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Lot Essay
Born in Russia in 1889, Louis Ritman would later become one of the leading American Impressionist painters of the early twentieth century. After studying in Chicago and Philadelphia early in his career, Ritman traveled to Paris for enrollment at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1909. Ritman spent much of the next twenty years developing his highly skilled and painterly style during extended visits to Giverny. Along with his contemporaries, Frederick Frieseke and Richard E. Miller, Ritman's work serves as a testament to the bold and important strides made by these artists in the mature years of American Impressionism.
From a technical point of view, "Ritman excelled in drawing with a brush, a technique he had practiced since his first years with Reynolds in Chicago. Using a wide variety of bristle brushes fully loaded with pigment from a high-keyed palette, Ritman did not juxtapose small strokes of contrasting hue to arrive at a typical broken-color style. Instead, he employed a combination of sweeping elongated strokes and smaller wedgelike dabs to create repetitious patterned areas. The result is a harmonious balance of blues, pinks, lavenders, and yellows...delicate colors that are sensitively combined in keeping with the general mood of his extremely intimate scene." (R.H. Love, Louis Ritman: From Chicago to Giverny, Chicago, Illinois, 1989, p. 181)
In Reminiscence, Ritman has rendered a characteristically vibrant scene, filled with pattern and brilliant color. Broadly brushed strokes combine to create a fascinating study of surfaces. Ritman has utilized patterns of horizontal, diagonal and vertical lines to create this thoughtful interior scene. Saturated with color and reinforced by linear depth, Reminiscence is a stunning example of compositional balance. Underlying this structural harmony is the unique subject of the work. Unlike many of his outdoor scenes, Reminiscence seems to touch upon a deeper narrative. The woman appears to be reflective of something dear to her. Reminiscence is a masterful painting by Ritman that combines his Impressionist style with a sentimental scene.
This painting will be included in Richard H. Love's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Ritman's work.
From a technical point of view, "Ritman excelled in drawing with a brush, a technique he had practiced since his first years with Reynolds in Chicago. Using a wide variety of bristle brushes fully loaded with pigment from a high-keyed palette, Ritman did not juxtapose small strokes of contrasting hue to arrive at a typical broken-color style. Instead, he employed a combination of sweeping elongated strokes and smaller wedgelike dabs to create repetitious patterned areas. The result is a harmonious balance of blues, pinks, lavenders, and yellows...delicate colors that are sensitively combined in keeping with the general mood of his extremely intimate scene." (R.H. Love, Louis Ritman: From Chicago to Giverny, Chicago, Illinois, 1989, p. 181)
In Reminiscence, Ritman has rendered a characteristically vibrant scene, filled with pattern and brilliant color. Broadly brushed strokes combine to create a fascinating study of surfaces. Ritman has utilized patterns of horizontal, diagonal and vertical lines to create this thoughtful interior scene. Saturated with color and reinforced by linear depth, Reminiscence is a stunning example of compositional balance. Underlying this structural harmony is the unique subject of the work. Unlike many of his outdoor scenes, Reminiscence seems to touch upon a deeper narrative. The woman appears to be reflective of something dear to her. Reminiscence is a masterful painting by Ritman that combines his Impressionist style with a sentimental scene.
This painting will be included in Richard H. Love's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Ritman's work.