The Fin de Siècle: 1890s & Late Victorian Culture

The Spectre, 1900, by Charles Conder (1868-1909).

(via)

William Rothenstein. Parting at Morning, 1891.

This drawing of an emaciated woman was shown in an exhibition arranged by Lautrec in Paris in 1892. It caught the attention of Degas, who sent word that Rothenstein should call on him.

The verse inscribed at the bottom right is a quotation from a poem by Robert Browning. It could be taken to suggest either abandoned love or sexual liberation. Her appearance suggests that Rothenstein was trying to draw attention to the poverty on the streets of London and Paris.

(via: Tate Britain)

John Singer Sargent.

Spanish Dancer (1880-81).

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John Singer Sargent

Nonchaloir (Repose), 1911
oil on canvas
25 1/8 x 30 inches (64 x 76 cm.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

John Singer Sargent’s casual, quirky portrait of a Fin de siecle literary icon: Robert Louis Stevenson…

(Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife 1885, Steve Wynn collection.)

John Singer Sargent: Modern Portraitist

No discussion of late Victorian artists would be complete without mentioning John Singer Sargent. Though Sargent worked mainly in the tradition of portrait art, he was an innovator in the field, claiming many of the techniques of French impressionists and using them to turn the often-staid and stuffy genre into a vibrant endeavor, imbuing his works with personality, spontaneity, and sensuality.

The Portait of Madame X (1884) made him famous, not for his talent unfortunately, but rather for his subject’s seeming sexual audacity. Audiences reacted negatively to Madame X’s (Madame Pierre Gautreau) scantily clad figure and proud, self-possessed demeanor. The failure of this work pushed him to contemplate quitting altogether…

Philip Wilson Steer, Seated Nude: The Black Hat. c. 1900.

It is hard to imagine now that the paintings of the Naturalist movement were radically new in their time. The painters of this movement, though closely aligned with the academic tradition, consciously made a decision to break with the precepts of the past. Their works might not have been as startling as those being created contemporaneously by the avant-garde Impressionists, but the Naturalists were nevertheless challenging the face of art. (via: Underpaintings)George Clausen, The Girl at the Gate. 1889.

It is hard to imagine now that the paintings of the Naturalist movement were radically new in their time. The painters of this movement, though closely aligned with the academic tradition, consciously made a decision to break with the precepts of the past. Their works might not have been as startling as those being created contemporaneously by the avant-garde Impressionists, but the Naturalists were nevertheless challenging the face of art. (via: Underpaintings)George Clausen, The Girl at the Gate. 1889.

George Clausen, Apple Blossom. 1899.

*I have posted this before, but it merits a re-post!

Theodore Roussel, “The Reading Girl.” 1886.