INSIDE: Raleigh on Film; Bethune on Theatre; Doyle on Art & Addiction; Seckel's "Cultural Scene" & "An Afternoon with Susan Vreeland; Steiner on Kids & Art; Herman on Eurovision; Lille on Dance; Liu 'Speaks Out" on Steiner's "hypocrisy"; New Art Books; Short Fiction & Poetry; Extensive Calendar of Cultural Events…and more ART TIMES Vol. 31 No. 1 Summer 2014 (June/July/August) Elizabeth Okie Paxton and The Breakfast Tray: The Modernity of a New Woman Artist By REnA ToBEy Pick any Period of art history, this interior like a still-life composi- be post-coital. Who and only a handful of artists will tion to be arranged, but then throws are the lovers who be remembered. Piecing together it into disarray. enjoyed this bed? the history of women artists injects at first, the scene seems decep- Where have they an additional layer of complexity— tively simple. dappled morning light gone, apparently in women were not encouraged to be a enters a bedroom, highlighting the a hurry? Why is professional artist for most of history. silver service of a breakfast tray the tray set only for The United States has proven to be perched on a chair by an unmade one? Was the lover no exception, and yet women have bed. Light glistens off the discarded expected? did one earned a living as artists from its colo- black pumps. it bounces off the or two people enjoy nial days. resurrecting the career of polished, turned knee and spindles this breakfast in an artist like elizabeth okie Paxton of the Windsor-backed chair. deep bed? Who prepared (1877-1971) is especially challenging shadows—under the shoes, along the the tray—is it the because only a few of her paintings chair rails, under the bed—suggest result of the work of are in public collections. Further, her the low level of the rising sun. a a servant, another archived correspondence centers on newspaper has been tossed away. a unseen participant her role in managing her husband’s dressing gown is ready to slink off the in this narrative? career. William McGregor Paxton bed, as the lace-trimmed sheets and Part of the joy of (1869-1941) was the beneficiary, like pillow, still marked with the warm the painting is the other male artists before, during, and impression of a head, all jumble and stories it evokes and since his time. He benefited from an tumble toward the floor. indeed demands. art-savvy wife who supported his ca- This movement prevents the scene a painting like reer, using her energy in the bet that from being a posed still life. Someone The Breakfast Tray his offered the more secure future. has tossed another garment over the makes us want to The Breakfast Tray, from about footboard. is it a man’s robe? His know the artist. 1910, allows us to get to know an trousers? The two pillows kiss in bed. The collection of artist almost lost to memory and as The starched cloth napkin has been letters that remain arguably her most provocative work, jammed up against the seat back document business distinguishes okie Paxton as a mod- of the chair. The succulent grape- transactions about ern artist. drawing on her apparent fruit and abandoned roll are clearly her artist-husband’s knowledge of art trends, this painting defined, but the silver pieces meld work, giving us little Elizabeth Okie Paxton. n.d. incorporates in both subtle and more together, blurring certainty. The personal informa- in the William McGregor Paxton Papers, 1886-1971, archives of american art, Smithsonian institution. overt ways the issues of her day, while samovar appears too small in relation tion about her ex- demonstrating her mastery of tanta- to the grapefruit, which overwhelms cept that she was continued on Page 15 lizing narrative. in a literal way, okie the matching porcelain mug and jug. Paxton links the “old” century with The chair is shorter than the door- the “new” as a transitional figure, knob, creating a sense of vertigo from Each Month visit arttimesjournal.com who also had a very modern tempera- the disproportion. relative sizes are ment. Likewise, The Breakfast Tray difficult to assess, so either the room for new essays, videos, offers an intelligent nod to art of the is gigantic or the chair is child-sized. past, conveys the ambiguities of its The details do not matter as much as calendar & opportunity listings period, and anticipates what modern the immersion in the feeling of being and contemporary american art will in that languorous bed. The painting become. is at once photographic, impression- The painting invites us into a CSS Publications, Inc. Support the Arts; istic, and wholly modern. PO Box 730 world—feminine, messy, sensual, The tight zoom in on the scene cre- Enrich your Life Mt. Marion, NY 12456-0730 and believable. it is full of personal- ates immediacy and there-ness, turn- www.arttimesjournal.com 845-246-6944 ity. rather than convey a sense of ing the viewer into a voyeur or even easy domestic harmony, this bedroom an actor in the scene. immediately, we can evoke wonder, anxiety, curiosity, know that rigorous activity messed titillation, and a variety of narratives up this bed, and with the shoes dis- Subscribe to ART TIMES that rarely resolve. The artist treats carded in haste, the scene appears to ART-LITERATURE-DANCE-MUSIC-EXHIBITIONS-THEATRE-FILM-ART-LITERATURE-DANCE-MUSIC Summer 2014 aRT TIMES page 2 Peeks and Piques! ART TIMES Commentary and Resource for the Fine & Performing Arts aGe, a GROWING list of ail- propensity for drawing was discour- High School) for both high school ART TIMES (iSSn 0891-9070) is published quar- ments, and a mercenary and mean- aged by nuns at the Parochial school and college level students as well as a terly by cSS Publications, inc and distributed ingless artworld have all conspired i attended – along with heavy doses Summer art adventure Program for along the northeast corridor primarily through- out the Metropolitan & Hudson Valley regions, to limit the range of my comings and of “learn a trade” from my parents kids aged 7-12. My neighbor Althea connecticut, Massachusetts and new Jersey. goings to art venues for the past sev- when they caught me copying from Meneses (an artist herself) tells me copies are also available by mail to subscribers and arts organizations throughout the US and eral years — i was simply left cold the comic strips of the time) school that even her two girls, Jade and abroad. copyright © 2014, cSS Publications, inc. by so much of what i saw, that giving and art — especially teens and art — Anya, aged 7 and 8 (1st & 2nd Grade, ART TIMES online can be viewed at: arttimesjour- up on ART TIMES had crossed my intrigued me and it soon became clear respectively) in Saugerties’ Mount nal.com and has a pdf of the current print issue (with images in color), as well as archived critiques, mind more than once. But then what? to me that the idea had been — and Marion Elementary School, have reviews, art essays, theatre, film, music, dance es- Who’d hire an 81-year old scribbler was — very much alive and thriving. art lessons! says from the past 13+ years. each month the site who can barely get around anymore? art is encouraged, taught, and also and, it’s not only schools that is updated with new essays, videos, advertising and resources. call for visitor statistics as they Thus, my almost daily mantra — un- ‘honored’ at times. are promoting ‘teenart’! Fall for change daily. til recently! i should have had some inkling Art, an art-exhibiting organization Publisher: cornelia Seckel i was roused from my morose mus- when i think about it (instead of of The Jewish Federation of Ul- editor: raymond J. Steiner ings a few weeks ago by a call from batting my head — and sensibilities ster County, has recently begun contributing Writers: my niece Kathy King informing me — against what i see as an over- out-reaching to local High School Henry P. raleigh robert W. Bethune ina cole dawn Lille that her daughter Kaitlyn (“kate”, whelming sea of ‘stuff’ blotting out seniors to participation in exhibiting Leslie Herman emily Mure my grandniece)) had a piece of her “art” — a term, incidentally, that can teacher-chosen works (two pieces) in Subscription rates: artwork chosen to represent her High no longer boast a definition anymore). their annual Fall for art exhibitions. USa: $18 /1 year $34 /2years Foreign: $35 /1 year $45 /2 years School (onteora School District in in fact, arthur danto (among others) a chance to be among some of the fin- contact for Print and online advertising rates: upstate new york) at an art associa- has already informed us that “art is est area artists who are yearly ‘juried’ cSS Publications, inc., Po Box 730, Mt. Marion, tion/gallery/museum (the venerable, dead.” Period. So i’ve been burying in! This year, twelve (12) schools have ny, 12456. Phone/ Fax (845) 246-6944; nearly 100-year-old Woodstock Art myself in my study for, lo, these many agreed to participate, and 3 students email: [email protected] Web site: arttimesjournal.com Association Museum (WAAM)) months and just turning the whole already chosen to show this Fall. advertising reservations are due: Feb 15 Spring student exhibition in nearby Wood- thing off. But, as i said, i should have and further: LeAp (Learning (Mar/apr/May) May 15 for Summer (Jun/Jul/aug); stock. although i attempted several had the inkling and remembered through an Expanded Arts Pro- aug 15 for Fall (Sep/oct/nov); nov 15 for Winter (dec/Jan/Feb).