Frank Tenney Johnson

The Lawless Frontier by Frank Tenney Johnson

1930

Hugues Claude Pissarro b.1935 French Dimanche au champ de course (Deauville) (Sunday at the Racetrack) Signed “H. Claude Pissarro” (lower left) Pastel on card French artist Hugues Claude Pissarro offers a unique perspective of the racetrack in Deauville in this exceptional pastel. The spectators are as much his subject as the sport in this artistic tribute to a leisurely Sunday at the tracks. Following the impressionist tradition of his father and grandfather before him, Pissarro infuses this pastel with dynamic light and vibrant colors. Entitled Dimanche au Champ de Course (Deauville), it showcases the artist's highly distinctive and sophisticated style. Hailing from a long lineage of painters, Pissarro's artistic talents were cultivated at an early age. He exhibited his first works at the young age of 14 and later studied in Paris at the École du Louvre and École Normale Supérieure. A 1959 White House commission to paint the portrait of President...

This lyrical landscape entitled Dance of the Nymphs was composed by the French Barbizon painter Paul Désiré Trouillebert. A joyful scene of nymphs dancing the morning fog, the work closely resembles an important work by the great Camille Corot, which is now housed at the Musée d'Orsay (Paris). Renowned for his unique individuality that toed the line between the traditional and modern, Corot and his landscapes helped pave the way for an entire generation of Impressionists who followed him. Trouillebert perfectly captures the poetic atmosphere of Corot’s groundbreaking works, while also imbuing this scene with a freshness and character that is all his own. Trouillebert's oil on canvas is exemplary of the tradition of historical painting. The work perfectly combines a realistic depiction of the natural world with a spirited romanticism as his idealized nymph figures frolic playfully beneath a crisp morning sky. As a whole, it is a lovely composition executed with a level of skill and artistry that proves Trouillebert's exceptional talent in the arts. Born in Paris in 1831, Paul Désiré Trouillebert was a student of the academic painters Ernest Hébert...

A.E. Herrmann Active in the 1920s Dutch Bali Signed "A.E. Herrmann 1932" (in lower right hand corner) Oil on canvas This enchanting work by Dutch artist, A.E. Herrmann depicts an exotic scene in Bali. In this magnificent painting depicting four Balinese women packing baskets, a vivid background is painted so that it is vibrant with the tropical colors of Indonesia. The stunning melon-hued temple becomes a focus in the painting and evokes a serene and mesmerizing scene of a faraway land. Indonesia and in particular Bali and Java was an extremely important...

Gaston La Touche 1854 - 1913 French L’embarquement The Embarkment Signed "Gaston La Touche" (lower right) Oil on panel A fashionable group of merrymakers boards a rowboat at sundown in this oil on panel by renowned French painter Gaston La Touche. Softly lit and lushly detailed, the work represents the artist’s talent for capturing the gaiety of the Belle Époque. With its luminous coloring and feathery brushwork, this oil evokes the style and joie de vivre of the era rendered in La Touche’s distinctive, mature style. Fresh and airy, the work is a beautiful example of the artist’s skill at capturing the subtle qualities of light and color. Set against the plein air backdrop of a wooded pond awash in the soft glow of the golden hour, the scene reflects the influence of the Impressionists. The subject also recalls works by Manet, Monet and Renoir, who delighted in depictions of modern leisure among the expanding middle class. The scene is an informal one, and its unconventional cropping suggests that the viewer is invited to take a seat in the boat and join the group on their outing. Such relaxed, inviting scenes were remarkably popular among contemporary, modern audiences. However, La Touche's style is singular, possessing an element of fantasy and romance that set him apart from the Impressionists. Gaston La Touche was born in St. Cloud, outside of Paris, in 1854, and he showed a keen interest in art from a young age. At ten years old, he began taking private art instruction, which lasted until 1870, when his family was forced to flee to Normandy amid the Franco-Prussian War. This was the only formal art training La Touche would ever receive. Despite his lack of Academy training, he made his debut at the Paris Salon of 1875 with a sculptural medallion and etchings, and he exhibited his first painting at the Salon of 1881. Although he began his career painting dark-toned realist compositions, by 1890, his style had shifted to what would become his signature — a lighter, brighter, idealistic society world. The artist was associated with practically all of the most influential artists and thinkers of late 19th century France, including Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Émile Zola, who frequently met at the legendary Cafe de la Nouvelle Athenes to share their thoughts on modern society. In 1900, he was named a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur and an Officer in 1909. Additionally, he was well-decorated at the grand...

Pluie a Venice is painted in Hambourg's preferred palette of muted blue-green, grey, and gold with splashes of ruby red, deep blue, and emerald green. The soft colors work well for beach scenes and rainy days such as the ones portrayed in this painting. The impressionistic scene shows multiple pedestrians strolling down the boardwalk, shielding themselves from the rain with colorful umbrellas that provide pops of color and balance the overcast sky. The background contains a three-masted ship and Piazza San Marco's famous bell tower and Basilica. Hambourg uses the minimum number of brushstrokes necessary to portray ships, seagulls, buildings and people as well as reflections on the glistening sidewalk. The brushstrokes in the sky have an interesting texture that is controlled yet carefree and there is heavy impasto throughout. His portrayal is both realistic and romanticized. Hambourg was clearly influenced by the great Impressionist artists of earlier generations, perhaps none more than the one with a direct connection to his family. Hambourg's wife, Nicole Rachet, was born into a family with a large collection of works by Impressionist master Eugene Boudin. Rachet's grandfather was a contemporary and friend of Boudin's, and a collector of his work. In their later years, Hambourg and Rachet donated over 300 canvases by Boudin and other artists to the Eugene Boudin Museum in Honfleur, France. It was such a large and important gift that the collection bears...

Scottish artist John Maclauchlan Milne, RSA, (1885-1957) is a contemporary of Scottish Colourists Peploe, Fergusson, Cadell and Hunter. Like the...

Signed lower left Lillian Genth was an important American figurative painter. She studied in the U.S. and in Paris, under James McNeil Whistler. Genth p...

Signed with monogram lower left * The Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art contains more paintings (nine) by Georges D’Espagnat than any other nineteenth- or ...