Milne Ramsey: From Realism to Impressionism, Lobsters to Landscapes...

Milne Ramsey was an American artist who surrounded himself with master teachers and other well known artists. Many of these people revolted against French academic art and its strict rules. He was able to learn from these experiences to develop his own style and technique. Ramsey's still life paintings were primarily done in a very realistic manner, while confronting Impressionism with his landscapes. These different styles showed that Ramsey approached his art with experiments rather than guidelines. The very subjects of still life’s and landscapes taught as being the least important genres from academia. Ramsey defied these academic rules by focusing on these two genres.

Milne Ramsey inherited most of his artistic fame with his wonderful still life paintings. The realistic depiction of the various objects showed his deep understanding of textures and color. His strong use of light made the objects look three dimensional and added depth through the work to give it more realistic qualities. Ramsey's still life paintings contain both organic and man made objects. “Still Life with Lobster” shows how Ramsey would approach these various textures. The lobster shell's organic texture paired with the smoothness of the white cloth and the ridges from the stem of the glass, all show how these different textural objects can be placed together to form a perfect composition.

While Ramsey’s still life paintings focus namely on Realism, his landscape depictions exude impressionistic qualities. Ramsey used thick impasto brushstrokes for texture and light, giving his works a sense of movement. Ramsey’s landscapes were often times very small in size which made them feel very intimate. The small figures incorporated into many of his landscapes furthered this intimacy in his landscapes. At MIR Appraisal Services, Inc., we have been fortunate enough to have researched and appraised several of Milne Ramsey's works.

As a plein-air artist, Ramsey’s use of light in his paintings was very important to convey mood. He was able to capture warmth and a sense of peace with his loose brushstrokes and dark earthy color palette. On the contrast, Ramsey conveyed an energetic fun with his vibrant still life depictions. While Milne Ramsey may have been known for his still life paintings, his landscapes were just as significant in forming his career.

To understand why Ramsey painted the way that he did, we must look at his life and education. During his early years, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. There he was a member of the sketch club and elected president in 1874. During his time in the sketch club there is little doubt he knew Thomas Eakins, the great realist painter. The sketch club is the oldest artists club in America, and Eakins and Ramsey were members during the same time. There is strong belief that Ramsey used this time to study Eakins. They were also both students of Leon Bonnat, who was a well known French teacher of the arts. Ramsey spent a significant portion of his life living in France and studying the arts. Bonnat was a realist painter who taught his students to revolt against academic art and its teachings of idealism. Bonnat used these criticisms to teach numerous artists like Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges Braque. Like these artists, Milne Ramsey didn’t just stop at Realism; he grew as an artist by incorporating different styles in his artwork, further enhancing his place in history.

Written and researched by Robert Snell

MIR Appraisal Services, Inc.
Principal Appraiser: Farhad Radfar, ISA AM
307 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 308
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: (312) 814-8510

Works Cited:

http://www.sketchclub.org/PSC_ArchColl.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_art

http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=22046

Brief History of Seascape Art

Chicago, Water, and the History of Seascapes
As October begins, Chicago boat owners scramble to remove their boats from the city’s many harbors, returning their vessels to storage for the winter. This annual occurrence happens slowly and methodically, each bare mast disappearing just as leaves fall unnoticed from the trees. This loss of scenery along the lake shore is bittersweet and becomes just one more reminder of the impending winter months. Even though Chicago is on a large freshwater lake the city is very in tune with the water. It is a border, a site of recreation and a means for reflection. Human beings have always had an intimate relationship with the water, making it no surprise that seascape paintings have such an important place in the history of art.

"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai

"The Raft of Medusa" by Theodore Gericault

Seascapes, or marine paintings, have a long history in both the Eastern and Western worlds. Considering the amount of the earth’s surface that is covered in water and the often unpredictable and life-changing nature of the sea, it is no wonder it has been such a popular artistic subject for so long. Paintings such as “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and “The Raft of the Medusa” by French artist Theodore Gericault both communicate the sheer savageness of the sea and have left an indelible mark on the public imagination. Paintings incorporating marine scenery such as JMW Turner’s “The Slave Ship” and Pieter Brueghel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” speak to the sheer vastness of the sea as each depicts figures falling unnoticed into the water, far beyond salvation.

"The Slave Ship" by JMW Turner

The history of marine paintings spans all the way back to depictions of Egyptian funerary barges and persists to the present day. Biblical narratives of the Saints’ encounters with storms and sea monsters propelled the theme into the Medieval and Early Modern eras, and the rise of exploration and later nationalism meant that marine paintings became symbols of stately power as well as spiritual trial. Dutch and English artists of the early modern eras depicted great fleets of ships engaged in battle or on display en masse. The nature of their national naval strengths dictated that the ships be represented both for the public and for the glory of their leaders and heroes. The expressive nature of water and the fragile man resigned to the sea’s will never escaped the artist’s imagination, and every new art movement offered new visual representations of this relationship. Expressionists, Impressionists and even Surrealists refashioned this timeless genre for their own means. If there is one thing a Chicagoan can understand it is the artistic preoccupation with this seemingly endless and inexhaustible natural frontier.

Marine Paintings at MIR Appraisal Services, Inc.
Because so many people have a personal relationship with the subject, marine paintings are as popular as ever with collectors. MIR Appraisal Services houses many fine examples of this genre, spanning artistic styles and subjects. One such painting, from the 19th century and of unknown authorship, depicts a small open wooden boat complete with one coral sail. The painting evokes the simple relationship centuries of fishermen have had with water but is somewhat haunting because the boat is empty. Producing more questions than answers, it may summon Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” or tales of ghost ships and missing sailors.

"Fishing Boats" by Milne Ramsey

Milne Ramsey’s “Fishing Boats” is unique for its impressionistic style and miniature size. Evoking a darker JMW Turner painting, it measures only five by eight inches, making it one of the smallest oil paintings in MIR’s collection. This size only serves to enhance its impact on the viewer, who is inevitably drawn to the silvery sky, unusual patterns of reflection on the water and the solitary hull on the horizon.

A seascape by George Stanfield Walters

Finally, a watercolor by the British artist George Stanfield Walters relates to the contemporary viewer the active nature of sea travel, especially during previous centuries. International waterways remain a vital link for commerce, but this was never more true than before the dawn of the airplane, which eventually put an end to water’s monopoly on intercontinental travel. This small watercolor depicts a simple sailboat in the foreground with a busy sea behind it. Barely visible at a distance, the horizon is teeming with sailboats of varying sizes and complete with a billow of smoke from a steamship.

If you would like to take a closer look at this painting or any other in MIR’s collection feel free to call and schedule an appointment.

Justin Bergquist
MIR Appraisal Services, Inc.
307 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 308
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 814-8510

Works Cited:
Cordingly, David. “Marine Painting,” in Oxford Art Online.

Images Cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Théodore_Géricault,_Le_Radeau_de_la_Méduse.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slave-ship.jpg
http://www.chicagoartappraisers.com/IMAGES/Paintings/ContinentalSchool2_a_lg.jpg
http://www.chicagoartappraisers.com/IMAGES/Paintings/ramsey2_a_lg.jpg
http://www.chicagoartappraisers.com/IMAGES/Paintings/walters1_a_lg.jpg