弗雷德里克·沃伦·弗里尔

1849-1908 American

芝加哥印象派妇女儿童画家

弗雷德里克·沃伦·弗里尔是一位杰出的芝加哥医生之子，其父曾担任拉什医学院院长。童年的一场疾病导致他部分失聪，这促使他被鼓励投身艺术。1867年，他的父母带着弗雷德里克和他的妹妹科拉前往慕尼黑，在皇家学院学习，当时该学院是美国人颇受欢迎的艺术学校。甚至在全家返回家乡之前，他就已开始向芝加哥设计学院（芝加哥艺术学院的前身）的展览寄送作品，而那时距离1871年大火仅有数周之久。两年后，弗里尔参加了首届州际工业博览会艺术展，并于1876年当选为芝加哥设计学院成员，这标志着他在当地声誉的日益提升。 在1877年至1880年间的第二次欧洲旅居期间，弗里尔与一些美国领先的侨民艺术家交往， notably 包括慕尼黑风格的重要代表弗兰克·杜维内克，以及美国印象派绘画的先驱威廉·梅里特·蔡斯。回到美国后，弗里尔定居纽约市，积极参与众多艺术家组织，并广泛展出作品。他涉足各种题材类型，探索多种媒介，包括蚀刻、粉彩画和水彩画；在19世纪80年代末，他甚至作为书籍插画家而备受需求。第三次出国旅行之后，弗里尔在纽约的艺术学生联盟任教。结婚后，他开始专门创作女性和儿童的形象，他的妻子和夫妇的六个孩子经常担任模特。其中一幅作品的成功展览使弗里尔当选为纽约国家设计学院的准会员，并于1889年在巴黎世界博览会上展出作品。 Possibly to take advantage of Chicago’s plentiful art opportunities, Freer returned home in 1890. Thereafter, he adopted the brighter colors and distinct brush strokes of impressionism in some of his figural works and painted landscapes outdoors and on site, according to impressionist practice. Freer was a beloved instructor at the Art Institute where he began teaching in 1892. Busy with local portrait commissions, he continued to exhibit nationally and to serve on juries, including the national art jury for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. At the exposition he won a medal; other honors were awarded to his work in exhibitions at the National Academy, the Art Institute, and other venues. Freer was among a handful of artists of his generation who maintained a national presence while living in Chicago: “One of Chicago’s Own Boys—He Was Born Here and His Pictures Are Known the World Over,” trumpeted a headline in the Chicago Evening Post in 1891.i The artist’s successful career was capped by a retrospective show presented at the Art Institute in early 1906, two years before his death at age fifty-eight. 温迪·格林豪斯，博士