From Philadelphia, Beaux was a society painter in there and in New York. Her style was similar to the work of the most famous of the portraitists of the era, John Singer Sargent.
Dance Lesson
Dorothea and Francesca, 1898 by Cecelia Beaux
Monkey Business
Monkeys in a Kitchen by David Teniers the Younger, The Hermitage
Teniers was a prolific painter and also the court curator for Archduke Leopold in Brussels during the 17th century. Of the over 2000 works he painted, many of them were copies of other works in the Archduke's collection, as well as, paintings showing the placement of the art on the walls.
Art Online During COVID
Miss Dora Wheeler, William Merritt Chase, 1882-83, The Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting is one of the rel gems of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. They have access to a large part of their collection and a lot of other interesting things to see and do on their website.
This work by William Merritt Chase is a particular favorite and features two fighting cats hidden in the background.
Oil Rig
Regionalist artist Thomas Hart Benton studied in New York but was always drawn back to the middle states of the US where he grew up. There is a lot of material about Benton and I would recommend the book by art historian Henry Adams.
Saving The Past for the Future
St. Hedwig by Joseph Felix Męcina-Krzesz, 1914, Location of Original Unknown.
The Museum of Divine Statues in Lakewood, OH is housed in the old St. Hedwig Catholic Church and this lithograph image of the Saint for whom it is named was gifted to the museum. The museum features rescued and restored Catholic religious statuary from many of the churches in the area that have been closed in the last few years. It also has a fine collection of stained glass, as well as, furnishings, fixtures, and other artwork from many area churches.
Veiled Thoughts
, 3rd - 2nd century BCE, The Metropolitan Museum, New York.
This small statuette is a remarkable representation of a dancer caught in the midst of a complicated move. It is expressive and mysterious at the same time.
Visiting Museums Online
As a result of the COVID-19 virus museums and galleries have shut their doors to the public in order to encourage social distancing, however, they also have very active and interesting websites full of images and information to explore and fill your time.
This is just a partial list of all of the museums and galleries all over the world available for a virtual visit:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska
The American Museum of Natural History in New York City
Seeking Refuge
John William Waterhouse, The Decameron , 1916, The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
The subjects for John William Waterhouse’s paintings The Decameron and The Enchanted Garden are drawn from a book by 14th century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio who tells the tales of seven young women and three young men secluded outside the city of Florence during the time of the Black Plague.
Both of these artworks are owned by the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight (an early “planned” community outside of Liverpool) a small and delightful museum to visit.
Brotherly Love
Dali never knew his bother who died of a stomach aliment at three years old, nine months before Salvador was born. Dali’s parents told him he was the reincarnation of his brother and he always felt they were like Castor and Pollux. From the Dali Museum: Dalí wrote a brief, elusive description of this work when it was first exhibited. “The Vulture, according to the Egyptians and Freud, represents my mother’s portrait. The cherries represent the molecules, the dark cherries create the visage of my dead brother, the sun-lighted cherries create the image of Salvador living thus repeating the great myth of the Dioscures Castor and Pollux.”
Out Here All Alone
Yesterday I saw a Twitter post by @m_tisserand that said “we are all edward hopper paintings now” and it struck me as so true. We are isolated and unsure of what lies ahead but somehow not without hope. This painting is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and is called Office in a Small City from 1953. There is also an extremely disheartening piece in the New York Times today about museums not being able to weather this situation and that many will close their doors for good as a result. If you can, a donation might help. They have to contend with ongoing costs like utilities and insurance, not to mention payroll, even if their doors are closed to the public.