But as that petered out, and the art world changed in the 1880s, she was very adaptable. At first, she was painting these watercolors and showing them at fine art exhibitions and doing very well. Manthorne: One of the things about her that I admire is that she was very nimble. Did she evolve her art very much over her career? She emerged right after the Civil War and painted into the early 20th century. So I think she really did help to popularize the watercolor medium and bring it away from just something that nice ladies did at home.įidelia Bridges, April, from The Twelve Months, published 1876, chromolithograph, L. Prang & Co., 12 3/5 x 9 4/5 in, Private collection In the book, I mentioned a review by Henry James - in his early days, he was writing art reviews - and he compares Homer and Bridges, and he likes Bridges. He was a beautiful watercolorist, and his works started to help make the market for them. It’s often said that Winslow Homer was the one who popularized watercolor. At that time, watercolor was thought of as just something that lady amateurs would do at home. That's a place that encouraged a lot of women artists.īut I think also she helped to popularize watercolor. Manthorne: I do think she inspired younger women, especially at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she had taken classes with William Trost Richards. GC: Did Fidelia Bridges have a lasting impact on the art world? And they would develop this intimate connection.Īfter the Civil War, I think people wanted work that was more restful and brought them back to nature as opposed to some more bombastic things, so she was at the right place at the right time. So people would have to get up close to them. But also, the works were smaller in scale, as watercolors often are. You can appreciate her fine brushwork and the way she integrated the birds with the with the wildflowers and other things. And I think that's partly because the work was very detailed. One critic said her pictures look like a little bird whispered in her ear and told her its secrets another person called her the voice of nature. Manthorne: One of the things one of the things that people would often say was that they sensed that she had a special bond with nature. GC: What is so special about Fidelia Bridges’ art? What makes it stand apart? "Fidelia Bridges: Nature Into Art" by Professor Katherine Manthorne was published in February 2023. Manthorne recently spoke to us about her book, Bridges’ importance as a watercolorist, and the paths she carved through her single-minded pursuit of a life as an artist. Now, with a richly illustrated biography, Fidelia Bridges: Nature Into Art, Graduate Center Professor Katherine Manthorne ( Art History) seeks to bring her out from the shadows. But today she is hardly a household name.
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