Afternoon in May
Paintings such as this one by Alfred Juergens earned him the sobriquet of the American Monet. His work espouses the Impressionist credo: a sun-drenched landscape, broken brushwork, bright palette, and a celebration of nature’s bounty. The likely inspiration for the scene was his hometown of Oak Park, Illinois. After traveling through much of Europe and parts of the United States, Juergens became enchanted by the Chicago suburb, filling his canvases with lush gardens and trees he admired from his back window. He has illustrated a teen-aged boy and girl wearing summery white attire and relaxing in the May sunshine. The girl has donned a straw hat bedecked with red flowers, echoing the bountiful lilac trees and other floral couplings. Their backs are turned from the viewer, encouraging all to admire the blossoming garden before them.
When this painting appeared at the Chicago artist’s annual exhibition at Art Institute 1913, a critic praised the painting as: "A small picture with a large impression." Afternoon in May is a crescendo of his talents, combining his strength of the Old Master technique with a lighter touch of Impressionism—all inspired by his love of nature.
Becoming an artist was not without struggle for Juergens, as he had to convince his father Ludwig, a stern Prussian immigrant, to allow him to attend the Chicago Academy of Design in 1881. Before that, he had worked as a clerk in the family-owned paint company: L. Juergens & Sons Paints. When his father died and left the family in comfortable circumstances, Alfred’s mother became his advocate to pursue art and gave him money to travel and study in the great European capitals. By 1886, he settled in Munich and gained admission into the Munich Royal Academy. Though the studies were rigorous, he flourished in the Bavarian town and was elected as a member of the Munich Artists Association and the Artist’s Association of Germany.
In these early stages of his artistic career, Juergens painted in the tradition of the Dutch Baroque genre painters, using a dark palette, dramatic lighting, and favoring themes of peasant life and portraits. After Munich, he went to Paris (1889-1892). Not surprisingly, while in Paris he embraced Impressionism, adopting a brighter palette and looser style of brushwork.
Juergens collected many awards throughout his career, such as the 1884 Silver Medal from the Munich Royal Academy and the Bronze Medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. He also participated in the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago by painting murals for the Illinois State Building.
