Jacques-Joseph Tissot (1836-1902) was a successful painter and printmaker in the 19th Century. Born in Nantes, a port city in France, he would continue throughout his life to be interested in painting images with ships. His parents Marcel Tissot, a successful drapery merchant, and milliner Marie Durand influenced his interest in fashion and art. He decided by age 17 to become an artist, and by age 20 he was in Paris studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He learned to paint in the classical style. Hippolyte Flandrin, a well-respected Academic painter, was his major instructor. Tissot met life-long friends in Paris, among them Whistler, Manet, Oscar Wilde, and Degas, who became his mentor. He had success at the Paris Salon in 1859 with his paintings based on the popular story of Faust. Gounod’s opera Faust and Carre’s play Faust and Marguerite influenced the works. Tissot’s earlier works featuring medieval stories were considered by critics to be of the old style. Critic Paul de Saint-Victor wrote, “It is sad to see an intelligent and gifted artist betraying his talent with pedantic imitations.”

“Two Sisters” (1863)

“Two Sisters” (1863) (83’’x54’’) is characteristic of Tissot’s meticulous attention to detail. The two sisters stand on a grassy lawn beneath the trees.  The older sister’s white gown has a sheer layer of fabric decorated with laces draped over the well-fitted gown. Her red hair ribbon, red flowers tucked into her black ribbon belt, and black hat with red feathers are well matched. The younger sister’s white pinafore, appropriate for her age, has just the right amount of ruffles and lace.  The younger sister carries a round fancy basket that repeats the shape and colors of the hat. Fashion seems to be the subject of the painting. The sisters appear to be posing, revealing little of themselves. 

“Mlle L.L. in Red” (1864)

Tissot showed “Two Sisters” and “Mlle L.L. in Red” (1864) (49”x39”) for the first time at the Paris Salon of 1864 to illustrate his competency in depicting contemporary images. “Mlle L.L. in Red” is a mystery. The subject remains unidentified. Her red jacket was worn by the Zouaves, a French corps of soldiers formed in Algeria, who continued to wear their North African style uniform. The rows of bright red pom poms caught attention. Her lap and legs are merely suggested under the voluminous black skirt. Complementing her red jacket are the dark green color of the carpet and the red and green colors played out in the wall paper and the fabric covering of the chair. The subject appears to be a reader; she has books and loose papers in her room. The mirror behind her reflects an open door, and a card or photograph is tucked into the frame of the mirror. Charming and mysterious, she engages the viewer in a nonchalant manner. 

However, in 1864, another critic commented that Tissot created “genuine paintings…whose greatest merit consists in the sincerity of their modern feeling.” In Le Grande Journal, Jules Castagnay wrote, “Mr. Tissot, the crazy primitive of the most recent Salons, has suddenly changed his manner and moved closer to Mr. Courbet, a good mark for Mr. Tissot.” 

“Portrait of the Marquise de Maramon” (1866)

“Portrait of the Marquise de Maramon” (1866) (50”x38’’) is one of many portrait commissions received by Tissot. This portrait of the wealthy Marquise is more intimate than the group portrait of the family (1865). The setting is in their Chateau du Paulhac in Auvergne, France. Dressed in a deep pink peignoir, with rows of ruffles, the Marquise stands on a dark fur rug and leans on the fireplace mantle. She turns her head as if to recognize someone in the room.  A black scarf with a small silver cross is tied around her neck. The cross is a small item, certainly placed there by her choice for a personal reason. 

The room is lush. Red velvet drapery hangs from the fireplace and the window. It is evening. The candles on the mantle do not cast much light. The color of the bowl of flowers on the mantle, the same color as her gown, is designed to repeat the color of the gown. The portrait bust calls attention to the family’s nobility.  A ceramic Japanese dragon rising from waves sits on a white glove, the mate to the glove that the Marquise is wearing, another touch that adds a mystery.  The Louis XVI stool with needlework placed on top indicates she is a lady of leisure. Tissot borrowed this painting from the Marquis to show it at the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris.

Tissot, like many Parisians, was fascinated with Japanese art and artifacts, and he was among the great collectors of them. He included a Japanese folding screen and a Japanese ceramic in the painting. English Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, visiting Paris in November 1864, wrote to his mother that he had purchased four Japanese books and on visiting Madame Desoye’s shop on the Rue de Rivoli “found all the costumes there were being snapped up by a French artist, Tissot, who it seems is doing three Japanese pictures, which the mistress of the shop described to me as the three wonders of the world, evidently in her opinion quite throwing Whistler into the shade.” In 1869, French art critic and novelist Champfleury wrote about Tissot’s passion: “The latest original event of note is the opening of a Japanese studio by a young painter with sufficient means to afford a small townhouse on the Champs-Élysées.” Tissot also was the drawing master for Prince Tokugawa Akitake, the brother of the last Shogun and leader of the Japanese delegation to Paris in 1867-68.

Tissot served on the French side in the Franco-Prussian War and later with the Paris Commune during the resistance. After the war in 1871, he traveled to London, where he remained for the next eleven years. He learned etching and drew cartoons and caricatures. He was employed by Thomas Bowles, the editor of Vanity Fair magazine. His work was shown at the Royal Academy in London under his pseudonym Coide. Tissot purchased a house in St John’s Wood, popular with British artists. The writer and art critic Edmond de Goncourt described it as “a studio with a waiting room where, at all times, there is iced champagne at the disposal of visitors.”

“The Ball on Shipboard” (1874)

Tissot believed London would be a source of patrons with money. He became a member of the Art Club in 1873. The member artists were popular with the wealthy industrialists of the day. The Industrial Revolution was changing the economy from hand-made to machine-made. From 1760 to 1830, iron and steel production, trains and ships powered by steam, use of electricity, use of machines in the production of goods, and advances in communication changed Britain and Europe. Tissot’s love of the sea, which he shared with Whistler, his interest in fashion, and his talent for storytelling communicated through his paintings appealed to numerous patrons. 

“The Ball on Shipboard” (1874) (51”x33”) combines several of his interests. A variety of national flags are sewn together as an awning. People are enjoying a sunny day. Many of them are beautiful young women dressed fashionably. Some walk about the deck, some sit in mixed company groups, and others go below deck. It is interesting to note that most of the men are older. 

Tissot continued to paint images of society, and the sale of his paintings added to his wealth. However, critiques were mixed. John Ruskin described Tissot’s paintings as “mere painted photographs of vulgar society.” The writer of an article in The Athenaeum said there were “no pretty women, but a set of showy rather than elegant costumes, some few graceful, but more ungraceful attitudes, and not a lady in a score of female figures.”  Another critic found the piece “garish and almost repellent.” Despite the British Victorian prudishness, prominent art dealer William Agnew, purchased “The Ball on Shipboard” and easily sold it for a nice profit.

Degas invited Tissot to show his work in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. Tissot refused, but remained friends with Degas and Manet and others of the Impressionist group 

“The Gallery of the HMS Calcutta, Portsmouth” (1876)

Victorian society was gender-segregated, which resulted in social and sexual tensions. Tissot represented this tension in “The Gallery of the HMS Calcutta, Portsmouth” (1876) Both women are dressed in white, a popular color choice at the time, and their dresses are decorated with bows and ribbons. The hourglass figure is achieved with a tight bodice over a corset. The woman with yellow bows holds a large fan in front of her face, not looking at the junior naval officer and the woman next to him. Fans were used for secret messages. An open fan at the left ear meant “do not betray our secret.” 

Curves are plentiful in Tissot’s composition, from the curves of the ladies to the curves of the wicker chairs on deck. Even the shape of ship’s gallery, a type of balcony at the back of a ship that houses the officers’ quarters, is curved. Questions about motives and relationships abound.

American-British writer Henry James, whose novels often told the story of marital situations between English and Europeans, described the painting as “hard, vulgar and banal.” Another critic suggested Tissot chose to name the ship Calcutta because it was a play on words from the French “Quel cul tu as” (What an arse you have). The painting was exhibited in 1877 and was sold to Johon Robertson Reid, a Scots painter who became president of the Society of British Artists in 1886.

There may be another reason the ship was named Calcutta. It was a second-rate British ship of the line with 84 guns. Built in Bombay in 1831, it was recommissioned to serve in the Crimean War in the Baltic. It also served from 1856 until 1858 in the second opium war in the Far East. In 1858, Calcutta was the first ship of the line to visit Japan.

Tissot met the Irish beauty Kathleen Newton in 1875, and the couple formed a strong relationship until her death from tuberculosis in 1880. Since she was a divorced Irish Catholic, they could not marry. However, they lived together openly and had a son, Cecil George Newton (b.1878). Kathleen was Tissot’s lover, companion, and muse. She was frequently a female figure in his paintings. After her death, Tissot sold the London house and moved back to Paris. He became interested in spiritualism, popular at the time, and even held a séance.  

“Artists and their Wives” (1885)

“Artists and their Wives” (1885) (58’’x40’’) is a depiction of well-known painters and sculptors attending the celebratory lunch on Varnishing Day at the restaurant Le Doyen in Paris. Varnishing day was the day before the opening of the Paris Salon when artists put the final coat of varnish onto their paintings. The artists and their friends could then view the exhibition privately before it was opened to the public the next day. The painting was exhibited at two solo exhibitions, in Paris in 1885 and in London in 1886.

After the death of Kathleen, Tissot painted a series of 15 paintings titled “The Women of Paris” (1885).  A Roman Catholic, he also turned his attention to religion. He began a series of paintings that he believed told the truth of the Bible stories of the life of Christ. He traveled to the Holy Land several times between 1886 and 1896. He produced 365 watercolor images, of which 270 were published in a book that became a bestseller. After finishing the project, he began a series of pictures based on Old Testament stories.  He died before he could finish the project. 

After 11 years in London, Tissot never surrendered his French citizenship. One of his biographers described him “the most English of all French painters.”

The writer of an article in the journal L’Artiste (1869) concluded, “While our industrial and artistic creations may perish, and our customs and our costumes may fall into oblivion, a painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for archaeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.”

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Italian artist Giuseppe De Nettis (1846-1884) was born into a wealthy family in Barletta, Italy. He trained for a short time in the Italian classical style of painting. At the age of 21, he moved to Paris, the heart of the art world at the time. He was engaged by Adolphe Goupil, founder of Goupil & Cie (1850), the leading art dealer and publisher in Paris in the 19th Century, to create saleable genre paintings. His works were exhibited in the Salons, and he received a Gold Medal and was made a member of the Legion of Honor. He became a success and his work was in demand.

“Japanese Ladies Admiring a Screen” (1870)

“Japanese Ladies Admiring a Screen” (1870) (watercolor and pencil) (14’’x11’’) responded to the interest in Japanese ukiyo-e prints that were introduced to France in the 1860s. The prints were among De Nettis’s early purchases of art.  The patterns of Japanese silk kimono fabrics and the lanterns and screens fascinated French patrons and artists alike. Van Gogh amassed one of the largest collections of ukiyo-e prints. The classical style of painting that De Nettis learned is obvious in his use of traditional techniques of color and light. The composition is pleasing, and a prospective buyer would have enjoyed the lavish kimonos and the patterns on the lanterns and folding screens. The small scale would have appealed to buyers with moderate funds and normal size houses. 

In 1869, De Nettis married Leontine Lucille Gruvelle (1842-1913), an accomplished and beautiful woman, who often served as his model. De Nettis fled Paris for London in 1870 to avoid the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of Paris from September 1870 until January 1871. Monet, Pissarro, and Sisley were among the artists who went to London, and Degas visited his family in New Orleans. On his return to Paris, De Nettis stopped in Italy and was the first artist to depict the eruption of the Mt Vesuvius volcano.

”La Grenouillere”

When De Nettis returned to Paris in 1872, he began painting cityscapes and the people of Paris. La Grenouillere was a floating restaurant on the Seine at Croissy-sur-Seine. It was a popular gathering place for Monet, Renoir, and other Impressionists. “La Grenouillere” (1873-74) (14”x11”) is a depiction of four fashionably dressed women, walking down a stone stairway to engage a boatman to row them across to the restaurant. The day is sunny and the flowers are popping out on the hill. The women perhaps anticipate a pleasant boat ride. 

Having met several of the Impressionists, De Nettis began exploring some of their techniques:  painting outdoors, exploring suggestive brushstrokes, and using the colors of sunlight to create shadows. For example, the shadows on the white dress of the woman engaged with the boatman are painted blue, not gray. 

Degas invited De Nettis to show his work in the first Impressionist Exhibition in 1874. His five paintings, not well liked by some of the Impressionists, were hung in a dark spot. He did not show with them again. His work continued to combine elements of both Realism and Impressionism.  De Nettis’s Paris home became a popular salon for artists, poets, writers, musicians and others, including Oscar Wilde, Alexander Dumas, and Emile Zola. De Nettis often cooked “lasagne alla Barlettana,” an Italian dish that received cheers from the guests, “Viva De Nettis.” 

“Le Place du Pyramids” (1875)

De Nettis also chose to paint images of the reconstruction of famous landmarks that were damaged during the Franco-Prussian War. “Le Place du Pyramids” (1875) (36”x30”) is a depiction of an iconic Parisian location. It was named in honor of Napoleon’s victory in Egypt in 1789. The statue of Joan of Arc is prominent at the center. Advertisements cover the scaffolding around the building. Parisiens going about their daily business walk through the busy square, passing by market carts, carriages, and a horse drawn bus. The sky is gray and the pavement wet. Le Place du Pyramids is in the middle of Rue de Rivoli, near the eastern end of the Tuileries Gardens.

“Arc de Triomphe” (1875)

“Arc de Triomphe” (1875) (21”x16’’) is a depiction of another well-known Paris landmark, under scaffolding for repair of damage during the Franco-Prussian War. The painting represents the resilience of the Parisiennes. It is autumn, and the tree leaves have turned orange. A wealthy couple on horseback enjoy a ride along the Champs-Elysees. They have passed under the Arc de Triomphe. De Nettis was adept at painting horses, and like Degas, he often painted the races at Longchamp. People are about to cross the road, among them a red-haired woman in a bright plaid coat, a well-dressed woman in black, and a young girl wearing red socks. The trio is probably an upper-class mother, her daughter, and a maid or nanny. 

The figures are painted realistically. The avenue is created with casual brushstrokes of a variety of beiges and browns, but also blues. Across the Champs-Elysees, the horse drawn carriage, people, trees, and distant buildings are more Impressionistic. De Nettis’s use of black paint throughout the painting distinguishes him from the Impressionists. 

“La parfumerie Violet, on the Boulevard des Capucines” (1880)

“La parfumerie Violet, on the Boulevard des Capucines” (1880) is a depiction of what was one of the most elegant boulevards in Paris. The Maison Violet was opened in 1827 by Francois-Etienne Violet. Famous for its fragrances, its perfumes received a great many awards and patents for their scents. The studio of the famous French photographer Felix Nadar (1820-1910) was located at 35 Boulevard des Capucines. The rich and famous came there to have their photographs taken. The studio also was the location of the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.

“Breakfast in the Garden” (1884)

“Breakfast in the Garden” (1884) (34”x46’’) is one of De Nettis’s last works. His beloved wife Leontine and their son Jacques sit at a table in the shade of overhanging trees, and they enjoy breakfast in the sunny garden.  The table is set with coffee cups, silverware, a China cream and sugar set, a vase of spring flowers, and a white tablecloth with napkins. In front of the table is an empty wicker chair where De Nettis had sat. Leontine and Jacques concentrate on a curious duck that has come close. Other ducks are on the lawn and under the shade of nearby trees. De Nettis painted a happy time with his family. His skill at painting in the Impressionist style, when he wanted to, is fully visible. 

During his short career, De Nettis painted in Paris, on yearly trips to London, and while visiting Italy. He was named Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1875.

De Nettis died in 1884 at the young age of 38 from a stroke. He was honored in 1886 with a memorial exhibition at The Galerie Bernheim Jeune in Paris. Other exhibitions followed. In1984, he was honored with a 300 lire postage stamp. Since De Nettis chose to go his own way at a time when the popularity of Impressionism was on the rise, his works became eclipsed for a time. Today, his work is considered among the best of his time.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Miriam Schapiro was born in 1923 in Toronto, Canada, to Russian Jewish parents, but she was brought up in Brooklyn, New York. One of her grandfathers was a rabbi and the inventor of the first moveable eyeball for dolls. His invention was used in the manufacture of “Teddy Bears” in the United States. Her father was an artist and industrial designer; her mother was a homemaker. Both parents encouraged Miriam to make art, and by age six she was well on her way.  She earned a BA at the State University of Iowa in 1945, an MA in 1946, and an MFA in printmaking in 1949. 

During her college years, Shapiro met and married Paul Brach (1924-2007), also a Jew and an artist.  During his service in the armed forces, Brach witnessed the horrors of the Theresienstadt ghetto and concentration camp in Czechoslovakia after it was liberated by the Russians in 1945. Schapiro’s Russian Jewish heritage certainly had an impact on her art.  Brach received a position as a painting instructor at the University of Missouri. Miriam did not.

Schapiro and Brach moved in 1951 to New York City where they met the Abstract Expressionists, rising stars of the art world. She was not included in the group since women were not considered serious artists.  She worked at the Parsons School of Design to earn money to pay for her son’s daycare in order to find time to paint. Her new paintings were large, like those of the men, and abstract with broad gestural brush strokes. The paintings were based on black and white photographs of the paintings of the Old Masters. Andre Emmerich selected one of her paintings for the inaugural exhibition at his new gallery in 1957.

Schapiro’s career began when she and Brach moved to California. She and Judy Chicago were employed in 1971 by the California Institute of Art in Valencia to establish the first Feminist Art Program. Woman House was an entire house given to the women. Each room was designed to reflect what women felt they needed to be and to do there. An entire book records the rooms and events that happened there. The results were outstanding. Schapiro’s work was developing in a new direction. She wrote in 1974, “I began to see myself as another kind of artist, as a woman artist, very much connected to those women who had made quilts, who had made samplers, who had done all of that women’s work throughout civilization, who are not honored, but whom I honor, and I honor them by continuing their tradition. The difference is that I don’t work with sewing; I’m a painter and I work on canvas, and I work in their tradition.”

“The Beauty of Summer” (1973-74)

Shapiro began to study the role of women in art over time. She created mixed media art with paint and fabric, quilting, embroidery, applique, lace, ribbons, photographs, even the color pink. The works would have in her words a “woman-like context” that “celebrates a private and public event.” “The Beauty of Summer” (1973-74) is an early collage that celebrates Summer. Flowers abound, and the garden is full, overflowing with joy. It is feminist and unique, and it is engaging.

She was a major force in the Women’s Movement along with Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem, and others. The National Organization of Women (NOW) was created, and the College Art Associations authorized the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA), both in 1972.

She challenged the existing male dominated concept of high art and low art by creating what she called Pattern and Decorative Arts. She called the works femmage, inspired by the “art out of women’s lives” and intended to validate “the traditional activities of women.” 

“Anonymous was a Woman” (1976)

Schapiro began with collages that paid tribute to such women as Impressionists Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot. She began her first Collaborative Series, working with nine women who were studio art graduates of the University of Oregon.  The group was a reflection of the traditional collaboration among women to make quilts and lace.  Each “Anonymous was a Woman” (1976) (30”x22”) (series of nine) was begun with an etched print of a hand-made doily. 

She was invited to lecture in several states, and she collected samples of items from women who attended. She and fellow artist Melissa Meyer wrote and published “Waste Not Want Not: An Inquiry into What Women Saved and Assembled” (1977-78) that listed assemblage, decoupage, photomontage, “traditional women’s techniques–sewing, piercing, hooking, cutting, appliqueing, cooking and the like….”

“Barcelona Fan” (1979)

“Barcelona Fan” (1979) (72’’x12’) was inspired by the traditional hand-held   fan. Schapiro said the fan “reveal[s] the unfolding of woman’s consciousness,” serving as “an appropriate symbol for all my feelings and experiences about the women’s movement. That’s a very ambitious notion: to choose something considered trivial in the culture and make it into a heroic form.” At 12 feet across, the piece embraced the practice of men making large works.  

Fans have found their uses over time in many cultures. Women in the 19th Century used their fans to engage in discreet communication. The fan is an important element in flamenco dancing. Dancing was one of Schapiro’s passions. Areas of paint, fabric, and lace create a colorful and bold pattern divided into 24 radial sections, the whole divided into five semicircles.  

“Barcelona Fan” (detail)

This detail of the outer semicircle provides a closer view of one of Schapiro’s iconic images.

Schapiro in her studio, ”Black Bolero Fan” (1980) behind her, and ”Azerbaijani Fan” in front

‘Golden Robe” (1979)

The fabrics and layered construction of Japanese kimonos fascinated Schapiro. “Lady Genji’s Maze” (1972) (not shown) was followed by “Anatomy of a Kimono” (1976) (52 feet long) (not shown) was followed by the Robes Series. “Golden Robe” (1979) is an example of the larger than life-sized collage of rich fabrics and distinct parts of a Japanese kimono. Schapiro’s kimono, fan, house, and heart-shaped canvases are among her iconic images. 

“Four Matriarchs” (1983)

“Four Matriarchs” (1983) (80’’x30’’each) (acrylic) were designed for the Temple Shalom Community in Chicago. They represent the four Jewish heroines Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. The paintings were then made into stained glass windows for the Temple. Schapiro’s renewed interest in her Jewish roots also resulted in several works depicting Anne Frank and in particular Frida Kahlo, who referred to herself as Jewish, and with whom Schapiro identified as an artist.  Each of Schapiro’s painted Matriarchs wears a brightly colored patterned garment and a unique hair style. They are linked together by semi-circle arm patterns. This design was commissioned to be made into stained glass. 

Viewed in place, the Temple Shalom designs are brilliant. Schapiro’s strong interest in the patterns and colors of ancient Russian clothing come into play here. She has added to her depictions of women artists the Russian Avant Gard artists Popova, Goncharova, and Rozanova, and the French artist Sonia Delaunay. These women brought art into the modern age in the early 20th Century, alongside their male counterparts.

“I’m Dancin’ as Fast as I Can’’ (1984)

“I’m Dancin’ as Fast as I Can’’ (1984) is one of Schapiro’s autobiographical pieces. She worked hard to balance her various roles as a woman, mother, artist, historian of women in the arts, breadwinner, and challenger of male authority. When she was young, she took dance lessons, and her designs and patterns do have a sense of rhythm. She is the whirling dancer at the center of the composition, and the ballet dancer at the right side of the painting. Yet, a striding male figure leads the viewer out of the composition, leaving the women behind. He holds a cane and tips his hat. Miniature portraits of Goya and Van Gogh are included along with signatures of Rembrandt and Picasso on the blue back of his coat.  The red, black, and yellow umbilical cord that links the ballet dancer to the whirling female is a personal statement 

Schapiro danced as fast and as hard as she could, and among the many exhibitions and honors she received in her lifetime were four honorary doctorates and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2002) from the Women’s Caucus for Art.

“I talk about women’s traditional art, the art of women who decorated pots or did the weaving—the great Navajo weaving—the eye-dazzlers of the southwest. Most of the decorative art has been done by women throughout time and civilization. What happened long ago in art criticism was that a distinction was made between high art or fine art and low art or craft/decorative art. And all that craft/decorative/low art which needs a superb sense of color and design has been done primarily by women. So the patriarchal fix in criticism has always made that sexist distinction. What women did in the seventies was to reinvent pattern and decoration as an integral part of high art.” (Miriam Shapiro)

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Born in Shanghai, China, in 1977, Xu Zhen is an internationally known artist whose work is well-known in the East. He is an installation artist, photographer, painter, and performer. His work critiques the social and political conventions of both the East and the West. Xu’s works exhibit a sense of humor, sometimes black, and always inspire viewers to think about their meaning and application to current issues.

Xu received his art education at the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Institute. He was the youngest Chinese artist to show work at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2001. His video, created in 1998, was titled “Rainbow.” In the video, a hand repeatedly slapped a man’s back until it became red.  At the Venice Biennale of 2005, he presented the video “Shouting,” also made in 1998. He explained, “This work was made at a time when people were not so individualistic. What fascinated me as an artist then was the relationship between the individual and society. The act of shouting in a crowd of strangers is a way of showing my own existence. I wanted to create a moment that said, ‘I’m here!’”

“ShangArt Supermarket” (2007)

Xu created “ShangArt Supermarket” (2007) for Art Basel in Miami. The installation was an entire supermarket with products familiar to both Chinese and American consumers. All the packages, created in detail including prices, were empty. Viewers were fascinated and were eager to purchase the empty containers. He set up the supermarket in China with the same results: his empty boxes were eagerly purchased and are now displayed in various locations.

In 2000, Xu founded the non-profit art center Bizart. His team created exhibitions and events to bring more art to the public. In 2009, he established MadeIn, an art creation company. The company’s name was a play on the common commercial label “Made in China.” MadeIn introduced in 2013 the brand name Xu Zhen, making him a product of the company. The following year the MadeIn Gallery was opened to introduce and promote international contemporary artists and younger talent.

“Poseidon” (2014)

In 2014, Xu began the series Eternity. “Poseidon” (2014) (79’’x87’’x16’’), exhibited here on the beach at De Haan, Belgium, duplicates the classical bronze statue of Poseidon by Praxiteles (460 BCE) discovered at the bottom of the sea off Cape Artemision in Greece. The original bronze statue is 81” tall.  When exhibited outdoors, the statue’s outstretched arms became resting places for pigeons. The birds are not pigeons; they are painted Peking ducks. Peking Duck is a popular dish in America and China. Special preparation includes inflating the duck skin for roasting, the result a crispy skin and tender meat. 

“European Thousand Arms Classical Sculpture” (2015)

“European Thousand Arms Classical Sculpture” (2015) (10’x48’x15’) also is part of the Eternity series. It is composed of reproductions of famous Greek sculptures lined up behind the Goddess Athena. She wears a Greek warrior helmet since she is the Goddess of War.  Her necklace is made of the snakes cut from Medusa’s head, and beside her is a large snake, mouth open, ready to strike. Behind her, lines of statues of Apollo, Zeus, Poseidon, Hercules, and other Greek heroes, many with their arms extended.

This work was influenced by the most popular Chinese Mahayana Buddhist figure of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin. She is a bodhisattva, one who delays entering Nirvana to remain on Earth in order to help others. Her thousand hands have eyes in their palms, representing her ability to see suffering and identify each person’s need. She is the bodhisattva of Compassion. The thousand arms of the classical figures are positioned in the manner of images of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin. East meets West, but the European lack of understanding of Chinese Buddhism, may lead to misunderstanding. For example, much of the male Greek sculpture may be interpreted as a massive fighting army to do great harm, not to fight evil and misery as Guanyin does. Xu hopes to promote understanding.  

“Heavenly Guardian, Sleeping Muse” (2016)

In “Heavenly Guardian, Sleeping Muse” (2016) (93’’x40’’x24’’), another image from the Eternity series, Xu combines a Chinese Tang Tomb Guardian figure from the 8th Century with the 20th Century sculpture “Sleeping Muse” (1910) by Brancusi. Tomb Guardians were powerful and ferocious looking. They were intended to frighten and defeat evil spirits who wanted to disturb the dead.

The Tang figure is made of terracotta, as are many of the originals, and it is larger than most original tomb figures. Brancusi’s original “Muse” is cast bronze (6.5”x11”x8”). Xu’s is considerably larger and is raised high into the air by the tomb guardian. The combination of the figures represents the contrast between power and peace. The use of clay and bronze, represents a contrast between in the value of the materials. The “Sleeping Muse” is passive and meditative. The Tang figure is about force and protection. They initially do not seem to belong together, but they form a unique whole that inspires thought.

 Xu’s explanation makes sense: “When I play with cultural elements, they don’t carry the same weight as they do for others. It’s not a lack of respect but I feel I can be audacious with such forms because I have a greater distance from them.” 

“Hello” (2018-19)

“Hello” (2018-19) (stainless steel, Styrofoam, polyurethane, silicone, paint, and a robotic mechanism) is a toppled Corinthian column like those found in many Greek and Roman temples. Xu has not broken the shaft into pieces; they remain connected and curl around like the body of a snake. Snakes play a significant role in Greek mythology. They are symbols of knowledge, healing, and connection between the Earth and the underworld. The column’s capital, with its wide mouth, is mechanically engineered to follow the viewer. Surprise!  Xu explains, “Here, I’ve used a traditional thing and renewed it in some way. It also has a threatening aspect, like the imperial civilizations in the Greek tradition, of a power system over you, a bit like a shadow. It’s interesting because, in the West, such columns would be used in official buildings such as courthouses and banks, whereas they most often appear in front of public baths in China, or places where you can sing karaoke.”

“Hello” (2022)

“Hello” has been in several exhibitions. Stanford University commissioned in 2022 a fifteen-foot bronze piece for the inaugural exhibition of the Stanford Plinth Project, a new sculpture garden, located in Meyer Green, a 2.45-acre open space. “Hello” sits on a plinth among tall cedar trees, greeting visitors. 

“Alien I” (2017)

“Alien I” (2017) (31’x28’x47’) is composed of 28 kneeling figures in a wire caged prison setting. The pose of the figures in derived from Eastern Han Dynasty kneeling servant figures dating from c. 206 CE. The color of the robes immediately suggests today’s orange prison uniforms. The black head gear makes the figures anonymous and calls to mind the black head coverings worn by prisoners in detention centers.  The viewer is in some way the prison guard. Xu mentions the constant media coverage of such images today, and the desensitization of people about oppression.

“St Peter’s Basilica” (2023)

Xu began in 2023 a series of sculptures he called Tools. Using modern day commonly used commercial items, he created sculptures. “St. Peter’s Basilica” (71”x71”x41″) is one of several significant Catholic churches depicted in the series.  Filled hand sanitizer bottles replace the domes of St Peter’s. Viewers are encouraged to use the hand sanitizer. Xu combines the great items of history and art with one of the most commonly used products today. 

“Roman Columns and Meat Grinder” (2024)

In “Roman Columns and Meat Grinder” (2024) (35’x16’x12’) Xu uses once again a Roman Corinthian column, symbolic as the stabilizer of Western culture. Romans assimilated the knowledge of Greek philosophy, literature, and art into their system of law and administration, creating the core of Western culture. This time the column is put through a meat grinder which instead of mincing it into little pieces, produces multiple columns. 

In 2019 an interviewer asked Xu the question: “Many of your works walk a line between humor and darkness, between hope and threat. What draws you to this way of making?” Xu responded, “Perhaps it’s related to my own temperament. When I create a work, I’m always trying to find some kind of contradiction. I don’t like it to be completely white or black. When people look at my works, they sometimes try to find the black part or the white part. Through that, there’s a kind of democratic aspect, a kind of balance you can find in it. After creating work for twenty years, I wonder if it might also be related to the Chinese tradition of the yin and yang. While my work might appear direct, when you really try to understand it, I hope the meaning becomes a bit more blurry in the end.”

NOTE: Xu’s sculptures are composed of a variety of materials depending on the need. Among them are glass fiber, reinforced concrete, marble grains, limestone, chalk, artificial stone, sandstone grains, steel, and mineral pigments. The process includes scanning the original sculptures, working with 3D software, printing parts, and hand molding and casting. 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Patricia Tobacco Forrester was born in 1940 in North Hampton, Massachusetts, and she died in 2011 in Washington, DC. When her grandfather, bearing the last name Tobczynski, arrived at Ellis Island, the authorities changed it to Tobacco. The family had a small farm where they raised asparagus, cucumbers, and tobacco. Patricia’s interest in art began early in life. She graduated (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1962 from Smith College in Massachusetts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in printmaking and sculpture. A teacher and major influence was Leonard Baskin (1922-2000), a well-known American sculptor and printmaker. She went on to earn a BFA (1963) and an MFA (1965) from Yale University. She married and divorced Alex Forrester in the 1960s.  

“Under Cypresses” (1967)

Forrester received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967 and produced a series of etchings. “Under Cypresses” (1967) (18”x24”) (etching) is in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, DC. Beginning with her earliest works, she exhibited an interest in nature observed up-close and in minute detail. She was fascinated by the massive cypress trunk with its twisting branches, rough bark patterns, and the sea grasses growing around it. Her work would continue to show the amazing twists, turns, and textures of nature. 

She met and married Paul Ekman in San Francisco. Ekman became an international expert on body language, human emotions, and psychology. They traveled to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. He studied the people, and she studied and painted the landscape. She continued to live in San Francisco after her divorce from Ekman in the late 1970s. In addition to making art, she served from 1972 until 1981 on the faculty of the Californian College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. She then moved east, teaching at Kent State University in Ohio (1981) and the Art Institute of Chicago (1982). She resided in Washington, DC, in 1982 until her death in 2011.

Most of Forrester’s work covered in this article can be found in local museums and collections. 

“Monjas Blancas at the Volcana’’ (1988)

Forrester’s travels to exotic locations continued throughout her life. Her chosen medium was watercolor. Watercolor paintings in general tended to be small in scale. However, Forrester chose the unexpected size of 40” by 60” for her watercolors. They were a great success, bringing her recognition, exhibitions, commissions, and sales.

Her love of nature determined her subject matter, and her love of watercolor determined her media. “Monjas Blancas at the Volcana’’ (White Nuns at the Volcano) (1988) (40”x60”) (watercolor) was painted in Guatemala. Seated on the ground, with her large 40”x60” watercolor paper, she painted en plein air, a tremendously difficult feat that produced remarkable paintings. 

“Avila, Caracas” (1990)

“Avila, Caracas” (1990) (40”x60”) (watercolor) (Easton Museum of Art, Easton MD) was painted in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, set in the Andes mountains.  At El Avila National Park the mountains rise 9072 feet above the City. With her usual attention to minute detail, Forrester painted a variety of flowering plants, grasses, trees, and shrubs, with rocky cliffs in the distance. Avila Park is a popular hiking destination. 

Forrester was elected in 1992 to the National Academy of Design in New York City as an associate member, and in 1994 she became a full Academician. The National Academy of Design is the premier professional honorary organization for American artists and architects.  Academy members nominate and elect their peers, and the number of members is limited to just 450. Artists cannot apply for membership.

“Barbados” (1995)

“Barbados” (1995) (40”x60”) (watercolor) (National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC) is an example of why Forrester frequently called her work abstract because of the “accidental nature of watercolor.” Her images are not pre-planned but evolve as she paints.  Barbados, one of the many island nations off the north coast of South America, has a rich environment of tropical plants. A little bit of the sky and the blue waters of the Atlantic are included in the composition. The on-line images of the paintings by Forrester do not capture the complexity and uniqueness of her work. The following two details may help.

“Barbados” (detail lower left corner)

Forrester uses two different watercolor techniques. Dry watercolor applies paint to the dry surface of the paper, which results in crisper edges of images. Most notable here are the dark background areas on which the flowers are painted. The wet-on-wet technique requires the paper to be wet when the paint is applied. This is where surprises can occur, as the watercolor paint spreads uncontrolled across the wet surface. The effect can be seen in the soft edges of the paint on the large red blossom. Forrester appreciated the surprise effect, and she embraced the technique in her paintings.

“Barbados” (detail middle left)

In this detail, the light branches form an interesting crisscross composition, while patterns representing leaves and flowers dance in front of the dark background. The whole composition of the painting works, but often another composition is contained in a single detail of a Forrester painting. 

“Great Blue Divide”

A prolific painter and sometime printmaker, Forrester did not lack subject matter or commissions during the 29 years she resided in Washington, DC.  She found inspiration in the many parks, the National Arboretum, and other beautiful places nearby in Maryland and Virginia.  “Great Blue Divide” (40”x60”) (date unknown) was painted at Great Falls National Park, along the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Forrester traveled from Washing back to San Francisco and the Islands, particularly during the winter months. Her favorite destination was Costa Rica, where health issues developed that eventually led to her death. 

Forrester’s work can be found in Hillwood Estates Museum and Gardens, the White House, the Executive Office Building, the Washington Convention Center, the US Department of State, and private residences. She donated a large collection of her work to the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. Her work also is included in the collections of The Brooklyn Museum in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the British Museum in London, among others. 

Forrester once remarked about the National Arboretum, “I think I know almost every tree and flower there.”

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Since ancient times, poppies have been used for a variety of purposes and given a variety of symbolic meanings. Red and white poppies were described in ancient documents. The flowers play a part in many cultures because they grow in both the heat and dryness of deserts and in colder climes. Perhaps the earliest record of poppies was created by the Sumerians (c. 6000-3500 BCE) in Mesopotamia, now Southern Iraq. Their civilization was located along the Silk Road. The use of red poppies for opium spread through the known world. The Egyptians associated opium poppies with Osiris, God of Death, the Underworld, and agriculture. Osiris was killed and then was resurrected. Poppies became symbols of death, regeneration, and eternal life. Ancient Japan and China made similar connections. 

Morpheus, the God of dreams and sleep in Greek myths, was associated with morphine. Nyx was the Goddess of Night, and her twin sons were Hypnos, God of slumber, and Thanatos, God of death. The Roman poet Virgil described in the Aeneid (25 BCE) the death of Euryalus: “His lovely limbs and shoulders/ Poured streams of blood; his neck sank limply down:/ So, cut off by a plow, a purple flower/ Faints away into death; so poppies bend/ Their weary necks when rain weighs down their heads.” 

Opium also was used in witchcraft.  A modern example is in Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900): Dorothy and her companions fell asleep as they ran through the poppy field toward Oz. Beyond opium, morphine, and later heroine, poppy seed oil was used in cooking for its carbohydrates, calcium, and protein. It also is used in some paint, varnish, and cosmetics.

“The Poppy Fields near Argenteuil” (1873)

Monet painted “The Poppy Fields near Argenteuil” (1873) (20”x26’’) when he returned to France after going to London to avoid the Franco-Prussian war. He and his family settled in Argenteuil, a small town seven miles north of Paris. Monet was developing his “plein air” and Impressionist style, and he found much to see and paint in the local landscape. The poppy field provided him the opportunity to use the complementary colors found in sunlight. Set against the green leaves and grass, the red poppies are abundant. They grow approximately three feet tall, and the blooms are often six inches in diameter. The child in the foreground is waist deep in the flowers. Monet suggests the breeze in the poppy field with loose brush strokes rather than precise ones. 

He uses the bright colors of the poppy field to create a diagonal aspect. The other side of the field is painted in horizontal patches of muted tones of yellow and light purple and light blue and orange, pairs of complementary colors. The composition of Madame Monet’s black jacket, hair, and hat bow draw the viewer’s attention to the dark green trees along the horizon and to the second mother and child placed at the hilltop. Madame Monet’s distinctive blue green parasol under the blue sky and scudding white clouds suggests a sunny and slightly breezy day. The painting was included in the first Impressionist Exhibition in1874.

“Poppy Field near Vetheuil” (1879)

“Poppy Field near Vetheuil” (1879) (29’’x36’’) was painted when Monet rented a small house in Lavacourt, across the Seine from Vetheuil. He also had a houseboat, a floating studio, that allowed him to move up and down the Seine and to paint the landscapes as he saw them. He painted 15 scenes of Vetheuil from the balcony of his house. This view of the poppy field most likely was from the boat. His loose brush work and colors in the sky give the overall impression of a coming storm. Monet found seasonal and daily weather conditions interesting to explore in paint. The colors of the red poppies, green landscape, and white buildings of Vetheuil are intense. There is a chill in the air. The Seine at Vetheuil was a busy commercial shipping lane. Monet chose to present the town and the area as the small farming community it was. 

“Vase with Red Poppies” (1886)

Vincent Van Gogh painted seven different paintings of poppies between 1888 and 1890. “Vase with Red Poppies” (1886) (22’’x18’’) is one of Van Gogh’s early paintings, made while he was in Paris. The artist had little money and could not pay for models, so still-life painting was more practical. Red poppies were readily available in the large fields in southern France, and they were among the cheaper flowers. Van Gogh renders the poppies in a more realistic manner than Monet. The viewer cannot count the four to six petals on each flower. The black centers formed by stamen in a whorl are depicted, and the number of unopened buds show the large number of poppies that were available. This early Van Gogh piece does not yet contain the exuberant brush work familiar to viewers, except in the swirling blue background. 

Van Gogh was after the brilliance of color, and he achieved it. In a letter to fellow artist Horace Livens, he wrote, “And now for what regards what I myself have been doing, I have lacked money for paying models else I had entirely given myself to figure painting. But I have made a series of colour studies in painting, simply flowers, red poppies, blue cornflowers, and myositis, white and rose roses, yellow chrysanthemums-seeking oppositions of blue with orange, red and green, yellow, and violet…Trying to render intense colour and not a grey harmony…So as we said at the time: in colour seeking life the true drawing is modelling with colour.”

“Field with Poppies” (1889)

Van Gogh painted “Field with Poppies” (1889) (23”x36’’) in June, one month after he voluntarily signed himself into the St Paul Asylum in St Remy, France.  The Asylum was a former monastery, and it was surrounded by gardens, olive groves, cyprus trees, and poppies. With his brother Theo’s help, he was assigned two adjoining rooms on the first floor, one room to serve as his bedroom and the other his studio. Van Gogh was not allowed outside the asylum grounds during the early months of his confinement, and the windows were barred. His mental and physical health were unpredictable. When he felt better, his paintings were rich with vibrant colors. His brush work varied from spiral as in the foreground to the more controlled vertical and horizontal strokes as can be seen in the background. 

Letters to family and friends were sometimes positive and sometimes negative, as unpredictable as his health. At one point he wrote, “I feel happier here with my work than I could be outside. By staying here a good long time, I shall have learned regular habits and in the long run the result will be more order in my life.”[ Van Gogh’s numerous paintings included “Starry Night” (1889) and his Iris paintings. Theo reported that Vincent’s work was becoming more appreciated.

“Flanders Field” (1921)

The illustrated manuscript “Flanders Field” (1921) (22”x30’’) was inspired by the famous poem by John McCrae for a limited edition of his poems In Flanders Field and Other Poems, published in 1921. McCrea was a Montreal surgeon and a poet. He served as an officer and a surgeon in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I. His first battle was the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium, where his friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed. Since the chaplain was unavailable, McCrea led the burial ceremony on May 3, 1915. He noticed how red poppies grew quickly in the soil that was heavy with lime as a result of the bombing. Few other plants could grow in that soil. At the grave the day after the funeral, McCrae wrote down a few lines that would become the beginning of the poem. Sitting in the back of an ambulance the following day, he finished the poem. Legend states that he threw the poem away because he was not satisfied with it, but his fellow soldiers rescued it. McCrae’s poem was published anonymously by the London magazine Punch on December 8, 1915.

In Flanders Field (1921) was illuminated by Ernest Clegg (1876-1954). A trained artist from Birmingham, England, he worked for Tiffany and Co. in New York City as a heraldry designer and illustrator.  When WWI broke out, he returned to England and became a Captain in the Seventh Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. He served as a commander on the Western Front. His illustration depicts the first verse of McCrea’s poem. 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

Ruth Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, California, and she died in San Francisco in 2013. Her parents were immigrants from Japan. They worked on a truck farm picking seasonal crops until 1942, when the family was placed in Japanese internment camps. Her father was interned in a separate camp. The family did not see him for six years. 

Asawa became interested in art in elementary school, and her third-grade teacher encouraged her. She won first prize in the school competition. She and her six siblings attended elementary school and Japanese school on Saturdays, where she learned calligraphy using brush and ink. At the internment camp, located at the Santa Anita Racetrack, Asawa studied drawing with three Walt Disney Studio artists, also Japanese.

Asawa and her family later were transferred to the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas, where she finished high school in 1943. She was awarded a Quaker scholarship to attend Milwaukee State Teachers College. She completed the course work; however, she was not allowed to student teach and Wisconsin withheld her teaching certificate because she was Japanese. The College finally awarded in 1998 the degree she had earned all those years ago.

Asawa attended Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina, from 1945 until 1949.  Among her instructors were Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Jacob Lawrence, Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, and Joseph and Anni Albers, all major influencers on the direction of American arts, dance, music, painting, and sculpture after the War. 

Ruth Asawa Commemorative United States Postage Stamp (2020)

Ruth Asawa created wire sculptures beginning in the 1950’s. The Ruth Asawa Commemorative United States Postage Stamp (2020) is a depiction of a relatively narrow range of her looped wire sculptures. She did not name her pieces, only numbered them. Information about the dates and measurements is not readily available. This forever postage stamp provides ten examples of Asawa’s looped wire sculptures. The hanging pieces range in length from three feet to twelve feet.

In the summer of 1947, while on a trip to visit Joseph Albers during his sabbatical in Toluca, Mexico, Asawa was inspired by a crocheting technique used to make baskets with galvanized wire: “I was interested in it because of the economy of a line, making something in space, enclosing it without blocking it out. It’s still transparent. I realized that if I was going to make these forms, which interlock and interweave, it can only be done with a line because a line can go anywhere.” The sculptures are looped wire constructions and are numbered, not titled. At her first exhibition at the Peridot Gallery in New York City, Asawa described her sculptures as a “woven mesh not unlike medieval mail. A continuous piece of wire, forms envelop inner forms, yet all forms are visible (transparent). The shadow will reveal an exact shape.” Asawa’s childhood drawings were lines that repeated forms and were evocative of flowers and plants.

“Untitled” (Ruth Asawa on bed kneeling inside looped wire sculpture) (1957)

“Untitled” (Ruth Asawa on bed kneeling inside looped wire sculpture) (1957) (7.75”x7.5’’) is a gelatine silver print photograph by Imogene Cunningham, one of America’s best-known women photographers. Cunningham and Asawa met in 1950, and they became fast friends despite their 43-year age difference. Cunningham’s photographs add to the public’s understanding of Asawa’s process. She experimented with several types of wire, including the more common copper and brass, but also bailing wire. The looped wire sculptures were very large, very intricate, and required a major effort to construct.

Asawa married architect Albert Lanier in 1949, and they had six children. Her internment had taught her to persevere despite obstacles, as did the prejudice against the Japanese people when she was denied the degree she had earned. At Black Mountain College she had experienced equality of treatment on the campus, but not in the town. The newly married couple moved to San Francisco’s Noe Valley because interracial marriage was illegal in all states but California and Washington. Asawa triumphed. She was the subject of a feature article in Life Magazine in 1954. Her work had become a commercial success early in the 1960’s. 

“Desert Flower” (1962)

Asawa became interested in a new technique called tied wire sculpture in 1962, when a friend brought her a desert plant from Death Valley.  She tried to draw it: “It was such a tangle that I had to construct it in wire in order to draw it…I began to see all the possibilities, opening up the center and then making it flat on the wall, and putting it on a stand.” She experimented with new branching forms and with some of the Mexican wire crocheting forms. “Desert Flower” (1962) is geometric with a core at the center, similar to the Mexican star and sun patterns.  Asawa bundled multiple pieces of wire and tied them before shaping them into the branch forms. 

“Tied Wire Sculpture” (1960’s)

Asawa then became interested in cleaning the wire. She was turned down by several industrial plating companies because they considered her work to be insignificant and feminine. She recalled that C&M Plating “took pity on me and were willing to try new things.” After much experimenting, the company was able to electroplate the wire so that it would not rust or otherwise deteriorate. At the center of “Tied Wire Sculpture” (1960’s) is a star pattern. Asawa made the tied wire pieces to be hung on the wall. The diameters of the pieces vary from 36 inches to 60 inches or more, and the pieces extend several inches from the wall.

“Andrea” (1966-68)

Asawa extended her work in metal by experimenting with cast sculpture: “I am fascinated by the possibilities of transforming cold metal into shapes that emulate living organic forms.” She received her first public commission from the City of San Francisco to create a fountain sculpture in Ghirardelli Square.  “Andrea” (1966-68) (cast bronze) is a depiction of two mermaids, sea turtles and frogs. One of the mermaids nurses a merbaby. Controversy arose; the work was too feminist for public art. The architect who designed Ghirardelli Square called it a lawn ornament and demanded it be removed. Asawa responded to the criticism: “For the old, it would bring back the fantasy of their childhood, and for the young, it would give them something to remember when they grow old.” The women of San Francisco supported Asawa’s fountain, and it remains in Ghirardelli Square today.

“San Francisco Fountain” (1970-73)

“San Francisco Fountain” (1970-73) (cast bronze) was commissioned for the front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Union Square. Asawa recruited over 200 school children, friends, family members, and visitors to mold their images of San Francisco in simple baker’s clay. The molds were cast in bronze, and Asawa assembled them to create the fountain. The Apple Corporation built a new store nearby and wanted the fountain removed. Public outcry prevented its destruction. The fountain was shifted a few feet to accommodate the new building.

“Origami Fountains” (1976)

The two “Origami Fountains” (1976) were placed in Buchanan Mall in San Francisco’s Japantown, their design based on the ancient Japanese paper folding art origami. San Franciscans called Asawa the fountain lady. She also designed “Aurora Fountain” (1986) along the Embarcadero waterfront, and the “Japanese-American Internment Memorial Sculpture” in San Jose (1994). 

Not only was Asawa the San Francisco fountain lady, she was a San Francisco artist through and through. Appointed in 1968 to the San Francisco Art Commission, she lobbied for the support of art programs for young children. She was co-founder of Alvarado Workshop for school children. By 1970, Alverado had become a prototype for projects funded by the U.S. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act to employ artists to create public works of art for cities. In 1972 Asawa became a board member of the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She served on Jimmy Carter’s Mental Health Commission in 1977. Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to the California Arts Council during this period. 

In 1982 she was one of the founders of the San Francisco School of the Arts, a public high school that later was renamed the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arta. The day of February 12, 1982, was declared Ruth Asawa Day to acknowledge her many contributions to the City as both an artist and a teacher. From 1989 until 1997 she was a trustee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. 

“Garden of Remembrance” (2002)

Asawa’s last public commission was the “Garden of Remembrance” (2002) at San Francisco State University. Nineteen Japanese San Francisco State students were removed from their classes by the United States military and taken to internment camps along with 120,000 others. There are 10 boulders placed on the lawn, each from one of the ten internment camps.

“Garden of Remembrance” (waterfall)

The waterfall represents energy and forward movement. Ruth Asawa said, “It was in 1946 when I thought I was modern. But now it’s 2002 and you can’t be modern forever.” She was a teacher, a sculptor, a painter, a printmaker, and did not stop working until she died in 2013. Since then, her work has been recognized in countless exhibitions. The United States Postal Service honored her with ten stamps.  Images of them are included at the beginning of this article.

“A child can learn something about color, about design, and about observing objects in nature. If you do that, you grow into a greater awareness of things around you. Art will make people better, more highly skilled in thinking and improving whatever business one goes into, or whatever occupation. It makes a person broader.” (Ruth Asawa)

 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.