Opening Sept 3rd!

Women Painting Florida: Images of the State, 1880 -1960
From the collection of Cici and Hyatt Brown
Exhibition Dates: September 4, 2010 – November 14, 2010

Membership Preview Reception: Friday, September 3, 2010, 5-7pm

50 major works with Florida as subject form a fascinating overview of the art produced by female artists over an eighty year period. Notable women artists such as Laura Woodward and Jane Peterson came to Florida at the height of their careers. They created an amazingly diverse group of beautiful images in a wide range of mature styles. Their chosen subjects range from gardens and citrus fruit to sweeping wild landscapes, local portraits and urban life. The works are loaned from the large Florida art collection of Cici and Hyatt Brown. Featured Image: “Sea Grapes”,  watercolor on board  by Jane Peterson, 1876 – 1965

Introduction

From the mid-19th century on, artists came from all over the world to Florida where they found the perfect vacation spot or a great winter residence or the place to begin a new career. No matter what their reasons to come, they made art while they were here – art that was a response to their surroundings. In Florida there were new vistas, old structures, contrasting light, lush nature and picturesque characters – all of which were irresistible as subjects. There was beauty in the exotic and colorful around them. It is no wonder that images of Florida became the subjects of their artwork.

The artists were men. But they were also women. The female artists like the males were both the well-known and established, and the talented but unheralded. The women depending on their interests and training made works in various media from oil on canvas to watercolor to prints and drawings. And they created an amazingly diverse group of beautiful images in a wide range of mature styles. Fortunately some of those works remain and are preserved for us to view as an exhibition.

Fifty significant artworks from the Florida Art Collection of Cici and Hyatt Brown were chosen as an overview of the achievements by women artists over an eighty-year period. This exhibition offers a beautiful vision of Florida as it – and the women artists who worked here – developed through time.  Noted women artists such as Laura Woodward (1848 – 1928) and Jane Peterson (1876 – 1975) came to Florida at the height of their careers that included instruction in numerous national and International schools. Those influences were brought with them and can be seen not only, in their works, but also, in the works of artists that followed them.

The eminent art historian, Gary R. Libby, has generously provided the biographies and commentary for the extended labels. He notes the numerous examples in which the schools and influences are visible in the methods of these artists. He has researched the locations of the works adding fascinating information about the subjects including historical and biological details.

For instance, in the painting titled Bulow Plantation – Sugar Mill Ruins, Arrah Lee Gaul (1888 – 1980) has made use of a large iron caldron as a focal point. The site is just north of Daytona Beach. Libby elaborates, “In 1835, this sugar and indigo plantation housed refugees fleeing from rampaging Seminoles in the Second Seminole War which lasted until 1842. Strategically located between planters in the New Smyrna Beach area and St. Augustine, Bulow Plantation was also burned by the Seminole led Chiefs, King Philip and Billie Bowlegs. “Gaul’s vision of the plantation includes native ground cover, large cast iron pots used in a refining process, and a later shelter built contemporaneously to protect visitors from the elements. Her palette is bright and her colors are highly saturated. She pays particular attention to contrast emphasizing the rich greens and bright reds of this topographical location.”

Though inhabited streets and buildings in the prominent population centers of the State provide abundant subjects, the forests and swamps are also locations for the curious artist undeterred by the perils of hiking excursions into thickets and still water. The noted lithographer, Victoria Huntley (1900 -1971), composed swamp scenes with the wild beauty of black water and white egrets. She then masterfully turns her vision into an image on the lithographer’s stone and prints a striking vista in gradations from black to white.  As Florida grew, it became home to a variety of typical human labors and eventually to human entertainments. Topics for art as diverse the nets of fishermen and circus performers drew the attention of women artists. A moment during a horse race at the course at Hialeah near Miami with its infield filled with strutting flamingoes is captured full gallop by Amy Jones (1899 – 1968). Her exuberant brushwork gives liveliness to the competing horses.

In each of the works is a piece of the wonder that is the State of Florida. The artists found which subjects resonated with them and distilled the images of those subjects in the styles and media that they had developed throughout their careers. With this exhibition comes a greater understanding of the contribution of women artists to the glorious chronicle of Florida in art.

David C. Swoyer
Curatorial Consultant for the Florida Museum for Women Artists

Featured Image:The Race at Hialeah, 1950 by Amy Jones, 1899 – 1968. oil on canvas, Brown Collection

Thank you to the Sponsors of
Women Painting Florida: Images of the State, 1880 -1960

Bethune-Cookman University
Daytona State College Foundation
Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida
Rose Villa Restaurant, Ormond Beach
Stetson University
The Gary R. Libby Charitable Trust
University of Central Florida

Encore Catering of Central Florida
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial
Hall Construction, Daytona Beach
Smith Barney Foundation
The West Volusia Beacon