Wednesday, May 29, 2024
The work of art historians often unveils artists otherwise lost to time. One local artist being rediscovered right now is Esther Pressoir, who was raised in Woonsocket, graduated from RISD in 1923, and died in 1986. Art historian and RISD Professor Suzanne Scanlan recently published a sumptuous book titled Esther Pressoir: A Modern Woman’s Painter, which is accompanied by two concurrent displays of works by Pressoir at the RISD Museum and the Providence Athenaeum. Nearly forty years after her passing, Pressoir is finally truly getting her due.
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Pressoir was a passionate Modernist. In an ongoing rotation of her work at the RISD Museum, a self-portrait that also doubles as the cover for Scanlan’s book is on view. In the image, Pressoir pictures herself jauntily smoking a cigarette, a favorite pastime for the artist. Alongside this painting, works on paper by Pressoir are paired with others by her well-known contemporaries, putting her in the context of the avant-garde movements in which she partook. During her life, Pressoir contributed illustrations to The New Yorker and exhibited alongside the likes of Milton Avery and Mark Rothko.
Asked what drew her to write about Pressoir’s work, author Suzanne Scanlan says, “Two things immediately drew me to Esther Pressoir: that she rode a bicycle across Europe in 1927, spending seven months looking at art and sketching life as she saw it (basically the Grand Tour on a bicycle!) and her provocative depictions of the female nude – both self-portraits and renderings of her models and lovers. Pressoir’s pictures of women focus on women’s eroticism and intimacy in a way that challenged historical models of the female nude from a male perspective. Esther’s women take up space – they’re intrepid and messy and unabashed.”
Across the street from RISD at the Providence Athenaeum, a special summer exhibition highlights a series of artworks and archival pieces that illustrate Pressoir’s output. The materials here include paintings, letters, cartoons, exhibition catalogues, drawings, ceramics, and a book from the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, where the artist showed. Even Pressoir’s palette and brushes are present, giving viewers a sense of closeness to the artist and her process. This exhibition, alongside works at RISD and Scanlan’s book, brings Pressoir to life for a new generation of admirers.
The work of uncovering the story of an important artist such as Pressoir is an intrepid journey for an art historian. It involves diving into archives, talking to family, finding missing artworks. It is a detective story. Asked about her work, Scanlan explains, “The job of an art historian is two-fold: to study the formal characteristics of a work of art (materiality and style) and to situate the work and artist in their historical, social and cultural contexts. My journey with Esther Pressoir began seven years ago with a research grant from the RI Council for the Humanities, poring through scrapbooks in the RISD archives. Since then, I’ve looked at hundreds of paintings, drawings and prints by Pressoir – both in public and private collections – as well as dozens of letters and her private travel journals, which are fascinating accounts of an artist’s experience in the years between the World Wars.”
Scanlan credits a large network of supporters with helping her to share Pressoir’s story, stating “I’ve met so many wonderful people along the way, including family members, collectors and gallerists, and the research continues to unfold. My editor, Erika Gaffney, was an immediate supporter of ‘Stella’ and the project and saw the book through the stellar production from Lund Humphries.”
The labor that Scanlan has done to shine a light on Pressoir’s art is an important endeavor. Rhode Islanders should be proud to claim Pressoir as their own and grateful to Scanlan and her collaborators. Pressoir was an adventurous woman who created art with wit and invention, and she was indeed unabashedly modern.
Summing up her aspirations for public knowledge of Pressoir’s work, Scanlan says, “First and foremost, I want people to know who Esther Pressoir was and to understand why her work is important to the history of art and for women’s history. In the past few years, the RISD Museum has acquired about 30 works by Pressoir and I hope that collection continues to grow. The exhibits at both RISD and the Athenaeum showcase Pressoir’s technical range and skill, and give us insight into her witty, unvarnished view of the world. I hope my book is only the beginning of a conversation about Esther – this is the tip of the iceberg!”
Works by Esther Pressoir can be seen at the RISD Museum and a special exhibition of her work is on view at the Providence Athenaeum through August, 2024. Suzanne Scanlan’s book Esther Pressoir: A Modern Woman’s Painter, was published by Lund Humphries in 2024.
Michael Rose is a multi-talented fine art professional based in Southern New England. Since 2014 he has served as the gallery manager at the historic Providence Art Club, one of the nation’s oldest arts organizations. Through his current freelance work he advises collectors and artists, provides appraisal services, teaches, and completes curatorial projects.
