IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM: A Life of Photography, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Entrance to Imogen Cunningham Retrospective at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California.
Two Callas (detail), photo by Imogen Cunningham

When Imogen Cunningham died June 23, 1976, at the age of 93, she was in the midst of a new project, a book about aging. (It was published after her death.) She took photographs for almost her entire life, leaving behind an incredible body of work.  A retrospective exhibit is currently at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and, for the first time, photos from her entire career--spanning seventy years–have been mounted together, allowing us to see the development of her thought and work in relation to other photographers and artists of her time and to marvel at the depth and breadth of her work.

Imogen Cunningham, San Francisco, 1966. Photo by Edmund Teske

Art and I viewed the exhibit on a recent Saturday afternoon and were surprised that there was not a long line waiting for the monorail train for a ride from the parking lot to the museum. Then we discovered that we were supposed to have made a reservation online (a Covid rule made to limit crowds.) Luckily for us, it wasn’t very crowded that day and we were allowed to continue. The exhibit, which opened March 8, will only be up until June 12, 2022. So, if you plan to go while it is at the Getty, make sure you have a reservation. (From September 15, 2022 - January 7, 2023, the exhibit will be at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA.)

The Beach, San Francisco, about 1955.

Each room of the exhibit is devoted to a period in Imogen Cunningham's life–from her early years in Seattle, teaching herself how to make pictures with a camera she ordered by mail, to her marriage and years with small children that forced her to stay close to home, to her later work taking portraits and teaching to earn a living, then traveling and interacting with other photographers in the San Francisco Bay area.

Stan, San Francisco, 1959.

An important part of the exhibit is the 28 minute video interview in which Imogen Cunningham reflects on the course of her life, offering comments on particular pictures on view at the museum.

Angel Island, 1952.

The first thing you notice when you enter each room is that virtually all of the photographs are black and white. The other thing you notice is that they are small. You have to stand up close to each one to appreciate the details and range of values. The earliest photos are dark dream-like images taken with a soft-focus lens, inspired by a trip to Europe after she graduated from the University of Washington.

Mills College, about 1928.

In 1917, Cunningham moved from Washington State to the San Francisco Bay area with her husband, Roi Partridge, who had been hired at Mills College in Oakland, and began to make more sharply delineated pictures.

Amaryillis, 1933.

For the next few years, her main subjects were her children and the flowers in her garden. But Cunningham’s flower photos are not what you’d expect. Rather than beautiful blossoms, she comes in close with her camera to turn the leaves and petals into abstract shapes.

Frida Kahlo, 1931.

One room of the exhibit is devoted to Cunningham’s portrait photography, including many pictures of famous people. After her divorce in 1934, Cunningham supported herself and her family by teaching and studio photography. She also became interested in street photography–unposed pictures of people as they appeared in their daily lives. With other San Francisco area photographers she formed a group call f/64. She also joined the San Francisco Women Artists, a group organized to promote, support, and expand the role of women in the arts.

Looped-Wire Sculpture by Ruth Asawa, 1956.

Among my favorite photos in the exhibit is a close up of a piece by sculptor Ruth Asawa, organic abstract shapes constructed from what looks like wire mesh. I have admired Ruth Asawa's work at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, where the pieces hang like giant bulbous webs in the alcove next to the tower elevator.

Cornish School Trio 2, 1935.

Another photo that particularly intrigues me is a photo of a string quartet, created with double exposures on the same negative to reveal the movement of the players and suggesting the rhythm of the music. Other photos, such as Girl at Point Lobos, look almost like paintings.

Girl at Point Lobos, 1968.

One reason I like to take pictures with my phone when I go to an art exhibit is so I can enjoy and re-examine the pieces again after I go home. The above examples are just a sample of the hundreds of photos on exhibit. I recommend going to the exhibit in person so you can pick out your favorites.

       







         

MANET AND MODERN BEAUTY at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Photo of French painter Edouard Manet (Frontispiece design by Eugene Grasset)

The late works of French painter, Edouard Manet (1832 - 1883), are currently on exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. Manet and Modern Beauty includes more than ninety works of art–paintings, drawings, pastels–providing a glimpse into the Manet’s incredible skill as a painter and to his life in his final years. I recently visited the exhibit. Some paintings were familiar, but many I had never seen before. In all, I was awed by his fluid brushstrokes, use of color, and ability to bring his subjects to life.

J. Paul Getty Museum, stairs to Manet Exhibit

As I climbed the stairs to the second floor of the exhibition building, I realized that the vertical portion of each step had been painted to create a giant image of Jeanne, the featured work of the exhibit and a recent acquisition by the Getty.

Jeanne (Spring) was exhibited at the 1882 Salon in Paris, along with Manet’s famous painting A Bar at the Folies-Bergere.

When Manet created the painting, also known as Spring, it was intended to be the first in a series depicting the seasons.The painting shows a beautiful young woman with a flowered bonnet and parasol surrounded by lush greenery. It is the essence of spring rather than a conventional depiction. The series was never completed. Autumn was the only other season Manet painted, and this painting was also in the exhibit--a figure against background inspired by a Japanese silk scarf decorated with a chrysanthemum motif--flowers that bloom in the fall.

Boating, 1881. This painting was begun after Manet began working with the Impressionists

The exhibit is divided into five sections. The first, La Vie Moderne, includes paintings that were first shown at a solo show in 1880 at a Parisian gallery that was connected to a new fashion and culture magazine called La Vie Moderne.

Plum Brandy, 1877

Many of those paintings depict portraits of women in bars and cabarets. Others were of friends and relations or members of Paris society, such as opera singer Emilie Ambre, who was Manet's neighbor in the summer and fall of 1880.

Portrait of Emilie Ambre as Carmen, 1990

The second section, Portraits of an Era includes various portraits, including an example of one he did in pastels. Between about 1878 and his death in 1883, the artist created nearly one hundred pastels, finding the process--which uses sticks of pure color--less demanding than painting.

Portrait of Madame Jules Guillemet, 1880, pastel on canvas

The third section of the exhibit, The Four Seasons, includes the picture of Jeanne, Autumn and others.
In Manet’s final years his health was failing. In 1880 he spent the summer at a spa in Bellevue getting treatments for the pain in his left leg.  The fourth section of the Getty exhibit, Manet at Bellevue, displays illustrated letters written to friends and colleagues from the spa.

Peaches, about 1880

The final section, Flowers, Fruit and Gardens, was one of my favorite parts of the exhibit. The paintings are small, but brilliantly executed, with the peaches in one seeming so real that you want to reach out and grab one to eat. Manet had many friends, and they often visited him, bringing flowers, which he then painted. His paintings of roses, lilacs and other flowers appear as fresh as the day they were picked. And the glass vases holding the flowers sparkle in the light.

Moss Roses in a Vase, about 1882

Manet has been called a “titan of modern art” by the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. This exhibit is a showcase of his brilliance and mastery of the medium.

Plaza at J. Paul Getty Museum

Manet and Modern Beauty was co-organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, and is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. For more information about the exhibit and visiting the museum, click HERE.