ArtExpertOnLine

  Today I give you a new challenge, but an interesting one.  Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) was difficult to understand in 1952, when he completed this painting and art novices still have trouble understanding.  It was originally titled, Number 11 and sometimes the year completed was added to the title.  Later it simply became known as Blue Poles, however many art critics believe, as I do, that this title does a disservice, because to much attention is drawn to the major lines and not to the work as a whole.  It is an enamel and aluminum paint with glass on canvas, measuring 83.5" x 192.5" or almost 7 feet tall by over 16 feet long, so huge!  It is part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Australia, in Canberra.  They purchased it in 1973 for 1.3 million, today its value ranges from 100 - 300 million.     As most people know, Pollock was the first "action" painter.  He laid the canvas on the floor and carefully poured,...

   Here we are in the darkest and shortest days of the year and I give you a beautiful sunset image celebrating this season.  Claude Monet (1840 - 1926) painted it as part of a large series he did from 1890-91, this one completed in 1891.  Stacks of Wheat, (Sunset, Snow Effect) is the title.  It is an oil on canvas measuring 26" x 40", part of the permanent collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, which owns the most of the haystack series.  I am not certain how many paintings Monet did as part of this series, but Monet showed 15 in a Paris gallery in 1891, an exhibit that was a major art and financial success, establishing Monet as a French painting master.     Monet didn't have to travel far to find a field of haystacks, for they stood just outside his farm home in Giverny, in a province of Normandy, north of Paris.  In this northern area, Monet experienced all four seasons of the year, all portrayed in this haystack series.  Not...

   Just before the 2019 holidays I thought I would gift you something entirely unique and fun, plus a tropical scene to warm our cold day. Our artist is John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and this is his painting, Muddy Alligators.  Sargent created it in 1917 in Florida. He is considered an America ex-patriot for he lived throughout Europe and traveled extensively.  His major genre was oil portraits, but late in life he visited the U.S. doing watercolors in Maine and Florida.   Muddy Alligators  is part of the permanent collection of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts.  It is 13 1/2 x 20 1/2.     This is a watercolor over  graphite, meaning he started with a pencil drawing.   It would appear most of these reptiles are reasonably sedate, providing ample opportunity for a pencil study.  In the foreground we see shadows from a fence.  Since we are looking slightly downward on the alligators I assume ...

  A winter scene for a winter day.  Out my window the snow is falling setting the mood for this week's image. Our artist is Pieter Bruegel, the Elder, born 1525-30 and died in 1569.  (yes, there was a Younger)    This is an oil painting on wood done in 1565, measuring 46"by 64".  It is part of the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.  The title is, The Hunters in Snow and it has been called, Return of the Hunters.    The setting for this painting is the lowlands of Europe, now known as Belgium and Netherlands.  I love Bruegel's work because, just like Vermeer, 200 years later, we catch a glimpse of what life was really like for common people over 450 years ago.  Here is a wonderful panorama displaying people at work and in play - simply going about their daily lives.  We can comment about the life from many angles, certainly difficult as we see women on the left working over an open fire.  Sin...

 Hello readers,     Lately I have been concerned because readers are not being counted and their comments are not being posted on this blog, even when they have followed all instructions.   I have attempted to contact the company but have not been successful.  The whole idea of a blog is to have a discussion, so a one way communication defeats the ultimate purpose.  For the near future, I will continue writing as it is fun for me and I know most regular readers enjoy looking at the images.     If you have knowledge that would help me solve this problem I would dearly appreciate your comments.  I can be found at pbeckmann2010@hotmail.com.   THANKS.     Make Art a part of your life, it's a beautiful thing to do.     

   Sports is an interesting subject for artists because it usually involves moving subjects. At the close of the 19th century and into the 20th, artists were experimenting with new ways to express themselves and show movement.  Cubism and futurism were two of them and both are combined in this Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) painting, simply titled:  Runners. It is an oil on canvas and can be found at Musee D'Art Moderne, Troyes, France.  Between 1920-27 he painted this subject several times, each one quite different from the other, and I could not find the exact date for this painting or it's dimensions.     We do not know if Delaunay used photographs to create this image, but it is very possible he did. In early photograph it was necessary for subjects to remain still for the duration of the time the aperture was open exposing the film.  So, a photo taken of moving figures, could blurred faces, just as Delaunay has done in this painting.   ...

   All of us have heard about the French Impressionists and how their work was rejected by the Academie when the movement began. So today we have a work by an instructor of the Academie des Beaux in Paris, William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905).  This painting is The Nut Gatherers , from 1882, mid to late in Bouguereau's career.  It is an oil on canvas, part of the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Art, gift of Mrs William E. Scripps.  It measures 44 x 62.     Bouguereau's was made famous for his main body of work featuring modern interpretations of classical subjects, usually highlighting the female nude.  This painting is an exception.  Here we have two lovely young girls in a sweet, sentimental pose. Their closeness and bare feet are to show the bond of friendship and the vulnerability of their youth.  It was painted in studio and the background trees perfectly serve the purpose of highlighting them.  If an impr...

  In the summer of 1869 the famous French Impressionists Claude Monet and August Renoir set up their easels at La Grenouillere, a boating and bathing resort on the Seine River, near Paris. Both artists produced paintings at this site, and here we have Monets.  This oil is now part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.   It measures 29"x 39".    This image is typical of impressionism:  it was painted outdoors and on site, it features loose, but carefully placed brushwork, and highlights everyday people enjoying a day's pleasures.   The composition is interesting.  Here again the main focal point is at the exact center will all lines of the boats, dock, and right structure leading to it.  Even the curvature of the water strokes seem to form a pattern circling around the center little island.   Notice how the rear landscape helps us determine time of day and season of year.   ...

  Returning to the 17th century for this portrait titled: Laughing Boy With Wine Glass, c.1625.    It is an oil on wood painting by the great Dutch artist, Frans Hals (1581/85 - 1666).  The work is part of the permanent collection of the Staatliches Museum, Schwerin, Germany.  At this writing, I do not have the dimensions.    I have no idea why the round format, and it is possible it is for very practical reasons, but Hals has perfectly filled the space with an appealing subject.  Just like the Bellow painting of last week, Hals catches a brief second of time  In the boys left hand (to our right) is the almost blurred image of a moving hand.  All other parts of the painting indicate the artist had amazing technical skill, so obviously the blur is intentional.    It is difficult not to like a Frans Hals painting, for his subject matter is usually common folk out enjoying an evening at the local tavern; and giving us a glimps...

 Let's have a complete change for this week!   Here is one of a series of paintings done by American artist, George Bellows.  Dempsey and Firpo is part of the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.  It was painted in 1924, is 51" x 63", and is an oil on canvas.    This was an actual prizefight that occurred on September 14, 1923.  Jack Dempsey was the American heavyweight champion and Luis Angel Firpo was his Argentine rival.  The bout was only 4 minutes in length with Dempsey knocked down twice and Firpo 9 times; Dempsey being declared the winner.    In this image, Bellow records a moment when Firpo knocks Dempsey out of the ring. Looking on to our extreme left is Bellows, himself; the man with the balding head.     I have looked at a few of these Bellow prizefight images and I find all amazing.  Bellows' talent at recording a second of action, a second of time is so fabulous.  What s...

   Many of you have written that you enjoy the variety of paintings presented on this blog.  So today I give you a very interesting contemporary work completed this year, 2019.   The artist is Canadian, Matthew Wong (1984-2019) and this is an oil on canvas.  I was not able to find the dimensions but in viewing other Wong paintings I believe this painting is very large.  The title is, Winter's End.    Wong is represented by the Karma Gallery in New York City.  Wong has been written up by ArtNews and  most recently by his sudden death on October 2.    Wong is basically a self taught artist.  He does have a high level of education, but not in painting or the Arts.     I find this image amazing. It seems cold and quiet, with the only sigh of life the smoke curling from the house in the exact center.  Is it morning or evening; hard to tell, but maybe the title gives us a clue.  Maybe Wong inten...

    The Plum Garden in Kameido is a woodblock printed as part of the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by the Japanese master, Utagawa Hiroshige ( 1797-1858).  This series was created and first published in 1857, the last series created by Hiroshige before his death.  Hiroshige was part and most successful of the artists of the ukiyo-e school which created woodblock prints for wide scale production and distribution.   They were extremely popular, particularly in Europe with the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, who collected them, studied them, and some created their own version.   This particular work, The Plum Garden in Kameido was copied by Vincent Van Gogh in 1887.  Van Gogh's version can be seen at the Van Gogh Museum  in Amsterdam.      Anyone who has ever attempted a woodblock print, must be completely amazed by this image. The technical skill involved with the gradation of the red/pink is amazing, a...

  In 1669 Dutch master artist, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) began this beautiful painting titled,  The Lacemaker.  It is an oil on canvas and the smallest painting Vermeer is known to have made, measuring only 9.6" x 8.3".  It is now in the possession of the Louvre Museum, in Paris.    According to experts, the painting was completed in 1670, and they are sure Vermeer was a very slow, meticulous artist, often using a camera obscure to create his desired visual effects.      Today, Vermeer is universally regarded as one of the greatest artists in 17th century Holland easily equal to Rembrandt and Hals.   And this lovely images proves why.    Looking at the composition, we see the object of our attention in the exact middle and all lines, moving up or down, are drawn to her hands and her work.  The basic color harmony is blue and yellow, however not exclusively.  My favorite part of this work is the scarlet re...

   Henry Ossawa Tanner (1959-1837) painted this beautiful image on a return trip to his home state of Pennsylvania in 1893.  He had traveled to Paris in 1891 to study art, and soon made Paris a permanent home.  Tanner is the first African American to gain international fame as an artist.  And, this painting, his most famous, is part of the collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia.  It being the oldest museum dedicated solely to African Americans and U.S. minorities.    Light is the key to this warm, sensitive image.  We can almost feel the warmth from the fireplace to our right, and most likely some sunshine lightens the back wall, casting our figures into part shade.  These shadows over the faces creates a little mystery as to their expressions, but the way Tanner has united the two, displays a deep sense of love.    The composition is wonderful.  Here we have a complementary color harmony of blu...

  Andrew Wyeth's work can be controversial.  Some consider him a complete realist, others a romantic, and often, a man creating a statement of continuity in an changing world.  Like him or hate him, today's image certainly evokes feelings from all of us.    Here we have dead crows, bright sun we do not see, a spare landscape and portrayed in an almost monochromatic arrangement.   Titled, The Woodshed, it is a tempera work done in 1945, measuring 33" x 56".   I have not been able to determine the owners of the work, but my reference book credits Mr. & Mrs. C. Porter Schutt, so it is possible it is still in their private collection.    I find the date interesting. World War II is just ending.  I am not sure we can connect the two however, it is remarkable - two dead crows, two defeated nations.   Wyeth has a talent for striking compositions, this being a perfect example.  Often, close up,  corners appear a...

   In giving title to this landscape, California artist, Wayne Thiebaud not only provides the location, but also the time of day.  Knowing that Thiebaud is a California artist provides the last clue to guessing the probably location.  Smartly, The San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art purchased this painting for its permanent collection in 1986, a year after it was completed.  Sunset Streets is an oil on canvas measuring 48" x 35".      Wayne Thiebaud was born in 1920 and resides in California. He is one of several artists creating a distinct California aesthetic using heavy pigment and exaggerated color.   He is best known for his commonplace objects, figures, and landscapes. of which this is a perfect example.    The composition of this work is amazing.  Right down the center, at a slight tilt is this blue-black stripe, K shape, beginning with a heavy base and capped with a large triangle of sorts.  The painting is...

  Summer Night is one of my favorite American paintings, and to see the original we must go to Paris, for it is part of the permanent collection of the Musie d'Orsay.  It was painted in 1890 by Winslow Homer (1836-) and is an oil on canvas measuring 30" x 40".   This beautiful image is very similar to the Mark Rothko (see below).  Does that seem strange? The artist's objectives are about the same.  Here two women are dancing on a pier by the sea. Their figures are illuminated by light from behind them, probably a house, but the light does not extend far enough to catch others silhouetted to the lower right.  It is a beautiful night by the sea for the moon is casting its long glow on the waves and water.  If we enlarge the painting, we will notice a small red dot on the right horizon indicating a lighthouse in the distance.   Homer has created an intimate scene, which includes several anonymous people.  Impossible to delve into this work w...

  In the late nineteenth century, Paris was the center of the Art world, and  most noted was the Impressionist group led by Claude Monet.  However as the century was drawing to its close, a sizable group of independent artists were making their mark and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was one of the best.    Here we have his painting, At the Moulin Rouge.  It is an oil on canvas painted between 1892 and 1895.  It is a large work, 48" x 55" and is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.    Toulouse-Lautrec has an interesting life which I encourage you to research.  He was not interested in working with natural light but rather interiors illuminated with candle and gas fixtures. His work portrayed friends and characters dwelling in the nightlife of Paris, and this painting is a perfect example.  All of the main figures in the painting are known, just like Renoir's Luncheon, and here, Toulouse-Lautrec has includ...

     Today we have one of Mark Rothko's greatest paintings from the height of his career.  It is titled, White Center.    It was painting in 1950 and measures 81" x 56". In 2007 it was sold by Sothebys to the royal family of Qatar for 72.84 million US dollars, a record for this type of contemporary work.     Always, a work of Art must stand on its own merits, no matter who the personality is that conceived and created it, or what conditions existed at the time it was made.  However, for this particular artist and work, I decided to investigate his life and thoughts to confirm my ideas were in keeping with his intent.    The primary problem with viewing White Center is seeing the painting in this small reproduced state.  This painting is huge and Rothko wanted his viewer to get up close and personal with it.  For Rothko, Art is not to see a window into the world, but rather, to stimulate an emotional experience ....

  Truly one of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's most beautiful images is this painting, "Luncheon of the Boating Party".   It is part of the permanent collection of the Phillips  Collection in Washington D.C. ; and  was painted between 1880 and 1881.   Renoir is considered an artist of the Impressionist movement, taking easels out-of-doors to record people and places in a natural setting.  Here friends of Renoir's are gathered at a popular French restaurant on the Seine.  All of the people in the painting are known and their names can be found by a little research.  Renoir did the sketch on site, but then had each person pose at his studio so he could complete the likeness.   The woman on the far left with the little dog will become his wife soon after the painting was completed.    Composition is reasonably simple.  The white tablecloth cements the foreground and the white shirts of four strategic people form a half circl...

   Need a challenge?  Here is a very contemporary work, done in 1981 or 82 by Jean-Michel Basquiat.  It is listed as either Untitled, or "Skull".      This interesting painting leaves little to interpret but much to discuss.  In looking into Basquiat's work, I have discovered he did more than one on these skull images, all of which are similar in subject and color.  In 2017 one of them sold to a Japanese collector for $110.5 million    So what are we looking at?  A human head divided into strange sections, floating in a blue space.  There is little here for us to recognize, but I see the head interior like a house with three floors and many rooms, and maybe a track of some sort entering near the left eye traveling around and into parts of the head.  But this is only conjecture, and mine at that.   I believe each of us can interpret as we desire.   Certainly a general agreement could be that the...

   Have you ever seen a "realist" painting where nothing is right?  Take a look at this fun image.  This is titled, "The Dream", and is by the great French artist Henri Rousseau. It is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  Rousseau painted about 20 of these "jungle" pictures, this being the largest measuring almost 7 feet in height and almost 10 in width.  He completed the work in 1910, the year he died.  It is his last painting.    I find this work a delight to look at.  My eye is drawn all around the format wanting to discover everything especially those hidden in the dark corners.     If we divide the painting into four quarters, down the middle vertically and across the middle horizontally, we see the center of attention fills the lower left space, with the lines of her settee perfectly framing her space.  Also, notice there is no attempt at showing any depth, this whole s...

  Have you ever seen a person cry?  I am sure.  Remember how a completely anguished individual is always moving?  In 1937 Pablo Picasso completed this oil painting that is now in the Tate Gallery in London.  It is one of my favorite Picasso works for I see it as so realistic and such a great expression of complete sorrow.   No painting is easy, as anyone who has tried it can testify, but how do you realistically convey a FEELING in paint on canvas?   This is how Picasso accomplished the feat.    In the background we can see what looks to be a room.  The vertical lines could indicate some panels, the horizontal band 1/3 up trim board at the base of a wall.  The colors are intense, and all six are represented.     Notice how well dressed the woman is:  An interesting red hat with blue bow; her well groomed hair and her earring suggest she may not be home, or has prepared to be out for the day.    ...

    What a fun image for this week!   Here we have the great Dutch painter Frans Hals' oil on canvas painting of a couple obviously having a great time together.   The title of the painting is interesting.  One of my sources titles it:  Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart, with another giving it the title: Young Man and Woman in an Inn.    I have also seen titles where the woman is called, Wife.  Hals painted it in 1623 and it is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.    The composition is amazing.  All of the essential components are featured inside a band extending diagonally from his hand down the format to the dog's head, with the two human faces dead center.    Notice the interesting white shape created by her long "lace" cuff.  Hals has recreated that shape with slight variations several times, I have counted 7. And I love the deep turquoise color of his sl...

  Our latest painting is by Gustave Caillebotte titled Street in Paris, Rain.   It is an oil on canvas painted in 1877 and is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Caillebotte is considered an Impressionists, however his style was a little more realistic.   Here we see people walking a wet Paris street, umbrella's in hand.  Although not sure, I believe the building in the rear, left, could be what has become the Galeries Lafeyette on the Boulevard Haussmann.  This building was purchased in 1896 to soon become the famous department store, but the building probably existed in 1877.     Structurally this painting is very similar to others reviewed.   Here again, the painting is divided exactly in half, with the street light and its shadow as separation.  The right side is almost a portrait of the couple so realistic we could call them by name if we knew them.  But they do not realize ...

   Here we have one of my favorite Leonaro Da Vinci paintings.   It is titled, Lady With An Ermine and was painted about 1490 when Da Vinci was 38 years old.  It is an oil on walnut and is the property of the National Museum Czartoryski in Krakow, Poland.    This is a beautiful, realistic image that is very striking.  Da Vinci decided against a background (as he used in Mona Lisa )  in favor of creating great contrast between the flesh tones and rich blacks.  So it is only the woman's dress and the ermine that suggest who she was and what her interests were.     Many years ago when I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre I was amazed at the beauty of her hand, and here again, he has rendered the hand with great skill and tenderness.  But my attention is drawn to the ermine.  How did he do this?  It is amazing.  The animal seems to be looking the same direction as the lady, so soft and such a tender relationshi...

   Today's image is an oil painting by American Impressionist, Childe Hassam (pronounced child, hass'm) titled Autumn Boulevard, Paris.  It is in a private collection.    It was painted sometime between 1886-89 when Hassam spent 3 years in Paris studying European painting.  There is no evidence Hassam ever met Monet, Renoir or others as the French group of impressionists had pretty much dissolved as a group by 1886, the time of their last and final exhibit.  But obviously, Hassam captured the spirit of the movement and brought it home to New York.    This beautiful image is an unusual composition.  Here the center of attention bounces from the horse and carriage to the woman waiting at the curb.  The line of the curb draws the two together, plus the evenly spaced row of trees acting as a rhythm pattern moving the eye across the canvas.   The color harmony is blue/green to orange/red, another complementary arrangement....

  Here is Pierrre Auguste Renoir's beautiful painting Children's Afternoon at Wargemont from 1884.  The original painting is in the collection of the Alte Nationalgaerie in Berlin, Germany.     Renoir was at the height of his career when he created this work in 1884.  Here we see three girls in an interior space.  The flowers and view out the window indicate it is summer, maybe late spring.  The room's decor and the girl's dress suggest a prosperous French family.  The oldest girl is hand sewing, the middle, reading and the youngest loves her doll and oldest sister.     If you have read my previous blogs, you may have an idea why I selected this painting for review.  Obviously it is a beautiful image, and I can imagine seeing the original is spectacular for Renoir knew how to use color to its best advantage - pure, clean and bright.  The composition is particularly interesting.  Similar to the Kirchner and the Vermeer ...

    1896 is the year Alphonse Mucha created a series of four lithographs titled: Four Seasons  The one for today is Winter .   It is the height of the design movement titled Art Nouveau, and Mucha is a master of the style.  Here we see a lovely woman out in the snow draped in a form fitting soft green fabric.  She has cupped a bird in her palms, lovingly bringing it to her mouth, where we can assume she is warming it with her breath. Such a beautiful image, and such a warm, wonderful sentiment.    So let us examine the composition.  Here again the work is based on a complimentary color harmony: soft pink/reds, and soft blue/greens.  She is standing in the midst of a snarly tree done in light grey and white which contrasts with the softness and sensuous quality of the draped fabric. Warming the format in the far background, is a pink swirl of color framing the upper portion. The figure pops because of the contrast of color and becau...

  Today's painting is Edward Hopper's:  Room in Brooklyn.  It is an oil on canvas and is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, painted 1932.    Hopper is one of my favorite American artists, and for the purpose of this writing, I want to put aside all I know, and just examine this image.    The composition is amazing.  It is built on rectangles and lines. Framed by two white vertical lines, they are repeated in size by the brown window frames. The top is cemented with the shades, notice the two on the left and right are exactly the same, with the left one slightly lighter in color.   The top half is all window, with the horizontal brown lines dividing that space.   The exact middle, and all inside the window frame is the woman's head, the top of the far buildings and the flowers.   In the lower section, the base is the same basic color as the shades, with the rectangle of light pulli...

    Today's subject is a landscape, Jan Vermeer's Street in Delft.    As with other paintings examined, I will write about this one as if I know nothing of Vermeer, a little of Holland or Delft.   Again, the object is simply to enjoy the painting by finding the clues left by the artist.     First the composition.  The painting has a design very similar to the Kirchner painting, Bergheuer reviewed in March.  A light yellow base cements a huge triangle coming from the right balanced by the triangle of the sky and smaller shapes to the left.  The angle of the line in the cobblestone street breaks up that rectangle, sending our eye right into the little alley.  Also notice the left edge of the major building (on the right) is dead center.   So huge an object to weight down the whole right side, but it does not - why?  I think because the facade of all the building fronts are punctuate with windows and doors.  ...

   Many years ago when I was teaching photography,  classes were asked to arrange portrait compositions by adding objects and even selecting poses indicative of the subjects interests, personality.  The object of course is for the viewer to immediately gain understanding without knowing the individual, or seeing the title.    So our subject for today is Cagnaccio di San Pietro's portrait of Signora Vighi for 1930 - 36. Let us examine the image by what the artist allows us to see.     First:   what is in the painting?   A woman is sitting in a chair with a book on her lap.  Behind her and next to her on the floor are a couple of brocade pillows. On her side table is what looks to be a little toy chicken and dog!   Now why have they been included?  Knowing nothing of Ms. Vighi we have to assume she could be involved with animals somehow, and maybe children.  Maybe these toys represent her two kids?...