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.

John White Alexander's "Isabella and the Pot of Basil"

Nationality: American

Born-Died: 1780 - 1867

Creation Date: 1897

Size: 75.625 x 36.125 inch (192.09 x 91.76 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

St. Giles Cathedral, Day 3: Tomb of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

Nationality: Scottish
Media: Marble
Location: St. Giles Church, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Art I Hate and Why: Pablo Picasso's "Guernica"

Nationality: Spanish
Born-Died: 1938-1994

Creation Date: 1937

Size: 137.4 × 305.5 inch (349 × 776 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

This is the most overrated painting from the 20^th century. 

Despite all the hype surrounding it and despite all the work that went into making it (and Picasso put an enormous amount of work into it) the result is like a cheap wine served in an enormous glass. 

Justin Wisniewski's "The self-sacrificer contemplated new ways of watering the plants"

Nationality: All American
Born-Died: 1978 -

Creation Date: 2011

Size: 9.875 x 5.625 inch (25.08 x 14.2875cm)

Media: 24K gold (goldpoint) on acrylic and gouache primed masonite

Location: Collection of the artist, USA
 

This is a goldpoint drawing.  It was drawn with a small stick of pure, 24K gold on a piece of masonite which was primed with an abrasive titanium ground.  It's just like drawing with a pencil only the metal filings which make up the drawing are much more permanent.  They will never fade or change color (because gold is inert) and they cannot be erased either.  Essentially, this drawing will last as long as the substrate it is drawn on lasts.

John Michael Wright's "Mrs. Salesbury with her Grandchildren"

Nationality: English-Scottish
Born/Died: 1617-1694
Creation Date: c. 1676
Size: 88 in. (129.5 x 133.6 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Tate Collection, London, UK

I can only guess what she's going to do with those children! Happy Halloween!

Ingres' Tomb by Jean-Marie Bonnassieux

Nationality: French
Born/Died: 1810-1892

Creation Date: After 1867
Media: Stone (?)
Location: Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France

Special thanks to Atul Kapur for identifying the artist for me.  Photo by me.

Antoine Étex's Grave for Theodore Gericault

Nationality: French
Born/Died: 1808-1888

Media: Bronze
Location: Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France

First photo by me.

Charles-Marie Bouton's "Gothic Chapel"

Nationality: French
Born/Died: 1781-1853

Creation Date: 1650
Size: 18.375 x 15.25 in. (46.7 x 38.7 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Metropolitan Museum, New York City, New York, USA

This is a painting that is rich with meaning. All photos by me.

"The Street Girl's End" by an Unknown Printmaker

Nationality: English?
Media: Engraving

Michelangelo's Tomb

As one final bonus for today, here is an image of Michelangelo's own tomb, which, when you click the image to see a larger version of it, has wonderful figures. The drapery on top is painted, oddly enough.

Frans Hals' "Youth with a Skull"

Nationality: Dutch
Born/Died: 1580-1666
Creation Date: 1626-1628
Size: 36.3 x 31.8 in. (92.2 x 80.8 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The National Gallery, London, UK



I believe there are two versions of this painting. I find the rapid increase in the technical skill of representation in painting to be pretty amazing. For instance, I was impressed to learn that Frans Hals was born only 16 years after Michelangelo died.

Justin Wisniewski's "When the days of the old, gray dog..."

Full title:When the days of the old gray dog,
Had all been loved into evenings,
--He aimed a little glance and a little thought,
--At the sparkling forest he once saw,
In a younger dog’s dream.

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1978

Creation Date: 2010
Size: 18.5 x 24.75 in. (47 x 62.9 cm)
Media: Graphite on hotpress watercolor paper
Location: Private Collection

All the lines are individually drawn with an ordinary mechanical pencil.

Henri Regnault's "Execution without Trial"

On this Day in the History of Art: Rosa Bonheur died (1899), "Star Wars" released (1977)

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1843-1871
Creation Date: 1870
Media: Oil on canvas
Size: 119 x 57.5 in. (302 x 146 cm)
Location: Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France



This is a grim painting with many artistic virtues, but one in particular involves the technique with which it was painted. Of course the paintings of Jackson Pollock do not qualify as art from the Objectivist standpoint (instead I would call them terrible works of design), but it wasn't because of his splatter/drip technique. While most of the subjects depicted here were rendered in a more-or-less traditional way, some of the blood was rendered by dripping and splattering the paint in a way that is not essentially different from Pollock's technique. The difference is that in Regnault's painting the paint has been carefully integrated into the subjects.

Jacques-Louis David's "The Death of Socrates"

On this Day in the History of Art: Socrates died (399BC), Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premieres (1824), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky born (1840), Caspar David Friedrich died (1840), The Group of Seven first exhibit in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1920), “Anthem” published in the UK (1938)Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1748-1825
Creation Date: 1787
Size: 51 × 77.25 in. (129.5 × 196.2 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA

Today is the 2,410th anniversary of the death of Socrates. This painting is commonly referred to in the US as The Death of Socrates, but I have also seen it written as Socrates at the Moment of Grasping the Hemlock. Due to the latter title's specificity I suspect this was closer to the original French title. This shouldn't be too surprising since many works from history have had changes of title, including some of the most famous works. While vast quantities of writing have been published about this painting, fortunately, it's not too hard to appreciate if you have a basic idea of what happened to Socrates. It is paintings like these that make me love the work of David (pronounced Dah-VEED).

I know why people in the art's industry would claim otherwise, but there is really no good reason why people don't make paintings like this anymore.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' "The Death of Leonardo"

On this Day in the History of Art: Leonardo da Vinci died (1519), Spanish peninsula war begins later painted by Goya (1808)

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1849 - 1919
Creation Date: 1818
Size: 15.7 x 19.9 in. (40 x 50.5 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, France

Unusual Depictions of Jesus Week: Hans Holbein's "The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb"

Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.

This painting of Jesus as dead from AD 1521-1522 is extremely unusual. It is life-sized and the horizontal format is tight to the body like a casket. The flesh is beginning to darken and decompose and the eyes and mouth of the corpse have gone gracelessly slack. The body, however, is gaunt, stiff and emaciated--particularly the hands. Effort has been made to depict Jesus as thoroughly dead without a trace of divinity. While many (but not all) depictions of Jesus as deceased present him as a muscular, sleeping man with minor wounds, Holbein went to great lengths to present the opposite view. I suspect Holbein's intention was to concretize the idea that Jesus most certainly did die like any human being would.

Francois-Joseph Navez's "Massacre of the Innocents"

Rory Hodgson's Pick: John Collier's "Thomas Henry Huxley"

Once again I invited an Objectivist to host this blog for the day and today's art object was chosen by Rory Hodgson. If would like to host this blog for a day, feel free to email me here.



Below is Rory's reaction to this painting:

"Huxley is relaxed over his books, and strangely, he playfully holds a skull. Combined with a slight, wry smile in his face, he is evidently having a bit of fun, as he stands confidently with his hand in his pocket. This is a smart man, a man who knows what's what. At the same time however, he isn't a cocky bastard. This is a relaxed man, not a braggart. He is comfortable, secure, confident and proud. His eyes are shadowed, exaggerating the solemnity in his face, to add weight to the otherwise rather wry character."

Rory's blog can be found here.

Peter Paul Rubens' "The Feast of Herod"

This painting is brilliantly composed and contains many lessons for visual artists.