The religion of maternity: The mother-and-child paintings of George de Forest Brush.

摘要

The mother-and-child paintings of George de Forest Brush have been examined with a biographical, stylistic and cultural approach, to establish their importance in American painting at the turn of the century. A leading figure of the American-Renaissance movement, Brush is discussed as an academic artist who attempted to combine the conservative, Ecole-des-Beaux-Arts style with the progressive goals of the American social reform movement.;Called Modern Madonnas, Brush's images of motherhood were secularized interpretations of the traditional religious image of the Virgin and Child. His experiments with standard types of devotional imagery, including the Holy Family and the Mater Amabilis, are compared with similar paintings by Abbott Thayer, Elizabeth Nourse, Gari Melchers and George Hitchcock to describe stylistic trends within the American Modern Madonna. Brush's series is also explored in relation to new attitudes towards the Virgin which developed in nineteenth-century European literature and painting.;Brush's involvement with the mother-and-child subject evolved into a lifelong fascination with the Florentine Renaissance. His works reveal how he transformed this traditional model for his own artistic goals, while his use of Renaissance techniques and models like del Sarto and Raphael contribute to a further understanding of the late-nineteenth century American taste for the Renaissance Madonna.;After considering the Modern Madonna with in the broad context of late-nineteenth century attitudes towards women and motherhood, Brush's development of an iconic symbol of maternity and his transformation of traditional religious iconographic symbols are investigated. The artist's views on social justice and his friendships with leading reformers including Felix Adler, Henry George and Jane Addams are examined to clarify the meaning of Brush's Modern Madonnas.;In order to explore the content of Brush's paintings within the events of his life, the artist's biography is outlined. Brush's early career, including his training with his French master Gerome and his Indian subjects, established his artistic style and was of lasting influence on his art. This early style and Brush's brief but important exploration of mythological subjects are analyzed to disclose stylistic and thematic similarities with his works in the mother-and-child theme.