Cottage in the Dunes, Jean-Charles Cazin (1841-1901)

For #InternationalCatDay 😻

Richard H. Recchia (American, 1885 – 1983) Persian Cat, 1931 Bronze, black patina, lost wax cast 49.53 x 26.03 x 30.48 cm (19 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 12 in.) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1984.746

Dress

1960s

Afghanistan or Uzbekistan

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925) • Portrait of Louise Pomeroy Inches • 1887 • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Evening Dress • Unidentified Maker • American • Silk velvet with silk plain weave lining

How wonderful that such a well-preserved dress exists to enliven a famous portrait painting! This dress is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons – firstly, I love velvet and this silk velvet is the real deal – gorgeous. Secondly, I've seen the portrait many times at the MFA in Boston. The dress was in a glass case at the blockbuster Fashioned by Sargent exhibition also at the MFA.

I've read that Louise Inches was expecting her third child when she sat for this portrait and that the dress had been designed to accommodate extra panels as her figure expanded. She and Sargent got on well. Both were music lovers and accomplished musicians.

Andrew L. von Wittkamp

Black Cat on a Chair. ca. 1850

Moonlight, Woodstock - Herman Dudley Murphy

Moonlit Landscape - Edward Steichen

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Woman Wearing a Laurel Wreath (The Personification of Poetry) by Rosalba Carriera

Italian, c. 1724

pastel on paper

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951) • The Silver Screen • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951), The Silver Screen, 1921.

Benson invented still life elements when necessary, but he took care to represent the Chinese ginger jar in The Silver Screen with almost photographic accuracy. Still in the Benson family, the jar dates from the Qing dynasty (about 1650). Archival photographs show that Benson’s use of color, placement of figures, and abbreviation of landscape elements on his painted jar appear identical to the real object. He most likely acquired it, along with its nineteenth-century teak carved stand and top, from well-known Boston importer Yamanaka. (x)

Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Retrato de una dama

by Juan Carreño de Miranda (Galician, 1614 - 1685) oil on canvas (47 × 57,8 cm), c. 1670

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Evening (The Fall of Day), William Rimmer, 1870

#MetalMonday:

Figurine of a mountain goat

Iranian, Proto Elamite, 3100-2750 BCE

Silver & sheet gold, 4 x 7 cm (1 9/16 x 2 3/4 in.)

On view at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

“This object is one of the earliest surviving Near Eastern sculptures in precious metal. The goat is made of silver and plated with gold on the face.

Incised lines illustrate the texture of the goat's hair and beard. One leg protrudes far from the body, two are held in close, and the last is only visible as an incised outline carefully etched into the figurine's underside.”

additional images via https://collections.mfa.org/objects/155898/mountain-goat

"Barbade" Evening Ensemble

Christian Lacroix for House of Patou

Spring 1987

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Accession Number: 2010.386.1-4)

Ellsworth Kelly: Works on Paper, Edited by Diane Upright, Introduction by Henry Geldzahler, The Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX / Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 1987 [Exhibitions: The Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, September 13 – October 25, 1987; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, December 2, 1987 – January 31, 1988; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, March 5 – May 15, 1988; The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, May 29 – July 24, 1988; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, August 11 – September 25, 1988; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 22 – December 31, 1988]

The manner in which Ellen Day Hale engages the viewer in this self portrait recalls Edouard Manet. It was unusual for a woman artist to adopt such a bold stance; when it was shown in 1887, a critic declared the painting displayed 'a man’s strength,' and meant it as a compliment

Boston Museum of Fine Arts Installation view of Fashioned by Sargent Singer Sargent exhibition, 2023 •▪︎(American-British, 1866-1925) • Portrait of Sybil Sassoon • 1922 • Dress: House of Worth

The painting of socialite Lady Sassoon hangs near a display showcasing the exact dress she wore for the portrait. Sargent captures not only the dress but more importantly, the manner and bearing of his subject. Whether she actually wore those grand pearls and large pendant, I don't know. Sargent was known to embellish his portraits to include details and the draping of dress fabrics to suit the aesthetic he aimed for. Moreover, his draping and repositioning of dress fabrics was done to showcase his talent for painting shadows and light, particularly white. In the Sassoon portrait Sargent puts this talent to good effect in his treatment of the off-white cape that is part of her elaborate dress.

I scoured the internet for information about the House of Worth dress Sybil Sassoon wore for this sitting. I wanted to know specifics about the materials of the dress, as I was unable to photograph the gallery card near the display case. I came up short.

After looking at this excellent photo taken by Lilie Marshall (Around the World with Lilie, Travel and Life Blog) I'm certain that the fabric is black velvet. The bright magenta lining of the high collar and the trim around the peplum waist and cuffs could be either velvet or satin. The wide bands down the front of the dress are, obviously, richly embroidered; perhaps with gold metallic thread or appliqué.

Sources: my own retelling of what I learned about Sargent's portraits attending the exhibition Fashioned by Sargent at the MFA and reading my art books. The photos are not mine. Though I took photos at the exhibition, the ones relevant to this portrait and dress didn't turn out well enough to publish. Credit is given for Lilie Marshall's photo and a link provided above to her blog post. Check it out – Lilie strikes a great pose in front of Madame X!

John Singer Sargent (American-British, 1866-1925) • Portrait of Sybil Sassoon, Countess of Rocksavage (later Sybil Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley) • 1922

Sybil Sassoon bio on Wikipedia