few tweets about it when I was there, but I’ll probably write a Museworthy post for it. it was quite extraordinary.
And I know you’d advocate for another Boston trip, not that you’re biased or anything
Thanks for your comments!
Claudia
Fred said,
March 4, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Reid is not an artist I was familar with, but I like this. The figure almost has a pre-raphaelite quality, but the treatment of the flowers and the background is more impressionist. Nice!
artmodel said,
March 4, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Fred, I agree! And it’s really magnificent in person.
Thanks for commenting!
Claudia
Diane Leonard said,
March 5, 2012 at 12:48 pm
The painting “Fleur de Lis” is one of my favorite paintings – ever — I spend a long time in front of it when I was at Moma years ago — as an impressionist artist, I study Robert Reid for his beautiful women and his colors — thanks for the visit and the great photo –
artmodel said,
March 7, 2012 at 12:50 am
Diane,
Thank you so much! Enjoyed your comments. Reid sure painted beautiful women. I will post more of his work. Hope you continue to visit Museworthy.
Claudia