Frederick Carl Frieseke
At the Mirror
circa 1922

About the Item

the most important American Impressionists of his age. While many of his contemporaries focused on the landscape, Frieseke gained his inspiration from the figural, and in particular the theme of femininity. His works capture female figures engaging in traditionally feminine roles — strolling in the garden or posed in a domestic interior. At the Mirror is a charming example of the latter, and it is masterfully executed with the artist's deft handling of color. The work demonstrates the artist's remarkable eye for composition; the mirror (with its reflection) divides the canvas horizontally, offering a view of the front and back of the artist's model as she removes her robe. The result is a work that feels both intimate and voyeuristic, allowing the viewer a glimpse into this private space. The soft familiarity of the work is enhanced by the painter’s characteristic limitation of palette, which has been pared down to a series of pale greens, blues and violets that are only occasionally offset by hints of orange, yellow and red in the wallpaper and flowers. All of his distinctive artistic devices come together in At the Mirror, resulting in a highly successful and balanced composition. Executed in 1922, the work embodies Frieseke's mature impressionist style. After spending nearly two decades in the artist's colony at Giverny, Frieseke moved to a farm in Normandy in 1920, and his art of this period concentrated almost solely on the female figure. At the Mirror exemplifies his output of this age. The quietude of the room and the tranquility of the model are poignantly recorded by Frieseke, resulting in an idyllic image that approaches its subject in its most picturesque form. As a whole, the work demonstrates Frieseke's skillful use of impressionistic brushwork and diffuse light. Born in Michigan in 1874, Frieseke studied his craft at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After briefly studying in New York, he moved to Paris in 1897 like many artists of his generation. There, he studied at the Académie Julian, where he worked under Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens. In the ensuing years, he began to paint the intimate views of women in their boudoirs that would come to dominate his output throughout his career. Frieseke first visited the artist colony in Giverny in 1900, and just five years later, he would settle there. The work he created while in Giverny was among the most significant of his career. He and his wife frequently visited Claude Monet, who was a close neighbor, though they more commonly discussed gardens than their artwork. In 1920, Frieseke was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, a remarkable achievement for an American painter. Today, his works can be found in museums around the world, including the Detroit Institute of the Arts, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston) and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid). This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Frieseke's work being compiled by Nicholas Kilmer, the artist's grandson. Painted by 1922 Canvas: 32 3/4" high x 32 1/4" wide Frame: 43" high x 42 1/2" wide Provenance: Macbeth Gallery, New York Sotheby's New York, May 25, 1988, Lot 194 Private collection M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Creator:
Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939, American)
Creation Year:
circa 1922
Dimensions:
Height: 43 in (109.22 cm)Width: 42.5 in (107.95 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Movement & Style:
Impressionist
Period:
Early 20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New Orleans, LA
Reference Number:
Seller: 31-28801stDibs: LU1867785092
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Frederick Carl Frieseke

Frederick Carl Frieseke studied at the Chicago School of Fine Arts from 1884, and at the Art Students League, New York. In 1888, he went to the Académie Julian in Paris, where he worked under Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens, also receiving advice from Whistler. In Paris, he also became acquainted with the work of contemporary artists, particularly Fantin-Latour and Renoir, and discovered Giverny, which he visited frequently during the summer months. In 1906, having achieved a degree of financial and artistic success, Frieseke was able to buy Théodore Robinson's former house in Giverny, which was next door to Monet's. In 1919, he moved to the Normandy village, Le Mesnil-sur-Blangy, where, after a brief return to the United States in 1937, he died.

Frieseke primarily painted female figures and nudes, such as Woman with a Mirror, Young Girl Playing the Piano or Model in Front of a Screen, gradually progressing to intimate scenes of women and, like Renoir, voluptuous nudes posed in the open air, their bodies lit by sunlight filtered through foliage. His methods ranged from a strictly Impressionist technique of separate brushstrokes, to one approaching divisionism, as in Mrs. Whitman's Garden of about 1912, to a broader application of color, as in Ladies in a Boat in Giverny of 1910. At times, he even went beyond Impressionism to a manner inspired by Fauvism, heightening the colors – mauves, blues and pinks – to “exaggerate the effect.” At the same time, Frieseke was also concerned, like Degas, with traditional figure painting, despite often setting them in an Impressionist-style landscape, as in Hollyhocks of 1912–13.

Frieseke took part in many group exhibitions in Paris, including the Salon des Artistes Français and the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, of which he became an associate member in 1901 and a permanent member in 1907. He held a solo show at the Venice Biennale in 1909, followed by another in Rome in 1911, and a show in New York in 1912. He received a number of distinctions: 1909, a gold medal at the Munich International Exhibition; 1913, the Temple Prize from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; 1915, the Grand Prix at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, San Francisco; 1915, a gold medal at the Philadelphia Art Club; and was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

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(Biography provided by Leighton Fine Art Ltd.)