This month’s featured artist is Mary Ann Rogers. She was an American Impressionist who flew under the radar. Her work is soft and conveys life’s fleeting experiences. She was also an avid writer, documenting her life through thousands of letters, much like Marie Bashkirtseff.
I first learned about Rogers and her work from Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit. Here’s one of her quotes from the book that sums up her philosophy on painting:
“I want to see these houses solid, I want them to feel like houses. I don’t care about your drawing and your values-they are your affair. They will be good if you make me sense the houses and they will be bad, however “good” they are, if you do not make those houses live.”
Below are some articles and an interesting video I found:
The Magazine Antiques – Encounters with Whistler, Waifs, and Kaiser Wilhelm
Fine Art Connoisseur – Mary Roger Williams
And here’s a gallery of her work:
I also ordered a copy of Forever Seeing New Beauties: The Forgotten Impressionist Mary Rogers Williams. I’ll let you know how it is.
Beautiful soft and harmonious colours, hard edges used sparingly.
I see the work of a versatile, thoughtful artist. In her portraits she captured the essence of the sitters. The use of colour is remarkable.