Birks Art Appreciation Group - June

Monday 15th June
This is the third of a Spring series of discussions being held by Aberfeldy's art appreciation group. We will be introduced to Marthe Orant (1874- 1957), a French painter who studied alongside the Nabis group. She was a contemporary of Gwen John and, like her, a single woman artist who died in poverty. Orant was born during the Belle Epoque in Poissy, North West of Paris, the only child of a middle-class family. She was educated in a convent school where she began to paint. After school, she continued with art lessons until she found the Nabis and studied with Bonnard and Vuillard. When her parents died, she moved in with a family friend and continued to paint, mainly outside, her subjects being the public gardens, working-class neighbourhoods and bustling streets of Paris. She said she felt “always helpless in the face of small problems” and that "life is nothing but disorder", yet her work is full of sensitivity, of subtle colour and lightness of touch. “In her canvases, she has imagined the spaces where she could have lived happily, and which await her forever in the bright light of her dreams". We will have the opportunity to look at some of Orant’s original paintings of nature, to discuss her life, the circumstances that can affect an artist’s approach to their work and why it is/was so hard for women artists to achieve recognition. The discussion will be led by Louise Carney. Everyone welcome to participate; no prior knowledge required.