Azalées Blanches (White Azaleas)

Romaine Brooks, Azalées Blanches (White Azaleas), 1910, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1966.49.5
Romaine Brooks, Azalées Blanches (White Azaleas), 1910, oil on canvas, 59 1⁄2 x 107 in. (151.1 x 271.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1966.49.5

Artwork Details

Title
Azalées Blanches (White Azaleas)
Artist
Date
1910
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
59 1⁄2 x 107 in. (151.1 x 271.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — flower — azalea
  • Figure female — nude
  • Architecture Interior — domestic — house
  • Figure female — full length
Object Number
1966.49.5
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1966.49.5

Artwork Description

Azalées Blanches was one of Brooks's first paintings of the female nude and the earliest in which she presented an openly erotic figure. The female nude was a ubiquitous subject for Brooks's male contemporaries, but in 1910 a female artist's depiction of the theme was relatively unusual. Brooks's inclusion of this frankly sexual work in her debut exhibition at Durand-Ruel Gallery in Paris was a provocative gesture. Referring to this moment in her unpublished memoir, Brooks wrote, "I grasped every occasion no matter how small, to assert my independence of views." Audience members also recognized Brooks's challenge; a reviewer compared it to Édouard Manet's iconic modern nude Olympia (1863).

The Art of Romaine Brooks, 2016

Works by this artist (3 items)

Larry Sultan, Portrait of My Father with Newspaper, 1988, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Nan Tucker McEvoy, 1989.58, © 1988, Larry Sultan
Portrait of My Father with Newspaper
Artist
Date1988
chromogenic print
Not on view
Larry Sultan, Dad on the Bed, from the series Pictures from Home, 1984, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2010.17.1, © 1984, Larry Sultan
Dad on the Bed, from the series Pictures from Home
Artist
Date1984
chromogenic print
Not on view
Larry Sultan, Mom in the Garage, from the series Pictures from Home, 1988, printed 2000, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2010.17.2, © 1988, Larry Sultan
Mom in the Garage, from the series Pictures from Home
Artist
Date1988, printed 2000
chromogenic print
Not on view

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