In less than a decade of painting, he rose as a brilliant star among America’s Impressionists. Why then has he been forgotten?
Impressionism
His watercolours proved very successful in a series of best-selling books. But the large mural paintings by which he hoped to be remembered were more of a problem.
His watercolours changed, losing their painterliness and defocus. They came to depict an idyllic, outdoor family life – an aspiration for so many in northern Europe.
Evolution from realism to the more painterly. Then in the late 1890s, city landscapes in which the people are the landscape. Remarkable paintings seen in detail.
Early paintings by this prolific and highly innovative painter who concentrated on totems of indigenous peoples of the Pacific North-west, and wonderful trees and forests.
Some extraordinary paintings exploring transient and unusual effects of light, culminating in a retrospective, and his most radical work of all.
His style shifted from the academic, to Bastien-Lepage’s naturalism, to a distinctive blend of Impressionism and Symbolism. Some wonderful paintings.
First article outlining Munch’s life and work. His early works shocked critics in Norway, and in Berlin brought an exhibition to a premature end.
Gardens aren’t just for flowers, and paintings of vegetable gardens can be just as good art as the most resplendent roses.
His remarkable paintings of figures in landscapes were well received at the Salons. Then came the Franco-Prussian War, and his death after just 8 years of painting.
