ArtExpertOnLine

     For my last painting of 2020, I have selected Emile Bernard's work of 1886 titled, Boy Sitting in the Grass.    Although it is the queerest of pictures, I do like the thought of putting our backs to the past and looking forward into the sunshine, which I believe this young man is doing.    Bernard (1868-1941) was considered a post-impressionist in his younger, prime painting years, between 1886 - 1897.  He was associated with Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, sharing their paintings and their multiple views on art.  Near the end of the nineteenth century Bernard began a series of travels eventually resulting in a change of direction for his art, which history has recorded as not as successful as the early years.  From 1904 till his death in 1941 he taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.     The first reproduction of this painting that I saw, the picture was cropped just above the head, making the image a square....

     In the spirit of the holidays, I decided a Christmas image would be appropriate this week.  Many painters created this scene of the Wise Men coming to worship the baby Jesus and Sandro Botticelli's is thought to be the first, painted in 1475.  Here we are in Florence, Italy during the period now known as the early Renaissance and Botticelli (c.1445-1510) has been commissioned by Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama to paint this scene for his family's chapel in Santa Maria Novella.  Some references refer to him as a banker, while others are more direct, calling him a money changer.      I find this painting very interesting for it certainly has a lot in it. Botticelli lived his entire life in Florence, traveling only occasionally to other parts of Italy, so he would only know what could be read or told him about the conditions surrounding Jesus.  This painting is almost secular.  There are no halos around the Holy Family, only a sta...

   A little change of pace for this week, and for those of you who visit often, you know how much I love strong compositions.     Here we have Danish artist, Vihelm Hammershoi's (1864-1916) painting, Ida Reading a Letter.    With a quick look, it appears to lack color, but closer examination shows this is not true. However, it certainly is a restrained palette.   This is a reasonably typical painting from Hammershoi's finest period.  Later in life, he did some travel and after seeing work by other artists, expanded his colors and added more elements inside his pictorial space, thereby losing all the mystery we find here.         Ida, was Hammershoi's wife and she was depicted in many paintings from this period; dressed in black, with a white apron.  Here we see her reading, and our title tells us it is a letter.  And why is the door open?  Has the post just arrived? But the open door does not lead to th...

    This week we visit a panoramic vista of the Ohio River valley.  It is an oil painting created by artist Robert Duncanson (1821-1872) between 1870 and 1871.   Duncanson was a self taught painter.  He has an interesting history, being a Black American living in Ohio most of his adult life.  For a great deal of time, to earn a living, he was quite successful traveling around Ohio and Michigan area as an itinerant portrait painter.  In 1848 he became interested in landscapes so to develop some skill he copied the work of Thomas Cole, plus drew sketches in the outdoors to later develop in his studio.             Ellen's Isle is in the tradition of Cole, and the Hudson River School.  I find it a serene, beautiful composition.  The low sun close to the horizon is reflected back into the water, almost to the point where the boat is about to reach; clearly the center of interest.  But the sweeping river...

     This week we have a very special image.  If you have not had a chance to look at last weeks, please take a minute and do, as today we have the exact opposite.  Two still lifes that couldn't be more different.    One week ago I wrote about a collection of objects and, now, I have only a vague memory of individual pieces.  I first saw today's painting several years ago.  It was screaming at me from across a room and I have never forgotten it; one object imbedded in my memory.    The artist is Mike Lynch (1938-), a Minnesota painter of major distinction.  A large majority of his work are landscapes, often at night, illuminating buildings passed along a lonely country road.  But of all his work, I am especially attracted to this one.      Just as his primary work has a basic nostalgic sentiment, so does Camels.  They were the first cigarette on the market in 1917 and soon came to be America's favo...

       In my interest to provide a wide variety of artists and works, I searched long and far for this week's entry. The artist is Alexander V. Grigoriev (1891-1961), a Russian with a very interesting history. Although he made a huge impact on Russian art he is barely mentioned in a large book I own on Russian art. In the 1920's Grigoriev was an important member of the Socialist Realism Movement. He organized and lead several schools and art groups instructing and ministering to artists across the Soviet Union. In 1937 he was arrested for anti Soviet activities and spent the next nine years in a labor camp. From then on he was labeled an enemy of the people and was restricted from much travel, as he could not even go to Moscow to visit family. Finally in the mid 1950's his honor was reinstated in the Communist party and his achievements acknowledged.       The title of this painting is simply, Still Life .  Although I am attracted to this...

   I thought about this iconic American painting recently when reading a historical novel about a 18th century American woman.  She had extreme difficulty reaching some personal goals just because she was not a man.    When Grant Wood (1891-1942) painted this image in 1930 he had no idea it would become a huge symbol in our country.  But, now, in our time, when individual rights are of prime importance, I find it interesting to relook at American Gothic.      Much has been made of the paintings elements, and composition, which is amazing!  But to me what is important is the expressions on the faces in relation to the pitch fork.  Notice the daughter is positioned behind her father. It is difficult to decide what she is looking at, maybe just the back side of his face, but he is looking straight at us - as if he is daring us to challenge him.  And where is his power coming from?  The pitch fork!  Look at how Wood ...

 This week is a total switch to something quite wonderful, but different from images looked at in the past.  It is a painted story quilt created by Faith Ringgold.      I am not pleased with how this image came out, it is not very sharp, but it is such an amazing work, let's give it a try.  I have discovered that making copies of most current works run into copyright issues, as seems to be the case with this one.       Faith Ringgold has an interesting history.  She is a very successful American artist reaching into several Art venues, including children's books.  Her first was the title of this quilt, Tar Beach .  She centers her art around the American Black experience.  Although she does paint, she also has chosen to create quilts to remove any association with traditional Western European and American cultural ideas.  Her quilts have that marvelous folk art tradition yet reach far beyond into a real visual pi...

       This week we return to a pure landscape.  I selected it when reading that the artist, Egon Schiele (1891 - 1918) died of the European influenza epidemic.  So I thought it related a bit to our own epidemic struggles.    Four Trees was painted in 1917, a year before his death.  My guess is that when creating this painting he had no idea he would fall ill in the coming year, so impending death was probably not an influence.     Schiele had a short but interesting life, so interesting that several film, plays have been made of parts of his story.  Many of Schiele's art was centered around the figure, mostly female and many critics have considered them grotesque, and erotic.  So he was controversial.  His personal life was disturbing enough that he was jailed for a short time for a relationship with an under age girl.      I am really attracted to this landscape.   Notice how it is...

   In the whole of Art, every emotion and human feeling should be encountered, and the one great feeling so often missed is humor.  I don't think Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) intended for this oil painting to be laughed at, but in 2020, it certainly puts a smile on my face.  And, so that is my gift to you this week.    This marks the 3rd Rousseau painting portrayed on this blog (entry 18, The Dream from 8/15/2019 and entry 40, The Sleeping Gypsy from 1/6/2020).  So his life has been adequately covered, but two reminders. One is that Rousseau took to painting as a mature adult, into his 40th year, and second, it took sometime before his work was accepted by the artistic Paris community.  But he was diligent, and kept going, and today we have a wonderful collection to appreciate and admire.     So here we have four almost identical men, in costumes that today look more like pajamas.  If you look close you will see the only differe...

    English painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 - 1851) first exhibited this oil painting in 1796 at the Royal Academy of Art.   It was highly acclaimed as a great success for Turner, who was still a very young man.  He had been admitted to the academy in 1799 at age 14, and generally considered a successful artist his entire life, earning him a respectable income.      Three interesting things:  first, Turner created more watercolor works than oils.  Art, outside of historical works and family portraits, were slow to develop in the United Kingdom.  Watercolors were generally accepted and many were highly precision works.  2,000 of Turners watercolors survived, and 550 oils.         Second, Turner is remembered as a romantic painter, meaning he used his imagination in studio creating turbulent, often violent scenes of which our painting today is a perfect example.  This painting was so wel...

 Let's go way back in history for this week's painting.  Hans Holbein, The Younger  (1497 or 1498 - 1543)  and Albrecht Durer were the great artists of Northern Europe in the 16th century.  But the religious Reformation was making life difficult as religious images were ban by many of the new Protestants.  So, Holbein, born in Augsburg, Germany, and living in Basel, Switzerland, transferred for a time to England.  Here he could make a living painting portraits of the nobility, indeed, one of his most famous is of Henry VIII done in 1540.      On one trip back to Basel he did this portrait of his wife, Eisbeth and his two eldest children, Philipp (born around 1522) and Katherina (around 1526).     I bring you this tender image for two reasons.  First, please look at the faces.  No one looks particularly happy, especially Eisbeth.  One reference I have suggests she was ill, and this could be.  She ha...

    Some of my readers are painters, but many are simply appreciators of the Art.  Often the big question for the artist is "what shall I paint today". Landscapes, portraits, seascapes, still lifes, self portraits - the list seems endless, however, often the quandary is a listlessness where little provides energy and excitement.  So our subject for today is on the surface a reasonably sedate and odd collection.  What made the artist chose this as his subject?     Our painter is Niles Spencer (1893-1952).  He was an American who grew up in Rhode Island and is considered an artist of the Precisionist School.  He created this work in 1930.      So let's say your problem for today is to create a self portrait where no image of you is in the work.  Sounds impossible, but I think Spencer did just that.  What do we know about him by examining this painting?        It seems Spencer collected a fe...

    Today I bring you one of the most scandalous portraits of the late 19th century.  It seemed to be a time artists were challenging the French salon with daring paintings.  John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) created this oil in 1884 and it seems tame compared to Edward Manet's Olympia of 1863 where Manet dared to portray a "real" woman lying nude upon her bed (a classic female stereotype was the norm).      Here Sargent selected Madame Pierre Gautreau (Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau) as his subject, for he admired her great beauty.   But she was unable, or unwilling to sit for him, and by this time Sargent was an accepted portrait painter in Paris.  But, he did it anyway!     So, what is it about this image that created such a huge scandal when it was shown in the 1884 Salon exhibition?  The answer lies with three things:  first, the plunging neckline displaying way to much of her pearl white skin; second, h...

   Today marks my 76th weekly entry on this blog.  I hope all readers have enjoyed the wide selections, and come to be regular visitors.   To mark this occasion I bring you a Picasso painting which always makes me smile, Two Women Running on a Beach.   I wonder if there is an artist more written about, than Pablo Picasso?  He was small in stature, but a giant in the Art world.    Picasso created this painting in 1922, during his NeoClassical period.  He made his first trip to Italy in 1917 where first introduced to the classical traditions of the early Greeks and Romans.  Following World War I the general mood, was to abandon war for a happier time, and so for a short period European culture looked backward.       So here we have two women, in simple dress, hands clasped together with bodies barely an inch apart.  It is their postures that express the joy.  They are really striding out, with arms e...

   This week we return to the United States to meet Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993), who is one of my favorite American artists.  Here we have City Scape I,  which was produced in 1963 during a period where he set aside abstract expressionism for a more representational style.      Reviewing Diebenkorn's life I was struck by two things.  First, he was an educator; teaching at many universities and art schools on the West Coast.   About the time of this painting, he was artist-in-residence at Stanford, and living in Berkeley, California.  Teaching forces one to verbalize about your subject, even for the most reclusive of artists.  Formally organizing thoughts about Art, painting and conveying that knowledge to others is a desirable tool in advancing one's own work.     Second, Diebenkorn pursued his education through travel, moving about periodically to experience a range of contemporary visual art and delving...

   Let's stay in France for one more week, but jump up a few years.  It is now 1880 and Pierre-Auguste Renoir has just invited all his friends to be part of this gay party on the water's edge.        They collect at The Maison Fournaise  of Chatou on the Seine River, about a 30 mile train ride from Paris, a popular gathering spot.  The contrast from last week, 31 years earlier is amazing.  Now we see specific people from several walks of life, relaxing, dining, and enjoying each other's company.  Life has changed!    I have read that Renoir had each person model for their portrait in this group image and a quick Google search will explain who they all are.  I will tell you the woman on the left, with the dog is Aline Charigot. She was a seamstress by profession, became Renoir's frequent model, and eventually his wife.       The painting was an immediate success when completed in 1881 at the 7th Imp...

    This week I bring you a very different image from ones previously reviewed.  The artist is Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and the title is The Stonebreakers.       Courbet was one of the most important French artists of the mid nineteenth century.  Romanticism was the popular movement approved by the Salon, but Courbet was one of the few who broke from that tradition to establish Realism.  Here, in The Stonebreakers,  we can see exactly what the term Realism means.  From what I have read, Courbet saw this scene by the side of a road, and he immediately returned to his studio to paint it.  We see two men, the kneeling man lifting his pic, while the younger carries the basket of broken rock. We can only imagine they were able to sell the stone to help earn a living.      Looking carefully at the scene their torn clothing and wooden shoes help illustrate the men's plight. On the extreme right, mid canvas is de...

   It has been a while since we looked at a still life so this week we have a personal favorite. We have a reasonably simple  subject: flowers and vase on a plain background and base, but master painter, Vincent Van Gogh )1853-1890) worked his magic with it!   When I first see an image like this I often ask myself, "how much of this arrangement did the artist see and paint just as is, or, how much was arranged?" Here I think we can be pretty sure Van Gogh composed this image in front of him before he painted it.  Why?  Because  of the strength of his design.  Long floral leaves create a strong V shape, triangle pointing straight down to the center of the painting, but slightly left of the vase base.  The plain, circular vase balances the huge diagonal line created by the fallen stems.  And, wedged between all of this is a mass of iris flowers. Believe me, when making a decision to paint a bouquet of flowers in a vase, irises would be the...

    With the last days of summer almost upon us, and after a few weeks of challenging Art, I thought it was time we relaxed with a beautiful landscape.   So, here we have Childe Hassam's (1859 - 1935) oil painting: Celia Thaxter's Garden.       Hassam was one of the best of the American Impressionist painters.  He traveled to Europe early in his career to study art and see the developing trends coming out of France. He never met the French Impressionists, but did see their work and was attracted to it.     Returning to the United States, Hassam developed his unique style creating beautiful images of  the Eastern coast.  Our painting this week, is taken from the garden of Celia Thaxter (1835 - 1894).She was a poet and writer of short fiction, and his friend.  She lived on the Isle of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire, in Maine.  And, obviously, she had a beautiful garden for Hassam created several painti...

  I have a confession!   Pop Art is not my favorite.  When visiting a modern art gallery, one quick swing inside the Pop Art room will do it for me.  Although it was an exceptionally important movement in the 1960's, and it speaks to the commercial, disposable culture of that time, I am left not finding most images challenging in their own right.  But, this week, we have, what I think is an exception.       Standard Station  is a color screen-print by the American artist, Edward Ruscha (1937 -)   He was part of the 1960's pop art movement but also experimented with a variety of styles and media.  Standard Station was done in 1966 and was created after a painting he did in 1963.  I have not found a reproduction of that painting, so we shall look at this print, instead.  He did do a series, but I found this one the most interesting.      The composition is extremely dynamic, it is hard NOT ...

  Today many viewers may quickly disregard this portrait because of its opulence and decorative quality, but I suggest we look close and let me show you a couple of interesting things.      Madame Pompadour was the mistress of King Louis XV of France and used her position to become a powerful influence in French life.  She has been quoted as saying that every day she wanted to make the world a more beautiful place, and one critic has called this oil painting a visual biography of her interests, because of its many symbols.       Francois Boucher (1703-1770) created this portrait of his patroness in 1756.   Boucher was the ideal for the French Rococo style which is easy to dismiss today, but he was a highly skilled painter and etcher.  So looking closely at this work, do you see anything unusual? Look at her delicate little feet, and hands.  Take the distance from the top of her head to the bottom of her chin....now fi...

     American artist, Paul Jenkins (1923-2012) created Phenomena, Yonder Near in 1964.  He was one of a group of abstract expressionists living in New York City and finding success with their inventive methods of expression.  It was the desire of these painters to express a mental, psychic moment, or an idea or emotion that is very real, but not explicitly seen.       Jenkin's had a stronger following in Europe, than the U.S.  One American critic labeled his paintings a "popular" idea of abstract art, and "to gorgeous for their own good".  And, here we have an excellent example - for this painting is beautiful.  It is still to early to learn how kind history will be to Paul Jenkins, but today, this is a fun image to admire.      Jenkins developed a unique method of painting.  While others were dripping paint or pouring thin layers on un-primed canvas, Jenkins used primed canvas and carefully poured paint all...

     Isn't this a delightful image, doesn't it make you smile!   There are so few paintings of people in complete joy, laughing.  And here we have three robust, common working women, all dressed alike, taking a break from their duties.    Nikolai Kikolayevich Baskakov (1918 - 1993) is the artist.   He was Russian, living his entire life in that nation.  After college he served in the Red Army for seven years so did not begin serious painting instruction till almost mid life.   He was educated in, and completely adhered, to the Russian form of impressionism and realism, and was very successful in his home country, creating a style of Russian art well accepted by all Russians.     This painting is pretty simple in construction.  The circular row of milk cans, the side of the building and the fence cement the work, uniting the women.  Black and white in the rear suggest Holstein milking cows adding to ...

  I discovered Hung Liu (1948 -) thanks to a book given to me by a dear relative, and I find this oil painting particularly interesting.  She was born in China and now lives in California, where she is professor emerita of painting at Mills College, Oakland.   Chinese Profile II is her title, and the first thing I note is the painting's size.  It is 80" x 80".  This is huge, almost 7 feet by 7 feet!  Think of how impressive is the visual impact.   Art critics view Liu's work as dealing with memory, as she begins with a photograph to convey her message.   Three things stand out to me in this painting.  First is something I have experienced myself - the concept that by the use of color and shape an artist molds a face almost like building up a 3D sculpture from clay.  Look closely and see how the face and hairline is an overlay of shapes, many triangles.   Second, the background is alive with colors and movement taken from ...

   If you are a frequent visitor, you know I enjoy mixing  up the selections to present a wide variety of paintings. When John James Audubon (1785-1851) created  S mew or White Nun, his reasons were far different from most artists.  Audubon was foremost an ornithologist, so his purpose was to simply record nature, leaving little personal imprint.  But, whatever his purpose, Audubon's paintings, (later, prints), did mark them as uniquely Audubon.    The difficulty in painting any living thing is to make it look alive.  I have know talented artists who have painted stuffed birds and their abilities are good enough so the animals look like dead, stuffed birds.  Audubon took another path.  He shot the ducks then wired them in the chosen position to paint.  Most were in watercolor, often in many layers and sometimes gouache, or pastels were added.  The paintings were quite large, all done so the birds were life size.  ...

      It was 1936 and America was still struggling to work its way out of the American Depression when Russian born, American painter, Raphael Soyer (1899-1987) created Office Girls .  Considered a Social Realist, Soyer was one of several painters and photographers documenting the everyday worker, the working class.     Viewing this painting today, the first thing that "pops" to me is the term in the title:  Girl  - a title hopefully now restricted to females under the age of 18.  But in 1936 it was in common use for all females, even those we see here, the women employed by choice or necessity.  Here, are women of New York moving about on the street, coming or going to their offices.  The title hints that most are not in prestigious positions, but possibly secretarial clerks, typists, receptionist.   All are women, with the exception of one man to the far left.  We see little of him, and only notice he is unshaven and...

   I thought it was time to look at something really fun this week. So, I give you Rene Magritte (1898 - 1967) and Voice of Space.  Magritte was Belgium surrealist whose work became universally popular late in his life influencing pop art and music, and minimalism.  He was part of a group of European surrealist during the 1920's thru 1940's.   This is a very difficult period in world history which is  completely reflected in this movement.    Surrealism, by definition, presents a dream like quality, and Magritte in particular, loves to challenge our perception of reality.  His precision painting adds to the mystery of seeing three metal bells floating above the earth.     My personal love of Magritte's work comes from his skies.   Often he selects a particular time of day that looks "right" but is it?   Here we have light at the horizon with a deepening of color moving to the top and no strong shado...

  Color!  Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) loved it.  It not only defined his paintings, but his mature life style.  He was definitely an interesting, controversial and "colorful" man.  Here we have Le Sourcier d'Hiva Oa, ( Marquesan Man in Red Cape ); which can be translated to The Wizard of Hiva Oa.   It was painted in 1902, a year before Gauguin's death.  In 1901 Gauguin made his final move to the village of Atuona on the island of Hiva Oa, part of the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean.  Here, he befriended this man, a figure much feared by natives because his powers as a wizard.  Some have speculated Gauguin saw him as a third sexual being, being a mix of male and female.    For us the painting is typical of Gauguin's Polynesian work as it blends bright, vivid color with native figures in their natural setting, and suggesting some symbolism.     Gauguin was a life long friend of French painte...

     Are you curious?   What is this painting ?  Georg Schrimpt (1889-1938 is the artist, and he titled it, On the Terrace (Self-Portrait).  Titles are often a clue as to the artist's intent, and this one, certainly mystifies.  On the surface we see two men sitting close on an outdoor terrace, by a calm sea.  We can see one man in profile, but only the back of the other.  From this angle, and the hint from the title, Schrimpt is probably representing himself, twice.   The profile figure seems to be in deep thought, and we see no indication the other is speaking, but the bottle suggests they have shared a drink.   And, where are we in this scene?  I think we are sitting, too, maybe at a nearby table, eavesdropping!   The turn of the chairs, the dark wall and overhanging canopy indicate a private conversation - that Schrimpt is having with himself?    I think so.  What's your opinion? ...

   Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) was already a famous woman artist in 1939 when the Dole Company sent her to Hawaii.  Pineapple Bud  is the result of that trip, an interesting story and painting by a complex and interesting woman.  Much has been written by feminist wanting to identify O'Keeffe and her work with their movement, but she consistently declared there was no underlining meaning, and she wanted to be remember simply as an artist.  By 1939 she had struggled enough to find herself, define her life and establish her work.    O'Keeffe explored abstraction, and was strongly influenced by precisionism, an American movement centered primarily in photography (Ansel Adams, for example). However O'Keeffe's style was always her own, unique and powerful.     This painting is a perfect example.  It is typical of her famous flower paintings because of the unusual focus.  It is almost symmetrical, as the bud is almost center...

  I am always amazed at the beautiful and original woodcut prints by Japanese artist, Utagawa Hiroshige.  The one today is from the 1858 series, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and is titled, Twilight Hill at Meguro.  I see this view as if we are looking out a tall window.   We can look down and see what is below us, straight out and see what is at our own level, and up to see what is above us. This is quite remarkable. Generally, western painters showed us what they could see from their own level.  For example when looking at many Vermeer paintings, it is easy to understand that the artist was seated when painting. But here, Hiroshige gives us down, up and out.   Plus the amount of detail is amazing. Notice when looking out we see five people, four of which seem to be walking toward the community nestled by the hills.  The leaves on the trees are all individual objects.  Most likely the time of day is at that very second just after ...

  This week we look at an artist who has always been a mystery to me, I think mainly because he didn't fit nicely into any of the interesting art movements of the early 20th century.   Paul Klee (1879-1940) experimented with all of them until eventually developing a unique and very expressive symbolism which often bordered on the whimsical.     The Red Balloon was painted in 1922 when Klee taught at the Bauhaus, the famous Germany design school.  The beautiful structure illustrates the Bauhaus influence. Right down the middle, the thin line cements the balloon and divides the entire format.  On the left the large green shape reminds the viewer of ground, while stacked geometric shapes indicate human structures, buildings.  Notice how the sky varies in color and value, probably indicating sunshine, daylight. From here it is up to us to take from this painting what we desire.  If we look into Klee's history we discover a very complex man....

  There is a lot to write about Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), an American , living her adult life in Paris.  She was an early feminist, yet her most important art centered around the theme of loving mother and child.    This painting is titled Breakfast in Bed.  It is an oil on canvas painted 1897, and is part of the permanent collection of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.   Cassatt's close friend and mentor in Paris was the Impressionist, Edgar Degas.  I love Degas's work because of the very strong sense of design and innovative composition; and in this Cassatt painting, we can see his influence.    Take a good look.  Notice the very young child is holding food in it's hand, sitting on the bed, with a white shirt on, but without a diaper.   Now what mother in her right mind would do this!  It is 1897, not exactly the age of electric washers and driers.  My guess is that the baby actually did have a ...