Paris
In 1887, upon arriving in France, Perry enrolled in the Académie Colarossi where she worked with Gustave Courtois and Joseph Blanc. She also studied with Felix Borchardt, a German painter. In addition to receiving formal academic training, Perry spent much of her time studying the old masters at the Louvre in Paris. She also traveled to Spain to copy works at the Prado. Perry’s The Red Hat from 1888 strongly reflects the formal training she had received and her exposure to the old masters, especially the work of Botticelli.
In 1888 Perry traveled to Munich where she studied with the German social realist Fritz von Uhde. Uhde’s handling of the subject and his use of color had a dynamic effect on Perry’s work. By the fall of 1888 Perry had returned to Paris where she enrolled in the Académie Julian and studied with Tony Robert-Fleury.
With the encouragement of Walter Gay, Perry submitted two paintings she had recently completed to the Société des Artistes Indépendants. The portraits of her husband Thomas Sergeant Perry (1889) and of her daughter Edith Perry holding a book (1889) were accepted by the Salon and with this accomplishment Perry’s career took hold in France.
Perry’s success in 1889 made it possible for her to be one of the select few admitted to Alfred Stevens’ class in Paris. Stevens was known for his “elegant interiors featuring genteel ladies lost in their reveries”. Much of Perry’s oeuvre was influenced by the time she spent with Stevens. The Letter (1893) clearly reveals Stevens’ influence with Perry’s elegant handling of the turned details of the chair, the careful attention paid to the coloration of the wood, and the tactile reality she imbued her daughter’s garment with – every pleat of the dress evokes its three dimensional fullness. All of this combined with Perry’s careful handling of Alice’s face creates an emotional, introspective composition.
It was also in 1889 that Perry first encountered Claude Monet’s work in Georges Petit’s gallery. Viewing Monet’s work was a revelation in her career as an artist. It was on that day that Perry decided to move her residence to Giverny, where Monet lived, in order to further expose herself to the Impressionist’s style.
Read more about this topic: Lilla Cabot Perry, Career
Famous quotes containing the word paris:
“There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even—the French air clears up the brain and does good—a world of good.”
—Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890)
“Nowhere is one more alone than in Paris ... and yet surrounded by crowds. Nowhere is one more likely to incur greater ridicule. And no visit is more essential.”
—Marguerite Duras (b. 1914)
“Beloved, may your sleep be sound
That have found it where you fed.
What were all the world’s alarms
To mighty Paris when he found
Sleep upon a golden bed
That first dawn in Helen’s arms?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)