Impressions of Women Impressionists

No, it is not a picture of Madame Glinka at the Opera, it is a painting by Eva Gonzales...

I just came back from the Legion of Honor Museum where I went to see this show of four Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, and Marie Bracquemond. I think the museum may have mounted this show in part because one of the major contributors to the museum owns a few of the displayed paintings in her private collection-- I couldn't help but notice that on the exhibit labels. The de Young and the Legion of Honor are kind of curatorially incestuous this way, but probably all museums are. Yes, I just checked the exhibit website and I found this: "The major patron for the exhibition is Diane B. Wilsey. " Way to flaunt the fabulosity of your private collection, Diane!

It was an okay exhibit, but there were too many paintings of women avec babies or nannies avec young children dans le jardin for my tastes. I was happier at the Frieda Kahlo exhibit that I saw last week at SFMoMA, which was edgy and angsty and psychologically interesting, if a bit overwrought.

The Women painters of the time (circa 1870-ish Paris) were on a very short leash socially: they weren't allowed to go out unaccompanied and so they often made domestic life their subject matter. There is an underlying theme of these artists having a way harder time being taken seriously and establishing their reputations than their male counterparts-- but I was surprised that I wasn't more moved by the paintings themselves. Maybe it's just me.

I wandered from that exhibit over into the permanent collection to visit my favorite Watteau in the museum and I also did a pretty cute sketch in my journal of a female bust that I may share in the next entry. (hmmm, there's a female bust in this entry too!)