Treasures From the Archives

"Personifications of the four seasons were common subjects for engravers and printmakers in the eighteenth century, but carved wood statuettes such as these are exceedingly rare. In this set of figurines (1971.180.83-.86), the seasons are identified by their attributes: Spring by flowers, Summer by wheat, Autumn by a basket of fruit, and Winter by a muff. Other than for ships’ figureheads, there was little demand in the United States for sculptural carving during this time period. The surviving examples of non-maritime wood sculpture originated almost exclusively in Boston or Salem, Massachusetts."

"Gertrude Käsebier may have intended this photograph of her daughter and namesake as a bridal portrait. Shown in a silhouetted profile and kneeling with her hands clasped in prayer, the younger Gertrude is framed by the balcony door, with the railing behind her simulating an ornate altar rail. The sunlight that flows in through the open door and gently bathes the room also glimmers through the veil covering her face and trailing down her back. The print's vertical cropping emphasizes the figure, more clearly defining her posture of prayer."

"Between the years 900 and 1100, Chinese paint­ers created visions of landscape that depicted the sublimity of creation. Viewers are meant to identify with the human figures in these paintings. In Summer Mountains, travelers make their way toward a temple retreat. The central mountain sits in commanding majesty, like an emperor among his subjects, the culmination of nature’s hierarchy. The advanced use of texture strokes and ink wash suggests that Summer Mountains is by a master working about 1050, a date corroborated by collec­tors’ seals belonging to the Song emperor Huizong (r. 1101–25), whose paintings catalogue re­cords three works entitled Summer Scenery by the otherwise unknown artist Qu Ding."

"This set of four Seasons (35.104.1–.4) are copies at reduced scale of limestone reliefs on Bouchardon's fountain in the rue de Grenelle, Paris, commissioned in 1735 and finished in 1745."

In 1681, two years after he painted this work, Wu Li was baptized as a Christian, a most uncommon thing to do for a man of his background. Ordained in Macao as a priest in 1688, he was sent in 1689 to do missionary work in Shanghai, where he died in 1718."

"This picture was shown in an exhibition of Rousseau's painted studies, held in Paris in 1867. In the accompanying catalogue, it was entitled An Early Summer Morning in the Forest of Fontainebleau and dated 1861. However, the identification was soon forgotten, and the painting was long known as A Path among the Rocks. Rousseau's technique, which builds up a lively, light-filled surface with delicate touches of translucent glazes, is characteristic of his mature style."