Description
If one has ever visited a Bretone market he finds that even there, there is class distinction. The wealthiest vendors rent their stalls by the year in the covered market, while the next prosperous pitch their white and red awninged stands outside. But the poorer just push their wares to market in a handcart and spread them on the ground. If the vendor is a pottery merchant, she (for usually the women do the selling) is apt not to have the best examples but the seconds; pieces slightly chipped or with the figures poorly painted.
The peasants in this canvas are most typical of Brittany, their costumes, wooden sabots and ample flaures. One can even tell their native towns from their coifs, for each community has it's specifically designed coif. The two facing figures in the rear are from Pont L'Abbe while the one with the white dangling ribbons is from Quimpere. In the little assembly are three widows, for they wear a hood with no ribbons. It is more than likely that the one holding the plate is the vendor.
Up by the covered market and stalls, all is noisy and exciting as the farmers and fishwives barter over their shopping or lustily greet friends. This is the social event of the week, but a bit apart there is less enthusiasm and more tranquility.
Dixie Selden has painted many times in Brittany. She has a great love for the colorful fishing village of Concarneau and its people, and she paints them vigorously, truthfully and with great skill.
Dixie Selden (American, 1868-1935), titled The Pottery Vendor, on verso label with the title Corncaneau added to front label, signed and dated 1926 l.l.; 22.5 x 22.75 in.
Extensive travels to Europe provided Dixie Selden with a wealth of lively scenes and individuals. After a trip to Normandy in 1902 where she painted portraits of locals, Selden grew fascinated with depicting women in traditional northern French dress as seen by this example and others. During the early 20th century, female mourners, like the women in The Pottery Vendor, still wore the traditional long black skirts accented by aprons and tall white hats that flared out at the edges. However, none of the figures in the other examples have such abstracted rounded forms like those in A Pottery Vendor. In this unique example, painted while visiting Corncaneau, Selden illustrated the everyday life of the tiny fishing village that attracted numerous American tourists from 1880 to the early 20th century.
Born in Cincinnati, OH, to a prominent aristocratic family, Selden entered into a life of luxury which enabled her to fully pursue her artistic interests. At sixteen she enrolled in classes at the Art Academy of Cincinnati where she studied under the tutelage of the famed Frank Duveneck (1848-1919). A talented pupil whom Duveneck referred to affectionately as the "the little one," Selden began showings with the Women's Art Club and the Cincinnati Art Club during the 1880s. Other regional opportunities for exhibition arose and Selden showed with the Society of Western Artists shortly after its founding. During this period, and until the early nineteen-teens, Selden's work thematically focused on Orientalist subject matter, landscapes, and portraiture. Although Selden's handling of paint becomes noticeably looser during this period, many of these early examples retain a commitment to realism.
Like the earlier Duveneck, William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) proved to be a monumental influence to Selden's oeuvre, specifically her handling of paint, asymmetrical framing, color palette and interest in plein air painting. In 1913, Selden studied with the acclaimed American Impressionist in Brittany, and while there, came in contact with European Impressionists. Chase taught his students the importance of plein air studies and asymmetrical framing, which allowed Selden to infuse her scenes with a newfound energy, like that found in The Pottery Vendor. Notice how the viewer's eye instantly gravitates to the asymmetrically placed pottery in the foreground. Juxtaposed against these static columns of porcelain, is a presumably energetic village scene and this sense of movement is reiterated by the loose brush strokes and bulbous female forms. Often ignored by the indigenous people, Selden captured the animated scene but filled it with anonymous and expressionless individuals. Painting in plein air allowed Selden to shift her focus from sparsely inhabited landscapes to more vibrant market scenes and cityscapes. Impressionism provided Selden with a relaxed brush stroke and a brighter color palette, used to accent the sombre greys in The Pottery Vendor, that ultimately matched the increased level of animation in the scene itself.
A single, accomplished and independent female at a time when few female artists succeeded in the male dominated art world, Selden's work gained prominence during her lifetime as noted by accolades like the Kenneth Maguire Prize awarded to this painting. During her earlier studies with Duveneck, many of her predominantly female classmates dabbled in painting as a genteel leisure activity for married life. But unlike her peers, at the age of twenty-six, Selden dedicated her life to working professionally as an artist and remained committed throughout her lifetime, exhibiting at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Pennsylvania Academy. After her death, her work has garnered attention by the academic art community and art enthusiasts alike; it is held in private collections, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Butler Institute of American Art.
PROVENANCE
Louisville Art Association, 1927
Kenneth Maguire Purchase for the Speed Museum, 1927
Acquired from the Above
Purchased from a Louisville Estate
EXHIBITED
Closson's Art Gallery, Paintings by Dixie Selden, November 15-27, 1926
Woman's Art Club, Traxel's Gallery, January 29-February 12, 1927
Speed Art Museum, 1927
LITERATURE
"The Home Forum," Christian Science Monitor: An International Daily Newspaper, December 17, 1927.
Genetta McLean, Dixie Selden: An American Impressionist From Cincinnati, 1868-1935, Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati Art Galleries, 2001, p. 87 & 167.
Information obtained from the aforementioned Catalogue Raisonne by McLean and italicized text at the beginning is the article from the Christian Science Monitor.
