The unique paintings of an artist who has captured the contemplative spirit of the Visitation Sisters in an impressionistic style will be on display in Brooklyn, NY this month.
Anne Goetze, who meshes photographs with dabbles, dips and soothing colors, will display her new works in the exhibit, “Pray to Love,” at The Emmaus Center, 288 Berry St., Brooklyn, NY, March 11-14.
“I felt wow – you can almost walk into that picture,” said Sister Susan Marie Kasprzak, superior of the Visitation Monastery in Brooklyn, commenting on one of Goetze’s paintings. “I felt so moved by it, and also the way it’s presented. It gives depth and perspective. It feels that it’s almost alive.”
For twenty years, Goetze travelled back and forth to the town of Annecy, France, observing the life of the Visitation Sisters and taking photos at their motherhouse, where her aunt lived as a sister.
Nature and buildings are part of Goetze’s overall works. But she has also developed a corpus of mixed-media work that brings out the joyful and yet pensive lives of the Visitation Sisters.
In one painting, for example, one sees three sisters in black habits laughing. But a plain wall, window and crucifix behind them are enhanced with blurred brush strokes, taking the viewer into an ethereal world.
Other paintings begin as photographs and are enhanced with the dabbled looks reminiscent of a Cézanne or Degas.
Goetze is returning to Brooklyn after exhibiting there in 2015. At this year’s show, she will include two new paintings of the Visitation Chapel and gardens of the Brooklyn Visitation Monastery. She will also show scenes from Visitation monasteries throughout the U.S, including text written by the nuns to accompany the paintings.
The St. Louis Visitation will be hosting her at the end of March.
The Visitation Order was founded by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal in 1610. Today the Visitation has monasteries all over the world. The nuns in Brooklyn have been living humbly since 1855 and pray steadfastly for this world.
For more information on the exhibit, visit The Emmaus House, or Anne Goetze’s website.
Visit also the Brooklyn Visitation Monastery.