Rapturous Gilded Age Opens in Lawrence, Kansas

The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum features the brilliance and sophistication of turn-of-the-century society.

The exhibition opens today and runs through November 19 at the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas.

The Gilded Age, more than any other time in America's history, pointed to European ideals of aristocracy and patronage. Artists and their patrons shared an ambition to present American civilization as having grown past its earlier provincialism to full maturity, equal to Europe's much-admired culture.

In that context, William Fosdick portrayed Joan of Arc, the "Maid of Orléans," a popular subject in America and France as an example of feminine courage. The French legend at the bottom reads, "my last wishes and thoughts are for my God, my country, and my king," words she proclaimed just before her execution.

This remarkable artwork was made by burning and etching the wood with red-hot tools, a technique called pyrography.

Source: Richard Murray. The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).

Pictured: J. William Fosdick, 1858–1937, Adoration of St. Joan of Arc, 1896, fire etched wood relief, three panels, each: 109 3/4 x 49 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans.