The History Book Club discussion
ART - ARCHITECTURE - CULTURE
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PAINTING
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"Johann von Goethe said it best: “Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.”
You have to go see the ceiling to fully understand what Goethe said. No photos or videos match the experience of standing in the chapel and looking up at Michelangelo’s amazing creation.
Getting there takes some patience, though. First you have to get to Rome. Once you’re finally in the Vatican Museum, it takes forever to find the chapel. Signs keep pointing left and right and hinting that it’s just around the corner, but you have to walk down the quarter-mile Long March filled with paintings, tapestries, and sculptures; past the section on Antiquities; and through the small crowded rooms of the pope’s apartments, painted by Raphael.
Finally, down a long, bare, narrow hallway, there’s a small door. Step through it and at last you’ll find yourself at one end of the Sistine Chapel, looking up at that breathtaking painting on the ceiling."
Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel
by
Andrew Graham-Dixon
Mod
"You’ll quickly find the famous scene of the Creation of Adam, the finger of Man reaching out for the touch of life. Even high overhead, the colors are brighter and richer than they are in any photograph. Then there’s the rest of the massive painting all around it — a riot of color and people and activity and scenes — and it’s clear that the Sistine Chapel is a place like none other in the world.
Beauty and greatness lie in the eyes of the beholder, of course. But many would argue that there are three things about the ceiling that make it not just a unique painting, but the greatest painting in the world.
1. It was brutally hard to paint.
The expanse of the ceiling is huge in comparison to other great paintings. It’s roughly 12,000 square feet, which is twice the size of the end zone of an American football field or nearly twice the size of the penalty box on a soccer pitch. Most of that space had to be painted with an arm lifted above the head, making it one of the most physically demanding paintings ever completed. (In fact, Michelangelo spent so much time looking up that from then on he could only read when he lifted books above his head; his eyes had lost the ability to focus on words when he looked downward.)
2. It was artistically hard to paint.
The ceiling is painted in buon fresco (i.e., fresh plaster) — a difficult medium to perfect, and nowhere near as straightforward as brushing oil paint onto a piece of canvas. To paint a fresco is to win a race against time. There’s only one chance to paint it right, in a matter of hours, because the paint is applied to wet plaster, which has to be the exact right moisture and texture. As the plaster dries it absorbs the pigments of color, essentially mixing the paint into the wall. If the painter doesn’t work quickly enough, the colors come out uneven and the work doesn’t last. Mistakes had to be chiseled off the wall and repainted, at great expense to a patron’s bank account and the painter’s reputation.
That’s not all. The chapel ceiling is a flattened barrel vault, curving downward and chopped into pieces by the spandrels above the high windows. Because of the varied shapes and design, Michelangelo needed great technical skill to account for perspective shifts not usually found on most walls or canvases (and viewed from 60 feet below). He also needed a great deal of imagination to create a scheme that pulled all of the pieces of the ceiling together into a whole work.
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Mod
Wow, Bentley! Thank you for the thread. You certainly have kicked it off in style. Thanks for the beautiful images .I have seen the Sistine Chapel just once on an organized tour to the Vatican in Rome. I can identify with the description of the long trek there. Luckily, we did not have to wait in the blocks long line to get into the Vatican Museum. And then the first view takes one's breath away. It is all so grand and awe inspiring. We had a limited time, the chapel was crowded, and I didn't know where to look first. Of course, I had to spend a good long time admiring the Creation in the center of the ceiling. It is good to be able to look at the different details in solitude but the overall effect does have to be seen to be believed.
Here are some other books I found that look interesting:
The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration by
Michael Hirst (the Goodread's page seems to have the wrong picture with the right author!)
by Benjamin Blech (no photo)
by
Ross KingI added the last book above to my toppling TBR list.
Mod
Oh, yes. Another place I'd like to really "see" is Versailles - they really pack you in and keep you moving the whole time.
Mod
"Jean Renoir Drawing"This picture by Renoir of his son Jean, who went on to fame as a film director was on tour at the Art Institute in Chicago. Loving the talent of both the father and son, I stood for a long time taking it in.
I had not seen that painting before. It is wonderful! I like this one of baby Jean with his nurse Gabrielle.
Gabrielle Renoir et Jean enfant by Pierre-August Renoir, 1895-96, Musée de L'Orangarie, Paris
Gabrielle Renard (August 1, 1878 – February 26, 1959) became an important member of the family of the painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, first becoming a nanny and subsequently, a frequent model for the artist. She is recognized as the mentor to Jean Renoir, creating and encouraging his interest in filmmaking.
In his memoirs, "My Life and My Films", Jean Renoir begins and ends his book with discussion of Gabrielle Renard, and, throughout the autobiography, he recounts the profound influence Gabrielle had upon his life. He wrote, "She taught me to see the face behind the mask and the fraud behind the flourishes", and he concluded with the words he said he had often spoken as a child, "Wait for me, Gabrielle".
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriell...
by
Jean RenoirSome books about Pierre-Auguste Renoir:
by
Jean Renoir
by Francesca Castellani (no photo)
by Colin B. Bailey (no photo)
Keith Haring, circa 1981
In light of today's Google doodle honoring the 54th anniversary of Keith Haring's birth, I thought I'd post a bit about him.
Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.
Haring achieved his first public attention with chalk drawings in the subways of New York. These were his first recognized pieces of pop art. The exhibitions were filmed by the photographer Tseng Kwong Chi. Around this time, "The Radiant Baby" became his symbol.
In 1984, Haring visited Australia and painted wall murals. He also visited and painted in Rio de Janeiro, the Paris Museum of Modern Art, Minneapolis and Manhattan.
Simultaneously, the Museum of Modern Art in Bordeaux opened an exhibition of his works, and took part in the Paris Biennial.
He later opened a retail store in SoHo called Pop Shop, selling merchandise bearing his iconic images including t-shirts, toys, posters and other objects with reproductions of his art; the outlet closed in 2005. When asked about the "commercialism" of his work, Mr. Haring said: "I could earn more money if I just painted a few things and jacked up the price. My shop is an extension of what I was doing in the subway stations, breaking down the barriers between high and low art."
Keith Haring died of AIDS related complications at the age of 31 on February 16, 1990.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ha...
Keith Haring Foundation: http://www.haring.com/home.php
Brooklyn Museum: Online Exhibition: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibit...
Radiant Baby
Untitled (AKA "Opening Heads"), 1982, vinyl paint on vinyl tarp, 71x71 inches
by Keith Haring
by Elisabeth Sussman
by Jeffrey Deitch
In such a short life, Haring made a lasting mark. I particularly like this work:
Oh, that would make a wonderful valentine!
He did lots of "heart" pictures and that series is probably my favorite. I wonder if you can buy cards with those images? I will have to Google around and see.
Jill wrote: "He did lots of "heart" pictures and that series is probably my favorite. I wonder if you can buy cards with those images? I will have to Google around and see."Jill,
did you find something?
These pictures of Haring are really adorable (if this is a right word to say for a picture;)
Morgiana wrote: "Jill wrote: "He did lots of "heart" pictures and that series is probably my favorite. I wonder if you can buy cards with those images? I will have to Google around and see."Jill,
did you find so..."
Indeed there are many places to order Haring cards. Just Google it and there they are. They are so whimsical, especially the "heart" pictures. His talent was very appealing, wasn't it?
Yes, he is very appaling and will google him soon. Like him very much - didn't know him before.Thanks!
Art Deco Postcards
by Patricia BayerSynopsis
This book is just plain fun. Art deco was one of the most captivating and popular artistic movements of the 20th century and its iconic blend of luxury and simplicity still bewitch today. This book features images from postcards published from the 1920s to the '40s - from nightclubs, hotels and restaurants to skyscrapers, apartment buildings and airports. It is a trip down memory lane since many of these edifices have disappeared.
Morgiana wrote: "Yes, he is very appaling and will google him soon. Like him very much - didn't know him before.Thanks!"
I noticed there is a documentary about Haring on Netflix streaming called "The Universe of Keith Haring". There is another DVD documentary available for rent called "Drawing the Line: A Portrait of Keith Haring." I haven't seen either of these yet but they look interesting.
Bea wrote: "Morgiana wrote: "Yes, he is very appaling and will google him soon. Like him very much - didn't know him before.Thanks!"
I noticed there is a documentary about Haring on Netflix streaming called ..."
Bea, what's Netflix?
:O
Oh, I'm sure you don't have Netflix in Hungary! I didn't check to see where you were living.Netflix is a big subscription company here in the U.S. where you can either rent DVDs through the mail or watch movies and TV shows that are sent wirelessly by streaming to your computer. There are other companies that do the same thing here. I hope you have something comparable in Europe because it is very convenient. It is much cheaper than buying DVDs or going to a rental store and worrying about late fees.
Bea wrote: "Oh, I'm sure you don't have Netflix in Hungary! I didn't check to see where you were living.Netflix is a big subscription company here in the U.S. where you can either rent DVDs through the mail..."
Bea, ok, I know what this means,thanks - I think we have something similar like this, but not really sure - need to check out;)
Hope find something.
Happy Birthday, dear Mary!
Portrait of Miss Cassatt, Seated, Holding Cards by Edgar Degas, c.1876-1878
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.
The Boating Party by Mary Cassatt, 1893-94, National Gallery of Art Washington
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Cas...
http://www.marycassatt.org/
by Nancy Mowll Mathews
by Griselda Pollock
by Debra N. Mancoff
Bea wrote: "Happy Birthday, dear Mary!Portrait of Miss Cassatt, Seated, Holding Cards by Edgar Degas, c.1876-1878
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker..."
I just discovered the Painting discussion. Delighted to learn that Mary' birthday falls between my daughter and my mother. Perfect.
I can highly recommend the 2010 documentary about Jack Cardiff, British cameraman (also an artist) and very influenced by J.M.W. Turner: "Cameraman:The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff." For Turner, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W....Cardiff penned a book called "Magic Hour."
by Jack Cardiff[image error]
Joanne wrote: "I can highly recommend the 2010 documentary about Jack Cardiff, British cameraman (also an artist) and very influenced by J.M.W. Turner: "Cameraman:The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff." For Turner, s..."Joanne, what a lovely picture of Hepburn! You can see her whole personality on it - simply amazing!
Thanks for letting know the photographer's name.
Morgiana wrote: "Joanne wrote: "I can highly recommend the 2010 documentary about Jack Cardiff, British cameraman (also an artist) and very influenced by J.M.W. Turner: "Cameraman:The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff...."Cardiff needs to be remembered for the incredible innovator and genius and true artist that he was! Painting with light....
Joanne wrote: "Morgiana wrote: "Joanne wrote: "I can highly recommend the 2010 documentary about Jack Cardiff, British cameraman (also an artist) and very influenced by J.M.W. Turner: "Cameraman:The Life and Work..."That's true - he was painting with light and with his camera.
Am really interested for photography, and he is one of the best.
If you don't already know it, you might enjoy the documentary "Visions of Light." I have not watched it in some years; however, when it was released 20 years ago, it was very well received. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visions_...
Joanne, no I didn't know it, will try to have it somehow - looks really intersting...thanks!
Morgiana wrote: "Joanne, no I didn't know it, will try to have it somehow - looks really intersting...thanks!"
I see you are in Budapest! Good luck finding a DVD!
Joanne wrote: "Morgiana wrote: "Joanne, no I didn't know it, will try to have it somehow - looks really intersting...thanks!"
I see you are in Budapest! Good luck finding a DVD!"
Yeah thanks, I need it!:)
In honor of my recent viewing of Fernand Leger's short experimental film "Ballet Mecanique", I thought I would post one of his paintings from the same year.
Mechanical Element (1924), Musée National d'Art de Moderne, Paris
Leger's biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_...
by Serge Fauchereau
by Fernand Léger (MOMA series)
Fernand Léger and Christian Derouet
I pretty much like these pictures - for my greatest surprise, LOL!:)
R.I.P. to Joe Kubert who died on August 12, 2012 at age 85. He was a comic book artist best known for his work on the D.C. comic book characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman.
There is a new book out on one of my favourite painters in case this subject interests others:
by Sheila HaleDescription:
Magisterial and accessible, this first definitive biography of the great Renaissance painter in over a century is a landmark achievement.
Born in the mountains above Venice in the late fifteenth-century, Tiziano Vecellio-or Titian-was the greatest painter of the Italian High Renaissance, an artist whose poetic vision and mastery of oil pigments made him into an international celebrity and continues to inspire working painters to this day. He lived in a Venice that was the most populous, celebrated, and visited city in Europe, painting everything from frescos, grand altarpieces, mythological stories, and portraits that were described by his contemporaries as "mirrors of nature."
More has been written about Titian than about any other Renaissance artist apart from Michelangelo. Sheila Hale's rich and monumental biography is, however, the first since 1877 to examine all contemporary accounts of Titian's life and work, and to take into account recent art historical research and scholarship, some of it previously unpublished. Her book charts the extraordinary transformation of Titian's style from the radiant minutely realised masterpieces of his youth, to the more freely painted work of his middle years, to the dark, tragic, sometimes terrifying visions of his old age. Drawing on the latest scientific examinations of his paintings, Hale seeks to explain this evolution of his methods; and, since no one person can do justice to an artist as great, protean and complex as Titian, many different voices-both contemporary and later-have been allowed free reign to explore, praise and sometimes doubt his genius.
When Titian died in Venice in 1576 he was in his late eighties, and had spent the whole of his working life there, travelling as little as possible despite the clamour for his presence at the great courts of Europe. He had outlived his greatest friend Pietro Aretino, whose letters are the richest and most entertaining source of Titian's life and personality and of sixteenth-century Venice. He had witnessed the wars fought in Italy between France and the Holy Roman Emperor, the Ottoman invasions of Europe, and the threats to the Catholic church posed by the Protestant Reformation. He had become the favoured painter of both Charles V-the most powerful man in the world-and his son Philip II of Spain, who became his most important patron.
Sheila Hale's masterly biography presents Titian through the story of the turbulent century in which he lived, and gives a vivid portrait of how this innovative sixteenth-century master conveyed in his paintings a kind of truth that few other artists have been able to communicate and which has fascinated Titian's admirers and followers for centuries.
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André, Honorary Contributor - EMERITUS - Music
(last edited Aug 19, 2012 03:49AM)
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by Sheila HaleMagnifica!!!
One of my favorite paintings of all time. The charge of the Scot's Greys at Waterloo, entitled "Scotland Forever", painted by Lady Elizabeth Butler.
Jill wrote: "One of my favorite paintings of all time. The charge of the Scot's Greys at Waterloo, entitled "Scotland Forever", painted by Lady Elizabeth Butler."
That's very nice. It is so hard to paint horses well.
I can imagine....I can't draw a stick figure and admire artists' talents.
A great painting indeed. Another great painting of Napoleonic horses is this one by Ernest Meissonier (not a great image sorry to say):
Which is discussed quite well in this book:
by
Ross King
Mod
by
Ross King
Sir Edwin Landseer was one of the most popular painters during the Victorian age. No house was complete without one of his prints (or if you were wealthy, originals) of animals. Probably his most famous is Monarch of the GlenMonarch of the Glen: Landseer In The Highlands
by Richard Ormond (no photo)Synopsis:
Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873) was the greatest British animal painter of the nineteenth century, and for his contemporaries the greatest artist of the age. The secret of his success lay in his ability to invest the natural world with feeling and imagination, allied to brilliant descriptive powers. Landseer was born in 1802, the son of the author and engraver, John Landseer, and his wife, Jane Potts. A child prodigy, he first exhibited animal studies at the Royal Academy in 1815, when he was just thirteen. By the time of his first visit to Scotland in 1824, he had already made a name for himself with works like Fighting Dogs Getting Wind and Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveller . Scotland became an inspiration for his finest works. In his paintings he caught the spirit of what it was that attracted visitors to Scotland: the wildness and splendour of the landscape, the sense of space and solitude, and the spectacle of nature red in tooth and claw.
That is very characteristic of the Romantic movement. Another kind of painting I like from the Victorian era is the Pre-Raphaelite school.Here's an example:
"Ophelia" (1851)
Later in the period, French painters began to rebel against all this realism with this kind of thing:
"Impression: Sunrise" (1872) by Claude Monet
One of the premier portraitists. His "Madame X" caused quite a stir at the time it was unveiled.John Singer Sargent
by Elaine Kilmurray(no photo)Synopsis:
The remarkable portraits for which John Singer Sargent is most famous are only one aspect of a career that included landscapes, watercolors, figure subjects, and murals. Even within portraiture, his style ranged from bold experiments to studied formality. And the subjects of his paintings were as varied as his styles, including the leaders of fashionable society, rural laborers, city streets, remote mountains, and the front lines of World War I. This book surveys and evaluates the extraordinary range of Sargent's work, and reproduces 155 of his paintings in color. It accompanies a spectacular international exhibition - the first major retrospective of the artist's career since the memorial exhibitions that followed his death. Richard Ormond presents a biographical sketch and, in a second essay, reviews Sargent's development as an artist. Mary Crowford Volk explores his thirty-year involvement with painting murals - in particular the works at the Boston Public Library and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that Sargent regarded as his greatest achievement.
James Mc Neill Whistler
by Lisa N. Peters (no photo)Synopsis:
Presenting concise overviews of artists and movements that are uniquely American, these volumes distill the essence of their subjects with authoritative texts and lavish illustrations.James McNeill Whistler was a rebel, dandy, wit, eccentric, and above all, an extraordinary artist. Here is a stunning visual portrait that traces the artist's career from early works to late, minimalist paintings.
RIP, George Rodrigue. His Blue Dog paintings are so whimsical.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Ways of Seeing (other topics)The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (other topics)
Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris (other topics)
The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism (other topics)
Noa Noa (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Simon Schama (other topics)Ingo F. Walther (other topics)
Alice Hoffman (other topics)
Edward Dolnick (other topics)
Debra N. Mancoff (other topics)
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Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium[1] to a surface (support base).
The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay, leaf, copper or concrete, and may incorporate multiple other materials including sand, clay, paper, gold leaf as well as objects.
Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, composition or abstraction and other aesthetics may serve to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner.
Paintings can be naturalistic and representational (as in a still life or landscape painting), photographic, abstract, be loaded with narrative content, symbolism, emotion or be political in nature.
A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by spiritual motifs and ideas; examples of this kind of painting range from artwork depicting mythological figures on pottery to Biblical scenes rendered on the interior walls and ceiling of The Sistine Chapel, to scenes from the life of Buddha or other images of eastern religious origin.
Source: Wikipedia
Remainder of article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting