Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • The Collection
  • Projects & Publications
  • Past Exhibitions

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Image

Previous 1 2 / 2 Next

John White Alexander

The Blue Bowl, 1898

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • John White Alexander, 1856-1915, American

Title

The Blue Bowl

Year

1898

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

121.9 x 90.8 cm (48 x 35 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed LL:John W. Alexander ' 98.

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Jesse Metcalf Fund

Object Number

04.141.1

About

John White Alexander launched his career as an illustrator and political cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, but by 1904, when The Blue Bowl appeared at RISD’s Autumn Exhibition, he had achieved international stature as a painter. Like other young artists of his generation, he had advanced his training in Paris, there combining a fluid technique with a keen understanding of the asymmetric spatial principles of Japanese art. More than the Delft bowl of the title, it is the back of the model’s dress, spread out as she bends to observe a fallen bloom, which forms the true subject of this painting. Sinuous curves and a floral-patterned surface represent the height of Art Nouveau costume, pictorial design, and compositional daring at the turn of the century.

Signed LL:John W. Alexander ' 98.

[]

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selection VII

American Painting from the Museum's Collection, c.1800-1930

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Making It In America

October 11, 2013 - February 9, 2014

The Blue Bowl was shown in Paris and Vienna before appearing at RISD’s Autumn Exhibition of 1904. Alexander’s sophisticated style was unique in America, presenting feminine subjects in flattened and asymmetric spaces.

More than the Delft bowl of the title, the true focus of the painting is the back of the model’s dress. Executed with thin washes of color on roughly textured canvas, its sinuous curves and floral-patterned folds illustrate the height of Art Nouveau costume and pictorial design. The painting’s decorative theme and compositional daring are further enhanced by the rhythmic floral reliefs on its custom frame.

An American Idyll

April 6, 2007 - January 6, 2008

After Eden

April 26 - December 29, 1996

From the Reserve IV

July 22 - October 2, 1994

Romanticism and Revival

December 4, 1992 - June 26, 1993

American Painting and Sculpture from the Permanent Collection

June 26, 1987 - January 3, 1988

Masterpieces from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

July 18 - September 14, 1979

Days Gone By

July 1 - September 26, 1971

Paula and Leonard Granoff Galleries

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is The Blue Bowl with the accession number of 04.141.1. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Give
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use