Thursday, August 23, 2012

The New Orleans Museum of Art Impressionism

Whisperings of Love 1889 by Bouguereau, Adolphe-William

Whisperings of Love 1889 by Bouguereau, Adolphe-William

Whisperings of Love 1889 by Bouguereau, Adolphe-William

NOMA has a personal tie with Impressionist art, especially because of Edgar Degas’ family connections with the city. Degas spent a few months his mother’s native city of New Orleans in the winter of 1872-1873. In fact, you can visit the Degas House, which is near NOMA at 2306 Esplanade Avenue. During his stay, Degas painted a portrait of his cousin Estelle Musson, who was nearly blind, as she arranged flowers in a vase. This painting is currently on display on the second floor of NOMA.

Degas’ Impressionist colleagues, including Monet, Pissarro and Renoir, are also well-represented in NOMA’s collection. Paintings by their immediate successors, such as Post-Impressionist artist Gauguin, also grace the walls of the Impressionist galleries.

In addition to the Impressionist gallery, Fauves, Expressionists, Cubists, and explorers of abstraction offer one of the most exciting aspects of the collection. Outstanding canvases by Braque and Picasso, Vlaminck, Derain, Roualt, Chagall, Kandinsky and Kirschner, are on view. Complementing these is a choice group of works by their Spanish contemporaries, Juan Gris and Joan Miró.


Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas 1872 Degas, Edgar Oil on canvas






Seamstress at Window (Ravaudeuse a la fenetre) Renoir, Pierre Auguste, circa 1908-1910













Portrait of Mrs. Asher B. Wertheimer 1898 Sargent, John Singer Oil on canvas






9 comments:

  1. Ach, all those over-rated Impressionists! ; ) But they have a Winterhalter; THAT I'm excited to see! : )

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  2. Hi Stephilius I'm not a big fan of Impressionists. but when people hear the big names they go crazy. The Winterhalter is titled "Young Woman in a Ball Gown" 1850

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  3. Winterhalter is my favorite artist - perverse, I know, to feel that way. There's a fellow in Australia who's compiling a catalogue raisonne of his work. He's set himself up a THE expert on Winterhalter and, though I believe he's made some errors in attribution and the identification of sitters, he HAS made lots of discoveries and has great connections. I wonder if he has some idea who the subject of this portrait is....?

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  4. Winterhalter was one of the best mid 19th century realist artist working in Europe. His skin tones and fabrics are amazing! You should send this person a photo of this portrait to see if he can identify it.

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  5. He has it listed and shown on the site, but I don't know if he's attempted to identify the sitter; may not be possible at this point....

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  6. Andrew,
    I have never been to New Orleans. When I go, I'll be sure to visit NOMA. I used to work at the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries. Sargent, Thayer, Dewing are some of my favorites.
    Cheers,
    Loi

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  7. Hi Loi thanks for stopping by my blog. NOMA is a must if you are in New Orleans and remember it is free on Wednesdays. I love the Smithsonian and always go when I'm in D.C.

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  8. I visited NOMA for the first time last weekend. I'm trying to find the name of the piece and artist that was to the left of Whisperings of Love. Whisperings of Love was on the far wall as you entered the room from the main hall, and the painting in question was on the left wall. The subject was of two women. I think it was about the same size as Whisperings of Love. Any chance anyone knows the piece? I tried NOMA's site without success, and while I enjoyed visiting NOMA it's a long drive from St. Louis. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  9. Could I get the artist's name and title of the painting that is 11th from the top? The landscape that's mostly white and pale blue.

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