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Waiting (L'Attente) by Edgar Degas.
Degas' paintings of the life that goes on behind the scenes at the ballet are among his most beloved because they are real and show what went on, not just the finished product on the stage. We see the dancers trying to stay limber, the chaperones trying to stay awake, caught by an artist who managed to blend into the woodwork to bring us their world.
The Treachery of Images by Rene Magritte.
Surrealist Magritte has written "This is not a pipe" underneath an image of a pipe. His point is to remind the viewer that although you might be tempted to call this a pipe when you see it, is just a painting of a pipe.
Mount Sainte-Victoire, 1904-1906 by Paul Cézanne, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Cézanne is considered to be the father of modern painting. His use of loose brush strokes and flattened planes led to Impressionism and Cubism. His bright palette influenced the Fauvist painters, as well.
Justice, c. 1970 by Erte
A more modern take on Lady Justice.
Le chat (The Cat at the Window), 1857-58 by Jean Francois Millet.
Millet's illustration of "The Cat Who Became a Woman," a fable by the seventeenth-century French writer Jean de La Fontaine. According to the story, a man becomes infatuated with his cat and convinces Destiny to change her into a woman. He marries her, but on their first night together she springs from the marriage bed to chase a mouse across the bedroom floor. The fable's moral is "The truth will out": no matter how much one's outward appearance changes, one's essential character remains.
L'etoile [La danseuse sur la scene] (The Star [Dancer on Stage]) 1878, by Edgar Degas.
Degas did a large series of paintings and sculptures of ballet dancers, all levels of dancers and on the stage and behind the scenes. When I was a child, a print of this painting was in my bedroom. I remember the eyes freaked me out because they were all black.
Vase of Flowers, c. 1900-16 by Odilon Redon, MoMA.
Although primarily known as a Symbolist artist Redon created a number of floral still life paintings in his career. They all have a stark quality that allows the beauty of the flowers to be the focal point.
Girl with a Watering Can, 1876 by Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Renoir painted this young girl to attract people and some portrait business. Portraiture was the 19th century artist's bread and butter.
La Danseuse Creole, 1965 by Henri Matisse.
As he was losing his eye sight, Matisse continued to work late in his career creating works (particularly collages) out of bits and pieces of color and shape.
Acrobat and Young Harlequin 1905 by Pablo Picasso, The Barnes Foundation.
Painted in 1905 this work is part of Picasso's Rose Period that The Barnes Foundation .came after his Blue Period. His subjects during this time often included acrobats dancers and harlequins.
Landscape at Chaponval, 1880 by Camille Pissarro, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
Pissarro is the only artist to exhibit his work at all the "Impressionist" shows. Throughout his career he remained true to the Impressionist vision of capturing moments in light.
William Adolph Bouguereau, Virgin with Angels, 1900.
Bouguereau often included angels, cupids, putti etc in his artwork. His art was very popular during his lifetime and continues to be popular today, as well.
Virgin of the Angels, 1881 by William Adolph Bouguereau, The Getty Museum, Courtesy of Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association.
This painting was restored by the conservation specialists the Getty Museum and in exchange for restoring the work the owner, The Forest Lawn Museum, allowed the Getty to display the work. Bouguereau was very popular during his lifetime and while often panned by critics, remains a popular artist among museum visitors today.
Snow at Louveciennes, 1878 by Alfred Sisley, Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
Sisley was strongly influenced by Monet and also tried to capture light against the landscape.
January by Jean and Paul Limbourg.
This is a page from one of the greatest surviving Illuminated Manuscripts. Manuscripts were small devotional books made for wealthy individual to use in their personal worship. This one was made for the Duc of Berry who wanted his life and his properties represented. The attention to detail in these small paintings by the Limbourg brothers is remarkable.
IKB 79,c.1959 by Yves Klein, Tate Gallery, London.
Klein created his own color called IKB (International Klein Blue) and he devotes the entire canvas to the color. He wrote the Chelsea Hotel Manifesto about his art. He died at age 34.
Dejeuner sur l'herbe, 1863 by Edouard Manet, Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
Manet in an attempt to liberate art from the confines of literary and academic subjects by placing contemporary figures outside in the open air. He has become associated with the Impressionists because he began to use the same lighter colors. Notice the similarity between this scene and Tissot's Holiday featured here on October 16, 2020.
Chrysanthemums, c, 1875 by James Tissot, Private collection.
By the time this work was painted Tissot was well established in his career and in work takes a rare look at a common flower vendor rather than the young fashionable women of the increasingly prominent upper-middle class.
Young Lady in a Boat by James Tissot, Private Collection.
Tissot concentrated on popular subjects for his artwork, first young fashionable women and finally the Bible after he found religion. Critics considered his work "fluff" but he did well for himself in Paris and London.
Holiday (The Picnic), c. 1876 by James Tissot, Tate Gallery London.
Painted in the backyard of his London home, Tissot's artwork often depicts beautiful women in fashionable clothes and the men who admire them. For a while his work was disregarded as frivolous, but his had a revival as his skill and technique became appreciated once again.