United States

In this portrait, Duveneck emphasized his sitter’s striking beauty. His interpretation of his model focuses attention on her dark eyes, glittering gold headpiece, opalescent pearl necklace, large hoop earrings, and Turkish vest. Her skin, carefully modeled in tones of tan and pink, radiates with realistic warmth. Duveneck gave this picture as a Christmas gift to his student and future wife Elizabeth Boott, who, in her own paintings, also often portrayed women in elaborate costumes from other cultures.

Eakins made this study of a nude female model while studying with the academic artist Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The sitter also appears in three paintings by the French Impressionist Frédéric Bazille. Eakins’s belief that students should study from live models led to his 1886 dismissal as a professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, for removing a male model’s loincloth in a class that included female students.

Although Wiles depicted his wife, May, as the pianist in this painting, the title does not identify the women. The painting also doesn’t provide information about the specific composition they are playing. Instead, we as the viewers are asked to simply reflect on the act of making music, recalling James McNeill Whistler’s observation “as music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight.”

Although Wiles depicted his wife, May, as the pianist in this painting, the title does not identify the women. The painting also doesn’t provide information about the specific composition they are playing. Instead, we as the viewers are asked to simply reflect on the act of making music, recalling James McNeill Whistler’s observation “as music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight.”

By the 1830s, the term “bohemian,” from the French word bohème, was widely used to describe young artistic and literary figures who rejected middle-class traditions and comforts, engaged in unconventional behavior, and wore very simple, artistic clothing, all in the pursuit of lives dedicated to the higher calling of art. Bunker’s subject—a solitary artist playing a Spanish-style guitar in a humble studio filled with art and books—epitomized romantic conceptions of such a lifestyle.

By the 1830s, the term “bohemian,” from the French word bohème, was widely used to describe young artistic and literary figures who rejected middle-class traditions and comforts, engaged in unconventional behavior, and wore very simple, artistic clothing, all in the pursuit of lives dedicated to the higher calling of art. Bunker’s subject—a solitary artist playing a Spanish-style guitar in a humble studio filled with art and books—epitomized romantic conceptions of such a lifestyle.

This small picture features various domestic details which would have interested art collectors during the Gilded Age. Ulrich’s closely observed image of a woman practicing the piano is painted with a pure and lustrous color, capturing the specific qualities of the room in which she sits. A close look at the vase and roses on the table reveal that this woman has decided to sit down and play music in the middle of arranging flowers—she has taken a break from one artistic activity to engage in another.

This small picture features various domestic details which would have interested art collectors during the Gilded Age. Ulrich’s closely observed image of a woman practicing the piano is painted with a pure and lustrous color, capturing the specific qualities of the room in which she sits. A close look at the vase and roses on the table reveal that this woman has decided to sit down and play music in the middle of arranging flowers—she has taken a break from one artistic activity to engage in another.

This painting fuses European still-life traditions with Asian objects and aesthetics. The blue-and-white porcelain vase documents the vogue for Chinese ceramics that entranced artists of the Aesthetic Movement, such as James McNeill Whistler. The Asian-influenced aesthetics which inspired these artists are especially resonant in San Francisco, which has historically served as a dynamic site of exchange for Asian/American culture and ideas.

This painting fuses European still-life traditions with Asian objects and aesthetics. The blue-and-white porcelain vase documents the vogue for Chinese ceramics that entranced artists of the Aesthetic Movement, such as James McNeill Whistler. The Asian-influenced aesthetics which inspired these artists are especially resonant in San Francisco, which has historically served as a dynamic site of exchange for Asian/American culture and ideas.