University of Michigan Museum of Art, Museum purchase, 1960/2.24
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Americas were a largely unknown land with a powerful allure for Europeans wanting to expand their colonial territories and exploit its natural resources. This allegorical depiction of America shows it personified as a female figure seated on a tree stump, adorned with a feather girdle and headdress, armbands, and a necklace of shells over her shoulder. Around her are emblems of America’s fecundity: a rhinoceros (often confused with an armadillo), a jaguar with the head of a lion, a fantastic parrot, and a fruit-laden tree. Staff in hand she faces the European ship at the upper left while her left arm, draped with strands of beads, holds a bowl as if to offer the newcomers the wealth of her lands.
De Vos made numerous drawings intended for translation into prints by some of the leading engravers in Europe. This image showing how Europeans perceived the Americas may have been intended as a decorative plaquette or even a stained glass.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Museum purchase, 1960/2.24
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Americas were a largely unknown land with a powerful allure for Europeans wanting to expand their colonial territories and exploit its natural resources. This allegorical depiction of America shows it personified as a female figure seated on a tree stump, adorned with a feather girdle and headdress, armbands, and a necklace of shells over her shoulder. Around her are emblems of America’s fecundity: a rhinoceros (often confused with an armadillo), a jaguar with the head of a lion, a fantastic parrot, and a fruit-laden tree. Staff in hand she faces the European ship at the upper left while her left arm, draped with strands of beads, holds a bowl as if to offer the newcomers the wealth of her lands.
De Vos made numerous drawings intended for translation into prints by some of the leading engravers in Europe. This image showing how Europeans perceived the Americas may have been intended as a decorative plaquette or even a stained glass.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Signed and dated: E Berman 193. (final number of date has been cut off) On verso: No. 61. On sticker on backing: No 67 / Eugene BERMAN / Venetian Nocturne / The Zwemmer Gallery / 26 Litchfield Street / London W.C.2. On back of cardboard mount: No 61 / AD857
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
The ewer in this drawing is decorated with cavorting satyrs, lions, and grotesque masks.
Subject Matter
The ewer in this drawing is embellished with a riot of satyrs in addition to lions and grotesque masks. Satyrs were followers of Bacchus, making them appropriate for a vessel made to serve wine. The extravagant decoration of the piece was a way for the artist to manifest his skill.
Inscription
False monogram (partially eradicated), lower right: AD (in imitation of Albrecht Dürer)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Two nude women looking at viewer, standing 1/4 turn to the left. Left-hand figure has right hand behind head, right elbow in air; she also has "paper-colored" hair. The figure on the right has hands on hips, elbows pointing out; left elbow a half-inch from right side of image. Right-hand figure has black hair. Two lines, center and on the right, suggest a ground/floor.
Subject Matter
Two frontal female nudes, posing for the viewer.
Label Copy
Felix Albrecht Harta
Hungary, 1884–1967
Portrait of Arnold Schönberg
Graphite on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.112
Ernst Kirchner
Germany, 1880–1938
Two Standing Nudes (Zwei Stehende Akte)
1909/10
Ink with ink wash on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.93
In contrast to Boeckl’s more academic approach to the figure, other Expressionist figure studies demonstrate an extreme economy of line in the portrayal of the human form. Felix Harta, a Hungarian who lived in Austria, presents us with a detailed portrait of Arnold Schönberg—the Viennese composer, painter, and great friend to Expressionists—in as few lines as possible.
In 1909, Kirchner intentionally set out to economize the human figure. He produced hundreds of studies of the nude female, of which Two Standing Nudes is one. The drawing shows how Kirchner mastered the human form through its mere contours. Kirchner later journaled that these nude studies “gave me the power to speak of [woman’s] beauty in the purest image of womanhood....”
Inscription
VERSO. Estate stamp in ink, lower left corner: Nachlass / E. L. Kirchner
Inscribed in stamp in ink, lower left corner: F Dre/Bg 53
Inscribed above stamp in pencil, lower left: K 4845
Inscribed in pencil to right of stamp: 44yy
Inscribed in pencil along bottom edge, to right of stamp: 2 Stehende Akte
Inscribed in pencil, center: C - 1273
Inscribed in a circle, in pencil, center: in. 1155
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Born July 10, 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of George Washington Whistler, a draftsman and civil engineer. In 1842 the senior Whistler was employed by the Russian government to help build a railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow. James Whistler thus spent seven years of his youth in Russia (1842-49). In 1851 he entered West Point Academy but was discharged in 1854, for deficiency in chemistry. He worked as a draftsman from 1854 to 1855 in the U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D.C., where he also learned to etch. In 1855 he left the United States for Paris and, after five years in France, settled in London. He never returned to the United States. He enjoyed great success in his life, as a painter and printmaker, but also struggled for acceptance and endured times of financial hardship.
Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia and at West Point Academy, but probably received his earliest artistic training from his father. In 1856 he entered the studio of Marc-Gabriel Charles Gleyre in Paris and became acquainted with Henri Martin, Henri Oulevey, George du Maurier, E. G. Poynter and L. M. Lamont. In 1858 Whistler met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre. Fantin-Latour took him to the Cafe Molière, where he met Legros, Carolus-Duran and Astruc and to the Brasserie Andler, the meeting place of Courbet and his followers. Fantin, Whistler, and Legros formed their own society, the Société des Trois in the same year. Later, in 1865, Albert Moore replaced Legros as the third member of the Société.
Whistler submitted the painting, At the Piano, to the Salon in 1859. Rejected by the Salon, the painting was exhibited in Francois Bonvin's studio. This was also the first painting by Whistler exhibited in Britain, at the Royal Academy, in 1860. Among Whistler's principal patrons early in his career include F. R. Leyland and W. C. Alexander and among major works he produced at this time are portraits of family members of these two men.
In England, Whistler became acquainted with the pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. He began collecting Japanese art and curios in the early 1860s and also is known to have visited the Salon des Refusés in Paris when many of the Impressionist painters were exhibiting there. Whistler's many connections with contemporary artists and wide interests make him an artist difficult to pigeonhole.
Two events in Whistler's life perhaps shed some light on his character: he sued John Ruskin for libel in 1877 (the fees incurred during the case forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1879) and in 1890 he published a book "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies."
Whistler married Beatrix Godwin, widow of E. W. Godwin, in 1888. She preceded him in death in 1896. Whistler died in London on July 17, 1903.
One-man exhibitions: 1874 London, Flemish Gallery; 1904 Memorial exhibition, Boston; 1905 Memorial exhibition, London and Paris
Memberships:
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, 1884; president, 1886-1888
First president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, 1898-1903
Officer of Legion of Honor, France
Member of Société Nationale des Artistes Françaises
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria
Honorary member of Royal Academies of Bavaria, Dresden, and of St. Luke in Rome
Sources: Groce, G. C. and D. H. Wallace, eds. "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; MacDonald, M. F. "James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995; McNamara, C. and J. Siewert, "Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision." London: Thames and Hudson, 1994; Opitz, Glenn B., ed. "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers," 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie: Apollo, 1986; Spencer, R. "Whistler: The Masterworks." London: Studio Editions, 1990.
A seated woman in late 19th c. dress is shown against an undescribed dark background; she looks directly at the viewer and rests her chin on her right hand. At the lower left is a flower-like form that is the artist's "butterfly" signature.
Subject Matter
Thought originally to portray one of Whistler's sisters-in-law (Ethel Whibley), recent scholarship suggests that this may portray his wife, Beatrix, probably fairly early in their marriage (they were married in 1888).
Label Copy
Beatrice Whistler
circa 1888–94
Drypoint
Second state of two (Kennedy 441)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.411
This charming portrait depicts Whistler’s wife Beatrice (who signed herself Beatrix), whom he married in 1888; Whistler had a number of pet names for her, including Trixie, Luck, and Wam. Beatrix was considered a handsome woman and was Whistler’s junior by more than twenty years. This portrait shows her luminous eyes framed between the curling locks over her forehead and the cupped hand that supports her chin. A quiet intimacy suffuses this drypoint, which was most likely drawn during the early years of their marriage.
A private family image such as this will exist in only a handful of impressions, most likely made for family members and others within Whistler’s immediate circle; only about five of this one are known. Until recently, the plate was thought to depict Beatrix’s sister, Ethel Philip, and to exist in a single state; we now know there are two states—of which this is the second—indicating that Whistler worked on the plate on more than one occasion.
Inscription
On the plate, left center: Butterfly monogram Signed, in pencil, on tab: Butterfly monogram and imp. In pencil, verso, in Whistler's hand: 2nd Proof / Butterfly monogram
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
7.6 cm x 6 cm x 6 cm (3 in. x 2 3/8 in. x 2 3/8 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
7.6 cm x 6 cm x 6 cm (3 in. x 2 3/8 in. x 2 3/8 in.)
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
From the thirteenth century through early modern times, books were the most important material emblem of culture in the advanced civilizations of central Asia. Powerful emperors and warlords built great libraries of works on science (such as astronomy and astrology, herbal lore, and medical texts) as well as poetry, dynastic histories, and copies of the holy Qur’an. As paper was still a rare item and printing had not yet been invented, books were luxury items of the highest order, requiring expensive materials and skilled labor at each step in their making.
This manuscript of the Shahnama, like all other books for the royal libraries of the Timurids, Mughals, and Persians, was copied out entirely by hand. It required great skill and discipline for the calligrapher to sustain the same quality, style, and scale of handwriting page after page.
When the Museum acquired the manuscript in 1963, a decision was made to remove the illustrated pages, so that they could be displayed in protective frames, as in this exhibition. The manuscript is shown open to the pages that originally flanked “Zal Goes to Rudaba,” the third miniature painting in the exhibition. Traces of mineral pigments rubbed off on the page at right.
The language of the Shahnama is Persian, but the script used is a modified form of Arabic, which is written from right to left. The use of gold on several pages and lapis lazuli blue in the design for chapter headings testifies to the wealth of the patron and the importance he placed on this project.
———
Maribeth Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
Exhibited in "A Medieval Masterpiece from Baghdad: the Ann Arbor Shahnama"
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
