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June's Favorite Pictures
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Heather
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Jun 01, 2010 10:27AM
I'm sorry I'm a little late at setting this up. AC reminded me, good man! I have really enjoyed the discussions that came with other month's pictures. Thank you all!
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Thank you, Heather. It's really great of you to keep these threads running so well.
Akhenaten and Nefertiti, playing with their kids (18th Dynasty)
That fact alone -- plus those Isidore Duncan scarves -- and this is a really amazing picture, when you think about it... (as Gombrich does)
Giotto. Faith. 1305 (detail of a fresco: Cappella dell'Arena, Padua)
[Apologies for what is probably a botched citation:].
This detail is interesting (according to Gombrich) because it clearly shows Giotto's debt to the Byzantine style. Beneath their "frozen solemnity", Byzantine painters give an occasional glimpse that they understood such things as foreshortening, the modeling of the face with light and dark, a proper handling of drapery, etc -- remembered or retained from Classical Antiquity. Compare:
Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne. Late 13th cen. Tempera on wood panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Just want to point out that a lot of these pictures blow up well if you right-click them.
AC wrote: "Akhenaten and Nefertiti, playing with their kids (18th Dynasty)
That fact alone -- plus those Isidore Duncan scarves -- and this is a really amazing picture, when you think about it... (as Gombri..."
I've always loved this relief... it's so different from the 'standard', even within the rest of the 18th Dynasty. You get a good sense, by comparing art from the Amarna period of Akhenaten's reign to other 18th Dynasty art before and after, of how different Akhenaten was from the other Pharaohs... or at least, how different he was trying to appear.
I really like this artist, AC. I went to the site you posted and I especially like this one:
BEAUTY OF LAUREN
79" x 96" or vertical
Acrylic on Canvas
1989
I was looking around the Internet tonight and found some really cool paintings on safa.tv that are really lifelike! They reminded me of Iman Maleki and how he captures the essence of the painting also. So I had to stop on really quick and post this for you all! Hope you like them! And yes they really are paintings. If you look hard enough you can tell =)
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
from Safa.TV
In putting together a tour, I discovered this innovative work of art from the current exhibit at the Amistad Center for Art & Culture/ High Water Marks -- Art & Renewal After Katrina.It is "Storm at Sea", mixed media, 2007 by Radcliffe Bailey.
Unfortunately these 2 pictures don't give you what it looks like at our museum because the artwork changes with the space it inhabits. I wish I could take a picture so you could see how powerful it is. In our museum Bailey's "Storm at Sea," fills a poorly lit, narrow hallway with a wavelike crescent of splintered piano keys anchored at one end by a miniature black ship sparkling with glitter and at the other by a sculpture of Ogun, the Yoruba god of war. On the wall is the constant ticking of a metronome.There are over 5,000 piano keys which are scented. The installation represents the passage of slave ships between Africa and the New World.
I want to compare/contrast with a Hudson River School painting by Church's Coast Scene, Mount Desert (Sunrise off the Maine Coast), oil on canvas, 1863
1980 Self Portrait
Oil on Canvas
54 x 40 inches / 137.2 x 101.6 cm
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Who's self portrait?
Sorry. Alice Neel. I love, love, love her work. She was 80 years old when she painted this. Damn.LA Louvre Gallery in Venice (CA) has a show of her work right now. Here's a link: http://www.lalouver.com/html/alice_ne...
She's classic. And what an interesting woman.
Ruth, there's going to be a major biography of Alice Neel coming out this November. It's by Phoebe Hoban, who did the big Basquiat bio a few years back. Really looking forward to it.
Thanks, I'll be watching for that one, Jonathan. Meanwhile I intend to get to her show in LA.
Sounds good. Wish I could go too. Do you know if that show will travel elsewhere?
This from the press release at http://www.lalouver.com/resource/alic... "Concurrent to the L.A. Louver exhibition, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Alice Neel Painted Truths, 21 March - 13 June, 2010. Curated by Jeremy Lewison and Barry Walker,Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with text by Lewison, Walker, Tamar Garb and Robert Storr. The exhibition travels to the Whitechapel Gallery, London,9 July - 19 September, and the Moderna Museet, almö, Sweden, 10 October, 2010 - 2 January 2011. This is the first major museum show of Alice Neel’s work in Europe."
Richard Gibbs, 1968
oil on canvas
64 x 50 in. (162.6 x 127 cm)
I just found my long lost friend on Facebook (of all places!) He was great in high school, but now has become a singer and an artist. I just have to post some of his art. 
Red Wind by Mike Musick
Water World by Mike Musick
Purple Sky by Mike Musick
Red Sand by Mike Musick
Still-Life with Gilt Goblet, Willem Claes Heda, 1635, oil on panel, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Talked about a painting by Heda yesterday that looked very much like this one (also Still Life with Gilt Goblet, 1634 oil on panel) but instead of clams there were fish. I was surprised how long everyone (10 people of various ages) was captivated by this painting and discussed the "person" who would have eaten the meal.
I'm absolutely crazy about 17th century Dutch still lifes. How lovely are the things of this world.
I'm crazy about landscapes. I have to find that gallery next time I'm at the Met.
Ruth wrote: "I'm absolutely crazy about 17th century Dutch still lifes. How lovely are the things of this world."It is an absolutely beautiful painting. The painting below was my "other option".
Vanitas, Juan de Valdes Leal, 1660, oil on canvas
Monica wrote: "I'm crazy about landscapes. I have to find that gallery next time I'm at the Met."What kind of landscapes?
17th? Century Dutch ones? [image error]
Young Herdsmen with Cows, ca. 1655-60, Aelbert Cuyp (Dutch, 1620-1691)
At the top of the stairs in the Met, to the right, back a few galleries, is a wonderful collection. At a quick glance I don't find them in the database. I'm not referring to Rubens. These are precise jewels and I don't know specific artist names.
I didn't notice the figures in this painting until after I'd posted it. I paid a brief visit to that gallery many years ago, and if I jotted down the names of the artists, the piece of paper is long gone. This painting is another one for which we're to be thankful to Benjamin Altman!
I loved these paintings yet have not studied this period at all. I think there may be seascapes and windmills(!!??), but I don't remember.
Can anyone recommend the names of good Dutch landscape painters?
Landscape, first recorded in 1598, was borrowed as a painters' term from Dutch during the 16th century, when Dutch artists were pioneering the landscape genre. The Dutch word "landschap" had earlier meant simply "region, tract of land" but had acquired the artistic sense, which it brought over into English, of "a picture depicting scenery on land." Interestingly, 34 years pass after the first recorded use of landscape in English before the word is used of a view or vista of natural scenery. This delay suggests that people were first introduced to landscapes in paintings and then saw landscapes in real life. -thefreedictionary.com
Albert Bierstadt's Looking Down Yosemite Valley (1865), oil on canvas,
Birmingham Museum of Art
Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Pater, The Fair at Bezons, ca. 1733, oil on canvas, 42 x 56 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Jacob van Ruisdael, Forest Scene, c. 1655, oil on canvas, 41 9/16 x 48 9/16 in.,
National Gallery of Art
[image error]
Giorgione, The Temptest, c. 1508, oil on canvas,
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
Shen Zhou, Poet on a Mountain c. 1500, Ming Dynasty,
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
White clouds encircle the mountain waist like a sash,
Stone steps mount high into the void where the narrow path leads far.
Alone, leaning on my rustic staff I gaze idly into the distance.
My longing for the notes of a flute is answered in the murmurings of the gorge
Years ago I had a prof who pointed out how popular landscapes were in Venetian painting, even though there wasn't much land around!Jacob van Ruisdael may be one of the artists represented in that 'secret' Met gallery. Other artists there don't have the same name recognition.
Monica wrote: "Can anyone recommend the names of good Dutch landscape painters?"
Why yes!
The giants of Dutch landscape painting: Jan van Goyen, Jacob van Ruisdael, Meindert Hobbema, Salomon van Ruisdael, Albert Cuyp, Paulus Potter.
Also important: Aert van der Neer, Nicholaes Berchem, Gaspar van Wittel, Thomas Heeremans, Anthonie van Borssom, Karel du Jardin, Adriaen van de Velde, Hendrick Avercamp, Barent Avercamp, Frans Post...
Likewise, wildly significant artists such as Rembrandt who were known for work in more "major" genres--portraits; history paintings--also produced some very fine landscapes.
...And that's not even touching on the Dutch tradition of seascapes and cityscapes.
I'm off to work at the moment, but I'll find images and post them later today.
Ah, wonderful! Aelbert Cuyp did the painting in post #25.
Jacob van Ruisdael (c. 1628 – 14 March 1682), The Windmill at Wijk, 1670
Jan Both (between 1610 and 1618, Utrecht - August 9, 1652, Utrecht), A Southern Landscape with a Ruin, oil on panel.
Van Ruisdael is famous for his skies. I guess when a landscape is as flat as the Netherlands is, skies are a good thing to concentrate on.
I haven't seen many Dutch landscapes in person. The only one I can remember that the museum has is called Bleaching fields near Haarlem (I think). It is very small. Are all Dutch landscapes small?
What a long day it has been! I had planned to post some Dutch landscapes this afternoon, but time just slipped away. A very nice Ruisdael that you posted, Carol. And the juxtaposition with Jan Both is quite useful.
The Ruisdaels, Van Goyen, and Hobbema might be said to typify the "naturalistic" or "pure" strain in Dutch landscape, where nature is presented with little in the way of narrative anecdote, sentimentality, or stylish references to pre-existing artistic traditions from foreign countries.
Jan Both and people like Karel du Jardin, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Pieter van de Laer, etc. produced landscapes with Arcadian or Italianate references (Jan Both was deeply influenced by Claude Lorrain, with whom he collaborated while studying in Rome) and often ended up creating quite sumptuous and emotionally affecting images that seem, however, not exactly Dutch--or at least not Dutch in the way that Van Goyen is Dutch.
With regard to the question about the size of most Dutch landscapes, many of these works were made speculatively for the art trade and therefore tend to be fairly modest in size, but there are also Dutch landscapes of monumental scale. Van Goyen's "View of The Hague from the Southeast" (Gemeentemuseum, The Hague) is a good twelve feet long.
Let me post, below, probably the best work by Salomon van Ruisdael in the US, "Ferry on a River" (1649), From the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. The painting was acquired by the Gallery just two years ago from the heirs of the great Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, whose stock, including this picture, was seized by Hermann Goering during WWII. The picture was only recently restituted to the family due to a protracted legal dispute with the Dutch government.
Anyway, tomorrow, more landscapes.
[image error]
Salomon van Ruysdael (1600/03–1670)
Ferry on a River, 1649
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Patrons' Permanent Fund and the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund. This acquisition was made possible through the generosity of the family of Jacques Goudstikker, in his memory.
I was wondering if certain types of subjects of painting, sculpture etc reflect much about the culture/tenor of the times - eg - landscapes, religious subjects As far as religious subjects dominating the arts, I can understand why it was predominant but I don't have a clue why landscapes, individuals would be the dominant subjects of certain times
I think today there is so much freedom about what subject an artist chooses that it's a much better time for the arts
During the Renaissance, art was financed by the Church and by the aristocracy, the folks with the money. There effectively was almost no middle class at that time, and working class folks needed to put food on the table with their money, not art on the walls.With the rise of the middle class, especially in 17th century Holland, we have people who can spend money on non-necessities. Proud of their place in society, they commissioned portraits by the dozen. Interested in the things that money can buy, they gloried in those marvelous 17th century Dutch still lifes. As for landscapes, I'm not sure, but it may also have been pride. The Netherlands was a major power in those days.
Saw this artwork the other day and I can't get it out of my head.Unfortunately this image below is awful . . .
[image error]
But if you click here, and scroll up 1 page you will be able to see all the detail in this artwork.
http://books.google.com/books?id=83te...
Howardena Pindell
Autobiography: Water/Ancestors, Middle Passage/Family Ghosts,
1988
acrylic, tempera, cattle markers, oil stick, paper, polymer-photo transfer, and vinyl rope on sewn canvas, approximately
118 1/8" x 71 1/4 in.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
This artwork is HUGE -- it overpowers you. Her eyes are mezmerizing. The texture of the water surface. All the items seem to float. -- What do you think?
Next time you are in Vegas, visit the Bellagio and look up at the ceiling to see
Dale Chihuly's glass flowers!
I ended up continuing the discussion of Dutch landscapes at the Art News thread because it came up there also (strangely, in the context of Thomas Kinkade): http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...
Jim - lurking on this thread got me to reading this book -- which I am really enjoyinghttp://www.amazon.com/Worldly-Art-Dut...
It is very readable. Westermann has a lot to say about the development of the 'lower' genres (landscape, genre, still life), their connections with literary genres (like emblem books), etc..., and is very interesting. She recommends this book
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Century...
and also this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Through...
Though it is not about landscapes, here is one example of how she views Dutch art.
Ambrosius Bosschaert, Vase of Flowers. c. 1618. Oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, The Hague
Traditionally, the arched frame was common in devotional pictures of the Madonna and Child, or of Saints, and it was used to invite the viewer to meditation. In the Calvinist Dutch Republic, of course, this type of imagery was "no longer viable", but the "way of looking" may have survived. The still life replaces the Saint, and yet still invites us to a mood of contemplation...; the flowers, of course, also refering to the 'vanitas vitae'.
(This, of course, is Westermann's interpretation -- not my own.)
Paul Klee
Woman Awakening 1920
Paul Klee
Landscape with Yellow Birds 1923
Paul Klee
Around the Fish 1926
Thanks so much for these, Heather. Klee had a wonderful, joyous vision of the world. He also belonged to history's small but distinguished club of great Swiss artists--Böcklin, Fuseli, Tinguely, Angelica Kauffmann...
I'm sure there are more names that could be added to this list, but none are coming to mind. Can anybody else think of some?
My main art professor in college was heavily influenced by Paul Klee, and it really shows through in his artwork. I remember in an oil painting class I took from him, he had us do a Paul Klee-esque exercise: try to mix up the ugliest colors you can and put them all in a grid, each color in a one inch square. We each mixed twenty or so colors, and found we had trouble coming up with "ugly" ones. The colors made into the grid certainly did not look ugly either. Every color is useful, then, I guess. :)
I love Klee! He was an artist both in visual arts and music (played violin & married a pianist); traveled extensively; taught at the Bauhaus school doing glass, mural and bookbinding. Nazi classified him as a “degenerate artist” so he could no longer teach and was harassed. Later in life he was diagnosed an autoimmune disease (sclerdoderma).“A line is a dot that went for a walk.”
[image error]
Tightrope Walker, 1923, color lithograph, saint Louis Museum
“Color possesses me. I don't have to pursue it. It will possess me always, I know it. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I am a painter.”
(Diary entry after spending 2 weeks in Tunsia, affected by the light and colors of North Africa.)
[image error]
“One eye sees, the other feels.”
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Leonardo da Vinci. Ginevra de' Benci. 1474. Oil on panel. National Gallery, Washington (da Vinci painted this at the age of 22).
The picture is damaged and the bottom portion of it was cut away. Of what remains, the laces of her bodice were repainted. This was, presumably, a painting in honor of the girl's wedding. This picture is all the more remarkable, then, if one considers the depth and maturity of her expression, and yet remembers that the girl must have been no more than 14 or 15 years old at the time. The landscape in the background is especially affecting.
Here is a sketch of what the hands presumably were doing in the original: http://www.universalleonardo.org/work...
A rapid sketch -- of great power and imagination.
Study for the 'Benois Madonna', c. 1478-80. Louvre
Finally...
Arno Landscape. 1473. Pen and ink over a partially erased pencil sketch. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Thank you AC! Your post on Leonardo is a wake up call to remember what a genius he was! Too bad military enterprises took up so much of his time!
I had no idea how old he was when he painted Ginerva, and also no idea how young she was(?) I always took her for an older woman, certainly not a teenager. It's wonderful to read...or at least have friends that do!
Your post was so good I forwarded it to my dad, stepmom, brother and sister!
Oh -- oh! The business about the girl's age is simply an inference of my own. I assume it, since that was about the age of marriage during the Renaissance and the Late Middle Ages, I believe. That it is a marriage portrait is only an inference drawn by Clark. So best to double check.Nonetheless, it fascinates me because I am interested in the way (and point at which) people age, mature, die at different times of history -- the early maturation of earlier periods and the prolonged maturation period (I would say prolonged 'infantilization') of the modern period.
AC wrote: "Jim - lurking on this thread got me to reading this book -- which I am really enjoyinghttp://www.amazon.com/Worldly-Art-Dut......"
I ordered a Worldly Art
looking forward to reading it
thanks
David. Though the first picture is what one would expect, the last two surprised me.
David, Oath of the Horatii. Oil on canvas. 1784. Louvre.
David, Mme. Récamier. Oil on canvas. 1800. Louvre
David, View of the Luxembourg. 1794. Louvre.
(as seen from the window of the artist's prison cell)
Art Lovers
Books mentioned in this topic
Tales from the Art Crypt: The painters, the museums, the curators, the collectors, the auctions, the art (other topics)Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (other topics)
