ArtExpertOnLine

   This week let's take another trip to Japan, and the wonderful woodblock artist, Utagawa Hiroshige, (1797-1858).   This is a straight forward image of people crossing a bridge.   But, I have discovered, this is a very important scene.   Kakewawa is now a large city in Southwest Japan.   When Hiroshige created this art it was number 26 out of 53 stations along a primary road called the Tokaido Road.   This road linked Shogun capital, Edo to the imperial capital, Kyoto, so it became the main travel and transport artery of old Japan.  Each of the 53 stations offered food and lodging to the travelers.      I think it is fairly safe to assume that the buildings seen on the very left side are the stations quarters for tired and hungry travelers.   Kakewawa is on the Pacific Ocean, so also, safe to assume that that is what Hiroshige shows us in the distance.   When this series was completed, it was immediately popular for again, we can assume people were immediately able to identify the

    By special request, this week I am featuring one of the world's most famous artists, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).  Most people know only the highlights of his life, and even those have been caught up in legend.  A few years ago there was even a song about him and his famous painting, "Starry Night", which greatly romanticized his life.  To truly understand this artist is to view his work and read his letters to his brother, Theo.       So here we have a wonderful painting done the same year he died, and very similar to "Starry Night" containing the same swirling brush stokes that create so much movement.  If a strong wind is whipping the land and sky, why aren't the trees bent? What is this painting about?   I love the human presence.  The two men walking and the horse with buggy provide a size dimension.  Wow, that is a tall cypress tree!  It can't even fit inside the canvas.      Notice the composition.  We have two main triangles in the lower sec

     It was back on December 13, 2020 when we first looked at a work by Danish artist,  Wihelm Hammershoi (1864-1916).   This work is very similar to our previous one, as it is in the same restrained palette and features his wife, Ida, as his model.  This one, too, contains that same element of mystery, coolness and distance typical of this period of Hammershoi's art.       It is immediately obvious that Hammershoi has great skill in rendering objects realistically and with great detail.  The covered bowl on our left is ample proof.  So, why has he zeroed in on this scene?  Why is she facing the wall, with her face turned slightly away from the light source, which is probably a window.  And, finally, why is she dressed all in black, with no white apron as seen in the other painting?      I hear no sound, no way of sensing what her mood.  Is she sad?  Has she turned away from us to hide her tears?   Or, maybe just the opposite:  has she turned away to hide a smile, a laugh that othe

    We are going back to 1633 for this week's painting.  Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was at the height of his career when he completed, "The Storm on the Lake of Galilee.  It is considered an historical, religious work depicting Christ and his disciples on the boat in the storm as told in the Bible's book of Mark.      Other than portrait painting, Rembrandt did many images of Bible stories. By now he was at the top of his game, and known throughout Europe  as a great painter and story teller.     Biblical subjects were popular for many artists and it is known that Rembrandt did see similar works on this particular subject.  Yet here, we see a true master at work.  The general composition of the triangular ship/sail is not unusual, and may have been lifted from others.  But it is the light on that turbulent sea, boat and people.  We can almost feel the wind as it blows up the sea, tearing the sail.  Our right side is reasonably dark, the left ablaze with this burst of s