By Stephen Gjertson and James Childs James Childs was devoted to his art, an art inspired by select masters of the past. This single-minded dedication began in boyhood and influenced him throughout his career. At age twelve he studied during the summer at the Walker...
Tradition and the Training of Painters in the Second Half of the 20th Century By Stephen Gjertson “Art students are terrified at the prospect before them, of the toil required to attain exactness. . . . They wish to find some shorter path to excellence, and hope...
By Stephen Gjertson In 1857, seven years before the artist’s death, the eminent French art critic, Edmund About, wrote of Hippolyte Flandrin, “If posterity is just it will call him ‘Flandrin without fault.’ . . .” Unfortunately, posterity has not been just and...
By Stephen Gjertson The Portrait Painter Flandrin was a prolific portrait painter. In an age that boasted many fine portrait painters he became one of the most esteemed and sought-after. This fact, however, eventually proved to be more of an irritation to him than a...
By Stephen Gjertson The Church of Saint Martin d’Ainay in Lyons In 1854 Flandrin completed his work in Saint Vincent-de-Paul. The following year he was engaged in a similar undertaking for the Church of Saint Martin d’Ainay in his hometown of Lyons. In July of 1855,...
By Stephen Gjertson The Return to Rome Flandrin had completed the nave of Saint Germain-des-Prés and was preparing to paint the transept when, in the fall of 1863, he decided to return to Rome. He had desired to make this trip since he had left the Villa Medici...
