One of the world’s most significant private art collections ever assembled makes up the display at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA. The industrialist Norton Simon (1907-1993) acquired an incredible collection of European masterpieces from the Renaissance through the 20^th century as well as a vast collection from South and Southeast Asia.  Also on display are modern works from Europe and the US, which were acquired by the former Pasadena Art Museum. In the 1990s, the museum’s interiors were redesigned by Frank Gehry while its gardens were landscaped by Nancy Goslee Power. What struck me about a recent visit was how many artists at the Norton Simon have ties to France.

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The Norton Simon Collection

The entire collection is made up of 12,000 objects and research is continually ongoing for sculpture and works on paper as well as more information about the origins of the artworks continually being added. The range of important European and North American artists of the 19^th and 20^th century is astounding, and it is all beautifully displayed in the naturally lit, well designed building. 

Influenced by France

I couldn’t possibly begin to cover every amazing artist but what struck me was the number of artists during the late 19th century and throughout most of the 20th century, who moved to Paris and/or France to find inspiration and hone their craft. I am focusing on a very minute representation of the museum’s entire collection, especially highlighting those artists who were from and/or spent time in Paris or in France.

Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954)

French artist Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954) was on display at the special (and very small) exhibition entitled “Odalisque”. The Odalisque was a reclining nude or a harem concubine and became a popular theme in European art from the 1830’s to the 1930’s.  The exhibition focused on the revival of orientalist imagery in the artist’s work.  According to the exhibit description, Matisse said that he made odalisques as an excuse to “Paint the nude” having seen harems firsthand on his trips to Morocco. Matisse is just one of the many artists at the Norton Simon having ties to France.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890)

A prime example of foreign artists heading to Paris and parts of France to hone their craft was Vincent van Gogh’s. In the three pieces below, his work seems to evolve in three different ways. First, there is his evolution of his work as a painter.  Second, is the evolution of his time moving from his native Netherlands through Paris to the South of France. Third, there is the haunting evolution of his mental illness, moving from bleak winterscapes echoing his depressive state to the vibrating, swirling, brightly colored and manic images, painted just months before his death in 1890.

“Winter”, January 1885

Winter (The Vicarage Garden under Snow), January 1885, was painted while  Van Gogh was living with his parents in the vicarage of a remote Dutch town in 1883. When he painted this in January of 1885, he was quite depressed, writing to his brother, “It is sad outside, the fields look like marble with clods of black earth and some snow, mostly interspersed with a few days of fog and mud, the red sun in the evening and the morning, crows, withered grass and wilted rotting green-black bushes and branches of poplars and willows showing angrily like strands of wire against the sad sky.”

“Portrait of a Peasant”, 1888

Portrait of a Peasant (Patience Escalier), 1888.  Compared to the cold and lonely scene from “Winter”, in Portrait of a Peasant, van Gogh fully embraced the colors and the blazing, sunny landscapes of Provence, France.  The Provençal peasant Patience Escalier is illustrated in bright yellow, blue, green and red. Van Gogh deliberately chose to live as a poor artist among peasants.  Like several of the impressionist painters of the late 1800’s, van Gogh was attracted to these subjects for their down to earth humility.

“The Mulberry Tree”, 1889

The Mulberry Tree, October 1889.  In May of 1889, Van Gogh had checked himself into a small mental hospital in the town of Saint-Remy, in the south of France. The Mulberry Tree anxiously vibrates with energetic contrasting colors while squiggly brush strokes crawl across the ground. Diagonal, agitated strokes illuminate the bright blue sky and the yellow leaves swirl in all directions, like racing thoughts.  The Mulberry Tree is an extraordinary example of van Gogh’s signature expressive color, shape, and line which would influence so much of the ensuing 20th-century painting.  A few months after this painting, he would kill himself at the young age of 37. He died without commercial success, it was only a few years later that he became recognized and since the early 20^th century, he has been regarded as one of the world’s most important artists.  See more Van Gogh at the Palm Springs Art Museum here. Van Gogh is one of the many artists at the Norton Simon having ties to France.

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)

Pablo Picasso, of course, was Spanish but spent most of his life in France. One of my favorite museums in Paris is the Picasso Museum, which takes the visitor on a fascinating chronological tour through the artist’s long and prolific life. There are many works by Picasso at the Norton Simon and here I am highlighting three.

“Woman with a Guitar”, 1913

The first, Woman with a Guitar, was painted in 1913 in the style known as Synthetic Cubism. Lines, squares, curves arranged along a central vertical axis hint at a guitar neck, a hand holding the guitar and then elements of a face. In order to create these cubist works, Picasso analyzed his subjects, split them into pieces, “destroyed” them, reconstructed them.  Through this process, he creates something completely new, which was what made this technique so famous.

“Head of a Woman”, 1927

Head of a Woman, 1927.  By this time, Picasso had come a long way from the classical, naturalistic paintings from his youth. He took decomposition to the extreme and reduced this woman’s head to a strong black outline with rearranged facial features. Picasso at this time was inspired by the surrealism movement, which strived to represent those aspects of the human condition which are not seen.

“Woman with a Book”, 1932

Woman with a Book, from 1932 was his post cubist work depicting Marie-Thérèse Walter, his long time mistress and chief model from 1927 until 1936. The work is a study of contrasts with intense, flat patterns, thick black curving lines and strong colors.  The work evokes intimacy, because of its close-up view of the subject with her curvy figure. We the viewer see both literal and abstract, a technique that Picasso mastered. Picasso is one of the many artists at the Norton Simon having ties to France.

Diego Rivera (1886 – 1957)

Diego Rivera spent time in Paris (1909-1919) and was inspired by artists such as Picasso and Duchamp. He combined these European influences with the Pre-Columbian art of his native Mexico to refine his signature style. Much of his work included large murals, painted in the US and Mexico, depicting harsh political and social commentary. But The Flower Vendor depicts the every day life, using harmonious forms and bright colors.

While the Musée d’Orsay in Paris is home to the largest collection of French Impressionist painters, the Norton Simon has an impressive collection of its own.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)

A floral explosion engulfs a stairway, popping with bright yellow sunflowers while purple shadows fall on a dusty garden path lined with verdant blooms and round floral pots. Claude Monet defined Impressionism by painting outdoors in order to illustrate the seasons, the light and the weather.  By applying brushstrokes in different directions, he heightened the sense of warmth on this sunny summer day in the artist’s garden in France. Monet is one of the many artists at the Norton Simon having ties to France.

Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917)

Edgar Degas is prominently featured at the Norton Simon museum, with many statues and paintings on display. In this piece, we see Degas at work as this piece is never quite finished. First painted when the Paris Opera had just opened, it depicts ballerina’s warming up for the show. But 20 years later, Degas makes several visible edits. He changes the positions of the dancer’s legs on the left. He smudges the paint with his finger to create a more hazy, dreamlike scene, in opposition to the crisp natural paintings of his youth. Degas is one of the many artists at the Norton Simon having ties to France.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866 – 1944)

“Open Green” by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923, is an assembly of energetic shapes: a circle impaled by a thin diagonal line; two crooked commas; a checkerboard of semitransparent color, black and white stripes charging into the foreground. Kandinsky was a pioneer in the modern-art movement, interested in the spirituality of art and its many forms. Born and raised in Moscow, he had to leave Russia in 1922 when the Communist party officially banned abstract art. He then went on to teach at the German Bauhaus school until it was closed by the Nazis in 1933. From there, he sought refuge in Paris.

Sam Francis (1923 – 1944)

And finally, Sam Francis, a native of California, began to paint while he recovered from a serious injury in WWII. In 1950, he moved to Paris to find inspiration as an artist, like so many before and after him.  He created his Basel Mural I to be exhibited in Basel, Switzerland from 1958-1964. However, the museum did not purchase the mural and in 1967, Francis donated one of the murals to the Pasadena Art Museum, now the Norton Simon.

For More Information…

As readers know, I (almost) always include books that complement my posts. I do a lot of research to find the comprehensive, interesting, enlightening books that will help readers go into further depth about the subjects I discuss. Here is a selection of books that provide further insight into this post.

“Picasso’s Masterpieces”

The Musée Picasso Paris, located in the lovely Hôtel Salé since 1985, is comprised of more than 5,000 pieces, the most complete public collection of the artist’s works ever assembled. “Picasso’s Masterpieces: The Musée Picasso Paris Collection” is the definitive reference, including a detailed album featuring more than 450 of Picasso’s masterpieces. It is arranged chronologically and by theme. If you love both Picasso AND beautiful books, you will love this.

“Van Gogh: The Life”

New York Times Bestseller, “Van Gogh: The Life” is a “tour de force—an exquisitely detailed, compellingly readable, and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of creative genius Vincent van Gogh.” I picked this book because it isn’t only a collection of his works but also deep insight into his life, particularly his psychiatric issues which caused him to end his life so tragically.

“Everyday Monet”

In “Everyday Monet“, readers can “bring Monet’s paintings and gardens to life using this gorgeously illustrated book that will teach you how to create a Monet lifestyle from your living room to your kitchen to your garden—from the documentarian and author of Monet’s Palate Cookbook, with the support of the American steward and all the head gardeners at Giverny.”

“Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum”

“Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum” focuses specifically on the French masters who dominated the art world in the 1800’s. It includes works of Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Cézanne and Van Gogh, the Realist Gustave Courbet, and the Barbizon painter Camille Corot.

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