The Blue Sail, Concarneau
1868-1935
Oil on canvas board
15 in x 18 in
1926 or 1929
Label:
For most of her professional career, Dixie Selden divided her year seasonally: winters painting formal portraits in Cincinnati, summers executing impressionistic outdoor scenes. This duality mirrors her art training. Her first mentor was Frank Duveneck, who emphasized the figure, rendered with dark tonalities and ample pigment. After attending William Merritt Chase’s 1913 summer course in Venice, Selden dramatically altered her approach. The charismatic Impressionist encouraged her to paint quickly in order to capture the color and light of the city’s famed canals and piazzas.
The subject of The Blue Sail, Concarneaux is a colorful thoniér, a tuna fishing boat typical of Brittany. In describing a similar painting, Selden commented: “There were literally hundreds of boats in the harbor that morning, and it was one of the most thrilling sights I have ever seen; it fairly dazzled me with its brilliancy.”
As Published In:
Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection, 2015
Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection, 2018
As Exhibited In:
Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA, June 30–October 23, 2018, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, November 16, 2018–January 20, 2019, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, March 2–June 30, 2019, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN, July 28–October 13, 2019, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC, January 1–August 9, 2020, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, September 7–December 18, 2020, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA, February 6–July 18, 2021
Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN, November 1, 2015–January 3, 2016, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, January 16–April 10, 2016, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, January 16–April 10, 2016, McKissick Museum, Columbia, SC, May 19–August 5, 2017, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, October 13, 2017–March 25, 2018, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, August 28–December 13, 2018