Henry Adams

Thomas Eakins, The Heroism of Modern Life

Why did Thomas Eakins, now considered the foremost American painter of the nineteenth century, make portraiture his main field in an era when other major artists disdained such a choice? With a rich discussion of the cultural and vocational context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Elizabeth Johns answers this question.

John La Farge's Discovery of Japanese Art: A New Perspective on the Origins of Japonisme

Although generally omitted from studies of Japonisme, the American artist John La Farge was apparently the first Western artist to collect Japanese prints appreciatively, and to make use of Japanese effects in his own work. In addition, La Farges essay of 1870 on Japanese art is the most perceptive of its time in singling out those traits which influenced modernist painters. La Farges artistic use of Japanese effects does not conform to current assumptions about the normal development of Japonisme. Rather than initially imitating the superficial aspects of Japanese art, he concentrated first on general principles of design.

If Not Rembrandt, Then His Cousin?

A number of paintings formerly attributed to Rembrandt, including such famous works as Saul and David and The Man in a Helmet, seem to form a stylistically distinct group that was executed by another hand. Although the author of these canvases cannot be established with certainty, several of them have striking affinities in handling and subject matter with the work of Rembrandts cousin and pupil, Karel van der Pluym.

A Fish by John La Farge

Three still-life paintings of 1865 are identified as the products of a commission that LaFarge received to decorate a Boston dining room but did not complete. The paintings are also prime examples of LaFarges pioneer role in the Western appreciation of Japanese prints and screens. He anticipated French japonisme in working such sources into his own style, especially in decorative contexts.