Published Thursday, August 15, 2002
YOUNGSTOWN
at Butler until Sept. 8
Herald Staff Writer
The Butler Institute of American Art has been touring 55 of its best-known paintings around the United States, but one painting not included in the show is Winslow Homer's "Snap the Whip.'
The Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Fla., wanted to show "Snap the Whip" with the other works, which gave Butler Executive Director Dr. Louis Zona room to work out a deal.
To get "Snap the Whip," Ringling officials agreed to send 15 of their top works by Old Masters, including pieces by Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Hals.
The Butler has not changed its focus, Zona said; the museum will not start collecting European art.
But, it's hard to talk about American art without talking about European art, he said.
"They're works of art that obviously inspired American art," Zona said of the Old Masters.
The Butler has the Ringling works hung in the permanent collection gallery, allowing visitors to, say, compare Hals' brushwork to Thomas Eakins', something that Zona encouraged.
"The application of paint of a Frans Hals or a Rembrandt or someone from the Baroque period, you can see how American artists were influenced by them," Zona said.
Hals' "Portrait of Pieter Jacobsz Olycan" is similar to Jan Antenisz Von Ravesteyn's "Portrait of Maria Bultel" and "Portrait of a Woman" from the studio of Rembrandt van Rijn.
All three are large but dark and austere, with only the face and hands brightly lit. Backgrounds are indistinguishable, save for a coat of arms in the Hals and Ravesteyn pieces.
Noël-Nicolas Coypel's "Portrait of Madame de Bourbon-Conti" is a dramatic contrast. It is well-lit and the subject is engaged in a mythological scenario with two cherubs, one of which is making an important point to her, while the other wraps a string of flowers around her.
The Rubens work, "Portrait of a Young Monk," apparently completed with assistance from his workshop employees, is small but shows the skill he was known for.
The work could have been a study for a larger work, but is so detailed that it easily stands on its own.
The monk looks suitably pious as he gazes left. His shiny, pink skin emits energy, but the dark circles under his eyes betray weariness.
The other works are heavy in two of the important themes of the day -- roughly the 16th through the 18th centuries -- mythology and religion.
Ludovico David's "The Judgment of Paris" shows the culmination of Paris choosing whether Juno, Venus or Minerva is the fairest, marking the event with humor, eroticism, tradition and bravura skill.
The large work is dramatically lit, brightly colored and sculpturally posed -- Grandma, what large biceps you have. Brushwork is discernible only for textural effect.
"Triumph of Scipio Africanus" by Giovanni di Ser Giovanni (lo Scheggia) Guidi is the oldest work, dating from the 15th century. It looks like a long, elaborate book binding, with some design elements akin to wallpaper.
The painting is dark, possibly by age, as it shows an Army marching through a town, but gold is the dominant color, echoing the gold leaf that was popular for the period.
"Venus and Cupid at the Forge of Vulcan" from the studio of Jan Brueghel the Elder is the least skillfully accomplished technically, but the most thematically rich.
Although the figures are cartoonish, they adequately portray the scene.
The painting is broken into thirds. The right side shows a smoking volcano and a town, with the town folks seemingly oblivious as they go about their work.
The center is the forge, where men make jeweled weapons of war.
The left side shows a serene countryside teeming with bird life.
The painting seems to be saying that one can choose a life of war or a life of peace, and the large doorway at the rear of the forge offers the opportunity to leave the life of war for one of peace.
The show will be up through Sept. 8. Information: (330) 743-1711 and www.butlerart.com
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at
jpinchot@sharon-herald.com