One of the things that gets you through times like these are friends. What would we do without them? They support you, they hold you, they hear you out, they laugh and cry with you and, if necessary, give you a kick in the pants. Today’s blog is an expression of gratitude for all the friends, here and abroad, who make my life worthwhile!

Given that misogyny partially cost us the president hoped for, I’ll focus on  girlfriends in portraiture. I picked some that spoke to me and matched them to some of my photographs, all taken with strangers.

We start with Joseph Settegast’s 1850 painting of two girls (ABOVE). It can be found in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, not exactly a city on most European travel itineraries, but one that is worth exploring nonetheless. The portrait attracted me for the porcelain quality of those faces, and their earnestness and a hint of Rousseau. My matching girlfriends are a little bit more outgoing, but then again they’ve reached the tween years.

Klimt’s portrait of Freundinnen was painted in 1916. It was destroyed by a fire set by retreating German forces in 1945 at Schloss Immendorf, Austria. The women seem vaguely ornamental, floating into the background similarly flat. That cannot be said for my matched pair, who are saftig and alive, coming forwards, but seem to have a similar bond.

Next in the time line is Schmitt Rottluff’s Freundinnen from 1926. My kind of “nasty” women, judging by their serious and intelligent expressions.  I thought that the two friends I chose bear some resemblance in their inquisitiveness.

 

Nolde’s Kleine Freundinnen from 1941 hangs over my desk. (Yes, of course, a reproduction. But a large and sensible one.) It has moved with me many times throughout the last 45 years, since there is something in it that gives me hope. A sense of closeness, and play with color that preserves childhood eyes, sensitivities and enthusiasm. It also gives me satisfaction that the credo of one of my – shall we say – stupid high school art teachers “red and yellow don’t go together” has been proven wrong. Long live defiance of rules! The photographic match relied on color and posture more than anything else.

I could not find a match in my archives for this last portrait. Instead you get a short intro to Modersohn Becker’s artistic career. Who’d thought I would ever post something from “pigtails in paint…..” https://www.pigtailsinpaint.com/category/artists-by-name/modersohn-becker-paula/

The author explains, though, that she is cribbing from a fabulous museum catalogue, so we hope all is well.

Friends matter. I cherish every single one. Particular when life gets turned upside down.