Caitlin Swindell with Bruce and Gale Gillespie. PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

Athena Society members of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, who contribute $5,000 per household on top of their top-tier membership levels, had another difficult decision to make at their annual dinner. The group, which is given the privilege of selecting significant art acquisitions with their pooled funds, was asked to choose from four disparate but equally intriguing artworks.

The choice they made this year was to purchase the “Modiste (Spanish Girl, Madrid)” 1906, a majestic, full-length portrait by American artist Robert Henri (1865-1929). Considered a maverick in his day, Henri tried and rejected several art styles, before embracing his own bold, painterly style, and was later considered to be one of America’s greatest art instructors.

The selection was a more traditional one, as compared to last year’s cutting-edge choice, “Pacific Ocean A, B, C 2022” (triptych) 2022, the fluid AI artwork by visionary artist Refik Anadol (1985).

Henri’s Modiste of Madrid is the second of two that he painted of a young Spanish dressmaker; the first, painted from life, is now housed at the Minnesota Museum of American Art. This second version was painted from memory, and came to the museum from Debra Force Fine Art.

“It’s a really outstanding example of his body of work and something that would build on the strength of the collection and portraiture of the time period,” said Caitlin Swindell, VBMA chief curator.

The three pieces not chosen were Untitled, a 1964 acrylic on canvas by American artist Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), regarded as one of America’s most significant abstract expressionist painters; The Other Side II, 2022, a powerful contemporary landscape oil on linen painting by American artist April Gornik (b. 1953), whose works tend towards landscapes and seascapes; and Peeping Freedom for bell hooks, 2023, by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist (b. 1962), a video installation in a painted wooden window frame with shutters, and named after the late Gloria Jean Watkins, who used the (uncapitalized) pen name, bell hooks.

For more information, visit VBMuseum.org.

Photos by Joshua Kodis