Considered an Impressionist, Frieseke was of the American variety, stressing drawing and depicting form as well as the play of colors.
Even so, it took Frieseke a while to establish his best-known style, The images below do not include his very earliest works, but show what he was producing during his first five years or so in France.
As usual, I include an establishing image, this showing the kind of painting Frieseke is best known for.
Here he shows interest in the effects of light and shade, but he does this without the use of broken colors.
This painting seems to have been done with thinned paints that were then wiped. The famous American illustrator Bernie Fuchs also did something like this at times.
Another fairly thinly painted work, but less sign of wiping.
The flesh areas are painted conventionally here, but much of the rest is made of heavier or more distinct brushwork.
To me, this seems Whistler-like with a strong hint of Japanese-influenced flatness in the setting.
Another fairly conventional work, but again the setting is flattened.
The lower half seems Van Gogh- like, the upper part more like Gauguin.
Even though Frieseke was approaching his signature style, this painting includes thin, wiped areas as well as more solidly depicted parts. No divisionism or broken colors. This would have been a really nice painting except for the botched boat (if that's what it is).
1 comment:
It was inevitable that when a young artist left home and travelled 10,000 ks away to live in France, he really really wanted to absorb French taste and skills. Frieseke's Nasturiums (Girl with Book) from 1904 was indeed very much influenced by Renoir. And yes you can see a lot of Van Gogh and Gauguin in Lady with Parasol from 1905.
Académie Julian and Académie Carmen must have seemed like heaven on earth for young, foreign students. And not just for the art lessons.
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