ArtExpertOnLine

    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...