Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum February 15, 2003 to September 12, 2004 Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Art Museum logo
A Word from P&G - Overview of Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Painters and the Big Picture - discusses how Cincinnati Artists fit into a larger art historical perspective The Works from The P&G Collection - themed galleries of the works in the show Index by Artist Name - a list of all the artists represented in the show and the works they completed Go back to the Cincinnati Art Museum Home page
John Rettig (1858–1932)
Remnants of the East, ca. 1890
oil on canvas
36 x 26 in.

   A key figure in the artistic heritage of Cincinnati, Rettig was one of the founding members and the first president of the Cincinnati Art Club in 1890 (which is still an active group today). Rettig traveled extensively, visiting Italy, Tunis, Egypt, and Algiers. While abroad he collected objects such as textiles, armor, weapons, and costume, which he then used to make his paintings of such subjects more realistic. This taste for the exotic was a common interest for many artists in the late nineteenth-century, whose work reflects curiosity about foreign people and objects. Remnants of the East is an excellent example of this trend, as Rettig has formally assembled Arretine (red glaze) Roman pottery, an Ottoman chain mail coif (armor headdress), and other objects he admired no doubt for their colorful, mysterious, and unfamiliar qualities.