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The Golden Rule, 1961 by Norman Rockwell, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA.
Rockwell is often dismissed by "serious" critics because of his popular appeal and because he painted magazine covers. He was a very skilled artist and illustrator deserves at least the consideration given to Maxfield Parrish.
Regard and admiration for his work has increased in the last twenty years which is very good news.
Senecio, by Paul Klee, 1922
Two-Tiered Still Life with Fruit and Sunset Landscape by Severin Roesen, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The still-life study of the colorful fruit in this painting is framed by a spectacular landscape scene. One of the most difficult aspects of a still-life to get right is making the objects at the front look like they are laying realistically on the table - Roesen does it well in this 19th century painting.
The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, Tate Gallery, London.
The subject is from Tennyson's poem of the same name. Waterhouse was a follower of the Pre-Raphaelites and this can be seen in the style and subject matter of the painting. All around her is the tapestry she has woven of knights and Camelot.
Flora, 1894 by Evelyn De Morgan , The De Morgan Foundation, London.
Married to William De Morgan who was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, Evelyn has also become part of the group of artists who have come to be included in that genre. On the scroll at the bottom right hand corner of the painting is written in Italian:
I am Flora who came from Florence
The City which takes its name from flowers
Amongst the flowers I was born and now changing
home
I have my dwelling in the mountainous north
Welcome and amid the northern mists
Let my treasure be dear to you.
The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, 1974-79, Brooklyn Museum
There are two exhibitions at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington DC right now that were organized by the Brooklyn Museum. They are a show featuring the work of artist Judy Chicago, often label as a Feminist, but naturally as labels go, she is that and so much more.
detail from The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago
Symphony in White No.2: Little White Girl by James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London.
The Japanese theme in Whistler's art can be seen in the decorations around the figure of the woman. Around the mid 19th century Japanese influences began to appear in Europe and became quite fashionable.
Dorothea and Francesca, 1898 by Cecelia Beaux
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.
Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in the world of dance halls, becoming friends with the performers. He saw the upper class men of his birth, visit these lower class venues looking for drink and prostitutes and must have felt that at least his working friends in the venues were the more honest about who they really were.
Merry Jesters by Henri Rousseau 1906
Rousseau frequently visited the botanical garden in Paris for inspiration, he then concocted scenes with wild animals in his imagination and put them on canvas. His style was admired by other artists for it's straightforward and untrained style.
La Libre Esthetique exhibition poster by Gisbert Combaz, Library of Congress
The Art Nouveau style was created as a reaction to the literal styles which dominated most of the 19th century. It is primarily a decorative style which utilizes sinuous shapes and naturalistic plant forms to create flowing movements.
Ophelia ("And he will not come back again") by Arthur Hughes, The Toledo Museum of Art.
This version of Ophelia is about 12 years after the first version where she looks like a little girl. It is a different interpretation of the character of Ophelia and seems to have more to do with the model, than the play.
Ophelia, c. 1851-53 by Arthur Hughes, Manchester City Art Galleries.
Hughes was influenced by Pre-Raphaelite Group after reading their publication The Germ. His painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet represents a much younger woman then most other artists, even as Hughes himself would later portray her.
Ophelia by John Everett Millais, 1851-2, The Tate Gallery, London
Millais’ painting of Ophelia done very early in his career is one of the finest works created by the short-lived Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their movement. The legend of the candles, sickness and the model herself would become the PRB’s most often re-told tale. However, it pales in comparison to the work itself when it stopped me in my tracks at the National Gallery in London (on loan from the Tate at the time) and set me on a whole new path for my Master’s thesis.
Kusama with Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, currently at David Zwirner Gallery NYC
I got to see the Kusama exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2018 and I found it to be one of the most exciting and interactive exhibitions I had seen in a long time. Her work is so colorful and uplifting that is the perfect art for the social media age. Hi neighbors: The Phoenix Museum of Art has a Kusama Infinity Room too (see it when they re-open).
The Modern Song (Modan bushi) by K. Kotani, 1930.
Japanese Art Deco period. The work presented shows us a country working to combine tradition with the modern western world whose influence had been felt in Japan for a while, but whose culture was only then beginning to be adapted. This can be seen most prominently in the depiction of the Japanese version of the "Flapper," or modern early 20th century woman, who was up-ending society in the West.
Nebamun’s cattle, fragment of a scene ,Thebes, Egypt Late 18th Dynasty, around 1350 BC.
The Egyptians considered cows an essential element of life and survival. As the once fertile area of Northern Africa became a desert, the domesticated cow brought life and nourishment. The goddess Hathor was also frequently depicted as a cow's, or at least with the horns of cows as part of her crown.
Dancers in the Wings by Edgar Degas, 1876-78, Pastel
Degas is well known for his superior ability to draw and to fade into the background so that he could capture a scene without influencing what was happening.
Portrait Olga dans un Fauteuil by Pablo Picasso, Picasso Museum
Olga in an armchair. This early portrait is of his first wife Olga whom he married in 1918 and separated from in 1927, but never divorced. She was active in society and Picasso had disdain for that lifestyle.
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte by Georges Seurat, Art Institute of Chicago.
Seurat did preparatory drawings everyday for six months getting ready to paint this picture of people relaxing on a day off. The style is called Pointillism and involves using color dots to create the image. Who knows how Seurat would have refined the style he invented if he had not died at the age of 32.
Love you, Mom!
