Venus with a Mirror, c. 1555 by Titian
During the Renaissance paintings of nude women were often titled “Venus” as in excuse to portray nudes by claiming the image is a portrayal of the Roman goddess.
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Bonding Through Art
Arthur Frank Mathews, Spring Dance c. 1917.
Mathews and his wife Lucia were followers of the Arts and Crafts movement as it manifested in California. His training as both an artist and an architect led to beautiful painting surrounded by equally beautiful frames of his design.
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It has been a year….
I restarted this blog a year ago when lockdown started. I am thankful to be getting my second shot in two weeks, that my husband was able to work from home, that neither of us has gotten sick, etc. This year has been unbelievable. It feels like we have turned a corner but we still need to be careful. Stay safe.
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Protecting Nature
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872 by Thomas Moran, Yellowstone National Park Museum.
Moran was another artist working in the same vein as Bierstadt. His paintings of the American West were even more idealized. His work was presented to Congress as evidence that Yellowstone needed to be protected as a National Park which caused them to establish the National Park Service in 1916.
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Long Trip
The Travelling Companions by Augustus Leopold Egg.
Egg was an actor and his dramatic training shows in his artwork. He painted subjects from literature. He was a close friend of Charles Dickens and performed in his stage productions.
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Joy of Spring
Spring, 1895 byLawrence Alma Tadema, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu CA
In a land of clear colours and stories,
In a region of shadowless hours,
Where Earth has a garment of glories
And a murmur of musical flowers.
This poem by Algernon Swinburne (a favorite of Victorian painters especially the Pre-Raphaelites) is engraved on the frame of the painting.
Spring, Lawrence Alma-Tadema (detail) -
Manifest Destiny 2
Niagra Falls, by Albert Bierstadt.
Bierstadt painted panoramic, idealized scenes of the United States. His main subjects were places in the the American West which was being touted as the promised land and his beautiful landscapes helped to sell it as the place to explore and settle. Manifest Destiny
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Tucked In
Cat on a Balustrade:Summer, 1896 by Theophile A. Steinlen.
Steinlen loved cats and used them as subjects for a great many of his posters. He began as an apprentice in a textile factory and later took up graphic arts and created a great many posters both for consumer goods and political statements.
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Silent Treatment
In the Car by Roy Lichtenstein, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh.
A member of the Pop Art movement of the 1960’s Lichtenstein found influence in the American comic book which he transferred to a large scale including the use of the printing process. Comic book illustrations are made up of millions of small dots in a process known as Ben Day.
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Poet Party
The Thirty-Six Master Poets, 1828 by Saki Hōitsu.
Created during the Edo period, this work is intentionally irreverent while at the same time paying tribute to revered poets of the 7th – 11th centuries.
Your Daily Art 