Self-Portrait

Turning from the easel in the act of painting his own likeness, Frederick MacMonnies gazes fixedly at the viewer as if into a mirror in which he studies his appearance. The paintbrush suspended in his left hand points toward his body as if to announce the self-referential nature of his arrested action. The large palette virtually protrudes into the viewer's space; only its underside is visible, emphasizing the figure's commanding position in relation to the observer. In a common conceit of artistic self-imaging, the figure's scrutiny blurs the distinctions between artist, subject, and viewer. As in a similar self-portrait by Lillia Perry TF1999.107), MacMonnies's image of himself at work explores the complex relationship between artistic persona and individual identity.

In the late 1890s MacMonnies was at the height of his career as a successful sculptor when he took several years' hiatus to paint portraits. Dashing and self-confident, the artist created some ten images of himself, most dating to this brief period. Two of these self-portraits show him as a painter, but none as a sculptor.

  In this self-portrait, as in MacMonnies's portrait of Mabel Conkling (TF1999.88), the figure is posed before a tapestry. It was one of several such large hangings that lined the walls of the grand salon of Le Prieuré (today known as Le Moutier), the old converted priory that MacMonnies and his first wife, painter Mary Fairchild MacMonnies (later Low), began renting in 1898 and purchased in 1901. As the home of this gregarious artistic couple, Le Prieuré became the social center of Giverny's lively international colony of artists, and its famed walled garden a setting for the outdoor painting methods, brilliant color, and attention to natural light effects of impressionism. This self-portrait, however, incorporates other sources to which MacMonnies looked as he painted portraits indoors in Giverny, notably the dashing society portraits of his friend and painting mentor John Singer Sargent and the defiantly jaunty self-images of his revered acquaintance James MacNeill Whistler. All three greatly admired the powerful, dramatic portraits of Spanish painter Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), which MacMonnies, on Sargent's advice, studied and later copied during visits to Spain in 1898 and 1904. In several paintings, MacMonnies made direct reference to Velázquez, particularly the latter's famed Las Meninas (1656, Museo del Prado, Madrid), with its image of the artist at work. In this self-portrait, MacMonnies reveals the influence of the Baroque master in the shadowy background, the proud tilt of his head, and even his signature upturned mustache.

Frederick MacMonnies and the Princeton Battle Monument, Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey (organizer). Venue: Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey, Spring 1977. [exh. cat.]

Frederick William MacMonnies et Mary Fairchild MacMonnies: deux artistes Américains à Giverny, Musée Alphonse-Georges Poulain, Vernon, France (organizer). Venue: Musée Alphonse-Georges Poulain, Vernon, France, June 18–September 11, 1988. [exh. cat.]

Face to Face: Portraits from the Collections of the Terra Museum of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 4, 1994–April 2, 1995.

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.

Collection Cameo companion piece, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 1998.

1900: Art at the Crossroads, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England (organizer). Venues: Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, January 16–April 3, 2000; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York, May 18–September 13, 2000. [exh. cat.]

On Process: Studio Themes, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 4, 2001.

Mary et Frederick MacMonnies, un atelier à Giverny (Mary and Frederick MacMonnies, a Studio in Giverny), Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2001 (modified form of An Interlude in Giverny: The French Chevalier by Frederick MacMonnies at the Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, October 24, 2000–June 24, 2001). [exh. cat.]

Artistic Communities: Mary MacMonnies Low and Frederick MacMonnies in Chicago and Giverny, Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 12–October 7, 2001 (modified form of An Interlude in Giverny: The French Chevalier by Frederick MacMonnies at the Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, October 24, 2000–June 24, 2001 and Mary et Frederick MacMonnies, un atelier à Giverny [Mary and Frederick MacMonnies, a Studio in Giverny] at the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2001). [exh.cat.]

The French Experience: American Artists at Giverny, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 27–October 20, 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.

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.

Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe (Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004. [exh. cat.]

Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940 (Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France and Miedzynarodowe Centrum Kultury (International Cultural Center), Crakow, Poland (organizers). Venue: International Cultural Center, Crakow, Poland, February 15–May 7, 2006. [exh. cat.]

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.]

  Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865–1945, Art Institute of Chicago and Terra Foundation for American Art (organizers). Venue:  Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, September 28, 2018–January 6, 2019.   [exh. cat.]

 

Sellin, David. Americans in Brittany and Normandy, 1860–1910. (exh. cat., Phoenix Art Museum.) Phoenix, Arizona: Phoenix Art Museum, 1982. Ill. p. 224 (black & white).

The Magazine Antiques 126:5 (November 1984): 1135. Ill. p. 1135 (black & white).

Clark, Robert Judson. "Frederick MacMonnies and the Princeton Battle Monument." Record of The Art Museum, Princeton University 43:2 (1984): 7–74. Ill. no.18, p. 67 (black & white).

Frederick William MacMonnies (1863–1937), Mary Fairchild MacMonnies (1858–1946): deux artistes américains à Giverny. (exh. cat., Musée Alphonse-Georges Poulain). Vernon, France: Musée Alphonse-Georges Poulain, 1988. Text p. 97; ill. p. 97 (black & white).

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. 63; ill. p.63 (black & white).

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.63; ill. p. 63 (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. Monet's Giverny: An Impressionist Colony. New York: Abbeville Press, 1993. Text p. 139; pl. 179, p. 218 (black & white).

Smart, Mary. A Flight with Fame: The Life and Art of Frederick MacMonnies; With a Catalogue Raisonné and a Checklist of Paintings by E. Adina Gordon. Madison, Connecticut: Sound View Press, 1996. Ill. no. 66, p. 327 (black & white), p. 329 (color).

Rosenblum, Robert et al. 1900: Art at the Crossroads. (exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London). London, England: Royal Academy of Arts, 2000. Fig. 268, p. 334 (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. 134, 201; ill. pp. 13 (color), 135 (color), 201 (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. 134, 201; ill. pp. 13 (color), 135 (color), 201 (black & white).

Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Faces of America: Portraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text pp. 15, 32 (checklist); ill. p. 49 (color).

Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. Visages de l'Amérique: le portrait dans la collection de la Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1770–1940. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text pp. 15, 32 (checklist); ill. p. 49 (color).

Lévy, Sophie, et al. Twarze Ameryki: Portrety z kolekcji Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940/Faces of America: Portraits from the collection of the Terra Foundation for American Art, 1770–1940. (exh. cat. International Cultural Center). Cracow, Poland: International Cultural Center, 2006. Text pp.16–2, 32–33, 38, 82; ill. front cover (color), p. 83 (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 p. 209 (checklist); cat. p. 146 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. "Impressionist Giverny: American Painters in France" American Art Review 20.3 (June 2008): 100–113. Ill. p.104 (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. 67, pp. 122 (in Japanese), 188 (in English); ill. p. 122 (color).

Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865–1945. (exh. cat. Shanghai Museum with Art Institute of Chicago and Terra Foundation for American Art). Shanghai: Shanghai Museum, 2018. Text p. 86; ill. p. 87 (color).