Substance and Style Two Diverse Exhibits Showcase Still Life Painter Hirst, Florida Women Artists by Gary Tischler ìClaude Raguet Hirst: Transforming the American Still Lifeî and ìTransitory Patterns: Florida Women Artistsî at the National Museum of Women in the Arts are two exhibitions situated side by side on the same floor, without an apparent or intentional connection between them. Itís as if you had six college dorm rooms of chattering, noisy, rock-and-roll-playing young women on one side, while right next door, a quiet, reserved, bookish aunt of considerable yearsóand luckily, a little hard of hearingóis trying to concentrate with all her might on the patterns of her knitting. The aunt here would be Claude Raguet Hirst, an American woman of the late Victorian and early-20th-century period who artistically stepped out of her societal bounds with some assurance, but also in a good-mannered way that suited the conventions of the times. She herself would not have laid claim to being overly kinetic or loudly pioneering. On the other hand, the Florida women artists represented in this very contemporary show are young, technology-fluent, gifted, and fairly busting with explanationsóalthough not always neededóof their work, explanations that the quieter Hirst might find touched by a little affectation. Thereís something rambunctious about the exhibition of Florida women artistsóitís noisy and diverse in content, attitude, style and genre. Itís a little breathless and almost overabundant with the glow of opportunities embraced. The Hirst exhibition, on the other hand, is almost restful. It displays, among other things, a self-assurance, a hard-won focus and a quiet sort of completion. This is after all, an exhibition of American still lifes of a certain period, covering territory and subject matter more often than not reserved for a male artist of the time. The differences between the two exhibitions are patently obvious and probably not meant to be pointed out, but there is a definite line leading from one to the other. Itís a wiggly line, to be sure, but there it isóthe colorful diversity, the explosion of various talents, and the sheer abundance of skill on display in the Florida show can trace its roots to artists such as Hirst, whose gifts came to be used in a very different sort of atmosphere. Her prominence took its time to emerge and her talents took longer to be appreciated, but the skill and originality Hirst brought to the popular genres of still lifes and trompe líoeil (a highly illusionist depiction of still lifes popular at the turn of the century) redefined and certainly enriched them. Still lifes of any sort are a rarefied genre, their muted, even modest nature prescribed for all of their rich history. Often, the result is commonplace, but not with Hirst. If some of the hallmarks of still lifesósymbolism, flowers, books, fruits, allegory and hyperrealismóprovide the potential ingredients for smothering a work in detail, Hirst used just the right amount. She also worked in watercolors, not the standard in oil painting. Hirst excelled in two areas usually associated with male artists in those times: trompe líoeil and what was then called the ìbachelorî still-life genres, full of smoking paraphernalia centered on pipes, tobacco pouches, hunting gear, wine, newspapers, money and books. Where Hirst truly became original was in her paintings that depicted books, which were often opened to the front to reveal worn and sometimes ragged spines or particular pages, some of them actually readable. In these paintings, time slows down and you can feel the texture of the books, the table, the wood, the surroundings. The light showers the books with respect and love. These works are still lifes about lives caught in still moments. This was not easy for Hirst. Cincinnati-born in gentility, her name Claude came from her real name Claudine, dictated at least in part because thatís what her early collectors either assumed or preferred. She died in the 1940s, obscure and indigent after she had stopped painting because there was nothing left to do. Her work remained quietly in collections, but not in museums, until reappearing into the sunlight of deserved attention. The women in the Florida exhibition probably never heard of Hirst, although some of them appear to be veterans of master-level art classes and teaching, if the wall notes are any indication. Nevertheless, their work is full of the observed world and attitudes surrounding the here and now. The fact that they all come from Florida, selected from among hundreds of entries, says a lot about the level and abundance of talent in the state and across the country. Itís downright musical in the halls of the Florida exhibitionó19 artists, from Mernet Larsenís edgy contemporary paintings to Francie Bishop Goodís big photos in which she inserted her niece into figures at a wax museum. These women go their own way, and the choices are eclectic and varied, but in some ways, they remain the spiritual offspringóa generation or so removedóof the gifted, meticulous Claude Raguet Hirst. ìClaude Raguet Hirst: Transforming the American Still Lifeî and ìTransitory Patterns: Florida Women Artistsî run through Dec. 19 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave., NW. For more information, please call (202) 783-5000 or visit www.nmwa.org. Gary Tischler is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.