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| The Garden of The Hersperides | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | M. Louise Stowell |
| Year | 1900 |
| Medium | Watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and ink on laid paper |
| Location | Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY |
The Garden of The Hesperides is a watercolor and mixed-media painting by M. Louise Stowell, in 1900.[1] Influenced by Japanese art aesthetics, mysticism, and Symbolism, this piece depicts the mythology of the Hesperides while referencing Christianity, and potential Spirituality ideologies.[1][2] Originally owned by Margaret Woodbury Strong, it is now a part of the Memorial Art Gallery's permanent Collection (acquired in 2016), and displayed in the "Faithfully Thought Out": The Artistic Collaborations of M. Louise Stowell and Harvey Ellis exhibition in 2024.[1][3]
The Artist: M. Louise Stowell
editM. Louise Stowell, a Rochester. NY-based Arts & Crafts artist was born on June 16, 1861, in Hornell, NY.
Formal Analysis
editM. Louise Stowell. The Garden of the Hesperides, 1900. Watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and ink on laid paper. 17 3/16 x 11 9/16 in. (43.6 x 29.3 cm).[1]
Displayed as part of the "Faithfully Thought Out" exhibition at the Memorial Art Gallery, M. Louise Stowell's The Garden of the Hesperides is a mixed media piece from 1900 from the United States.[1] Measuring 43.9 by 29.3 centimeters, this piece invites viewers into a world where mythological themes intertwine with natural elements.[1] The artwork's moderate size, about the size of a small poster, encourages intimate engagement, allowing observers to closely examine the meticulously crafted details of the seven female figures and the enigmatic central tree, prompting viewers to explore the deeper narratives and symbolism embedded within the imagery.
The viewer's eyes immediately gaze at the upper portion of the piece. The upward pull from the bottom of the piece promotes the visual direction—rocks, soil, and grass cover the ground the women stand and kneel upon. Moving up the paper, the viewer notices the roots of the center tree twist around a collection of boulders. The women's skirts take form; taking up two-thirds of the picture plane, they gather around a central tree, reaching up, readying themselves to pick from its branches, or hugging it in quiet devotion. With the upward movement of the women's arms, the lines created by both the trees, and the folds in the women's dresses, the viewer's gaze is brought to the main focal point of the piece: the branches and leaves of the central tree. Within the branches, a collection of red heart shapes, set on fire with gold-yellow flames, sit in the branches and leaves like fruit, imbuing mysticism to the naturalistic scene.
Though vertically oriented, the compositional structure of the scene unfolds in three sections—horizontally—using the trees within the landscape as dividing lines. The first section holds two women; one faces away from the viewer, extending off the picture plane, with reddish-brown hair pulled into a bun, similar in style to the other six, wearing a brown draping robe or dress with a blue belt. The other woman is seen in profile, gazing into a flaming heart that she holds in her hands. Crossing a thin, twig-like tree that stretches from the bottom to the top of the paper, the viewer enters the second section of the scene. This section features a single woman facing away from the viewer, with yellow hair and a gold dress, reaching up into the center tree that divides the second from the third section while also dividing the overall piece in half. The third and final section takes up roughly half the page and holds four women. One with her back to the audience, wearing a green dress and kneeling in front of the tree with her arm wrapped around its trunk above her head. The following two women stand side by side in profile view, wearing red and black dresses, reaching up into the tree's branches like the woman in gold, in an act of desire for a heart of their own. Behind them, the viewer catches a sliver of the final woman's blue dress and yellow hair as she steps off the picture plane.
The use of line and color contributes to the mythological quality of the piece. M. Louise Stowell's mixing of watercolor, charcoal, and ink creates a muddy and muted color palette.[1] Primarily done in neutral colors, Stowell sticks to a palette of muted yellows, greens, blues, and reds, laying the colors down in their purest form while using black ink lines to outline the details of the women, surrounding nature, and hearts. The black lines, lack of gradient, interaction between colors, and shading flatten the piece, producing a style reminiscent of posters from the Art Nouveau era of the late 19th century and early 20th century.[4] The color palette and lines provide a flat, non-dimensional, quality to the piece, removing it from realism and into graphic arts.
The close-cropped composition of the work creates a scene in which the viewer is—purposefully—absorbed into the crowd of women worshipping the tree. The scene is clustered, raising questions about the significance of the tree these seven women surround. Is the viewer also supposed to worship the tree? The claustrophobic nature of the piece draws the viewer into the scene, pulling one to get a closer look, enveloping the viewer in the scene, blurring the lines of where the viewer's space ends and the garden begins. With little to no space to move within the garden, the only way out is to move out of the picture plane—like the two women on either end.
Art Movements
editArts and Crafts
editThe Arts and Crafts Movement first originated in England during the 19th century as a counter-movement towards the Industrial Revolution.[5][6][7] Many European artists began to long for the time of pre-dominant and dependence on machine production, monotonous work life in factories, and the unhealthy living conditions.[5][6] This longing started a Romanticization of medieval and gothic craft skills and folk culture, generating a Pre-Rapaelite, neo-medieval counter-culture to the era of classicism—Arts and Crafts Movement.[5][6][7]
Symbolism
editThe Symbolism Movement, best described as a movement of the imagination—played a similar role as The Arts and Crafts Movement— a counter to the current state of industrial modernity.[8][9][10] Born in the middle of the 19th Century as a French literary movement, it spread quickly through Europe and America, much in the same manner as The Arts and Crafts Movement.[8][9] Artists of this movement focused mostly on the content of the work—rather than style—to convey their own goals in aesthetics.[8][9] Artists produced dream worlds—imbued with spiritual iconography, biblical stories, and Greek Mythology and figured often accompanied by monsters and creatures of the artist's imagination—that promoted nature as an alternative to the industrial versus a symbol of life or the putrescible.[8][9]
Mythology & Religion
editThe Hesperides
editThe Garden of The Hesperides by M. Louise Stowell depicts the Greek Mythology of The Hesperides.[1]
The Hesperides are the 3-7 daughters of Altas and Hesperis.[11][12] Referred to as nymphs or goddesses, they reside in The Garden of The Herperides—also known as Hera's Orchard—on the western edge of the world, "near the realm of the setting sun".[11][12] Though they are not prominent figures within Greek Mythology, they are often associated with the evening hours when the sun casts a golden light and remain a symbol for artists of the mythical and magical.[11]
Their story begins with the creation of the orchard—a wedding gift to Hera by Gaia, planted in the garden in which The Hesperides live.[11] Due to this, Gaia asked the goddesses to tend to and guard the orchard, for these trees grow golden apples that grant the gift of immortality.[11][12]
For more information head to: Hesperides.
Christianity
editInstead of apples adorning the tree, M. Louise Stowell has replaced them with flaming hearts.[1] It is unclear whether she meant this to be a reference to the Christian Sacred Heart of Jesus or Mary or if they hold a symbol of their own since they do not carry all the iconography related to the Sacred Heart. The Memorial Art Gallery references them as Sacred Hearts, but her connection to Christianity is unclear. It could be a familiar symbol due to her research and knowledge of medieval art and literature.[1]
Provenance
editMargaret Woodbury Strong (1897–1969), Rochester, NY; to the Strong Museum (of Play), Rochester, NY; deaccessioned by them and purchased by the Memorial Art Gallery in 2016.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "MAG Collection - [The Garden of the Hesperides]". magart.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ Ludwig, Coy L. The Arts and Crafts Movement in New York State 1890s-1920s. Hamilton, New York: Gallery Association of New York State, Inc., 1983: 77.
- ^ ""Faithfully Thought Out": The Artistic Collaborations of M. Louise Stowell and Harvey Ellis". Memorial Art Gallery. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ Gontar, Authors: Cybele. "Art Nouveau | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ a b c Ludwig, Coy L. The Arts and Crafts Movement in New York State 1890s-1920s. Hamilton, New York: Gallery Association of New York State, Inc., 1983: 1-10.
- ^ a b c Cooke, Philip. "The Resilience of Sustainability, Creativity and Social Justice from the Arts & Crafts Movement to Modern Day ‘Eco-Painting.’" City, Culture and Society 6, no. 3 (2015): 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2015.02.003.
- ^ a b Triggs, Oscar Lovell. The Arts & Crafts Movement. 1st ed. New York, NY, USA: Parkstone International, 2009: 7-42.
- ^ a b c d Nezhinskaia, Rozina. Symbolism, Its Origins and Its Consequences. 1st ed. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2010: 1-12.
- ^ a b c d Myers, Authors: Nicole. "Symbolism | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ Wolfe, Shira (2020-10-02). "Art Movement: Symbolism". Artland Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ a b c d e Kerkhof, Maup van de (2022-12-22). "The Hesperides: Greek Nymphs of the Golden Apples | History Cooperative". Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ a b c Harrison, Evelyn B. "Hesperides and Heroes: A Note on the Three-Figure Reliefs." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1964, 76–82.