Dennis Miller Bunker (November 6, 1861–December 28, 1890) was an American painter and innovator of American Impressionism. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey is Consecrated. 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Impressionism, a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors was practiced widely among American artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries His mature works include both brightly colored landscape paintings and dark, finely drawn portraits and figures. For the art of designing external spaces see Landscape architecture. A portrait is a painting, photograph, Sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person in which the face and its expression is predominant Figure painting is a form of the Visual arts in which the artist uses a live model as the subject matter of a two-dimensional piece of artwork using paint as the medium One of the major American painters of the late 19th century,[1] a friend of many prominent artists of the era, Bunker died from meningitis at the age of 29. Meningitis is Inflammation of the protective membranes covering the Brain and Spinal cord, known collectively as the Meninges.
Contents |
Life
Bunker was born in New York City to Matthew Bunker, the secretary-treasurer of the Union Ferry Company, and his wife, Mary Anne Eytinge Bunker. The City of New York In 1876 he enrolled at the Art Students League of New York and the National Academy of Design. The Art Students League of New York is an Art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The National Academy of Design, in New York City, now called simply The National Academy is an honorary association of American Artists with a Museum By 1880 he was participating in the annual exhibitions of the National Academy, the American Watercolor Society, and the Brooklyn Art Association. A national academy is an organizational body usually operating with State financial support and approval that co-ordinates scholarly Research activities and standards Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City.
In 1881 Bunker exhibited a watercolor at the Boston Art Club. The Boston Art Club, Boston Massachusetts for nearly 154 years serves as a nexus for Members and non Members to access the world of Fine Art He subsequently exhibited both oil paintings and watercolors at the Club in 1882 and 1883. In 1886, the American printmaker Louis Prang exhibited two of Bunker's works from his own collection at the Club. Printmaking is the Process of making artworks by Printing, normally on Paper. Louis Prang ( March 12, 1824 - September 14, 1909) was an American printer lithographer and publisher
In 1882 Bunker left New York to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, most notably with Jean-Léon Gérôme. École des Beaux-Arts ("School of Fine Arts" refers to a number of influential Art schools in France. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Jean-Léon Gérôme ( May 11, 1824 – January 10, 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style In the spring of 1883, accompanied by fellow students Charles A. Platt and Kenneth R. Charles Adams Platt ( October 16, 1861 – September 12, 1933) was a prominent landscape gardener and architect of the " American Renaissance Cranford, Bunker left Paris to travel through the French countryside and the coast of Normandy, returning to continue his studies in mid-October. Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. The following year the three artists summered and painted in Brittany. Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into By year's end Bunker had returned to New York City.
In 1885 Bunker was elected to the Society of American Artists. The Society of American Artists was an American artists group In October of that year, at the recommendation of J. Carroll Beckwith, he moved to Boston to teach at the Cowles Art School, where he was the chief instructor of figure and cast drawing, artistic anatomy, and composition. He lived and taught in the art school building. Concurrently Bunker was given his first solo exhibition, at Noyes and Blakeslee Gallery in Boston. Despite these successes, Bunker was homesick for France, and wrote of feeling "supremely ridiculous" in "this atmosphere of wealth and respectability". This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. [2] While meager finances prevented him from staying in Boston during the summer, let alone traveling to Europe, Bunker did accept an invitation from Abbott Handerson Thayer to join him and paint in South Woodstock, Connecticut in 1886. Abbott Handerson Thayer (August 12 1849 – May 29 1921 was an American artist naturalist and teacher South Woodstock is a Census-designated place (CDP in Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. In that year he also met Isabella Stewart Gardner, who would prove to be a valuable friend and patron. Isabella Stewart Gardner ( April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was an influential American art collector Philanthropist, and patron
Bunker painted portraits during the winter of 1887, and spent the summer in Newburyport, Massachusetts with artist friends; including Henry Oliver Walker. Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 38 miles (61 km northeast of Boston. Henry Oliver Walker (1843–1929 was an American painter and muralist In November he met John Singer Sargent in Boston, during the latter's first working trip to America. John Singer Sargent (January 12 1856 &ndash April 14 1925 was the most successful portrait painter of his era During his career he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than In 1888 Bunker undertook a number of portrait commissions of important Bostonians, including members of the Gardner family, Samuel Endicott Peabody, and J. Montgomery Sears. Bunker spent the summer in England, where he joined Sargent and his family in Calcot, painting during the day and playing tennis in the evening. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Calcot may refer to Calcot Berkshire Calcot Gloucestershire
During the spring of 1889 Bunker resigned from the Cowles Art School. At a reception he met Eleanor Hardy, whom he would marry the following year. In the summer Bunker stayed at a boarding house in Medfield, Massachusetts, and enjoyed his most productive season of painting. Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. In the fall he returned to New York, writing daily to Hardy in Boston. By this time, Bunker's circle of friends included not only Sargent, Gardner, and Platt, but Thomas Wilmer Dewing, William Merritt Chase, Stanford White, William Dean Howells, Charles Martin Loeffler, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, as well. Thomas Wilmer Dewing ( May 4, 1851 &ndash November 5, 1938) was an American painter working at the turn of the 20th century William Merritt Chase ( November 1, 1849 &ndash October 25, 1916) was an American painter known as an exponent of Stanford White ( November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American Architect and partner in the architectural firm of William Dean Howells ( March 1 1837 – May 11 1920) was an American realist author and literary critic Charles Martin Loeffler ( January 30, 1861 – May 19, 1935) was a German-born American Composer. Augustus Saint-Gaudens ( Dublin, March 1, 1848 &ndash Cornish New Hampshire, August 3, 1907) was the Irish
In 1890 Bunker first exhibited his impressionist landscapes at the St. Botolph Club in Boston. He received an offer to teach at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and planned to take over William Merritt Chase's class in Brooklyn that winter. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, In June he visited the art colony at Cornish, New Hampshire, and in July returned to paint further at Medfield. See also Artist collective An art colony or artists' colony is a place where creative practitioners live and interact with one Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. On October 2 Bunker married Eleanor Hardy in Boston. The Cornish Colony Artist, Henry Oliver Walker, was Best Man at Bunker's wedding. Bunker had been Walker's Best Man at Walker's wedding the previous year. The couple then moved to New York. Returning to Boston to celebrate Christmas with the Hardy family, Bunker fell ill. On December 28 he died of heart failure, probably caused by cerebro-spinal meningitis. Heart failure is a Cardiac condition that occurs when a problem with the structure or function of the Heart impairs its ability to supply Platt and other friends organized a memorial exhibition at the St. Botolph Club, held in 1891.
Work
The paintings of Bunker's early maturity in New York (ca. 1880-82) were often marine subjects, featuring a series of beached boats, painted on Long Island. Long Island is an island located in southeastern New York, USA, its western shores directly across from Manhattan, from which the island stretches In these he followed the standard academic practice of first painting loose, preparatory sketches (Beached, ca. An Oil sketch or oil study is an artwork made primarily in Oil paints and which is more abbreviated in handling than a fully finished painting 1881-2) prior to more conventionally finished exhibition pieces. The early portraits (Portrait of Walter Griffin, 1881, Portland Museum of Art) also evidence rigorous craftsmanship. The Portland Museum of Art in Portland Maine was founded as the "Portland Society of Art" in 1882
While studying in Paris, Bunker's summer excursions to the countryside resulted in another series, this time of scenes of Larmor, a town in Brittany. Sir Joseph Larmor ( 11 July 1857 Magheragall, County Antrim, Northern Ireland – 19 May 1942 Holywood The focus of these compositions, be it church spire (Brittany Town Morning, Larmor, 1884, Terra Foundation for American Art), cemetery cross, or a lone tree (Tree, 1884-5, private collection), was invariably that of a richly painted, dark graphic shape against a bright sky. Nevertheless, the pictures are characterized by soft atmospheric effects and tonal subtlety. No less subtle are the landscapes Bunker painted after returning to America; paintings done in South Woodstock, Connecticut (Pines Beyond the Fence, 1886, private collection) still favor dramatic value contrasts, with subjects carefully painted against a light sky, but the palette has grown lighter, the color more saturated. [3]
By 1887 Bunker completed his Portrait of Anne Page, a painting requiring much labor, but one of his most poignant works. [4] In its restrained use of color, delicate modeling of form, and aesthetic elegance it is reminiscent of the works of Thayer and James Mcneill Whistler. There soon followed the Boston commissions, portraits mostly of male sitters--still somber in tone, they are painted in a more confident manner, suggesting the influence of Sargent (Portrait of George Augustus Gardner, 1888, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
That Bunker spent the summer of 1888 painting with Sargent is verified by personal correspondence, as well as through several pieces by the latter artist (Dennis Miller Bunker Painting at Calcot, 1888, Terra Foundation for American Art), but no paintings of the English sojourn by Bunker have survived; possibly he destroyed them in dissatisfaction. [5] However, once back in Boston the experience came to fruition, for over the next two years Bunker produced a series of canvases which evidenced that he was one of the first American artists to fully understand and successfully practice impressionism. [6] In the Greenhouse, ca. 1888, Chrysanthemums, 1888 (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), The Pool, Medfield, 1889 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and Meadow Lands, 1890 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) all feature a rich palette, vertiginous compositions, and his unique "fish hook" shaped brush strokes. [7]
At the same time, Bunker's last figure pieces remained faithful to his academic training. Jessica, 1890 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), The Mirror, 1890 (Terra Foundation for American Art), and Eleanor Hardy Bunker, 1890 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) are characterized by a restricted color range and heightened elegance.
Legacy
Although highly regarded during his lifetime, the 20th century assessment of American Impressionism was largely negative, and Bunker's work was all but forgotten soon after his death. His teachings influenced a number of painters (upon his resignation from the Cowles school, his students wrote a letter of appreciation, urging him to reconsider),[8] among whom were William McGregor Paxton and Lilla Cabot Perry. William McGregor Paxton ( June 22, 1869 – 1941 was an American Impressionist painter Lilla Cabot Perry ( January 13, 1848 — February 28, 1933) was an American Artist who worked in the Impressionist It was a student of Paxton's named R. H. Ives Gammell who did the most to maintain Bunker's reputation, organizing two exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the 1940s, and publishing a biography in 1953. Robert Hale Ives Gammell (1893-1981 American muralist portrait painter art teacher and writer on art was born in Providence Rhode Island in 1893 The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States attracting over one million visitors a year The current revival of interest in his work is the result of a less programmatic reassessment of 19th century art:
"Thus, depending upon the viewpoint of the writer, Bunker can be seen as either a traditionalist or an innovator. In truth, he was both". [9]
Notes
References
- Hirshler, Erica E. , et al, Dennis Miller Bunker: American Impressionist, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1994.
External links
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic