Florine Stettheimer's 'Painting as Poetry' Exhibition at the Jewish Museum in 2017

From May 5 to September 25, 2017, the Jewish Museum in New York City presented 'Florine Stettheimer: Painting as Poetry' at 1109 Fifth Avenue. The exhibition showcased the work of Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944), a New York artist whose paintings challenged modernist dismissals of prettiness. Her art featured rhythmic lines and gem-like figures on nebulous white grounds, often depicting salon gatherings with feminized male figures. Stettheimer's subjects included gay men, whom she portrayed as vibrant presences without ethical conflict. Her visual language incorporated decorative frames, a bird's-eye perspective, and thick impasto surfaces with saturated colors. The artist collaborated with Gertrude Stein on costumes and sets for Virgil Thomson's opera 'Four Saints in Three Acts,' featuring an all-black chorus. Stettheimer's circle included Marcel Duchamp, and her work referenced contemporary American painters like Thomas Hart Benton and Edward Hopper. Despite operating outside mainstream art currents, her paintings celebrated metropolitan life during the New Deal era with patriotic themes. Critics Clement Greenberg and Paul Gauguin's views on ugliness and beauty provided context for her unconventional approach.