The Glory of American Money - Hermon Atkins MacNeil's "Standing Liberty Quarter"

On this Day in the History of Art: John Milton sells publication rights to “Paradise Lost” for £10 (1667), first performance of Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks” (1749), Ludwig van Beethoven composed “Für Elise” (1810), Theodor Kittelson born (1857)

"Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value."

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1866-1947
Creation Date: 1916
Media: Silver coin

Among other things I enjoy the unusual composition of this piece. The figure was originally bare-breasted (second image), but the image was later changed (first image) to being armored.

The Glory of American Money - Augustus Saint-Gaudens' High Relief "Double Eagle” Design

On this Day in the History of Art: Robert Campin died (1444), Giuliano de' Medici died (1478), Gian Paolo Lomazzo born (1538), William Shakespeare born (1564), John James Audubon born (1758), Eugène Delacroix born (1798), first motion picture shown in Hawaii (1906), Dmitri Shostakovitch completes his 4th Symphony (1936)

"Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it becomes, marked: 'Account overdrawn."

- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1848-1907
Creation Date: 1907
Media: Gold coin

Atlas Week: John Singer Sargent's "Atlas"

On this Day in the History of Art: Leonardo da Vinci born (1452), Domenichino died (1641), Charles Wilson Peale born (1741), Ayn Rand and Frank O’Connor marry (1929), Atlas Shrugged movie released (2011)

Because the Atlas Shrugged movie is coming out today I thought it would be fun to post a week of images of Atlas by various artists from history starting with my favorite artist, John Singer Sargent.

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1856-1925

Creation Date: 1922-1925
Size: 10 ft. diameter (307.3 cm)
Media: oil on canvas
Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA



This is one of my favorite depictions of Atlas and when considering the "Atlases" of Atlas Shrugged, it's fitting that he is surrounded by sleeping people. I also like how the circular format fits the design of the Atlas' sphere because in some depictions of Atlas the strong curve of the sphere is disjunctive with the rest of the composition. Unlike the Atlas of Atlas Shrugged, this Atlas is holding up "the heavens" instead of the Earth.

Strong/Weak: Bouveret vs Vedder

On my recent trip to the Carnegie I noticed these two paintings in the same room. Content aside I could not help but observe that both used back-lit figures although the first painting is lit very well and the second is lit very poorly. I find it helpful to make these simple comparisons so if I need to use a similar lighting situation I can refer to this clear dichotomy of quality.

Strong: Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan Bouveret's Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus