Nonchaloir ,1911 by John Singer Sargent, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
After 1907 Sargent grew tired of painting so many society portraits for money. he chose to concentrate instead on outdoor scenes and more casual poses like this one of his niece.
Dis me.
Habitat Group for a Shooting Gallery by Joseph Cornell, Des Moines Art Center
Cornell assembled fascinating groups of found objects. He liked to juxtapose different objects and his love of surrealism comes through in these groupings.
Hummingbirds and Orchids, c. 1880 by Martin Johnson Heade, The Detroit Institute of Art.
Heade’s renderings of orchids and hummingbirds (he did quite a few) make the flowers and the birds look more like jewels then natural living things. His colors jump off the canvas and demand your attention.
The Descent from the Cross c.1435/8 by Rogier van der Weyden, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
The sadness and suffering on the faces of the figures in this scene show that van der Weyden was a close observer of people. He achieved great success during his lifetime but in spite of this, very little is known about him personally and attributing work directly to him is problematic.
Tea Party, c. 1880 by Kate Greenaway.
Kate Greenaway was one of the most popular children’s book illustrators of the 19th century. Her idealized children were just what her Victorian audience wanted.
Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective, Gee’s Bend Alabama
The ladies of Gee’s Bend have been making quilts for more than six generations. Largely using scraps of old material, they have created some of the most original and beautiful piecework ever done.
Winter Landscape with Skaters, c. 1608 by Hendrick Avercamp, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
A winter scene in a town with people playing on the ice and working. He liked to paint lively scenes with people all different types of things.
Starry Night, c. 1893, by Edvard Munch, The J. Paul Getty Museum.
Munch is the Symbolist painter best known for The Scream. He was from Norway but traveled and studied in Paris and admired van Gogh.
Starry Night, 1899 by Vincent van Gogh, MOMA, NYNY
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The Doni Tondo by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
This painting made fools of some of 20th Century art historians. For a long time, they went on and on about how Michelangelo preferred to work in “browns and umbers” based on what they saw in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. So, when it was cleaned and all of these bright colors started appearing, the erroneous conclusion that Michelangelo preferred to work in dark colors had to be revised. Given that a work like the Doni Tondo was well known, they should not have been surprised.
Nighthawks, 1942 by Edward Hopper, The Art Institute of Chicago.
One of the most popular paintings in the AIC’s collection people are intrigued by the familiar scene and the loneliness Hopper captures.
Your Daily Art 