150 of the Philadelphia Museum’s works and documentary archives of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968, American born France) are being taken to expositions in Japan, Korea and Australia this autumn.
We, meanwhile, are luxuriating with an Impressionist summer while Marcel is busy. Expressionists and others too.
Marcel despised the Impressionists. He thought they produced eye candy and were facile and did not use their intellects enough in their work.
He got wind of where we were and sent this photograph to us. No message: just the look.
Marcel Duchamp with Shaving Lather for Monte Carlo Bond, around 1924, gelatin silver print (with light interference). Man Ray, 1890-1976, American. Philadelphia Art Museum
We swore our allegiance to him: we, who love the eye candy, greet you.
And then we went out into the heat to savour colourful and delicious candy in the company of the poet, W.S. Merwin.
Marcel’s response, eyes narrowed, was to blow smoke in our eyes.
Marcel Duchamp, March 1967, gelatin silver print (with light interference). Bert Stein, 1929-2013, American. Philadelphia Art Museum.
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REMEMBERING SUMMER
W.S. Merwin, American born 1939
from Garden Time (Copper Canyon Press, 2016)
Being too warm the old lady said to me
Flower Garden, Kneeling Woman With Hat, 1908, oil on canvas. Emil Nolde, 1867-1956, German. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
In the Garden at the Ville d’Avray, c. 1845, oil on canvas. Camille Corot, 1796-1845, French. Private collection on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in the spring/summer of 2018.
The artist’s parents admiring their garden.
is better than being too cold I think now
The Artist’s Garden at Vétheuil . Claude Monet, 1840-1926, French. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
The Gate at Bougival, 1884, oil on canvas. Berthe Morisot, Private collection on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in the spring/summer of 2018.
Bougival was a village west of Paris where the artist and her family sometimes rented a house in summer.
in between is the best because you never
give it a thought but it goes by too fast
Garden, 1935, oil on canvas. Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947, French. I do not recall where I saw this painting
In the Garden at Argenteuil, 1876, oil on canvas. Claude Monet, 1840-1926, French.
Hollyhocks growing taller than the artist’s wife, Camille, in his garden in the Paris suburb
Stairs in the Artist’s Garden, 1942/44, oil on canvas. Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947, French. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Boston Street Scene, 1898-99, oil on panel. Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828-1901, American. Baltimore Art Museum
An African-American artist, Bannister was the first such to win a national medal for his work and this at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876
Steichen’s Garden, 1921, oil on canvas. Arthur B. Carles, 1882-1952, American. Philadelphia Museum of Art
A painting based on the garden of the American photographer and painter, Edward Steichen, made by Carles when he was staying in the French village of Voulangis.
Summersweet or Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra Alnifolia), a bush, native to the Piedmont of the eastern United States and west to Texas.
Late flowering, pink and white flowers, not inimical to shade and so fragrant that one day in August in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, I thought it might be wiser to stop the car until my fragrant headiness subsided.
One Year the Milkweed, 1944, oil on canvas. Arshile Gorky, 1904-1948, American born Armenia. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Common milkweed (Asclepia Syriaca) native to eastern Canada and the Piedmont of the eastern United States
South African milkweed (Gomphocarpus fruticosus) with the most dramatic seed distribution when the balls split and open
I remember the winter how cold it got
Garden at Vaucresson, 1920, reworked 3 times before 1936, distemper on canvas. Edouard Vuillard, 1868-1940, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
I could never get warm wherever I was
Farm Scene, c. 1940. Henry McCarter, 1866-1942, American. Philadelphia Art Museum
but I don’t remember the summer heat like that
L’Ornière (The Rut), 1918, oil on canvas. Joan Miro, 1839-1983, Spanish. Private collection on loan to the Philadelphia Art Museum
The Pool at the Jas de Bouffon, c. 1885/86, oil on canvas. Paul Cezanne, 1839-1906, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Door Yard, white cosmos, 1967, tempera on panel. John McCoy, 1910-1989, American. Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
A member of the Brandywine River artists and a brother-in-law of Andrew Wyeth.
Dahlias, Garden at Petit Gennevilliers, 1893, oil on canvas. Gustave Caillebotte, 1848-1894, French. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
My Summer Studio, c. 1900, oil on canvas. John Henry Twacthman, 1853-1902, American. Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
only the long days the breathing of the trees
Birch and Pine Tree #1, 1925, oil on canvas. Georgia O’Keeffe, 1887-1986, American. Philadelphia Art Museum
Poplars on the Bank of the Epte River, 1891, oil on canvas. Claude Monet, 1840-1926,French. Philadelphia Art Museum
Woods 8, 2005, oil on canvas. Gerhardt Richter, German born 1932. MOMA, NY
One of at least 12 paintings on the subject of woods painted in the same time frame. The tool used in these paintings is a rubber squeegee.
Kurume azaleas, rhododendrons in the woods at Winterthur, Delaware every year
An Atlas Blue cedar on an escarpment, Winterthur, Delaware
Bend in the Epte River near Giverny, 1888, oil on canvas. Claude Monet, 1840-1926, French. Philadelphia Art Museum
the evenings with the hens still talking in the lane
The Monet Family at their Garden in Argenteuil, 1874, oil on canvas. Edouard Manet, 1832-1883, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
and the light getting longer in the valley
From the Balcony, 1909, oil on canvas. Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Untitled, 2007, oil on canvas. Bill Scott, American born 1956. Private collection on loan to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 2017
The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Adolphe Monet Reading in a Garden, 1867, oil on canvas. Private collection on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The artist’s father in the garden of his aunt’s house in Sainte-Addresse near the Norman port of Le Havre.
An enclosure at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. Legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, 1870-1954, America
the sound of a bell from down there somewhere
Landscape: The Parc Monceau, 1876, oil on canvas. Claude Monet, 1840-1926, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Blue Abstraction, c. 1927, oil on canvas. Arthur B. Carles, 1882-1952, American. Philadelphia Museum of Art
I can sit here now still listening to it
Courtyard in Venice, 1877, oil on canvas. William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916, American. Philadelphia Art Museum
The Parc Monceau, 1877, oil on canvas. Gustave Caillebotte, 1848-1894, French. Private collection on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018
Yerres, Allée Sous-Bois Dans le Parc, c. 1895, oil on canvas.
Gustave Caillebotte, 1848-1894, French.
Promised gift to the Phillips Collection, Washington DC
The Garden Chair, 1947-60, oil on canvas. Georges Braque, 1882-1963, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
A painting made over several years at the artist’s country home in Normandy.
The Parc Monceau, 1878, oil on canvas. Claude Monet, 1840-1926, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
The Public Gardens at Pointoise, 1874, oil on canvas. Camille Pissaro, 1830-1903, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
The Public Garden at Pontoise, 1874, oil on canvas. Camille Pissaro, 1830-1903, French. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Fountains at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. Legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, 1870-1954
Eh bien merci pour toutes ces friandises pour les yeux .