Woman with a Fan
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''La Femme à l'Éventail'', or ''Woman with a Fan'', is a painting by the French artist
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
. The work was exhibited in 1914 at Moderni Umeni, S.V.U. Mánes, Prague. A 1914 photograph taken at the exhibition in Prague was published in the magazine ''
Zlatá Praha ''Zlatá Praha'' (''Golden Prague'') was a Czech illustrated literary magazine. Founded by poet Vítězslav Hálek, it was published separately from 1864 to 1865 before it was restarted again in 1884 by publisher Jan Otto, with Ferdinand Schulz, p ...
'' showing ''Woman with a Fan'' hanging next to another work by Metzinger known as '' En Canot (Im Boot, The Boat)'', 1913.Alex Mittelmann, 2012, ''Jean Metzinger, Divisionism, Cubism, Neoclassicism and Post-Cubism''
/ref> Donated by Mr and Mrs Sigmund Kunstadter in 1959, ''Woman with a Fan'' forms part of the permanent collection in Gallery 391B (Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture) at the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, US.


Description

''Woman with a Fan'', signed ''JMetzinger'' (lower left) is an oil painting on canvas with dimensions 92.7 x 65.7 cm (36 1/2 x 25 7/8 in.), representing an elegantly dressed Parisian woman, perhaps Lucie Soubiron, whom Metzinger married in 1909, painted in a geometrically
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
style with a stylish feathered or plumed hat while holding a fan (visible to the lower right). A vase on a table and decorative wall paper can be seen in the background. The vertical composition is divided, fragmented or faceted into series rectangular and square surfaces accentuated by the flowing curvilinear forms of the models garments and hat. Rather than depicting the ''Woman with a Fan'' from one point of view, Metzinger has used a 'mobile perspective' to portray the subject from a variety of locations and from different angles, her detailed face, neck and hat are observed from a succession of spatial angles or locations captured over an extended period of time, resulting in a complex series of profile and frontal views seen simultaneously.Daniel Robbins, ''Jean Metzinger: At the Center of Cubism'', 1985, Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press One of the most accomplished works of this period, ''Woman with a fan'' "anticipates Picasso in exploring the legacy of
Neo-Impressionism Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginnin ...
: :"The subject is again a woman with a plumed hat, but now the girl is a cohesive factor used to break down space and bring the figure and houses together. Here too, however, lines and planes take the forms of arabesques and decorative patterns. The constant use and re-use of Cubist structural devises in this manner suggests that Metzinger never ceased to consider them more than "mannerist" devices, through which reality was filtered but not basically altered." (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1967)Painters of the Section D'Or: The Alternatives to Cubism. Exhibition, September 27-October 22, 1967, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 1967
/ref> Here Metzinger is almost exclusively concerned with principles of pictorial construction: the interplay of horizontals, verticals and curves, with color playing an important but secondary role. Rather than depicting the ''Woman with a Fan'' from one classical point of view, Metzinger has used a 'mobile perspective' to portray the subject from a variety of locations and from different angles. The images captured from multiple spatial view-points and at successive time intervals are all shown together on one canvas.Joann Moser, 1985, ''Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, Cubist Works, 1910–1921'', The University of Iowa Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press. p. 43. The observer now played an active role. The reconstruction of the ''total image'' was left to the creative intuition of each individual. The sum of the parts from which the 'total image' is composed now resides in the mind of the observer. The dynamism of form set in motion by the artist (who chose the multiple view points rather than just one), implicit or explicit within the properties of the work, could be reassembled and understood in an interactive dynamic process.Mark Antliff, Patricia Dee Leighten, ''Cubism and Culture'', Thames & Hudson, 2001 :"But we cannot enjoy in isolation" wrote Metzinger and Gleizes in ''
Du "Cubisme" ''Du "Cubisme"'', also written ''Du Cubisme'', or ''Du « Cubisme »'' (and in English, ''On Cubism'' or ''Cubism''), is a book written in 1912 by Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger. This was the first major text on Cubism, predating ''The Cubist P ...
'',''Du "Cubisme"'', Jean Metzinger and Albert Gleizes, Edition Figuière, Paris, 1912 (First English edition: ''Cubism'', Unwin, London, 1913) "we wish to dazzle others with that which we daily snatch from the world of sense, and in return we wish others to show us their trophies." This ''reciprocity'' between the artist and the public is perhaps one of the reasons Metzinger felt the need to include elements of the real world into his paintings of the period, untouched by the wrath of total abstraction. "The reminiscence of natural forms cannot be absolutely banished; not yet, at all events" wrote Metzinger and Gleizes in 1912. Art, to them, could not "be raised to the level of a pure effusion at the first step."


Related works

File:Jean Metzinger, 1912, Landscape (Marine, Composition Cubiste), oil on canvas, 51.4 x 68.6 cm, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University.jpg,
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, 1912, ''Landscape (Marine, Composition Cubiste)'', oil on canvas, 51.4 x 68.6 cm,
Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
,
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. Published i
Herwarth Walden, ''Einblick in Kunst: Expressionismus, Futurismus, Kubismus'' (1917)
Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 and 1932. History and profile ' ...
, 1912 - 1917 File:Jean Metzinger, 1913, Le Canot, En Canot, Femme au Canot et a l'Ombrelle, Im Boot, approximate dimensions 150 x 116.5 cm.jpg,
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, 1913, '' En Canot (Im Boot)'', oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm (57.5 in × 44.9 in), possibly destroyed by the Nazi regime after the
Degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...
exhibitions of 1937 and 1938 File:Albert Gleizes, 1913, Portrait de l’éditeur Eugène Figuière (The Publisher Eugene Figuiere), oil on canvas, 143.5 x 101.5 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.jpg,
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
, 1913, '' Portrait de l’éditeur Eugène Figuière (The Publisher Eugene Figuiere)'', oil on canvas, 143.5 x 101.5 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon File:Pablo Picasso, 1913-14, L'Homme aux cartes (Card Player), oil on canvas, 108 x 89.5 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York.jpg,
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, 1913–14, ''L'Homme aux cartes (Card Player)'', oil on canvas, 108 x 89.5 cm,
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, New York File:Juan Gris - Violon et guitare - Google Art Project.jpg,
Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...
, 1913, ''Violon et guitare (Violin and Guitar)'', oil on canvas, 81 x 60 cm,
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. It ...
File:Juan Gris - Glass of Beer and Playing Cards.jpg,
Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...
, 1913, ''Glass of Beer and Playing Cards'', oil on canvas, 54.9 x 37.8 cm,
Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collect ...
File:Fernand Leger, 1918, Dans L'Usine, oil on canvas, 56 x 38 cm (22 x 15 in).jpg, Fernand Léger, 1918, ''Dans L'Usine'', oil on canvas, 56 x 38 cm (22 x 15 in), On the reverse titled ''Esquisse dans l'usine'' File:Gino Severini, 1919, Bohémien Jouant de L'Accordéon (The Accordion Player).jpg,
Gino Severini Gino Severini (7 April 1883 – 26 February 1966) was an Italian painter and a leading member of the Futurist movement. For much of his life he divided his time between Paris and Rome. He was associated with neo-classicism and the "return to orde ...
, 1919, ''Bohémien Jouant de L'Accordéon (The Accordion Player)'', Museo del Novecento, Milan


Exhibitions

* Moderni Umeni, S.V.U. Mánes, Prague, 1914 * Iowa City, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Jean Metzinger in Retrospective, August 31–October 13, 1985, no. 38; traveled to Austin, Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, November 2–December 28, 1985 (p. 53 of the catalogue), and Chicago, David and Alfred Smart Gallery, University of Chicago, January18–September 3, 1986. * New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Selection of French Art 1906-1954, February 28–April 9, 1955.


Literature

* Annual Report, Art Institute of Chicago, 1958 * Katharine Kuh, ''Modern art explained'', Cory, Adams & Mackay, 1965 * Katharine Kuh, ''Break-up: The Core of Modern Art'', New York Graphic Society, 1965 * James A. Speyer, ''Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture'', Apollo LXXIV, September 1966, p. 222. * Painters of the Section D'Or: The Alternatives to Cubism. xhibition catalogueSeptember 27-October 22, 1967, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 1967


Provenance

*
Herwarth Walden Herwarth Walden (actual name Georg Lewin; 16 September 1879, in Berlin – 31 October 1941, in Saratov, Russia) was a German expressionist artist and art expert in many disciplines. He is broadly acknowledged as one of the most important discove ...
, Galerie
Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 and 1932. History and profile ' ...
, Berlin, possibly acquired directly from Jean Metzinger erso * Léonce Rosenberg Collection, Galerie l'Effort Moderne, by 1924 ee Verso Label * K.A. Legat, The Hague, the Netherlands etter in curatorial file from Galerie Ariel * Galerie Ariel, Paris, 1953 ee letter in curatorial file * Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, early 1954 ee letter in curatorial file * Donated to the Art Institute by Mr and Mrs Sigmund W. Kunstadter, 1959.


References


External links


Jean Metzinger Catalogue Raisonné entry page for ''Woman with a Fan''

Agence Photographique de la Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées
{{Cubism Paintings by Jean Metzinger 1913 paintings 20th-century portraits Portraits of women Paintings in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago