A Forgotten Female Impressionist

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Matilda Browne (1869-1947)was a successful artist in the early 20th century,but unfortunately,few people know her name or her art today.

瑪蒂爾達·布朗（1869—1947）是20 世紀早期成功的畫家，但遺憾的是，如今很少有人知道她的名字或作品。

2 Matilda Browne showed promising artistic talent early in her life.Growing up in Newark,New Jersey,she got an introduction to art by watching her neighbor,Hudson River School painter Thomas Moran.

2 瑪蒂爾達·布朗早年就顯露出強大的藝術天賦。她在新澤西州紐瓦克市長大，通過觀察鄰居——哈德遜河派畫家托馬斯·莫蘭作畫，她初步接觸到藝術。

3 Her parents supported their budding young artist.She studied with many teachers,including Moran,Kate and Eleanor Greatorex (daughters of Eliza Pratt Greatorex),Carleton Wiggins,and Julian Dupré.Her mother took her to Europe for training while she was still quite young.And it paid off.Matilda Browne participated in her first major exhibition at the National Academy of Design when she was just twelve years old.

3 這位新生年輕畫家得到了父母的支持。她師從眾家，如莫蘭、凱特·格雷特雷克斯和埃莉諾·格雷特雷克斯（伊麗莎·普拉特·格雷特雷克斯的兩個女兒）、卡爾頓·威金斯和朱利安·杜普雷。幼時，母親就帶她去歐洲學習，并學有所成。瑪蒂爾達·布朗年僅12 歲就在美國國家設計學院舉辦了她的第一次大展。

4 Browne loved to paint animals,especially cows and other livestock.She also painted many flowers,often in colorful garden landscapes.Her bold brushwork gave her floral paintings a lush,fluffy appearance that is easy to identify once you’ve seen it a few times.Her style is best described as Impressionism,although her pastoral animal scenes recall French Barbizon landscape painting.She also made some bronze animal sculptures.

4 布朗熱衷畫動物，尤其是奶牛等牲畜。她也畫了很多花，通常是色彩絢麗的花園風景。她筆法大膽，筆下的花卉畫豐富華美、柔和輕盈，一旦見過幾次，很容易就能認出來。雖然她的田園動物風景讓人想起法國巴比松畫派的山水畫，但確切地說，她的風格是印象派。她還制作過一些青銅動物雕塑。

5 Matilda Browne quickly became a respected and successful artist.Her list of accolades opened doors that would have been otherwise un-accessible for a female artist of her time.As an adult,she moved to Connecticut,where she painted in the Cos Cob and Old Lyme art colonies.At Old Lyme,she was the only woman accepted into the inner circle living and working at Florence Griswold’s boarding house.Although the group wasn’t typically friendly to female artists,these men liked and respected Browne.She even had the honor of painting a door in Miss Florence’s house,on which she depicted two peaceful cows in a bucolic landscape.Some sources say that her good sense of humor helped her fit in with the boys,while others claim that her seriousness is what won them over.Either way,her great skill as a painter made these other artists take notice.Her membership in the Old Lyme Art Colony is commemorated by her inclusion in Henry Rankin Poore’s,a playful frieze over Miss Florence’s dining room fireplace.

5 瑪蒂爾達·布朗很快成為備受尊敬的成功畫家。眾多榮譽加身，為她敲開一扇扇大門。對那個時代的女性畫家來說，若非這種種榮譽，這些大門是無法開啟的。成年后，她移居康涅狄格州，在科斯科布和舊萊姆鎮藝術區繪畫。她是舊萊姆鎮唯一能進入畫家核心圈子的女性；這些畫家在弗洛倫絲·格里斯沃爾德的寄宿公寓生活和創作。雖然這群男性通常對女性畫家不怎么友好，但他們喜歡且尊重布朗。她甚至還有幸在弗洛倫絲女士的公寓房門上作畫，門上一片田園風光，兩頭奶牛神態安然。有些人認為她俏皮風趣，能和男畫家融洽相處，另一些人則認為她舉止穩重，贏得了男性的支持。不管怎樣，她畫技高超，引得這些異性畫家另眼相待。弗洛倫絲女士公寓餐廳的壁爐上方有幅長條橫幅畫，是亨利·蘭金·普爾的戲作《追狐》，上面畫有布朗，她是舊萊姆鎮藝術區一員的身份有此為念。

6 Browne was a successful artist throughout her life.She won numerous awards,such as a medal at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition,and exhibited in many important shows,including the Paris Salon.Art critics raved about her.She married Frederick Van Wyck in 1918.Van Wyck wrote a book calledin 1932,and Matilda did all the illustrations.

6 布朗一生成績斐然，她獲獎無數，如在1893年世界哥倫布博覽會上獲獎；她的作品在許多重要展覽中展出，包括巴黎藝術沙龍。藝術評論家對她贊不絕口。1918年她嫁給弗雷德里克·范懷克。1932年范懷克寫《老紐約人的回憶》一書，所有插圖都是瑪蒂爾達畫的。

7 Even though Matilda Browne was so successful in her time,very few people know about her today.This is a more common story for female artists than one might think,and it’s always quite frustrating to hear.Art history embraces female Impressionists like Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot.So,why has Browne faded into obscurity? It could be because she’s a double minority—in gender and nationality.While researching her,I found that books about female Impressionists omit her,presumably because she was American,while books about American Impressionists tend to focus on the male artists.

7 盡管瑪蒂爾達·布朗在她的時代非常成功，但如今卻鮮有人知。對女性畫家來說，這種情況比人們所能想見的更為普遍，而聽起來總是讓人唏噓。瑪麗·卡薩特和貝爾特·莫里索等印象派女畫家在藝術史上留名，為什么布朗湮沒無聞？可能是因為她的雙重（性別和國籍）少數群體身份。在對她開展研究的過程中，我發現寫印象派女畫家的書忽略了她，大概因為她是美國人，而寫美國印象派畫家的書往往關注男性畫家。

8 Most of Browne’s works are in private collections.The Florence Griswold Museum is the best place to see her art.The museum’s 2017was Matilda Browne’s first solo exhibition in over eighty years.It seems that this modern recognition was long overdue.■

8 布朗的大部分作品被私人收藏，弗洛倫絲·格里斯沃爾德博物館是欣賞她作品的最佳去處。該博物館2017年的“田園牧歌”展覽是80 多年來瑪蒂爾達·布朗的第一次個人畫展。這是現代社會對她的認可，而她似乎早該獲得。 □