The subject of men viewing women is a constant in the history of art. The male artist viewing his muse, model, or the object of an impossible yearning from a distance, has been traditional subject matter throughout time. Works in the exhibition range from the romanticized innocence of Greuze’s Girl with Cards, to the teasing allure of Tissot’s Le dimanche matin, to the almost naive, folk art qualities of both Lebduska’s Pool and Claude Clark’s Head of a Woman. More traditionally typical works such as Matisse’s Head of a Woman and Ginori’s Head of Aphrodite are contrasted by Ben Zion’s Portrait of a Woman— a portrait in profile defined by angles and highlighted by the sea green background—portraying a woman who is endowed with self-knowledge and pride.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What do you see when you view these works?
Atelier of Jean-Baptiste Greuze | James Jacques Joseph Tissot | Vincent Lorant-Heilbronn | Henry Matisse | Ginori porcelain factory | Ben Zion (Benzion Weinman) | Lawrence Lebduska | Claude Clark
Atelier of Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Girl with Cards, c. 1760-1770
Oil on canvas
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nat Bass, 76.1.1
James Jacques Joseph Tissot
Le dimanche matin (Sunday morning), 1883
Etching with drypoint on laid paper
Gift of Ruth Cohen, 2006.5.2
Vincent Lorant-Heilbronn
Messaline, 1898
Lithograph
Unknown donor, P0427
Henry Matisse
Head of a Woman, n.d.
Lithograph
Gift of Norman Bailey, 74.1.1
Ginori porcelain factory
Head of Aphrodite, (Florentine, c. 1770)
Gift of Jack Linsky, 64.21
Ben Zion (Benzion Weinman)
Portrait of a Woman, c. 1950
Oil on wood panel
Gift of Leon Pomerance, 73.13
Lawrence Lebduska
Pool, 1961
Crayon and graphite on paper
Gift of Abel Burkett, P0236
Claude Clark
Head of a Woman (Princess), n.d.
Oil on board
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred P. Cohen, 71.16
Images by Jacqui Hopely Monkell