FENIMORE ART MUSEUM TO PRESENT EXHIBITION OF JOHN SINGER SARGENT'S WOMEN

THE FENIMORE ART MUSEUM IN COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK, WILL BE EXHIBITING PORTRAITS OF WOMEN BY AMERICAN ARTIST JOHN SINGER SARGENT STARTING IN MAY IN WHAT CURATORS SAY IS THE FIRST MAJOR EXHIBITION OF ITS KIND. 'PORTRAITS IN PRAISE OF WOMEN' WILL BE THE FIRST LARGE-SCALE EXHIBITION THAT DRAWS TOGETHER A SUBSTANTIAL SELECTION OF SARGENT'S PORTRAITS OF WOMEN, A CENTRAL BODY OF HIS WORK THAT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED, ACCORDING TO THE CHIEF CURATOR AT THE FENIMORE. THE EXHIBITION WILL SHOW 25 OF SARGENT'S WOMEN FROM 29.MAY TO THE END OF THE YEAR. THE EXHIBITION WILL APPEAR ALONGSIDE THE FENIMORE'S PERMANENT COLLECTION OF AMERICAN ART HOUSED IN A SCENIC COUNTRY HOUSE IN COOPERSTOWN, A SMALL TOWN ABOUT 20 MILES NORTH OF NEW YORK CITY. ON DISPLAY WILL BE PREPARATORY FOR THE FAMOUS MADAME X, A PROVOCATIVE PORTRAIT MODELED ON PARISAIN SOCIALITE MADAME PIERRE GAUTREAU. THE PAINTING CAUSED A SCANDAL WHEN IT WAS UNVEILED IN PARIS IN 1884, WHICH EVENTUALLY COMPELLED SARGENT TO LEAVE THE CITY FOR LONDON, WHERE HE WENT ON TO SET UP HIS MAIN STUDIO. OTHER PAINTINGS IN THE EXHIBITION DEMONSTRATE SARGENT'S MASTERY OF STYLES, THROUGH THE GRAND TRADITION OF CLASSIC PORTRAITURE TO LATE 19th CENTURY IMPRESSIONISM, A STYLE DEVELOPED THROUGH CONTACT WITH FRENCH PAINTERS LIKE CLAUDE MONET. TEH FENIMORE WILL ALSO HOST A COMPLEMENTARY EXHIBITION OF WOMEN'S CLOTHING CALLED 'EMPIRE WAISTS, BUSTLES AND LACE: A CENTURY OF NEW YORK FASHION'. THE EXHIBITION WILL INCLUDE THE OLDEST KNOWN EXAMPLE OF A DRESS WITH A LABEL, AS WELL AS EXAMPLES OF EMPIRE, ROMANTIC AND CIVIL WAR-ERA DRESSES. THE FENIMORE'S COLLECTIONS OF AMERICANA INCLUDES FOLK ART, 18th AND 19th CENTURY PAINTINGS, AMERICAN INDIAN ART, DECORATIVE ARTS, HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHY, AS WELL AS MEMORABILIA BELONGING TO 19th CENTURY AMERICAN WRITER JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, WHO LIVED IN THE BUILDING WITH HIS FAMILY.
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