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.

Jean-Marc Nattier's "Thalia, Muse of Comedy" and "Terpsichore, Muse of Music and Dance"

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1869-1895


Creation Date: 1739
Size: 53.5 x 49 in (135.9 x 124.5 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas 
Location: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, 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.

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

Frederic Edwin Church's "Niagara Falls from the American Side"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1826-1900

Creation Date: 1867
Size: 101.3 x 89.5 inch (257.5 x 227.3 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

This is one of two incredible paintings of Niagara Falls painted by Frederic Church.  I will post the second painting tomorrow.  When I was in Scotland I was fortunate to see this painting regularly.  I was surprised to discover how painterly it is, particularly in the rocks near the bottom. 

I'm posting this painting because my wife and I just saw visited Niagara Falls yesterday.  Although I didn't have a copy of this painting with me, I briefly tried to find the spot Church took this view from, but I don't think that location is accessible anymore.  In any case, below are some of our photos of the falls.  If I have a chance, I'll try to get a better photo and perhaps I can find Church's spot. 

20 Unusual Depictions of Clouds by Ferdinand Hodler

Nationality: Swiss

Born-Died: 1853-1918

Media: Oil on canvas

I am not really a fan of Ferdinand Hodler.  When I briefly traveled in Switzerland I was extremely eager to skip his paintings in the museums.  I still do not like his color sensibilities at all.  I don't like the lackluster brushwork, the semi-volumetric nature of the forms, the intermittent use of line in otherwise tonal paintings and the (often) lack of middle and dark tones in his work, which leaves them looking chalky, dry and weak looking.  

However, when he didn't fall into these errors, some of his paintings are actually quite nice.  I do appreciate some of his stylizations, which I think can be interesting and clever.   I like that he wasn't afraid to boldly stylize reality to suit his expressive ends. 

This selection of images focuses on his confident use of form when depicting clouds as a subject.  As an artist, I personally wouldn't have painted these clouds in quite these ways, but I respect some of his innovative choices.  I am always interested in observations and in observing natural phenomenon such as unusual cloud formations, so I appreciate it when another artist makes use of such phenomenon. 

White Artists Painting 25 Beautiful Skin Tones

This post is a response to recent controversies involving the racist professor, Derrick Bell, and numerous discussions I have had with artist-friends of mine regarding the topic of race.  There is a horrible and utterly ignorant view in the minds of many that all white people are automatically racist.  Some even hold that all members of all races are automatically racist--that we are all tainted with the "original sin" of racism from birth.  These are views that only racists can hold and there is no excusing such views under any circumstances.  Lack of education does not make such views "okay" and neither do PhD's.  These days, anti-white views are unfortunately all-too-common in the arts industry.  Such views reveal an ominously "concrete-bound" mentality in a group that prides itself on independent, rational thinking.  I would like to draw attention to this disconnect.

Racism is a concept, and as such it's meaning is communicable and it's application can be appropriate in many contexts independent of historical, cultural and economic factors.  The concept "racist" is appropriately applied to anyone of any race independent of any other factors about his own race.

To contrast the false views above I am posting 25 details of paintings all made by white artists that show an incredible appreciation for--and even love for--skin tone variety.  Many of these paintings are well over 100 years old. The oldest is about 400 years old.

It is more than okay to appreciate these skin tones.  It is more than okay to think, "I love the look of this very dark skin" or "I love the look of this very pale skin" and everything in between.  It is no more necessary to criticize pale skin as "pasty" or "blindingly white" than it is to criticize some other skin-tone for being it's shade. 

I can only hope that this post will help combat those hurtful, irrational and indefensible ideas.

I hope you enjoy these beautiful skin-tones as much as I do!

All the best,
- Justin 

Justin Wisniewski's "Winter"

Nationality: All American

Born-Died: 1978-

Creation Date: 2012

Size: 7 × 5 inch (115.5 x 82.5 cm)

Media: Oil on MDF panel

Location: My studio

99% finished.

Johannes Vermeer's "Lady Seated at a Virginal"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1670-1672
Size: 20.2 × 17.9 inch (51.5 × 45.5 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The National Gallery, London, UK

Today's post is the last of Vermeer's paintings.  There is one more disputed work, but it looks so different I wouldn't know why people think it is by Vermeer, so I decided not to include it.  There are also a number of relatively famous forgeries which are fascinating to analyze, but I'll save that for another time.  Whatever I post tomorrow I promise that it won't be Dutch! 

I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of Vermeer's works and found the little bit of commentary and information interesting. 

Johannes Vermeer's "The Astronomer"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1668
Size: 20 × 18 inch (51 × 45 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

This is one of my favorite Vermeer paintings.  The character here reminds me of Howard Roark or Equality 7-2521.

Like "The Art of Painting" this painting was at one time owned by the Nazis.  I recently read that they stamped a swastika on the back and I am dying to know if it is still there.  I'm sure it would have been small, but that is still strange.

Johannes Vermeer's "Portrait of a Young Woman"

Nationality: Dutch Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1665-1667
Size: 17.5 × 16 inch (44.5 × 40 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA

Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1665
Size: 17.5 × 15 inch (44.5 × 39 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands
Three interesting facts about this painting:

1.) Vermeer certainly could not afford to own a pearl as large as the one depicted here.  He probably had the model wear a faux-pearl glass earring and employed some artistic license in regards to its size.

2.) In the Netherlands, around this time, painters occasionally included fashion from the middle-east such as Rembrandt's "The Artist in Oriental Costume..."  This is part of the reason why Vermeer's Dutch model is wearing a Turban.

3.) Conservationists have found hairs from Vermeer's brushes stuck in the paint of the woman's face.

Johannes Vermeer's "Woman with a Water Jug"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1660-1662
Size: 18 × 16 inch (45.7 × 40.6 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA

Johannes Vermeer's "Woman Reading a Letter"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1663-1664
Size: 18.3 × 15.4 inch (46.6 × 39.1 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Johannes Vermeer's "View of Delft"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1659-1660
Creation Date: c. 1660-1661
Size: 26.1 × 30.1 inch (98.5 × 117.5 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands

Johannes Vermeer's "The Milkmaid"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1657-1658
Size: 17.875 × 16.125 inch (45.5 × 41 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This was the first Vermeer painting that I ever saw in person.  I am happy to acknowledge (now) that this painting is absolutely amazing, but when I saw this painting in person the experience was unfortunately ruined by two things...

Caspar David Friedrich's "Sea of Ice" or "The Wreck of Hope"

Nationality: German
Born-Died: 1774-1840

Creation Date: 1823-1824

Size: 38× 49.9 inch (96.7 × 126.9 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Robert Duncan's "Way Up North"

Nationality: American
Born-Died: 1952-
I assumed this was a painting of Santa Claus but now that I really look at it I don't know if that's who it's supposed to be.

George Bellow's "Boy in a Blue Coat"

Nationality: American
Born-Died: 1882-1925

Creation Date: 1915

Size: 36 × 24 inch (91.5 × 61 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA