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Red Canna by Georgia O'Keeffe, 1923, University of Arizonia Art Museum.
Everyone has many associations with a flower - the idea of flowers. Still-in a way - nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small - we haven' t the time...So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower looks like to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it. - Georgia O'Keeffe,
Georgia O'Keeffe, Viking, 1973.
Woman Lying on a Bench by Carl Larsson, 1913, Louvre
I guess it is pretty obvious what I would like to be doing....
The New Novel by Winslow Homer, 1877, Museum of Fine Art, Springfield MA
This work is a favorite among avid readers and book clubs for obvious reasons. The orange of the dress and the girl's hair provide a warm contrast against the background dominated by shades of brown and green.
Prosperity - The Holy Place by Damien Hirst, 2006.
This work is created out of butterflies and the perfect symmetry of the insects is mirrored in the perfect symmetry of the work. At first glance it appears to be a stained glass window.
Detail
Cranes (detail) by Ogata Korin, Edo Period c. 1700, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
This is part of a larger work (a screen). The repetition of the from of the group of Cranes gives the work a lighthearted charm.
Sosus of Pergamon: The Unswept Floor, Roman Mosaic, 2nd century CE
A Roman mosaic based on an earlier painting. It depicts the remnants of a dinner party scattered all over the floor of a dining room. Do you see the mouse?
Augustus of Primaporta, Early 1st century CE, reconstructed copy of marble, that is a copy of bronze, with paint.
Sometimes as we look at the art left behind by ancient civilizations we expect that they intended their sculpture to be viewed as the bleached white examples we see today however, that is not the case. The sculpture of the Greeks and the Romans was painted. We know this because remnants of the color survive and in rarer cases, sculpture with the paint still applied survives.
First Communion by Pablo Picasso, 1895-96.
Picasso's father was a painter who taught his son the skills of an artist at a young age. That allowed him to complete this work at the age of 15.
Peeling Paint on Iron Bench, Kyoto, 1981 by Ernst Haas.
Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game by Exekias, Greek amphora c. 540 BCE.
In this scene on a Greek pot we see warriors of the Trojan battle taking time out to play a quick game of dice. We know who they are because the artist put their names by them and signed the pot with "Exekias made me."
Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, Giacomo Balla, 1912.
A member of a group of Italian artists who struck by the changing world around them at the dawn of the 20th century, Balla vowed to paint dynamically and to protray movement on canvas. The movement was known as "Futurism."
"Zodiac Man" from the calendar pages of the Tres Riches Heures of Jean Duc de Berry, 15th Century, France.
Found at the end of the calendar pages in this beautifully illustrated Book of Hours, the "zodiac man" illustrates the alignment on the body of the signs of the Zodiac.
A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), Jeff Wall, 1993.
Ejira in Suruga Province, Hokusai, from Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji, c, 1831.
Regatta at Cowes, Raoul Dufy, 1934, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
I could not resist posting this, it is so wonderful with the colors and the boats. Dufy is one of the fauve painters and each piece of his is better than the last.
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, designed by James McNeill Whistler, 1876-77.
Whistler was asked by the room's owner to paint the room to compliment the painting that Whistler had done that is seen over the fireplace. When the owner returned he was stunned and horrified at what Whistler had done. Luckily, he did not destroy it and the room is now found at the Freer Gallery in Washington D.C.
Taizoki (Womb World) of Ryokai Mandara, Early Heian period, Japan.
Made of 12 zones that represent the world of Buddha with the figure in the middle being the Cosmic Buddha. There are more than 400 figures in the surrounding areas including deities, animals and spirits.
William Blake, Infant Joy, From the Songs of Innocence, 1789.
'I have no name;
I am but two days old.'
What shall I call thee?
'I happy am,
Joy is my name.'
Sweet joy befall thee!
Pretty joy!
Sweet joy, but two days old.
Sweet joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile,
I sing the while;
Sweet joy befall thee!
War Helmet, Tlingit, Alaska, 1888-1893.
Made by a group of Native Americans from the coast of SE Alaska this expressive helmet would no doubt startle their enemies.
Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent, 1999.
The photograph has been manipulated to enhance the consumer experience, removing shadows, adding a mirror to the ceiling, repeating the images, and removing the shoppers.