If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

In honor of Mother's Day this coming Sunday, I thought I'd share with you several portraits of the female forebearers of various respected and well-known painters. The portraits range from the 15th century to the present* - excluding paintings of The Madonna, arguably the most famous of all mothers.

Most artists, at one time or another, have painted a portrait of the woman from whose womb they sprang. Some are flattering, some are not and others are very personal or intimate -- yet all are an homage to the parent whose role we celebrate this Sunday, May 8th.

There are so many, I'm breaking this up into two posts. Today I am featuring paintings of artists' mothers prior to the 20th century and tomorrow I will be featuring Part Two, more recent homages to Mom by such artists as Hopper, Dali, Hockney, and Warhol.

A good place to start would be with the world's most well-known "Mother" artwork, that of by James McNeill Whistler, painted in 1871:

above: James McNeill Whistler, Whistler's Mother 1871, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

The following portraits are presented in chronological order from the earliest to the most recent. While it's true that many of these artists painted multiple sittings of their mothers (e.g. Lautrec, Cassat, and Cezanne), I chose to share those I found to be the most compelling.

Albrecht Durer, portrait of Barbara Durere, the artist's mother, 1490:

Guido Reni, Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1612:

Rembrandt, Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1630:

Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait (sketch) of Lucy Lawrence, the Artist's mother, 1797:

Alfred Rethel, portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1836:

Camille Corot, Madame Corot, the Artist's Mother, Born Marie-Francoise Oberson, 1838:

Pierre Renoir, Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1860:

Paul Cezanne, Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1866-67:

Mary Cassat, the Artist's Mother reading Le Figaro, 1878:

Edouard Manet, Mother in the garden at Bellevue, 1880:

Georges Seurat, Aquatint of the artist's mother, 1883:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Countess Adele Zoe de Toulouse Lautrec, The Artist's Mother, 1883:

Vincent Van Gogh, Portrait of the Artist's Mother, October, 1888:

Paul Gauguin, Portrait of Aline Gauguin, 1890:

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1896:

Edvard Much, The Dead Mother (the artist's mother died when he was five from tuberculosis), 1899:

*You will note there are very few, if any, portraits artist's mothers in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries because so much art at that time was dominated by religious paintings and portraits commissioned by the wealthy.

PART TWO
Be sure to see Part Two, 20th and 21st century artists like Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney's portraits of their mothers.

above: Dior's Suzurka-San Coat, 2007 and below it, Hiroshige's The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa, 1848

Moscow's Pushkin Museum presents Inspiration Dior, a comprehensive exhibit of Christian Dior's breathtaking fashions and the art that played a role in inspiring them.

above: Dior's "Linda Vojtova" , 2007-08 inspired by the Goya painting below it

"The best way to describe this exhibit is with Christian Dior's own words: 'The history of Parisian fashion is not a vanity fair, but a representation of culture,'" said veteran Pushkin Museum director Irina Antonova.

above: Dior's Forcement short trench coat, 1991 and below it, a drawing of Dior's Bar Suit by Christian Berard, 1947

The exhibit features the jewelry, the perfumes and of course, the pieces of Dior as well as many paintings that influenced the designs and styles. Nine rooms in the museum showcase Dior fashions from 18th century-influenced designs to images of today's celebrities donning his gowns. The exhibit has been grouped into the following categories; New Look, Lines and Bodies, Dior and the Eighteenth century, Bell Epoque, Dior Balls, The Gardens of Dior, Dior: Gold and Gold, Dior Around The World, Fine Jewellery, The Atelier or Art of Haute Couture, The Magic of Dior Perfumes and Stars in Dior .

above: Dior's "Koh-I-Noor Dress", 1996-97 and John Singer Sargent's La Camencita, 1900

above: Dior's Black and White silk faille coat, 2002 and Varvara Fiodorovna Stepanova's Casual Dress design, 1923-24

Paintings by Klimt, Renoir, Sargent, van Gogh and others that nourished Dior's inspiration are on loan from the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, the Versaille Museum and Moscow's Tretyakov gallery.

Many of the Dior dresses on exhibit:

Some of the accompanying pieces of art:

Text about the exhibit from the museum:

February 12th, 1947: Christian Dior presents his first collection at Avenue Montaigne. The revolution is underway and the New Look is born. With it, The House of Dior enters the world of legend.

Unknown until that moment, the genius designer who revered the French way of life entered a triumphant decade, providing women with regal bearing and a sublime look. Skirts were longer, shoulders were softened and waists were cinched. A Dior flower-women blossomed in the post-war era, and outrageously splendid, was soon to conquer the world with infinite grace.

New and highly innovative, the exhibition demonstrates how inspiration has nourished the heart of Dior for decades. This amazing journey guides the visitor through the Dior artistic creative sources of fashion and its links to history, nature, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and film. It reveals now an idea, a feeling, an era, a garden, a perception or even a smell can instill an idea in the heart and mind, giving rise to a unique creation.

In this major exhibition, the Pushkin Museum showcases Dior magic and luxury whilst emphasizing the outstanding House’s links with art.

The key themes of the Dior legend – past and present on a grand scale in original fashion, set against unique works of art. It is a journey of corresponding elements and magical synergies, where the New Look is echoed in works by Picasso, Modigliani, Renoir, Cezanne or even Gauguin. Nudes by Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Cattelan and Orlan emphasise the gloriously modern lines of the female body, accentuated by Christian Dior.

This waltz through time enchants the visitor with lush gardens and recollections of the 18th century and the Belle Époque. Marie-Antoinette meets Jeff Koons, Bonnard’s landscapes celebrate Dior’s flower-women and the Egyptian goddesses from spring summer 2004 establish a radiant, golden destiny.

The Dior grand balls are also celebrated in all their glory in an enchanted setting where Ingres’ aristocrats admire breathtaking crinolines and haute couture gowns. The visitor is then transported around the world with Dior via Goya’s Spain, Matisse’s heady orient and of course, Russia and Asia.

The world of Dior beauty also provides the opportunity to view René Gruau’s strikingly modern illustrations and allows the Russian plastic artist, Olga Kisseleva to create an installation exploring the sensual and sensory universe of Dior perfumes.

A mirror effect of deliberate similarities lays down the framework of this exceptional exhibition, in which the quest for ideal beauty creates the link between Christian Dior, genius couturier, and the impressive and unexpected gallery of great masters.

As monsieur Dior said: “Finally everything that has been part of my life – whether I wanted it or not – has expressed itself in my dresses”.