Lady in a Garden

The figure of a woman standing in profile seems visually overwhelmed and almost consumed in a riot of blossoms and leaves crowded into a luxuriant garden in Frederick Frieseke’s Lady in a Garden. The massed plants fill the composition to its edges, leaving only a glimpse, near the upper right corner, of two light-green shutters on the wall of a house. Spontaneous spots and dashes of thick pigment in pure color suggest a variety of plant forms and textures while creating an overall flickering effect to mimic the shimmering of the varied surfaces of flowers and foliage in brilliant sunlight. The woman’s striped dress seems a playful outgrowth of the dense tapestry of slender blades by which her lower body is completely screened.

The green shutters in the background suggest that Lady in a Garden, like many other outdoor works by Frieseke, may have been painted in the garden of Le Hameau, the house he occupied in the rural village of Giverny, France. Frieseke and his wife lived in the village every summer between 1906 and 1919, joining a lively artist's colony composed largely of American expatriates who painted using the divided brushstrokes, pure color, and bright light effects of impressionism as originally pioneered by Giverny’s most famous resident, painter Claude Monet (1840–1926). With the green-shuttered house in the background, their garden, avidly cultivated by Mrs. Frieseke, served as the setting for many other works, including the Breakfast in the Garden (TF 1987.21) and Lilies (TF 1999.55). While Mrs. Frieseke often modeled for these works, the identity of the woman in Lady in a Garden has not been confirmed. Her distinctive dress, however, appears in other paintings that verify that its bold stripes, here tinted pale green and lavender by reflections from the surrounding leaves and flowers, were simply black and white.

Frieseke often pictured the garden, like his interior settings, as the site of social and domestic activity, such as open-air meals and relaxed conversation. In other works, however, he concentrated on the formal possibilities and purely visual appeal of the female figure posed within a setting characterized by vivid contrasting pattern, whether provided by wallpaper, the fabric of clothing and upholstery, or, as here, garden foliage and flowers. With the figure nearly dissolved in the vivid mosaic of spots and dashes that describe her surroundings, Lady in a Garden takes Frieseke’s experimentation with purely decorative painting to its furthest extent. It incorporates the spontaneous painting technique and garden settings of impressionism and the emphasis on pure pattern, expressive color, and decorative design associated with the French painters known as Les Nabis (“the prophets”).

Exhibition, Macbeth Galleries, New York, New York, 1915 (as The Striped Gown).

Special Paintings by Frederick Frieseke, Cincinnati Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 1921 (as In the Garden).

Solitude: Inner Visions in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, September 25–December 30, 1982. [exh. cat.]

An International Episode: Millet, Monet, and their North American Counterparts, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee (organizer). Venues: The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee, November 21, 1982–January 2, 1983; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, January 9–February 13, 1983; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, March 3–April 30, 1983 (on exhibit partial run at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens for approximately one week). [exh. cat.]

Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art, The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey (organizer). Venues: The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, October 1–November 30, 1983; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, December 13, 1983-February 12, 1984; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington, March 1–May 27, 1984. [exh. cat.]

The Seasons: American Impressionist Painting, Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin (organizer). Venue: Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin, December 8, 1984–February 3, 1985.

Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, November 6–29, 1987.

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988.

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 1988.

American Painters in France, 1830-1930, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 14–September 3, 1989. [exh. cat.]

Frederick C. Frieseke: Women in Repose, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, May 2–June 23, 1990. [exh. cat.]

American Impressionism, Fondazione Thyssen-Bornemisza, Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola, Switzerland (organizer). Venue: Fondazione Thyssen-Bornemisza, Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola, Switzerland July 22–October 28, 1990. [exh. cat.]

Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1–October 31, 1993; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]

American Artists and the French Experience, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.

American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.

Giverny: une impression américaine (Giverny, An American Impression), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 1, 1998.

Giverny: intérieurs, extérieurs (Giverny: Inside and Out), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000.

Permanent collection installation, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 9, 2000–February 11, 2001.

Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia (organizer). Venues: Telfair Museum of Art, March 13–June 3, 2001; The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee, June 23–August 18, 2001; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, September 15–November 10, 2001; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 1, 2001–February 3, 2002. [exh.cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 2002.

D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002 (on exhibit extended run: March 30–September 13, 2002).

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

American Classics from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 14–June 15, 2003.

Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.

Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 31, 2005. [exh. brochure]

Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 29, 2006. [exh. brochure]

Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2007; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 21–October 14, 2007. [exh. cat.]

Impressionist Giverny: The Americans, 1885-1915, Selections from the Terra Foundation for American Art, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Florence Griswold Museum of Art, Old Lyme, Connecticut, May 3–July 27, 2008; Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, August 23, 2008–January 4, 2009.

Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan with the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan, October 9–November 28, 2010; The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2010–February 17, 2011; The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan, February 25–April 10, 2011. [exh. cat.]

The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 13–May 24, 2015; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, June 14–September 6, 2015; Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, October 3, 2015–January 3, 2016. [exh. cat.]

American Magazine of Art 14:9 (October 1923): frontispiece. Ill. frontispiece (as In a Paris Garden).

Laboratory Medicine 13:7 (July 1982): cover. Ill. cover (color).

Kirshner, Judith Russi. "The Terra Collection." United: The Magazine of the Friendly Skies (December 1982): 52–59. Ill. pp. 52–53 (color).

Meixner, Laura L. An International Episode: Millet, Monet, and Their North American Counterparts. (exh. cat., The Dixon Gallery and Gardens). Memphis, Tennessee: The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, 1982. Text pp. 154–56, 167 (checklist); cat. 63, p. 198 (color).

Sokol, David M. Solitude. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Evanston, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1982. Text p. 10; ill. no. 1, cover (color).

"An International Incident Unfolds at Terra Museum." North Shore (February 1983): 110. Ill. p. 110 (color).

Adams, Henry. "Private Collector to Public Champion." Portfolio Magazine 5:1 (January/February 1983): 48–53. Ill. p. 53 (color).

Gerdts, William H. Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art. (exh. cat., The Montclair Art Museum). Montclair, New Jersey: Montclair Art Museum, 1983. Text p. 134 (checklist); ill. p. 38 (black & white).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-156, p. 265 (color).

Lady in a Garden, Frederick Carl Frieseke. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 1988. Ill. (black & white).

Broude, Norma, ed. World Impressionism: The International Movement, 1860–1920. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1990. Text p. 69; pl. 74, p. 67 (color).

Chambers, Bruce W. Frederick C. Frieseke: Women in Repose. (exh. cat., Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.). New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1990. Text p. 45 (checklist); cat. 11, p. 25 (color).

Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. (exh. cat., Fondazione Thyssen-Bornemisza, Villa Favorita, Lugano-Castagnola). Einsiedeln: Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation in cooperation with Eidolon/Benziger, 1990. Text p. 142; ill. p. 143 (color).

Montgomery, Elizabeth Miles. American Impressionists. New York: Crescent Books, 1991. Ill. p. 92 (color), back of dust jacket (color).

Wrede, Stuart and William Howard Adams, eds. Denatured Visions: Landscape and Culture in the Twentieth Century. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1991. Text p. 36; fig. 52, p. 36 (black & white).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 266:6 (August 14, 1991): 753. Text p. 753; ill. cover (color); reprint in The Journal of the American Medical Association Greece (1992).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 188; pl. 36, p. 190 (color), frontispiece, p. 2 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 188; pl. 36, p. 190 (color), frontispiece, p. 2 (color).

Stott, Annette. "Floral Femininity: A Pictorial Definition." American Art 6:2 (Spring 1992): 61–77. Text p. 71; fig. 7, p. 70 (color).

De Vries-Evans, Susanna. The Impressionists Revealed: Masterpieces from Private Collections. Auckland, New Zealand: David Bateman Ltd., 1992. Ill pp. 144–45 (color).

Gerdts, William H. Monet's Giverny: An Impressionist Colony. New York: Abbeville Press, 1993. Text p. 172; pl. 144, p. 175 (color).

Hunt, John Dixon, ed. The Oxford Book of Garden Verses. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1993. Ill. cover (color).

Williams, Betty Lou. "Frederick Carl Frieseke Rediscovered." Athanor (Florida State University) 12 (1994): 69–77. Text p. 71; fig. 7, p. 76.

Gomes, Rosalie. Impressions of Giverny: A Painter's Paradise, 1883–1914. San Francisco, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995. Text pp. 101, 116; ill. cover (color); pl. 67, p. 102 (color).

Falk, Peter Hastings and Audrey Lewis. Annie Gooding Sykes: An American Watercolorist Rediscovered. (exh. cat., Spanierman Gallery, LLC). New York: Spanierman Gallery, LLC, 1998. Ill. p. 24 (color).

Laws, Bill. Artists' Gardens. London, England: Ward Lock, 1999. Ill. p. 166 (color).

Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. Second edition. New York: Abbeville Press, 2001. Ill. frontispiece (color).

Kilmer, Nicholas et al. Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist. (exh. cat., Telfair Museum of Art). Savannah, Georgia: Telfair Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2001. Text pp. 64, 88; pl. 29, p. 70 (color detail), pl. 29, p. 153 (color).

Adams, Elaine. "Frederick Carl Frieseke-His Society." California Art Club Newsletter (December 2001): 1–8. Text p. 6; ill. p. 1 (black & white).

Boothe, Susan N. Lady in a Garden, Frederick Carl Frieseke. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 2002. Ill. (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 31, 144, 196; ill. p. 145 (color), 196 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 31, 144, 196; ill. p. 145 (color), 196 (black & white).

Kennedy, Elizabeth. "The Terra Museum of American Art." American Art Review (December 2002): 126–41. Text p. 135; ill. p. 137 (color).

Griffith, Bronwyn A. E. Passing Through Paris: Americans in France, 1860–1930. (exh. brochure, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005. Text n.p.; fig. 8, n.p. (color).

Griffith, Bronwyn A. E. Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930. (exh. brochure, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005. Text n.p.; fig. 8, n.p. (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. et al. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. Text pp. 33, 53, 206 (checklist); cat. p. 155 (color).

Collet, Valérie. "Giverny fête l'art américain." Valeurs Actuelles 3680 (8 June 2007): 58-60. ill. p.59 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. "Impressionist Giverny: American Painters in France" American Art Review 20.3 (June 2008): 100-113. Ill. p.103 (color).

Hill, May Brawley. The American Impressionists in the Garden. (exh. cat.), Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tenessee). Nashville: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art and Vanderbilt University Press, 2010. Text p.8; fig. p. 8 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., Shunsuke Kijima and Sanjiro Minamikawa. Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism. (exh. cat. Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, and The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art). Fukuoka, Japan: The Nishinippon Shimbun, 2010. Text cat. no. 73, pp. 136 (in Japanese), 190 (in English); ill. p. 137 (color), cover (detail) (color).

Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA III: Covers and Essays from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, Illinois: American Medical Association, 2011. Text p. 52; ill. opposite p. 52 (color). Anna O. Marley, ed. The Artist's Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement. (exh. cat. Pennsylvania Academy of FIne Arts). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press in association with Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2015. Ill. pl. 160 (color).

Balestrieri, James D. "Life, Never Still, with Flowers." American Fine Art Magazine, Jan/Feb 2015, 52-59. Text p.56, ill. p.55 (color).

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