ArtExpertOnLine

   I have always believed Art could stimulate a range of reactions and emotions in viewers.  It is easy to find examples the extremes of love - hate, joy - fear, but rarely down right funny!.  Today I give you La Partie Carree, also referred to as The Foursome, an oil painting by James Jacque Tissot (1836-1902).     Tissot created it in 1870, it is 47" x 57" and, I believe is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, however I saw no mention of it when I searched their website.  So it's location is a mystery.    Although this subject seems humorous to me, one author I read suggested it has a reference to the political situation in France at the time, namely the Franco-Prussian War, so another mystery.    If you have read much of the Impressionists, you know they were shunned by the prestigious French Academy.  So, meet James Tissot, who was NOT.   Tissot was a well accepted artist during his lifetime. He lived in France and England, making his fortune

   There are many pieces of Art that have interesting histories and today's oil painting is certainly in that group. Twilight in the Wilderness  by Fredric Edwin Church (1826-1900) was created in 1860.  It measures 49" x 73" and is part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio.    Fredric Edwin Church was famous!   To even begin to understand why, it is important to remember there was no photography before its discovery in late 1830s and even then, it took years before images could be multi produced, especially of any size. So images people were able to see were few in number and all were paintings or etchings.  Also, most people did not travel far distances, especially on the East coast of the U.S.  So in 1860 when Church completed this huge landscape of the American wilderness, people lined up, and paid to see it.  The exhibition was a single painting exhibit at the prestigious Goupil's Gallery in New York City.  It began in June, 1860 for a seven

 On the surface this beautiful oil painting seems pretty straight forward.   It's full title is: Harmony in Pink and Grey, Portrait of Lady Meux, by James McNeil Whistler ((1834-1903).  It is part of the permanent collection of the Frick Collection, a fabulous museum in New York City.  It was painted between 1881-82 and measures, unframed, 76" x 37" so is very large.    Whistler was an interesting artist.  He was an American ex-patriot who divided his time between Paris and London, eventually settling permanently in London.  He is considered a tonalist, which is a vague artistic term referring to Whistler's emphasis on studying gradations of color.   Many of his major paintings and etchings are called harmonies because he laborously worked to blend and harmonize the lights and darks of the colors, often called values.   His models had to pose for hours at a time, while he molded and sculpted their image in paint.       This painting is almost monochromatic.  Behin

  Traveling, many years ago, I can to realize art museums contain vast numbers of wonderful art works created by excellent people who never made it into my college texts.  So, meet Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891).  Title of this painting is Overschie in the Moonlight .  It is an oil on canvas completed in 1871,  measuring 8.6" x 10.8".  This small work is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.     Jongkind was Dutch but spent most of his adult life in Paris, where this painting was made.  He traveled home to Netherlands often making sketches for later work.  Overschie was a small community at the intersection of four rivers back before 1871, today it is a neighborhood of Rotterdam.  In the distance we can see the Overschie church tower, a structure still in existence.   Jongkind is considered a forerunner of Impressionism and Monet was greatly influenced by him.  Jongkind worked in his studio from earlier watercolors and sketches while Monet learned from his