Charles Courtney Curran at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens

Milking Time

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee is one of my favorite small museums to visit.  I swung by over Labor Day weekend to see the Curran exhibit "Seeking the Ideal".  The exhibit runs through October 5, 2014.

I wasn't sure who Charles Courtney Curran was but I liked the cover painting- The Golden Profile

The Golden Profile

Curran is known for his portraits and paintings of women and children.  The women are dressed in flowing white or pastel dresses against gardens or seascapes.

Curran was born in Hartford, Kentucky in 1861 and spent his growing up years in Sandusky Ohio.  He studied at the Fine Arts Academy of Cincinnati, the National Academy of Design, and Art Students League before moving to Paris for 2 1/2 years. He was a contemporary of the American Impressionists Mary Cassatt, and Frank Benson.

The exhibit had Curran's 1920 palette- artists' palettes are fascinating- at least to this artist.

Peonies

He had a summerhome in Cragmoor, NY, in the Hudson Valley,  which was a growing art Center.    Located about 100 miles northwest of New York City. He painted and taught there.

Paris la nuit (1889)
Paris at Night

While not a typical painting in the exhibit, Paris at Night, is my favorite painting in the exhibit.   The lights and reflections are really interesting.


It is estimated he painted 1500 paintings during his career including both watercolors and oils as well illustrations for magazines.   He died in 1942 in New York.


While you are visiting check-out the "Connecting the World- the Panama Canal at 100" exhibit.  I enjoyed Alson Skinner Clark's work.