Little Blessings, 30” x 40”, oil on canvas
Henrietta Milan — In the Tradition of the Masters By JAMIE ELLIN FORBES
T
he painted reflections rendered on canvas by Henrietta Milan are a clean song of nature attesting to the majesty of the subject and the mastery of the artist. Focusing on placid landscapes, riproaring florals and demure portraiture, she works in the tradition of Monet, Matisse and Renoir with a style all her own. Lushly applied by palette knife, Milan’s beyond-vivid colors bring a delicate power to her work, enhancing the imagery with a dimensionality that seems to take flight. This energetic passion emanates from one whose entire life has been an organic blending of sport and art, exemplifying a commitment to the cause of Sokol, whose traditions she celebrates every time she steps up to the canvas. 20 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2009
Sokol is a Czech word for the high flying Falcon, a species in which the characteristics of bravery, courage, heroism and strength are inherent and quite evident to all who come
into contact with most of these hawks, who can be ferocious predators. Sokol, which originated in Prague in 1862, was initially a gymnastic society to develop strength, litheness, alertness, and courage in its practitioners. “Simply put,” states Henrietta, “it means ‘strong mind-strong body.’ ” Milan’s paintings embrace Sokol in that they possess many of the intricacies of her chosen sport — “balance, a lot of motion, and action — the combination of gymnastics and art.” Banned during the Nazi occupation, the movement was revived in 1945 but proscribed again in 1948 by communist leaders because of its identification with Czech nationalism. It was later reborn after the decline of communist influence in the early 1990s. A great Sokol tradition emphasized mass calisthenics as a means of promoting communal spirit and
Discover Beauty in Nature, 30” x 48”, oil on canvas
physical fitness. In 1994, the first since the 1948 ban were held in Prague, with more than 20,000 participants. Recently, said Henrietta, “38,000 women performed there at once in what is the largest stadium in world — big enough for eight football fields.” Recently in Fort Worth, Texas, just steps from The Milan Gallery, (owned and operated by Henrietta’s son, Tal), the American Sokol International Sport and Cultural Festival was held at the Convention Center. Such a major event has only slightly derailed the prolific and dedicated artist from her rigorous painting schedule. Milan shares, “I usually paint every day. This year I have been very involved with this huge event and especially the American Sokol Museum. My husband Jerry played a major role in putting the week’s activities together,” adds Henrietta, whose art was featured at the event. In a busy year, she was honored with her first-ever museum exhibition at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden in Winterpark, Florida. As for her latest show, “It’s been a lot of hard work, quite a strain, but a lot of fun with traveling and meeting many people. The Sokol Festival is not quite the Olympics but my son, Rome, (Chairman of the Festival)
made it international, bringing in several sports and many countries.” The Museum exhibition boasted an exciting educational, cultural and historical display of memorabilia and collections focusing on the history of Czechoslovakia (T.G. Masaryk, Woodrow Wilson); the history of the Olympics (including 11 torches, medals, pins, etc, many from Jerry Milan’s collection); the history of Gymnastics; the history of Sokol; Immigration (featuring a rare Statue of Liberty Collection); an extensive Sokol and Czech postcard collection (Mucha, Svabinsky, Muttich); Sokol medal and pin collection; a Sport and Czech art exhibit and many notable Czech-Americans. Also on view was the unique 7’ x 200’ book by Lucy Seifert, The History of the Brave Czech Nation (courtesy of the Czech Embassy, Washington, D.C.). In addition, the restored “Stefanik Flag” used during fund raising events from 1914-1920; “The Accidential Army” about the Czech Legionnaires During World War I with uniform Courtesy of the Czech Heritage Museum, Temple, Texas; and “Island of Democracy” about the founding of Czechoslovakia. Henrietta Milan grew up in Chicago,
the daughter of Henry and Sophie Banfi. She celebrates her Czechoslovak and Polish heritage and family values often in her paintings where the early subjects have been her sisters, and later, renderings of an aunt’s house or garden in Czechoslovakia. Images that are more recent embrace and emphasize her love for her granddaughters who are frequent subjects. “I am inspired by anything that is charming, I especially love color and the outdoors. I’m really just a regular grandmother,” the self-effacing but highly accomplished artist says. Her athleticism is evident in her chosen mode of expression, One must be insightful, poised and steady, with both the schooled and natural reflexes of an athlete, to glean the benefits of the palette knife. “I love, it” says Henrietta, “because it is so fast — and brushes,” she laughs, “are so hard to clean.” Milan composes her shared vision with that particular tool, employing a technique that necessarily requires a rapid and definite purpose, knowing before the paint is applied to canvas what must and will transpire; which of her moves will bring the intended result and where the viewer will land, much like a gymnast dismounting the bars. It better be Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2009 • 21
Welcome and Rejoice, 30” x 40”, oil on canvas
on your feet, erect, chest puffed, head high and hands raised in triumph. You see this in her paintings, even the titles, i.e. Welcome and Rejoice. Otherwise, the impression sought or explored is unattainable and ultimately not seen. The result is not lost on her loyal collectors. Gold medal Olympic gymnastic winners, Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, are quoted as saying “...It may be difficult for us to be objective about Henrietta Milan’s work, because her collection includes some of the most energetic and life-like gymnastic paintings we have ever seen.” Milan contributed an image of Nadia to the Gymnastic Hall of Fame, where the works of LeRoy Neiman and Spanish painter Cristobal Garron are also housed. Her painting of gymnast Peter Korman is in the Library in Braintree MA, next to portraits of John Hancock, John Quincy Adams, and others from that city. Milan’s love of family, travel and painting has provided a path for the scope of her artistic impressions, styled after Monet, with inspiration accented by Matisse. The artist arrives at a place filled with balance, harmony and beauty, capturing in image the essence of a moment of time unfolding. Her vision reveals these little miracles observed in color and light arranged specifically to Milan’s understanding of rhythm and body awareness derived from her accomplished gymnastic career. Form, tempo and color unite explosively, enlivening interpretative landscapes and studied natural 22 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2009
scenes. Says the artist, “There was a time I stayed in monotone colors, and then after my son came home and said, ‘Mom, you discovered green!’ I went from sepias to the rainbow rather suddenly.” Milan’s mastery of palette knife technique, which allows for the thick application of the paint she is fond of and noted for, sets her apart in the milieu of Impressionists following a grand tradition. Her works are an homage to the masters she has studied, imbued with a centered energy unique to Henrietta alone, making each emblematic as image, one of a kind—a Milan. “At first, I did not want to paint scenes too similar to Monet but soon realized that a lily pad is a lily pad, and my style is my own.” Her cohesive use of accenting, contrasting or at times monochromatic colors that she classically arranges, provide the visual definition needed for her paintings to speak with conviction to the viewer, inviting each one into the captured flash of time. Gardens blooming, children in an arbor, a boat adrift on a pond and lilies resting on the water are all canvases dancing with color and depth. The arrangement of natural settings, unbridled imagination and an endless yet momentary visual opportunity offered by this artist are the skills that allow Henrietta Milan to muse and portray her love of nature in its absolute glory. She is a poetess with a palette knife, constructing insight that she catches in the visual. The descriptive resonance of
figurative image is transformed, suggested, made personal and swept on to a knife full of color that animates, then swept onto canvas. It is while executing her technique that Milan explores texture and the vibrancy or subtlety of color to render depth of definition and form, arranged compositionally within image. The full spectrum of Milan’s expression can be found within her threads of color, small ribbons traversing the breath or length of a dollop of paint, applied and floating, providing purity of hue that when combined, would otherwise not be possible if applied by standard brush. This painter grabs the eye of the viewer through lyrical expressions of soft, staccatonoted shades to depict her idea, suggesting the personal experience portrayed is just within reach, then culminating in fleeting pictures consumed with color, becoming like sound. “Henrietta is and always has been blessed with an inordinate talent that embodies her gentle unassuming spirit and unquenchable desire to share with others the beauty she beholds in the world around her. We still take pride in the throngs of people who echo our judgment of Henrietta’s artistry and have shared much of the beauty of the world through her eyes and heart as she has traveled to Monet’s garden at Giverny, and witnessed an explosion of color that make us wish we could see the world this way,” reflect Drs. Barbara and Lloyd McDaniel, Milan collectors for years. Another long-time collector, Dr. Tracy Loper observes: “My wife Becky and I first discovered Henrietta Milan during our second year of marriage in 1993. What we have always found incredible about her work is an uncanny ability to use each color to bring out every other color and draw you into the scene. ‘Mesmerizing’ might be putting too much of a spin on it, but I can definitely say each and every painting we own truly captures you. Every time we purchase a painting, it is like falling in love again — not only with her art, but with each other. She is so compelling yet so gentle, so dramatic yet so subtle, and so driving yet so calming.” The life activities with ties to her current art career were forged at a young age, including early gymnastic accomplishments that led to a degree in physical education. “I was a gymnast when you could count them on the fingers of your two hands,” says Henrietta. “I’ve been involved in gymnastics for years, it led into the painting. Henrietta, a former cheerleader at DePaul University, was the national Sokol gymnastic champion in 1959. After having her first child, she went to the Olympic trials and made 10th
Trails of Claude Monet, 30” x 40”, oil on canvas
“To step into the world of impressionistic serenity is a rare invitation to meditate on beauty in today’s fast paced world. Music and paint, curves and floral, all combine on paintings that showcase Milan’s sympathetic eye for natural beauty.” —Elaine C. Cole, Quiet Contentment: The Art of Henrietta Milan place (the top eight went to the Olympics) naming her son Rome after the city where the games were held. Jerry and Henrietta spectated at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and in 1972 took the two boys to Europe, where they bought a VW micro-bus and toured for three months. “We painted houses, garages, barns and trailer parks to make money to keep traveling to the Munich Olympics with a 9 year old and 13 year old. We saw the art, scenery and culture, great things.” Rome and Talon Milan have been to ten different Olympic cities to date. This sports background set the stage for Henrietta’s passionate pursuit of art. Her first colorful paintings were sold to fellow gymnast friends to make some “extra money when I was a young housewife. As we needed to gather
funds for our trips, I entered some shows and art clubs, was told I had gallery quality work and that’s what happened,” the artist matterof-factly recounts. Remembers Tal, “Henrietta used to get Rome and I to load up the station wagon and head to the weekend mall shows or juried out of town shows. We were very young but helped pull out boxes of paintings, miniatures and display racks made to fit the wagon and display rather primitively. The great part of these journeys was at the end. Most weekends it only took packing up the displays because so much art was sold.” The Milan Gallery came about in 1979, when Henrietta transformed her home studio into a showroom, open by appointment. As her works grew in popularity, Tal found himself marketing them. Today, Milan
Gallery is a bright spot in Sundance Square, one of the foremost galleries in the DallasFort Worth area with a varied group of collectors including American Idol star Kelly Clarkson (who recently added a number of Henrietta Milan originals to her collection), NBA coach Mike Dunleavy, former Dallas Mayor Bob Folsom, and best-selling author Robert Ludlum. Henrietta’s focus on painting as a path as compelling for her as gymnastics has resulted in an exceptional artistic career, not fully contemplated early on, but realized in mid-life, spanning thirty-nine years, born of a passion that was at its core athletic. “Color, action and keeping busy — that’s what life is all about for me,” she concludes. For further information, visit www.milangallery.com Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2009 • 23