Katy McCarthy – Kossak Painting Program

Programs

Grant awarded Spring 2017

I applied for the Kossak travel grant to visit Paris and study three paintings: La dame aux éventails by Manet, Dans un café by Edgar Degas, and A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière by André Brouillet. Each of these paintings depicted a very real woman who was under recognized for her own talents. Manet’s painting is of the poet Nina de Villard, Degas’ is of the actor Ellen Andrée and Brouillet’s painting depicts Marie Wittman, a hysteric who became an important performer.

In Paris, I studied the historical and surface details of these paintings for a video that re-interpreted and re-presented these women. The video was called “The Posers,” a reference to the women’s role sitting for the paintings, as well as how they were seen in their attempts to to pursue their own art. Being in France allowed me to also visit the spaces these women worked in and inhabited, including the Folies Bergère where Ellen Andrée worked, the site of Nina de Villard’s salon as well as her grave, and the medical history museum with its collection of hysteria-related medical devices.

During my research, I studied the formal details of these works as well. I became particularly fascinated with the idea of the tableaux, which I used to create the sets for my video.

The final video also became a meditation on my time in Paris, generally. I had never had the opportunity to travel to Europe and it was very formative. I loved spending time in the gardens, I became obsessed with the Palace of Versaille and 17th century fabrics and textile design.

It was an amazing trip and I’m incredibly grateful for the Kossak fellowship for making it possible!