Existing comment:
An Aesthetic Life:
Thomas Wilmer Dewing said that his paintings belonged "to the poetic and imaginative world where a few choice spirits live." He lived in Cornish, New Hampshire, in a colony of artists who carefully shaped their daily lives into a series of aesthetic moments. Dewing designed the interiors of his home, selected the frame that perfectly suited each painting, and chose the clothes his guests wore, creating a seamless environment that expressed his artistic vision.
At Cornish, a party or a picnic in the woods resembled the murals of gods and shepherdesses favored by decorators during the Gilded Age. But Dewing's paintings also signal a shift into a more modern culture: his self-possessed women turn away from us, absorbed in their own pursuit. They are not just ornaments, but modern women who participate in the shaping of their world. |