The Curator's Top Three Pieces That Didn't Make the Curator Selects...
By: Madeline Beck, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Curator
The Primadonna
James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960)
Oil on canvas, undated
J.M. Flagg is known for creating the original “I Want You” Uncle Sam poster that were ubiquitous during the World Wars. The style in this painting is realist and is compatible with the linear realism of Flagg’s other more graphically illustrated works, but is still quite painterly and impressionistic. The paint is not applied very thick and the canvas is still visible in spots. It gives the painting an overall very dreamy, nostalgic feeling, which is enhanced by the vintage style of the setting and garments.
Autumn Storm
George Inness (1825-1894)
Oil on canvas
George Inness’ body of work was critically described as the “bridge between exacting Hudson River school style and Impressionism.” Rejecting the stringent realism of the Hudson River school and the near-abstraction of some Impressionists, Inness formed his own unique style of painting that blended lifelike scenes with an otherworldly quality. In his words, Inness aimed to depict the “reality of the unseen” and to attach the “visible upon the invisible.” His new approach to landscapes set the stage for the rise of the Tonalist movement and the decline in popularity of the Hudson River school style.
At Clermont (Robertson):
Alexander Robertson (1772-1841)
Ink on paper
This is the one of the oldest objects in the MCMA Permanent Collection. Alexander Robertson was known well for his miniature portraits and landscapes, often only measuring 3 inches by 3 inches at most. The At Clermont drawing is composed of simple line work and was possibly a general sketch for one of Robertson’s finished miniature works. Shortly after this was drawn, Alexander Robertson and his brother, Archibald, created the Columbian Academy of Painting, one of the first art schools in the country.
