Back from the Dead

It's hard to believe it's been over a year since I posted on here. I promise to come back more often with thoughtful comments on inspiring art.
Stay tuned!

Papillons in Art

Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrait of the Artist's Sisters and Brother, c. 1555
Methuen Collection, Corsham Court, Wiltshire

Rome Trip, Sculpture Highlights

Marcus Aurelius, Trevi Fountain, Capitoline She-Wolf, and Michelangelo's Moses

Ancient History

Old School (literally) pictures from the ancient area of Rome:
Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Colosseum, Arch of Constantine

Enjoy!!!

La Vita e Bella

My husband and I have recently returned from a wonderful vacation in Rome. I will be posting pictures in the coming days, but here is just a teaser--me with the Doryphoros, the Spear Bearer. So exciting to see this in person!

Boucher's Best?

I've been doing some reading on 18th century painting (big surprise) for an upcoming exhibition and of course I turned to one of my favorites, Making up the Rococo for some scoop on women in the art of the 18th cent. Melissa Hyde dedicates a good amount of ink to Boucher's 1753 allegorical paintings, The Rising of the Sun (left) and The Setting of the Sun (right), both of which are at the Wallace in London. I think I have always known about these two paintings and admired them for their chubby rococo glory, but I've never taken the time to actually look at them before now. The "Sun" has so much pomp surrounding his getting ready in the morning and winding down at night that it rivals even the king (Louis XV at the time) himself, and maybe that's where Boucher was going with this. They were apparently commissioned by Mme de Pompadour, and I wonder if the subject was subtly paying homage to the Sun King before her man, Louis XIV. Anyway, at the time the pair of paintings was extremely well-liked by both the commissioner and by Boucher's colleagues and contemporaries. Even today they are considered by many to be the artist's masterworks. This is all despite the fact that they were pretty much made fun of for Boucher's over-the-top use of pink, in the coloring of the figures, in the sun's drapery, and especially, on the cheeks of the female figures. At the time people ridiculed him, saying he must have just swept women's rouge across the canvas and called it a day. But he just wanted everything to be as pretty as possible. It was his version of airbrushing
But of course I love it. I mean, they all are curvy and proud and the women have fun pink makeup and wear pearls in their hair while they float along a wavy sea. Who wouldn't want to just jump right in?!?!

For the Record

Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust from 1932 became the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction yesterday, fetching (at Christie's) an astonishing $106.5
million dollars, if you can believe it. Is this a sign that the economy is picking back up? The last time it was sold, back in 1951, it sold for $19,800.00. That's quite an appreciation in value, don't you think? CRAZY!
Do you think it's worth it? I mean, it is a beautiful, very Picasso-ey Picasso painting. The colors are great, very rich and the forms spectacular. But 106.5 MILLION DOLLARS?!?!?!? I'm really dying to know who bought the painting, like who actually has that much money lying around to spend on art. I mean, if I had that much money of course I would spend it on fabulous art, but I'm really just curious.

Ghent It, Girl!

So almost a year ago, I wrote on how much I love Jan van Eyck, and I said that I would talk about his Ghent Altarpiece later. Well, later has officially arrived!

I was reading the arts section of the NY Times as I do most mornings when I have the time and I saw an article on the restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece, which makes its home at the Church of St. Bavo in Belgium (it was Flanders back in the day). The closed-up version of the panel (below, center) shows the Annunciation with figures of saints and prominent patrons below. Opened up (above, center), the panel becomes a colorful display of splendor, with God the Father flanked by Mary and John the Baptist, with them flanked by saints, angels, and Adam and Eve. The little scenes at the top of the opened altarpiece are of Cain and Abel. The second tier shows the adoration of the Lamb of God, with the dove of the Holy Spirit radiating above, flanked again by saints, martyrs, and prophets.
It is THE masterpiece of the Northern Renaissance style, it shows the incredible precision Van Eyck was able to achieve in this brilliantly complex work of art. I mean, look at the incredible amount of detail in the crown at the feet of God the Father in the central panel of the opened altarpiece. All of those pearls and gems--the attention to light and shadow, even the way he paints the fabric of the figure's robes, it's all completely perfect. Working in oil (which was relatively new at the time) with what must have been an incredibly small brush, Van Eyck created a realistic yet otherworldly setting for St. Bavo, one that is still heralded today as the height of Flemish panel painting.

I also have always loved van Eyck's incredible mastery of drapery-done in the Northern-heavily starched style. See the detail at left of the angel Gabriel of the Annunciation. I mean, it's just perfectly crisp folds with strategic attention to light and shadow that make this work so well. It adds so much drama to this panel, and that drama was meant to inspire church-goers in the 15th century who were not literate, so they needed all of that detail and drama to teach them about the Bible and its stories and messages.

Who knew that this painting has led such an interesting life? Over the years, it has been taken apart and hidden to save it from iconoclasts and Calvinists. It was taken as a war trophy to Paris, parts of the panels have been stolen and recovered, and during WWII, it was seized by the Nazis and kept in a salt mine. You know that had to be good for its condition.
Well, finally it's getting a little love in the form of restoration, funded by the Getty Institute. You can bet that only the world's top conservationists, especially skilled in working with wood panel, will be taking on this incredibly sensitive task.
Can't wait to see it unveiled when it's all over.

Pop Porcelain

My friend Maggie at work sent me this article from the NY Times (how could I have missed it?!??) on the dispute between England and Germany over who 'invented' porcelain. That may still be up for debate but what is most interesting to me is that porcelain is kind of making a comeback. And not in the form of a hybrid porcelain form--they're sticking to their guns and continuing to create the classic styles that made them so treasured in the first place (in the 18th century). The technology was good then and it continues to be good today!
As Meissen (king dingaling of porcelain factories in the 18th century and beyond) celebrates its 300th anniversary, other manufactories are re-gaining attention too, including Nymphenburg and Sevres. Apparently, in 2008, Nymphenburg invited the world's top fashion designers to adorn their classic commedia dell'arte figures (mainly of Columbine, and wouldn't she be a fabulous model?!?) in haute couture. That's where this Christian Lacroix confection on the left comes from. Isn't it the most fabulous thing you've ever seen?!?!?! How could I have not known about this!??!!?
It's just really exciting to see porcelain making a comeback of sorts. I am anxious to start collecting what I can, I just love the figures of course!

This is what I feel like doing right now...

The gardens at the Dixon are absolutely gorgeous right now, it's a sunny, breezy day, and it's 4 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon. Of course I want to be living the life of this painting, A Siesta (Group with Parasols) painted by John Singer Sargent around 1905. Doesn't this look like the most delicious thing you've ever seen? I just love how Sargent so effortlessly captures the glamorous laziness of high society life. Don't you picture it to be 70 degrees and sunny with like 15% humidity in this painting? Wherever they are, it might as well be the garden of eden to me.

TAKE ME THERE!