Gustav Igler's "The Newborn"

Nationality: German

Born-Died: 1842-1908

Size: 29.33 × 34.6 in. (74.5 × 88 cm)

Creation Date: 1872

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: Private collection

I don't recall ever seeing it before but it was in my files so I must have seen it.  When I saw it this morning, I though, "Wow, that's beautiful."  I was really struck by the color, the value contrast (meaning light and dark, not philosophical values), the gestures of the figures and the overall arrangement of the shapes.  Then, I started noticing the various narrative elements such as the cat NOT playing with the ball of string and instead staring at the boy drinking milk.  The little girl is lovingly gazing into the face of her new sibling and it seems as if the maid(?) is trying to return the child to the mother.  However, the mother isn't looking so good--she is quite shadowy.  The more I look at this image, the more questions I have.  What is the significance, if any, of the clock's time?  What is the basket above the bed?  Is the mother going to die?  I'm going to look at it a while longer.

Jacques-Louis David's "Comtesse Daru"

Seven works of art I would like to see at the Frick

I recently visited New York and seeing the Frick was part of my plans, but due to time constraints I couldn't do it.  Anyway, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonade, I'm going to post seven works of art from the Frick that I wish I could have seen.  

Nationality: French

Born-Died: 1748-1825

Size: 32.1 × 25.6 in. (81.6 × 65.1 cm)

Creation Date: 1810

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

I have been a David fan for many years and whenever I get the chance to see one of his works I take it.  They generally reproduce well so I wouldn't expect it to be too different from the reproductions, but still I always enjoy seeing his work.

James Abbot McNeill Whistler's "Harmony in Pink and Grey (Portrait of Lady Meux)"

Seven works of art I would like to see at the Frick

I recently visited New York and seeing the Frick was part of my plans, but due to time constraints I couldn't do it.  Anyway, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonade, I'm going to post seven works of art from the Frick that I wish I could have seen.  

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1834-1903

Creation Date: 1881

Size: 76.3 × 36.6  in (193.7 × 93 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

I love it!

Georges de la Tour's "The Education of the Virgin"*

Seven works of art I would like to see at the Frick

I recently visited New York and seeing the Frick was part of my plans, but due to time constraints I couldn't do it.  Anyway, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonade, I'm going to post seven works of art from the Frick that I wish I could have seen.  

Nationality: French

Born-Died: 1593-1652

Creation Date: c. 1600 to 1652

Size: 33 x 39 1/2  in (83.8 x 100.3 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

I don't know for sure but it's possible that the image here is actually from a copy in France, but it is extremely similar to the painting in the Frick nonetheless.  The anatomical rendering here is slightly awkward--it reminds me of George Tooker--but the light is great (as I would expect.)  In any case I'd like to see this painting.

* the authorship of this painting has been questioned.

John Hoppner "The Honourable Lucy Byng"*

Seven works of art I would like to see at the Frick

I recently visited New York and seeing the Frick was part of my plans, but due to time constraints I couldn't do it.  Anyway, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonade, I'm going to post seven works of art from the Frick that I wish I could have seen.  

Nationality: English

Born-Died: 1758-1810

Creation Date: Late 1700's

Size: 30.1 × 25  in (76.5 × 63.5 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

This painting is gorgeous and appeals to my personal interest in Jane Austen.  I've never seen this image before and I love it!  I only wish I could have seen it at the Frick.

* I believe this is correct.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' "Louise de Broglie, Countesse d'Haussonville"

Seven works of art I would like to see at the Frick

I recently visited New York and seeing the Frick was part of my plans, but due to time constraints I couldn't do it.  Anyway, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonade, I'm going to post seven works of art from the Frick that I wish I could have seen.  

Nationality: French

Born-Died: 1780-1867

Creation Date: 1845

Size: 51.875 x 36.25  in (131.8 x 92.1 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

Ingres is one of my favorite painters and I always jump at the opportunity to see any of his works in real life.  On my next visit I'll take so many detail photographs of this painting it will be dizzying.

Archibald Willard's "The Spirit of '76"

Nationality: American
Born-Died: 1836-1918
Creation Date: c. 1875
Size: 24 x 18 in (61 x 45 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas 
Location: United States Department of State, Washington D.C., USA

László Tóth's "Mind"

Nationality: Hungarian
Born-Died: 1869-1895
Creation Date: c. 1883
Size: 93.9 x 47.7 in (238.5 x 12.5 cm)*
Media: Oil on canvas 
Location: The Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary*

* This information might be wrong.

This painting is part of a series called "Beauty, Money, Mind" and I only found it by stumbling across it in the Wikimedia commons.  I like the idea of this painting, but the execution isn't anything special in my opinion.  The reproduction isn't great which doesn't help.  In any case, I like the idea.  

Jurij Subic's "A Lady"

Nationality: Slovenian
Born-Died: 1855-1890
Creation Date: c. 1883
Size: 37.4 x 24.4 in (95 x 62 cm) 
Media: Oil on canvas 
Location: The National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia


This painting is unfinished but it looks like it was going to be so good.

Diego Velazquez's "Philip IV at Fraga"

Nationality: Spanish
Born-Died: 1599-1660
Creation Date: 1644
Size: 51 x 39 in (129.8 x 99.4 cm) 
Media: Oil on canvas 
Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

Luc Travers' Pick: Jules Bastien-LePage's "Sarah Bernhardt"

Nationality: French

Born-Died: 1848-1884

Creation Date: 1879

Size: 43.125 x 32.25 in (109.7 x 82 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Private Collection

Today's post is brought to you by a very special guest: art historian, Luc Travers.  If you enjoy this selection and what he has to say, I would encourage you to check out Luc's website which has information about upcoming museum tours, information about his book Touching the Art, videos and more!  It's definitely worth visiting.

"The elegantly dressed woman sits staring at an object in her hand. The object is a statuette, seemingly ancient, of a lyre player raising his head in song. 

The woman tenderly holds the memento, her lowered eyes affectionately gaze upon it, and her mouth is parted--almost a sigh, perhaps singing. Maybe she's just realized something about the object's significance to her, or maybe she is singing in response to the statuette's quiet melodies.

Her name is Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the 19th century. As for the possible meaning of the statuette to her: theatre was born in Ancient Greece from musician-poets playing the lyre.

In her portrait, Madame Bernhardt communes with a symbol of her craft and passion. What would you tenderly hold and passionately look upon in your portrait?"

- Luc Travers

Sarah Bernhardt by Jules Bastien-LePage

The Cult of Beauty exhibit at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco

For more of my favorites from the "Cult of Beauty" exhibit, please visit: http://www.luctravers.com/cult-of-beauty-exhibit.html

To learn how to make art more personally powerful check out the book, Touching The Art.

Herbert James Draper's "Gates of Dawn"

Nationality: English

Born-Died: 1617-1694
Creation Date: 1900

Size: 78 x 40 in (198 x 100 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The Drapers' Company Collection, London, UK

Great news, art lovers!  This blog has a new store where you can buy prints of your favorite works from 1OAOotD!   Draper's "Gates of Dawn" is now for sale for only $9.99!  Check it out.

This Print + Your Wall = Awesome

John Michael Wright's "Portrait of a Lady"

Nationality: English/Scottish

Born-Died: 1617-1694
Creation Date: 17th Century

Size: 27.75 x 34 in (70.5 x 86.5 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Private Collection


They really knew how to do it back then.

Antonio de La Gandara's "Madame Pierre Gautreau"

Nationality: French

Born-Died: 1861-1917
Creation Date: 1898

Size: 29 x 24.5 in (74.9 x 62.2 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Fans of John Singer Sargent's "Madame X" might enjoy this portrait of the same woman.

Samuel Colman's "Niagara Falls"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1832-1920
Creation Date: c. 1863

Media: Oil on paper

Location: The Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Emile A. Gruppe's "Winter Landscape"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1896-1978
Creation Date: 1947

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Albert Bierstadt's "Red Mountain Peaks"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1830-1902

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Thomas Hill's "Vernal Falls"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1829-1908
Creation Date: 1890

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Castellani Art Museum, Niagara University, New York, USA

Seven Paintings by Suzanne Eisendieck

Nationality: German

Born-Died: 1908-1998

Eisendieck is an artist that most people have never heard of and a great many people will not like.  I like some of them.  I just discovered her name and work very recently despite the fact that I had the first painting here in my “Unknown Artist” file for many years.   I kept it until I could properly identify it because I thought it had something interesting to it.  I was shocked to discover that she died in the 1990's, and not in the 1920's.

For the most part I appreciate her unique approach to impressionism—it seems to me like she used the impressionist method for expressive ends, not merely for the sake of “capturing the transient nature of light” or something like that, which is artistically pointless.  However, her approach seems like merely a good start.  I think a superior artist could have taken her style and developed it into something that was much more compelling.

Despite all this, her work seems to have elements that many young artists would want to adapt and I am surprised that more contemporary art students don’t admire her work.

The first two paintings here are the ones I like best.

John William North's "Halsway Court, Somerset"

Nationality: English

Born-Died: 1842-1900

Media: Watercolor

A very nice painting for spring.