From the Library of Congress, in Washington, DC.
Carolyn Brown: I hope everyone has been able
to find the room who is coming.
Because this not a room we usually use.
But, let me say to all of you, good afternoon.
I'm Carolyn Brown, I direct the office of Scholarly Programs
in the John W. Kluge Center here at the Library.
And it gives me great pleasure to welcome you
for this afternoon's lecture,
by Dr. Dimitri Lubin [spelled phonetically].
The lecture is entitled: Artist Colonies in Europe
and in the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
And as we begin, let me ask you, if you have a cell phone with you,
would you please turn it off, or anything else
that can make both interrupt the lecture
or interfere with the recording.   And this lecture is being recorded
for later distribution over the Internet.
You can watch it at another point.
Let me just say a word about the Kluge Center.
The Kluge Center is designed to promote advanced research
in the collections of the Library of Congress.
It was established through a very generous endowment by John W. Kluge
in the year 2000, so that the center could provide financial support
to bring some of the world's most accomplished scholars to the center
as well as the most promising rising junior fellows.
All to conduct research at the library and to join
in a very collegial community of researchers here.
If you want to know, each of our fellows
and senior scholars then does a presentation about their research,
as they are nearing the end of their time with us, and so,
as many of you know, then, we do a number of presentations,
also summer institutes, small conferences, all in support
of the intellectual life at the Library of Congress.
You can get more information on this by going to the Library's Web page,
www.loc.gov, and signing up for e-mail notification,
if you would like, of these events.
But the business at hand today is to enjoy what promises
to be a very exciting and visually stimulating lecture as well.
Dr. Lubin is an art historian,
and a curator at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg,
where he heads the department of the Kolomenskoye Palace Museum.
And the Kolomenskoye Palace has both a museum,
but it's also the residence of the president of Russia.
And so, as you can imagine, this Dr. Lubin's position can be very
high-profile at times.   As various dignitaries come through.
He has been at the Kluge Center on a Fulbright Scholarship,
and we're very pleased that he was able to get five months away
from his normal management responsibilities
to be with us for this time.   Dr. Lubin completed his PhD in 2007,
at the Reppin [spelled phonetically] State Academic Institute
of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in St. Petersburg,
where he serves on the faculty of theory and the history of art.
His dissertation focused on 19th-century German visual culture.
Especially painting, graphic design.
I said German art, especially painting,
graphic design and sculpture.
He has several published articles in that field, and also,
given his current responsibilities in the field of Russian visual art,
of special note and I'll just mention a few of these things,
are the exhibitions he has curated,
and articles he's written for exhibit catalogues.
Among the exhibition of note, in 2003, on the occasion
of the 30th anniversary of St. Petersburg,
he catalogued an exhibition for that,
and wrote chapters for its printed catalog.
His curation of the 2004 International Exhibition
on Imperial St. Petersburg from the time of Peter the Great
to Nicholas I, which was presented in Monaco,
and the very high-profile he curated in 2006, Diplomatic Gifts:
the Language of Peace, for an exhibition that was presented
to the G-8 Summit Meeting
at the Konstantinovsky [spelled phonetically] Palace.
This is, I guess this really has been a respite for someone who's had
such major responsibilities, and we're delighted to have him here
at the Kluge Center, where he's been able to pursue an interest
in his own research in late 19th-century artistic life,
specifically looking at the phenomena of artist colonies
in Europe, especially France, Germany and Russia,
and their relationships also with artist colonies here in the US,
in about the same period.
So we are the happy beneficiaries of his research here,
and I think the first beneficiaries of his research,
as he gives us some insight
into what he's discovered while he's been here.
Please welcome Dr. Lubin.
[applause] Dimitri Lubin: Thank you very much.
Good afternoon.
I would like to speak about artist colonies in Europe
and in the United States.
In the end of 19th and 20th centuries.
When I worked on my dissertation, I did research
of the German art of 19th century.
And amongst numerous artist's groups,
I discovered very special artist colonies.
They are one of the most interesting phenomenons of world art.
The majority of artist colonies were situated in Europe
and in the United States.
They existed in 19th and the beginning of 20th century.
I decided to analyze the existence of the colonies
in different countries, to study its history
and to determine common criteria and differences between them.
What exactly is the artist's colony?
An artist's colony is a group of artists, mostly painters
and printmakers, which was located far from the big cities
in small cities and villages.
Their major subject matter was the landscape in the genre of painting.
I would like to speak about the typology of the artist colonies.
They were situated on the Sea Coast [spelled phonetically]
in the mountains and in valleys.
According to the character of the artistic life,
there were some places where artists lived and worked all the year.
Or only some months, or came once or twice only.
The reasons for the growth of the artist colonies were the search
for new, beautiful views.   The desire to leave big cities
to escape the rapid industrialization of the time.
Many artists felt the life there was inappropriate for them.
The protest against the artistic education in the art academies,
especially in the late 19th century,
when new artists movements developed very quickly,
and the academies were not flexible for contemporary views.
And the last reason was the search for national traditions.
In the everyday activity of farmers and seamen, and in the simple forms
of folk art, artists desired to reach the human soul.
The first two things searched for new views,
and desire to escape the industrialization,
are characteristic for the American artist colonies.
All of the reasons for the colonies in Europe and in Russia.
The main pleasure for the artists in colonies was to work together
and to have unlimited conversation about their art.
The art of colonies developed in different ways
from realism to the avant-garde.
And I would like to talk about the history
of the most famous artist colonies in different countries.
In Europe, it's France, Germany and Russia,
and about the colonies in the United States.
As you can see, the geography of the art colonies in the end
of the 19th century covered nearly all Europe
and Scandinavian countries.
For example, there were artist colonies in Holland and Belgium,
in Great Britain and in Norway, in Sweden and in Denmark, in Russia
and in Austrian and Hungarian Empire.
There were about 10 colonies in France, and about 20 in Germany.
The activities of many of them stopped
with the beginning of the World War I.
The artistic atmosphere was destroyed,
and a lot of painters were killed on the battlefields.
France, Barbizon.
The main artist's colony in Europe was in the village Barbizon.
In the history of art, this colony is called the Barbizon school.
The Barbizon school was a group of French landscape painters who lived
and worked in the middle of the 19th century,
in the small village Barbizon, located in Fontainebleau Forest,
35 miles away from Paris.   Now, more than 11 millions
of tourists visit this place every year.
The Barbizon school was founded in 1830s.
Its influence on European landscape painting was most important.
The members of Barbizon art school were the predecessors
of impressionism.   There were many changes
in the landscape painting in the 19th century.
There are at least, as a style,
changed the idealistic placid scene[spelled phonetically]
landscape condition.
And artists of the Barbizon school tried
to depict nature in realistic ways.
The main subject of the their paintings were the Fontainebleau
Forest landscapes, and the life of the farmers.
In the classical tradition, painters worked only in the studio.
And the painters of Barbizon school began to work
on the plain air [spelled phonetically] to make sketches
on the plain air, and to finish them in their studios.
The artistic style of the Barbizon artists is very different.
The founder of the Barbizon school was Thodore Rousseau.
When he was only 19, he gained success in Paris exhibitions.
After his first visit to Barbizon in 1836, he decided to stay here.
Fontainebleau Forest made a great impression on him.
In Russo painting, coral plays the main role.
The artist liked to show the harmony and the transcendence of the nature.
Rousseau loved his elation and dramatic lighting motifs.
He depicted the big mighty threes, like here [spelled phonetically],
the views on the fields, and the activity of farmers.
Around him, appeared a circle of artists.
Like him, they worked on the plain air.
One of the most famous Barbizon artists was Charles Daubigny,
the public and the art critics called his paintings nice
and full of poetry.
His best paintings were created in the 1860's and early 1870's.
For them, Daubigny chose the simplest views of nature.
Usually, he depicted riverbanks, fields in villages,
and the yards of farmer's houses.   Often, Daubigny worked on the boat.
Famous French impressionist Claude Monet also used the same method.
Someone of Daubigny's friends wrote in his memoirs, that,
if the artist especially liked some of his paintings, he painted one
or a few ducks swimming on the water.
It was a special sign for art dealers.
Daubigny never sold his most famous works of art.
Another kind of Barbizon art.   Jean-Franois Millet.
He was born into a farmer's family.
When he was young, he studied art in Paris.
Before coming to Barbizon, he had made his name as a painter
of mythologies and nudes.
In 1849, he moved to Barbizon and lived there until his death.
The main topic of his painting was the everyday hard labor
of the farmers.
He was one, the first of the Barbizon painters
to take an interest in the representation
of people rather than of landscape.
The heroes of Millet paintings are people who plant potatoes,
churn butter, shear sheep, and teach Chadren how to knit.
The images of Millet's farmers are full of the power and transcendence,
like the nature in Thodore Rousseau's paintings.
There were many others.
Very famous artists who worked in Barbizon.
[French] and others.
This new conception of landscape painting,
and attention to the everyday labor of farmers,
made the art of Barbizon school very popular.
After 1850, many students from Academie
of Art in Paris worked here.   And up until 1870s, the majority
of Barbizon painters were foreign artists who came from Great Britain,
Scandinavian countries, as well from America.
The art of Barbizon school influenced many German painters.
In Germany, there was the strong tradition of artist colonies.
As I said, there were about 20 colonies which were situated
in different spots of the country.
The main topic of art in German colonies were the same as in France.
Nature and the life of the farmers.
The history of German artist colonies was begun
in the early 19th century, before Barbizon school in France.
When the famous master of German Romanticism, Caspar David Friedrich,
came to the Rgen Island in the Baltic Sea.
Views of the sea were the subjects for many
of Friedrich's many symbolist paintings.
Here is one of them.
And the name of this is Unhappy Hope.
By the middle of the century, a few other German artists worked
in different, small cities, and villages,
and depicted the life of their residents.
There is one very important, unique quality of the German art
in the late 19th century.
One of the direction of German paintings was so-called art
of the motherland.
It was formed after the foundation of German empire in 1871,
which was one of the most important events of the 19th century.
After the foundation of empire, there was a period
of national pride in German society.   In art of the motherland,
Germans expressed their own nationality and national traditions.
Art of the motherland became very popular, and in some cases,
had the approval of the emperor, and support of official state organs,
like the artist unions, and exhibitions [unintelligible].
We can recognize that the art of motherland was the answer
to the famous French realist painter Gustave Corbet's questions.
When visiting the German section of the international exhibition
in Munich in 1879, he saw many landscapes with the views of French
and English, Italian
and Palestinian, but not German subjects.
And said, "do all these painters have their own motherland or not?"
Until 1870s, many talented German artists preferred
to work outside Germany.
But after the foundation of empire, the situation changed,
and the artists created the images of Germany as a symbol
of German state and German national traditions.
The high point of the artist colonies
in Germany was the end of the 19th century.
And we can see that it was the consequence of the evolution
of art of the motherland.
The most important German artist colonies were situated in Golpen,
Dachau, and Worpsvede [spelled phonetically].
Golpen artist colony was not far from Dresden, and it is known
as the Golpen painting school.
Their founders were major masters of German realism and impressionism.
Karol Bonsfer [spelled phonetically] , it's his painting.
The leader of the colony depicted the everyday life of the farmers.
One of his best paintings is the Eucharist in the Rural Church.
Bonsfer embodied the sense of the art of motherland.
He showed the simple and sensual life of Germans,
and we can feel the power of their nation and their traditions.
The line of the man in the allegory of this uninterrupted traditions.
Another beautiful painting by Bonsfer, the national dance
in Germany was very popular.
In this painting, the artist embodied the same idea in the form
for joyful and colorful celebration.
The majority of paintings of other Golpen artists are lyric landscapes.
Another center of the art of motherland
in Germany was Dachau, near Munich.
The artist colony here was the biggest in Germany.
In 1880s, Dachau was the favorite place for the artists,
because more than 200 of artists worked here,
this colony was called the German Barbizon.
In the memoirs of some of the artists, we can read that often,
they would wait all the day before they could depict the best views
of a Dachau landscape.   It was the wine of the artist.
One of them, Duke Leopold Funkaukroit [spelled phonetically],
in his grandest painting The Summer, you can see this,
embodied the idea of fertility.
Other one, Fritz von Ude [spelled phonetically],
represented Jesus Christ coming in the farmer's house,
and people invited him to be the guest, and to have dinner with them.
Here, we can see the embodiment of the deep connection
between religion and the life of Germans.
This painting became very popular,
and many German houses were decorated with printed copies of it.
Many talented landscape painters who were the professors in art academy
in Munich, also worked in Dachau.
In summer, they invited their students
and taught plain air painting.   At the end of 19th century,
a new group of artists called New Dachau formed here.
One of the founders was Adolf Hultszef [spelled phonetically].
His best painting of the time was the Old Bayern Countrywoman
in the National Dress Reading the Bible.
In this paiting, Hultszef created the generalized image
of a countrywoman.
Another founder of New Dachau was [unintelligible].
The famous realistic genre painter.
[unintelligible] was the landscape painter.
His Dachau landscapes looks monumental and transcendent,
much like the paintings of French Theodore Rousseau.
And the most famous of the German artist colonies was situated
in small village Worpsvede [spelled phonetically],
20 miles far from Bremen.
The first painter, Fritz Mackensin [spelled phonetically],
invited his friends who studied with him
in Dusseldorf Academy of Arts to join him.
They liked Worpsvede landscape and the life of the farmers,
and decided to live here all the year.
The first exhibitions of young artists, all of them were about 22
or 23 years old, took place in 1895 in Bremen and Munich.
After the huge success, the founded the Union of Worpsvede Artists.
The appearance of the union, which had the [unintelligible],
was very unusual for the artist colonies.
Mackensin mostly depicted farm life.
In his best paintings, called The Infant in Arms,
or the Peasant Madonna, also the [unintelligible] in the village.
He elevated the images of the countrypeople.
The first painting of Mackensin is very close to the art
of Theodore Rousseau, and the second to the Eucharist of Karol Bonsfer.
Other Vorpsvede artists were skilled landscape painters.
Their painters are lyric and sensory and embodied the idea of the power
and beauty of the German land.
In comparison with the art of Golpen and Dachau,
they character was more monumental and full of harmony.
The symbolists paintings and engraving
of Heinrich Vogler [spelled phonetically], here you can see one
of his paintings, are not a part of traditional Vorpsvede style.
But are a part of art noveau style.
The house of Vogler was the center of artistic life in Vorpsvede.
His guests were famous writers, poets and musicians,
also publishers and art historians.
Some of them were authors of the first scientific books
about Vorpsvede artist colony.
On this painting, you see the traditional concert before
Vogler's house.
Vogler was famous painter and graphic designer,
and master of decorative art.
He established the furniture workshop in Vorpsvede.
The reputation of this place was very great, and in the beginning
of the 20th century, many new artists joined the old
Vorpsvede artists.
One of them was the famous German expressionist Paola Moderson Becker
[spelled phonetically].
In her paintings, she embodied the ideas of the art of motherland
in new expressionist style.
We can see that in Vorpsvede, there developed different kinds of art.
Realism, art noveau, symbolism, and expressionism.
This is one of the unique qualities of this artist colony.
And the other one is the manifold character of artists' activity.
Paintings, graphic, often decorative art and design.
There were similar colonies in Russia.
The main characteristic of the artist colony
in Russia is the interest of artists to the nation of folk tradition.
The painters liked religious and historical subjects.
In the decorative art developed so-called Russian style,
which was a variant of art noveau.   In Russian artist colonies,
very popular was the work of folk masters.
The main role in the evolution
of [Russian] played the very wealthy art fence.
The businessmen [Russian]
and Duchess Maria Teneshov [spelled phonetically].
They invited in their family estates the greatest Russian artists.
Also they established their decorative art workshops,
which became very popular.
[unintelligible] is the small village in Moscow region.
Now, there live about 200 residents.
The village was founded in 17th century, and in the middle
of 19th century, here lived the famous Russian writer Sergei
Aksakhov [spelled phonetically].
His guests were Ivan Turgenev, Nikolai Gogol [spelled phonetically]
and other famous Russian writers.
After Aksakhov death, Abramsov [spelled phonetically] bought the
wealthy businessman and art for Sava Mamontov [spelled phonetically].
This is portrait of which painted [unintelligible].
Also, he was the art fan and the friend of many Russian artists.
All of them were interested in Russian history and people,
and in the Orthodox religion.
Mamontov offered to fund the group of artists,
and invited them to his estate Abramsov.
Therefore, this group was called Mamontov Circle.
About a quarter of a century,
Abramsov was the big center of Russian culture.
Here lived many artists, both famous and young.
The often guests were Ilia Rapin and Vasily Polenov, Victor Vasinsov
and Mikhail Rubil, Mikhail Nestorov
and Valentin Zerov [spelled phonetically].
Also Abramsov visited the authors, one of them famous singer,
Fyodor Schalepin [spelled phonetically].
Especially for the artists,
in Mamontov's estates were built the individual studios.
On Sundays, the artists
and the family organized theatre performances, celebrations,
and [unintelligible] tours.
In Abramsov worked well-known Russian historical painter
Victor Vasinsov.
His first painting, created here, was [Russian],
the Russian fairy tale about the girl who lost her younger brother.
The model for his painting was the country girl from Abramsov.
Also here, Vasinsov created his famous, The Epic Heroes.
It was so huge that it was built a special building near artist's home.
The Epic Heroes is one of the main symbols
of so-called Russian-style paintings, in the late 19th century.
The image of the youngest hero, it's on the right side,
is a portrait of Savva Mamontov's son, Andrew.
For the Moscow theatre, Vasinsov created the project
of the costumes in Russian style.
Another Abramsov artist was famous master
of religion painting, Mikhail Nestorov.
His art is the religious site of the Russian style.
In the village, he created one of the best of his paintings,
The Vision of the Young Bartolomeo.   It is a story from the life
of the very popular introspect Russian saints [spelled
phonetically], Holy Sergei of Radamesh [spelled phonetically],
and therefore his painting was very popular, too.
Nestorov said that the vision
of the young Bartolomeo is his best painting.
In many other paintings, he depicted the scenes from the life
in ancient Russia, and embodied the religious sense of the nation.
Ilia Rapin worked in Abramsov for many years during the summer months.
Here, he created many sketches for his famous painting,
the Cossack Writing the Letter to the Turkish Sultan.
The models for this painting were the Abramsov farmers.
One of the best Russian landscape painters, Vasily Polenov,
also worked for many years in Savva Mamontov's estate.
He came here before other artists, and helped Mamontov
to restore the house and to make here the artist village.
The views of Abramsov were the subject
of many of Polenov's landscapes.
Also, he taught for the young artists who came here and was
for them, the main authority.   His sister, Elena, established
in Abramsov the journist [spelled phonetically] workshop,
where studied and worked the journists
from the villages around Mamontov Estate.
Later, here was established the ceramic workshop.
It was the way of evolution of the decorative art in Abramsov.
Like in Worpsvede, by Heinrich Vogler [unintelligible].
The main idea was to revive the traditional folk art in this region.
Elena Polenov was the designer of many works
for [unintelligible] design of the interior of Elena Polenov.
The students of the workshop studied the old traditions
of Russian masters.
Also, in Abramsov, was huge collection of the folk art,
and in 1885, here was opened the first folk art museum in Russia.
The activity of Polenov workshop continued in Soviet times.
In 1937, the Abramsov artists took part
in the international exhibition in Paris.
Which was very unusual for the Soviet art.
The traditions of Russian folk art revived in another artist village,
Talashkinov [spelled phonetically], which is about 10 miles
from Smolensk [spelled phonetically].
In 1896, Talashkinov brought Duchess Maria Teneshov.
This is her portrait.
She was well-educated woman, professional singer and artist.
She had famous art collection.
Part of it is now in the [unintelligible] Gallery in Moscow.
Teneshov decided to continue in her village the traditions of Abramsov,
and established here the decorative art workshop.
As the head of the workshop,
she invited famous Moscow artist Sergei Malutin
[spelled phonetically].
He created many projects of ceramics and furniture,
in traditional Russian style.   Also Malutin was talented architect.
He is the author of the famous home called Teremok
[spelled phonetically].
In its decoration, Malutin used the motifs of ancient Russian art,
and of art noveau, and got the original design.
The main gate to the Teneshov Estate was decorated in the same style.
In 1899, in Talashkinov worked Mikhail Rubil.
He was very interested in ancient Russian legends, too.
Like Victor Vasinsov, he also created the image of the epic hero,
which is one of the masterpieces of art noveau style.
In Talashkinov, Rubil made the decorations many balalaikas,
the Russian traditional musical instrument.
The Talashkinov balalaikas decoration by Rubil, Malutin
and other artists, were demonstrated
on the international exhibition in Paris.
In Talashkinov worked the artist
and philosopher Nicholas Hrerech [spelled phonetically].
He decorated the church, which was built in early 20th century.
The face of the Christ on the mosaic of Hrerech is created in traditions
of old Russian icons of 12th century.
In 1898, Duchess Teneshov created in Talashkinov like Elena Polenov
and Abramsov, the museum called Russian Olden Times.
It was situated in her own house,
but soon Teneshov moved her collection which consists
of 8,000 of exhibits to Smolensk.   Now, it is a part of Smolensk city.
To complete the narrative about Russian artist colonies,
I would like, this is one of the exhibits of Teneshov Museum.
I would like to say that the style
of Talashkinov decorative art was so-called national and romantic,
variety of art noveau in Russia.
As [unintelligible] for Abramsov, were worked in the same time,
the painters and the masters of decorative art,
there was only decorative art in Talashkinov.
The visits of famous painters like Rubil and Hrerech were very short,
and did not form the special tradition.
And, the United States.
During the last half of the 19th century and early years
of 20th century, there was a phenomenal growth
of American art colonies.   The reasons why many artists gather
at these art colonies were the same like in Europe.
Afterward, many artists relied on wealthy patrons
and art exhibitors in big cities.
Rapid industrialization and increasing metropolitan,
[unintelligible] during the late 19th century encouraged many of them
to seek quiet places with picturesque scenery.
Others actively searched for out of town places
where they could find inspiration from lush mountain scenery
or coastal views, and where they could freely discuss their personal
artistic beliefs with other artists, like in Europe.
Some of American artists studied in the European art academies.
In France and in Germany.
And like the European artists felt the [unintelligible]
of the academic methods.
Together with their European colleagues,
they worked in artist colonies in Barbizon and in Dachau, for example.
Like in Europe, each American art colony had a distinct beginning.
The famous colony in Woodstock was established in 1902,
with the expectation that it would become a place
where artists could live, work, create and produce.
Ralph Whitehead, a wealthy Englishman with utopian ideas,
wanted to develop an idealistic commune
where artists could work together and in creative harmony.
Lawrence Park, located in Bronxville,[spelled phonetically],
was a planned community in the 1890's.
Developed by William von Deuter Lawrence [spelled phonetically],
who often provided financial incentives to attract artists.
Another type of art colony in the United States were located
in the west of the country in New Mexico.
This state was so removed and untouched
by the rapid industrialization of America at the turn of the century
that artists felt they had discovered a timeless place.
Here, they could explore and capture the best expanse
of colorful mountains, vistas, or the individual personalities
of accommodating Indian subjects.
The famous colonies in New Mexico were the village Taos and Santa Fe.
There were some colonies on the west coast, in golden state, California.
Some artists came on the Monterrey Peninsula
in the beginning of the 20th century.
More of them started to work here after 1906,
San Francisco earthquake and fire.
Many of them lost their workshops and paintings.
Another well-known artist colony
in California were Laguna Beach and Santa Barbara.
The history of all of them began after the turn of the century.
As against of the artist colony of the east coast,
California colonies didn't have connections with the colonies
in Europe, because of the geographical location.
The biggest and very popular colonies were situated
on the east coast of America, near New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
The best-known of them was Provincetown,
on Massachusetts Cape Cod [spelled phonetically].
It was historic fishing village.
Hundreds of artists and thousands of tourists visited this place
in last quarter of 19th century.
Historians described Provincetown as America's prolific art colony.
By the 1890's, prominent artists offered summer art classes
at Provincetown.
In 1914, here was founded the art [unintelligible].
One of the famous artists
of Provincetown was George Alt [spelled phonetically].
Here is one of the Alt paintings.   His style evolved from realism
to art obstruction [spelled phonetically].
Before he came to Provincetown, Alt studied and lived in Paris
for a long time, where he got the progressive art style.
Also in Paris, studied for some years another artist,
the impressionist Ambrose Webster.
He came to Provincetown and opened here his own art school.
One of the most influential painters and teachers,
who also opened here the art school, was Charles Hawthorne.
His class was very popular, and during the summer months,
here studied hundreds of students.   Hawthorne's art style was realism.
He created many views of the sea, and fisher's boats, and the images
of people who lived here.
Mostly fishermen and members of their families.
There's one of these paintings.
Not far from Provincetown is situated Old Lyme.
This place became a popular destination for artists
and art students, after a famous master of forest landscapes,
Henry Ward Granger [spelled phonetically],
visited there in 1899, and realized it was similar
to inspiration art colonies in France.
Granger lived many years in France, and searched for American Barbizon.
Granger came here again in 1900, and invited several artists
to experience the creative potential of Old Lyme.
One of them, Frank St. Dumont [spelled phonetically],
began teaching summer classes here, which he compared
to European art colonies as well.
The status of Old Lyme as an art colony was enhanced
by the 1903 arrival of artist Chad Hussan [spelled phonetically].
Hussan was born in Boston,
and his early career was the career of illustrator.
He made long trips to the Europe, and lived some years in Paris,
when he came under the influence of impressionists.
Hussan was one of the best American impressionists,
and Old Lyme became the well-known center
of the impressionist's art in the United States.
However, it was the reasons for some of older painter to leave Old Lyme,
because it was too civilized.
The same situation was in the biggest German artist colony
in Dachau, in the beginning of 20th century.
Sometimes, Hussan visited Cos Cob, the village suburb of Greenwich,
Connecticut, where permanently worked another American
impressionist, John Henry Twachtman.
Like many of his colleagues, he conducted the summer classes
for students and young artists.
Twachtman was the first American painters
who taught the technique of impressionism.
Before he came to Cos Cob, he studied for a few years
in Munich, and then in Paris.
He began spending summer months at Cos Cob in the 1880s,
and moved there permanently in 1889.
Twachtman was well-known landscape painter.
His style varied widely throughout his career.
Art historians considered Twachtman's style of impressionism
to be among the more personal and experimental of his generation.
Another prominent artist, Julian Alden Weir, like Twachtman,
lived in Cos Cob permanently, and in summer offered the art classes.
Famous place was East Hampton, on the eastern end of Long Island.
It became a special attraction in the 1970's,
as a sketching area for New York painters.
Many of them were members
of the artist organization New York Tile Club [spelled phonetically].
Many artists who have had commercial success have houses in East Hampton,
among other artist who are intimately associated
with East Hampton was Thomas Warren,
the famous Hudson River school artist.
Later, in 1940s, and 1950s,
here worked famous American painter Jackson Pollock.
And he died not far from this place.
Also on the east coast was situated the art colony
in the Cape Hen [spelled phonetically], Massachusetts,
where worked since 1860's successful painter Fitz Hugh Lane,
the master of the sea landscapes.
His style would later be called luminism,
for its use of pervasive light.   Perhaps most characteristic element
of Lane's painting is the incredible amount of attention paid to detail.
Probably due, in part, to his lithographic training.
As the specific style of lithography that was popular at the time
of his training was characterized by the goal of verisimilitude, in 1877,
another painter, William Morris Hunt, attached many art students
with his popular summer outdoor classes.
To complete the narrative about artist colonies
in the United States, I would like to say that there were altogether
about 15 places in different regions where the artists worked.
Some of them I did not mention in my lecture.
As opposed to artist colonies in Europe,
the evolution of American colonies was not interrupted
because of World War I.
The traditions of artist colonies continued in contemporary art.
There are many places, both in Europe and the United States,
where artists worked and develop this tradition.
For example, this is the picture of a small village on Russian North,
it's a sea village, and the artists work here every summer
for three months in the white nights [spelled phonetically].
Thank you.
[applause] Yes, if you have questions, please.
Female Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: Thank you.
Female Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: Yes.
Female Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: I need some help, sorry.
No. No. It wasn't connected with this industrialization
in the cities, and with this moving of people
from the villages to the cities.
The artists just looked for these tiny quiet places, and, for example,
Barbizon, it was so strange place
in the early 19th century, it was very, very poor.
And in the late 19th century, it became really rich place
with hotels and tourism, and others.   The same situation in Dachau.
But, a special people don't think about this when they planned,
for example, the evolution of the cities and other things.
No. Yeah. Female Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: But, you know,
it's usual for thank you for very much,
but it's usual for the United States.
I know that in Old Lyme, Chad Hussan got the best studio on this.
It was, what was her name?
Yes. The woman, no no no, the woman's name.
[low audio] Ah.
I read about this, I cannot remember now.
But Chad Hussan got the best studio in this.
It's usual for the United States, why?
Because the United States, maybe it's,
I can see that it's a business project.
It's a huge business project.
In all the types of human activity, you know.
And in art area, the same situation.
Yeah. Male Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: Yes, yes, yes, sure.
Exactly. Exactly.
They looked for another type of the life.
And, but you know, unfortunately,
a lot of these European artist colonies were,
the activity there was stopped during the World War I.
Because, for example, I know
that in Worpsvede art colonies, one painter was killed.
In 1916. And there were a lot of painters in Germany,
especially in Germany, who were killed.
But, this opposite side moving of painters in the village
and people to the cities.
In this industrialization era, you're absolutely right.
Female Speaker: Two questions.
One, [inaudible] Dimitri Lubin: Well, thank you.
About the women in the colonies.
You can see this picture, and, you know, in the beginning
of the 20th centuries, there were a lot of women artists.
For example, I know that in 1906,
there were about 6 1/2 thousand of artists in Germany.
And about 1,000 of them were women.
Who were the women in the artist colonies?
Mostly, they were the students, the former students, of the artists.
Some of them got married with this teachers.
Some of them, because, for example,
Paula Moderson Baker [spelled phonetically], she was the wife
of one of the famous Worpsvede masters [unintelligible].
And we have a lot of the same situation in this.
It's about women.
And what about the art in the colonies like business?
You know, it was the artist colonies in the late, in any time,
the artist colonies were something new in the art.
For example, these Fontainebleau Forest colony in Barbizon in France.
The painters decided to paint on the plain air.
Before then, nobody did this.
It was the revolution in the painting.
And therefore, they found people who bought their paintings,
and people paid a lot of money for this new style of painting.
The same situation, for example, with Worpsvede in Germany,
and the same situation in Russia, because both of these art fans,
Savva Mamontov and Duchess Teneshov, they were very wealthy.
And they invited only the best artists, Ilia Rapin,
Victor Vasnisov and others.
And after they, for example, Vasinsov, the Epic Heroes were sold
to the Tretikoff Gallery [spelled phonetically].
For thousands of rubles, it's like millions of dollars.
It was a kind of business.
I know that Chad Hussan, in the United States,
got for the one painting in the beginning
of 20th century, 6,000 dollars.   It was, he was really very wealthy.
He was not only artist, he was businessman too.
This is, maybe this is the answer of this question.
Female Speaker: [low audio] Male Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin:
Well, in many colonies, developed the engravings technique.
And many engravings were the best sold on the market.
And engravings got money for the artist.
Yes, what about this research?
In 2006, in Nuremburg, Germany, was grandiose exhibition
about the artist colonies in Europe,
and maybe a little bit in the United States.
I saw some books, but it wasn't some other books.
But, I cannot say that they are the real research.
Maybe it's, you know, like, well, this colony,
a few words about the colony, and then a few words about the painters.
He was born, he was married, he died, that's all.
This character of books, I know this kind of books.
And these, the catalogue
of this Nuremburg exhibition is about 600 of pages.
It's very heavy.
I showed this book today to our colleagues, and that's great.
That's the greatest, and first complete research
about the artist colonies.
Male Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: Yes, it's only one book,
it's called Art Colonies in the United States, the 1850 until 1930.
But I taught about this book like, about very short.
It was maybe 15 or 20 colonies in these books.
And five, seven pages about each of them.
Just, you know, it's not complete research.
But we have the information.
We know where to find this information.
Female Speaker: [low audio] Dimitri Lubin: Thank you.
Well, you're absolutely right about these traveling painters.
And in the artist colonies, for example,
a lot of artists started to work somewhere.
After that, they moved to another place.
For example, in Germany, it was more than 20 colonies.
In this, not very big Germany.
Exactly. People went from one colony to another.
What about the international traveling?
Some of American, I don't know exactly about the European painters
in the United States, for example, but I know that some
of American artists studied because in European colonies,
European colonies are, were the arts schools.
The schools of art, yeah?
They studied there, in Barbizon, in France,
and mostly in Barbizon and Dachau.   They were the biggest colonies.
And after that, they went back to the United States with these ideas,
like this forest landscape is arranged.
Who looked for the American Barbizon.
Some of Germans studied in Barbizon in France.
For example, the famous German impressionist Maxley Bruman
[spelled phonetically].   He was wonderful in this.
He was in Barbizon maybe five years.
The border was on the one [spelled phonetically].
After this French, German war, 1870, 1871, a lot of German painters
who worked in Fontainebleau and other colonies
in France, they had to come back.
And show the French painters that moved out,
Dusseldorf, Berlin and Munich.   It was the border.
But, after maybe five or six years, this border was nothing.
Because the conversation in the art was more powerful than conversation
in the poetics [spelled phonetically].
And that was very good.
[laughter] Carolyn Brown: I think we've come to the end of our time.
Let us join together in thanking Dr. Lubin for a wonderful lecture
and a beautifully selected illustrations.
Just stunning.   But thank you so very much.
[applause] This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.   [end of transcript]