La Joconde (Mona Lisa), 1749-1828 by Leonardo da Vinci, The Louvre.
That mysterious smile, many words have been written about it and its meaning, could it be a matter of
Category: Artists
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Pipe Dreams
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.
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Father of Modern Art
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.
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You Are What You Are
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.
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Alone on Stage
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.
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Model and Muse
Iris Tree by Augustus John.
Tree was a poet and artist’s model probably better known in a famous portrait by Amedeo Modigliani. John had a very robust career being one of the most well known artists in the UK in the early 20th century.
Iris Tree by Armedo Modigliani c. 1916 -
Careful Reading
The Precious Book , c.1920 by Gwen John.
John studied under James McNeill Whistler in Paris and at the Slade School in London where she developed her agitated style. Her brother Augustus John was also a painter and quite popular during his day, overshadowing his older sister.
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Nice vase
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.
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Bird Land
Mystery of the Missing Migrants by Charley Harper, various galleries.
Charley Harper is best known for his book illustrations from the mid 20th century.
Your Daily Art 