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Recent Posts
- Lightning Strikes Art!
- Art is Everywhere, It’s Everywhere!
- The Most Famous Supper in History
- The Art That Hitler Hated
- 3 Famous Outsider Artists
- Girl with a Pearl Earring
- BEHOLD, America!
- Christ is Born!
- Haystacks…thrilling!
- 2 Art Installations You Won’t Forget!
- Faces Change…Portraits Change
- Art…Here Today, Gone Tomorrow!
- Live from Vienna
- “Love and Art”
- Afghan Girl, Photography
- Cindy Sherman, Photographer
- Art Oasis in Marfa, Texas!
- Tragedy
- Super Art!
- Couples
- Time is Art — “The Clock”…a masterpiece
- Dark Moments…Great Painters
- Really?! Major Art Collectors?
- The Kiss, Part Two
- The Kiss
- Big Time Art, Big Time Money
- Hey, That’s not Fine Art, That’s Illustration!
- Inside the Artist’s Studio
- Guerrilla Girls
- HE IS RISEN!
- The Radiant Bath
- March Madness — Ballet and Basketball
- Which is the “Real” Leonardo da Vinci?
- Passion…Heartbreak…Art
- Violence is on the Decline!
- Is This Art?
- Picasso, you rascal, you!
- 3 HOT, new museums you must see!
- Deconstructing the Myth of the American Indian!
- de Kooning
- Starry Night 1889 and Eclipse 2011
- Christmas 2011
- Monet and Banksy
- Matisse Family Portrait
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Category Archives: Impressionist
The Most Famous Supper in History
The Last Supper, c. 1495
Wall painting, Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci captured the moment in which Jesus makes the staggering announcement that he will be betrayed by one of His disciples. This is the last supper they will share.
He is indeed betrayed by Judas Iscariot that same night.
He is crucified by Pontius Pilate.
He rises from the dead three days later.
And the world is changed forever.
Artists have expressed their own versions of The Last Supper for over 500 years.
Their interpretations are profound, enlightened, mysterious, and humorous.
The Sacrament of the Last Supper, 1955
Oil on canvas, Salvador Dalí
The Last Supper, 1940
Oil on canvas, Frida Kahlo
Jesus Is My Homeboy: Last Supper, 2003
Photograph, David LaChapelle
The Last Supper, 2005
Legos, The Brick Testament
iLastSupper
You won’t believe the tumultuous life of The Last Supper!
Click here if unable to view the video.
Posted in Ancient, Artists, Classical, Contemporary, Film, Impressionist, Photography, Renaissance
Tagged apostles, bible, Christ, Easter, emotion, Jesus, masterpiece
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Christ is Born!
And the angel said: “this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.”
Nativity, Birth of Jesus, 1306
Giotto de Bondone (1266-1337)
Baby (Nativity of Tahitian Christ), 1896
Paul Gauguin (1948-1903)
Nativity with Burning Bush, 1991
Albert Herbert (1925-2008)
Posted in Artists, Classical, Impressionist
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Haystacks…thrilling!
Why do we get that tingling sensation, that sudden wave of emotion, that thrill when we see the haystack paintings of Bruegel, Van Gogh and Monet?
Who would have thought haystacks would be so enthralling? Do they speak to our yearning for a simpler way of life?
We know from brain research that the color yellow arouses feelings of happiness. Yellow is the color of these haystacks.
Some of the greatest artists of our time have devoted themselves to painting these simple images.
The Harvesters, 1565
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1925-1569)
The Flemish Renaissance artist, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, would put on disguises so he could participate in the life of the peasants…capturing their field labor and rollicking celebrations in his paintings.
The Harvesters portrays the arduous work of gathering the hay and the peasants’ joy of the well-earned picnic. Bruegel’s use of the golden yellow color of the hay fields is delightful to our senses.
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The Siesta, 1889
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Hay gatherers are snoozing in Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting, The Siesta. We sense the slow pace, the pleasure of a nap. Van Gogh uses his signature palette of intense yellows and blues to evoke emotion.
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Haystack at Sunset, 1890
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Claude Monet, the Father of Impressionism, was so charmed in 1890 with haystacks he painted 25 canvases of them! These haystacks are astonishing with the differences in light at various times of day, seasons, and types of weather. They are some of the most beloved works of art in the world.
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This Bruegel video is almost as good as seeing his masterpieces in museums!
Click here if unable to view the video.
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For thrilling color, watch this brief van Gogh video.
Click here if unable to view the video.
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Watch this for Monet and all his glory.
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Dark Moments…Great Painters
Ever wondered why we are fascinated and confused by beautiful paintings that have ominous images?
Brain researchers in the field of Neuroscience have increasingly turned their eyes on art in an effort to understand how we see these works of art.
There is a deep portion of the brain, the amygdala, which triggers BOTH negative & positive emotions. So when we see a frightening image surrounded by beautiful bright complimentary color, the brain is perturbed. We hate it but we love it! What’s a brain to do?!
Paul Gauguin and Egon Schiele perhaps unconsciously combined the beautiful with the sinister.
"Spirit of the Dead Watching", 1892
Gauguin (1848-1903)
Gauguin was a brilliant artist who is called The Father of Modern Art. He was also a pretty nefarious character deserting his wife and children so he could live in “ecstasy, calmness and art” on the island of Tahiti.
In the above painting, notice the sinister figure in the background. Kinda scary, huh? But, oh, what gorgeous color!
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"Wally with a Red Blouse", 1913
Egon Schiele (1890-1918)
A melancholy eccentric, Egon Schiele (Austrian), often drew his models from the top of a ladder looking down capturing unusual, arresting compositions.
Look at the contorted, twisted figure in Egon Schiele’s drawing. The expression on the face is…confused? Angry? Sad? Yet the figure has a certain innocence and the combinations of color are thrilling!
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"Stranger in the House", 2010
Kirby Kendrick; charcoal, ink, pastel,
acrylic, spray paint on paper
A less noted artist (readers laugh!), your devoted blogger also discovered some sinister figures in her past work. See the threatening dark figure in the upper right-hand corner? Where did HE come from? What’s HE doing?
Question:
We know what the neuroscientists have to say about our brain and why we like these dark/light images; do you have any thoughts on why these images fascinate us? Leave a comment below.
Posted in Abstract Expressionist, Artists, Contemporary, Impressionist
Tagged amygdala, Art, art & the brain, brain, Gaugin, Kendrick, modern art, Neuroscientist, Schiele, sinister, stranger
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The Kiss, Part Two
"Kiss of Judas" 1300 AD
Giotto, Fresco (detail)
The Kiss of Betrayal
This magnificent fresco painted by Giotto over 700 years ago in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, is today as compelling and vibrant as it was in 1300 AD. “The Genius of the Renaissance”, Giotto was the first who broke with the accepted practice that put every subject on the same plane as if they had been pasted on having neither depth nor perspective. Instead of stiff, unemotional faces and bodies, he gave his subjects an earthly, full-blooded life force.
It is an awesome affair to “experience” a piece of art. Look closely at the Giotto image. The center of the fresco is that eternal moment between Christ and Judas. There is a stillness and quiet around the two figures as the mob tumultuously rages around them. Giotto portrays Judas thick browed, eyes deep set and dark, almost Neolithic. He comes as Christ’s betrayer in blind rashness and ignorance of the part he plays in the drama.
Christ’s face is alive: living, breathing, grieving, hurting. Yet we see Christ’s forgiveness and sorrow for Judas and the enormity of his deed…the Judas kiss, the kiss of betrayal.
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"Maternal Kiss" 1897
Cassatt, Pastel on paper
"Baby's First Caress" 1890
Cassatt, Pastel on paper
The Maternal Kiss
Whoa! This is not just another sentimental, sugar sweet painting of mother and child! Ponder these paintings for a moment: Mother and child share a deep and common love. There is a passion there, a bliss, an ecstasy. The mother and child are physically and intensely wrapped up in each other-almost like the feeling of being “in love.”
It was astonishing that Mary Cassatt (1849-1926), could capture these images as she herself eschewed marriage and a family of her own.
Cassatt was born to a well to do family in Philadelphia and brought up to have a traditional life as a wife and mother…but then she went to Paris to study art! Remaining in France most of her life, Cassatt became famous for portraying the maternal bond and the tender maternal kiss.
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"Dracula" 1931
Horrifying Kiss
There really was a Dracula! And he really was from Transylvania! And he really was bloodthirsty and he really was cruel! But vampire, he was not.
Bram Stoker, Irish author, was inspired by the legend of Prince Dracula from the dark forested mountains of Eastern Europe to write his Gothic tale in 1897.
Watch this short 1931 video to see film’s most horrifying kiss! …Dracula.
Click here if unable to view the video.
Posted in Artists, Film, Impressionist
Tagged Cassatt, Dracula, Giotto, Judas, kiss, maternal, pastel
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Hey, That’s not Fine Art, That’s Illustration!
"Between Burka & Nun" 2007
The New Yorker cover
Conversation overheard between two art lovers in the elevator at the Metropolitan Museum, New York City:
1st art lover: Did you see that fantastic fine art painting this week on the cover of “The New Yorker”?
2nd art lover: Man, that wasn’t a painting, that was an illustration!
1st art lover: So, what’s the difference?
2nd art lover: Try two things. PEOPLE AND MONEY! Half a million people see “The New Yorker” magazine covers weekly versus the much lower number of visitors who come to the Met to see the fine art.
1st art lover: And what about the money?
2nd art lover: Hey, artists never have any money. When they were young, Toulouse-Lautrec did posters, Renoir painted porcelain china and de Kooning was a sign painter. Gilbert Stuart, who did the famous portrait of George Washington on the US dollar bill, played the organ at weddings!
1st art lover: Can you believe it? Their brilliant fine art paintings wouldn’t pay the bills!
2nd art lover: Oh, and one last thing. Illustration can be first class, but it has no mystery; no need for guessing what it means, cause it spells out the story. Fine art only suggests the story and makes us ponder. We have to use our imagination.
1st art lover: Girl, I have one thing to say about all of that. WHOOO CARES?! Fine art vs Illustration. This is a debate that’s been going on since the discovery of the cave drawings.
Let’s just enjoy the art!
"Woman with Hat" 1905
Matisse (Fine Art)
"Easter Parade" 1996
Maira Kalman (Illustration)
"Vitruvian Man" 1487
Leonardo da Vinci (Fine Art)
Medical Illustration
Frank Netter, M.D.
"Red Number 2" 1994
Fritz Scholder (Fine Art)
"The Last of the Mohicans" 1919
N.C. Wyeth (Illustration)
"Kiss V" 1963
Roy Lichtenstein (You decide)
You decide. Is this fine art or illustration?
Send us a comment with your choice (select “Leave a Comment” below) and we’ll get back to ya!
Posted in Ancient, Artists, Contemporary, Impressionist, Southwestern
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