Schjerfbeck in New York

"Self-Portrait, 1912"

Oil on Canvas, 43.5 x 42 cm

Helene schjerfbeck, 1912

Though she is relatively unknown in the United States, I have admired the work of Helene Schjerfbeck for years.  Imagine my excitement when I learned that the Metropolitan Museum was mounting the first ever retrospective in the US devoted to her work. Cause for a trip to New York!  And the exhibit did not disappoint. It's one thing to look at reproductions in a book, but quite another to see the paintings in person. 

"Still-life in Green"
Oil on Canvas, 33.5 x 50 cm.
Helene Schjerfbeck, 1930

The difference is especially notable with a painter like Schjerfbeck, whose work involves a lot of textural manipulation.  Schjerfbeck chose different textures of canvas for different effects. She did a lot of back-and-forth work, putting down paint and then scraping it off.  The result is a painting that is "alive", and that shows the hand of the artist and the process of developing the painting.  In many cases (see above) the raw canvas is left showing through and is incorporated into the motif.

"Red Apples"
Oil on Canvas, 40.5 x 40.5 cm
Helene Schjerfbeck, 1915

Perhaps my favorite painting was the one just below, "Fragment".  As the wall copy at the Met notes, Schjerfbeck would have seen Renaissance frescoes in Italy a few years before painting this painting, and the abraded surface calls to mind the deterioration of frescoes wrought by time.  Besides the surface quality, I love the tenderness of this image, so vulnerable. In person, it practically glows.

"Fragment"

Oil on Canvas, 31.5 x 34 cm

Helene Schjerfbeck, 1904

I love Schjerfbeck's minimalism, and avoidance of details.  She wrote to a friend, "Let us avoid executing so precisely and exactly that our work closes the way instead of opening it. Let us IMPLY."  A woman after my own heart.

"At Home (Mother Sewing)"

Oil on Canvas, 86.5 x 62.3 cm

Helene Schjerfbeck, 1903

The exhibit at the Met closed on April 5, 2026, but you can still get the catalog on Amazon here.  Well worth a look!

Living Vuillard

 

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that I am a lover of Edouard Vuillard and the Nabis.  So you may not be surprised to learn that I had a gestalt "Vuillard moment" this week.

I was working on the needlework project pictured above, and as I bent over my yarn and needle, I felt just like a figure in a Vuillard painting.  Vuillard's mother was a seamstress (a corset maker, to be exact), and images of women sewing appear often in his work. In fact, I have studied some of his paintings by doing transcriptions of them (one shown below).  

"Woman in a Striped Dress", Edouard Vuillard, 1895

And then another connection dawned:  the needlepoint canvas I was working on was oddly reminiscent of the first Vuillard painting I ever saw, at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., "Woman in a Striped Dress".  Do you see the connection??  I guess all roads lead to Vuillard.

And in current events, the Skarstedt Gallery in New York is mounting a Vuillard exhibit next month.  The focus will be on his early interiors--some of my favorites. I hope to see the exhibit and garner new inspiration.  Stay tuned!

 

Iconic Gardens

"Tuileries Icons"

12 x 16 inches, Oil on Cradled Panel

(c) Lesley Powell

(SOLD)

I'm illustrating this post with a new series of paintings inspired by the grand public gardens of Paris.  Two of my very favorite spots in Paris are the Luxembourg Gardens and the Tuileries Gardens. They have it all:  flowers, green lawns, sculptures, fountains, and wonderful people-watching.  Here are some fun facts about these gardens. 

"Together"

12 x 9 inches, Oil on Cradled Panel

(c) Lesley Powell

The Jardin des Tuileries take their name from tile making factories that once stood on that spot.  The French word for tile is "tuile".  "Tuileries" are workshops that made roof tiles, which occupied the area during the Middle Ages.  Catherine de Médici kept the name when she built her palace there in 1564--and so it carries on today.

"Two Pairs", 12 x 9 inches, (c) Lesley Powell

Both the Tuileries and Luxembourg Gardens have a symmetry  defined by broad walkways.  The walkways are not your ordinary sand or gravel.  Non!  They are made with a traditional French mixture called "stabilisé".  It's a combination of crushed gravel, sand and whitewash.  Stabilisé was developed in the 1600's by the great garden designer André Le Nôtre.  It is beautiful to look at, and has a pleasing crunch under foot, but boy can it be dusty. 

"Three's a Crowd"

12 x 16 inches, Oil on Cradled Panel

(c) Lesley Powell

(SOLD)

I especially love the green metal chairs that grace these gardens. The Sénat chairs are unique to the Luxembourg Gardens, and cannot be purchased by the public.  But a close interpretation was introduced in 2002, and is widely available.  It's made of aluminum, so is much lighter, and called the "Luxembourg" chair.  I wish I had a spot at home to put a few of these--a way to bring Paris home.  These paintings are another way.

"Adjoining", 9 x 12 inches, Oil on Linen Panel, (c) Lesley Powell

Final Fun Fact:  You can adopt a bench in the Tuileries--for a mere 5,000 euros!  Check it out here.

And to conclude:  One reason I love these places is that they are virtually unchanged from a hundred years ago.  Look at these paintings by John Singer Sargent and Felix Vallotton, and you will see the same features we enjoy today. The mounted urns and sculptures and balustrades have stood the test of time.  Enjoy!

John Singer Sargent, "In the Luxembourg Gardens", 1879

Felix Vallatton, 1895