Lot Details
Lot 212
Frederick Carl Frieseke
American, 1874-1939
Autumn
Signed F.C. Frieseke (lr); titled on an old label affixed to the reverse
Oil on canvas
24 x 19 3/4 inches
Provenance:
Private collection, Washington, D.C.
Frederick Frieseke arrived in France in 1898, after studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League. Enrolling at the Academie Julien, he worked with Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens, also studying briefly with James Abbott McNeill Whistler at the Academie Carmen. Inspired by Whistler's palette as well as his decorative approach toward the human figure, the younger artist turned to paintings of women in spare interior settings.
Frieseke first visited Giverny the year of his arrival in France. He returned there on a regular basis and in 1906 rented a home that had previously been occupied by Theodore Robinson, next to that of Claude Monet. From that point, Frieseke made the artists' colony his principal residence, although he continued to occupy a studio in Paris. His relocation to a community dominated by the Impressionist aesthetic immediately affected his palette, and he abandoned Whistlerian tonalism for more brilliant hues. He continued to paint the female figure, which he depicted at leisure in the boudoir or in sunlit gardens on his country property. Receiving international acclaim for his colorful, light-filled compositions, Frieseke based his signature style - which served as the dominant aesthetic in Giverny for well over a decade - upon his ability to synthesize Impressionist light, atmosphere, and subject matter with the decorative concerns of Post-Impressionism.
In one 1914 interview, Frieseke described his primary theme as: "sunshine, flowers in sunshine; girls in sunshine; the nude in sunshine; which I have been principally interested in for eight years, and if only I could remember it exactly as I see it I would be satisfied." [Clara I. MacChesney, "Frieseke Tells Some of the Secrets of His Art," The New York Times, June 7, 1914, Magazine Section, Page SM7]
He explained his preference for working in France because "I am more free and there are not the Puritanical restrictions which prevail in America. Not only can I paint a nude here out of doors, but I can have a greater choice of subjects. As there are so few conventionalities in France, an artist can paint what he wishes. I can paint a nude in my garden or down by the fish pond and not be run out of town, but I know it is not wise to stay over here too long, for one is then spoiled for either place."
Frieseke's 1914 interviewer, Clara MacChesney, described a corner of Frieseke's property, possibly the site depicted in the present work: "The old fish pond. flows through Mr. Frieseke's other studio, and further on to Monet's. Here he paints the Summer girls lounging in boats, their bright colored parasols reflected in the water, and his lovely nudes lying on the bank under the trees." In evocative language, she discusses one of his paintings, writing of a nude set in a landscape "with the trees overhead and a glimpse of the stream seen in the upper left. The sunlight flickers through the leaves and falls here and there on the satin skin. For sheer beauty of flesh painting in sunlight and shadow no other canvas equals it today. It gave me the greatest enjoyment to see such a rare achievement - the intermingling of mauve and of rose tones with the dazzling sheen of flesh, seen in sunlight, and all against a cool, green background..." [Ibid]
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of Frieseke's work being compiled by Nicholas Kilmer, the artist's grandson, and sponsored by Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York.
C Estate of a Washington, D.C. Philanthropist
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