Category: European Art

Saturday

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So here’s where I start to turn on the nerd a little bit… This painting, while definitely being high Victorian (as evidenced by the cluttery nature background and the ‘false modesty’ drape for the boy while leaving the girl nude aside from the flowers which are an allegorical reference in and of themselves), is also a masterclass in emulating high Renaissance portraiture ideals, 18th century framing and pastoral design, and 17th century color palettes. And that, my friends, was a run-on sentence of epic proportions.

I love this work because it shows a striking balance of color, composition, and simplicity despite being incredibly complex stylistically.

Monday

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This is one of my top 10 pieces of artwork. It has been since the moment I first saw it. There is just something about the dream-like state of semi-photo-realism that it exists in that makes it beyond stunning. It will literally stop you in your tracks.

Saturday

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There are many artists that I have a complicated relationship with. Otto Dix is one of those artists. I’m not wild about the majority of his work, or his styles in general – the shock/horror genre mixed with surrealism doesn’t fly for me. However, for whatever reason, I find myself drawn to this particular work. Be it the juxtaposition of color, light, and dimensional tonality, be it the composition on interrupted diagonals, be it the fragmented fractal focus, it speaks to me on a primal level for some reason. I’ll listen for long enough to shut it up, then I walk away from it and find something else to look at.

Tuesday

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This might just look like a big hunking chunk of glass, but if you look a little closer, you can see layer upon layer upon layer of copper and glass inside the greater structure. These layers are fused together to create an intimately abstract sculpture that is more than the component parts of the piece, and certainly more than just a piece of glass.

Monday

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The medieval galleries are some of the most interesting in the entire building; everything from tapestries, armour, weaponry, relics, religious art, etc., are to be found within them, and even a couple of surprises (that I won’t spoil for you). The mail cape is hidden away in a little corner room and if you don’t know where to look, you’ll never find it. When the sun is shining down into the room and glinting off of the metal, it is truly a stunning sight to behold: glinting in the light and blinding in its intensity, it is a testament to its creator, long-gone.

Sunday

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I’ve been racking my brain all day trying to remember the first time I actually saw this piece in terms of date. The placard says it was donated in 1991, so that gives me a rough period of time in which it could have been. I think the first time must have been 1996 or thereabouts, but definitely before the 1998 Angels of the Vatican exhibition.

Regardless, this wardrobe has always been an immense favorite of mine (one of my top ten in the entire collection) because of several factors. The craftsmanship is solid, well-designed, and imposing from rooms away. It is functional as well as a statement piece. The detailing is exquisite. It has been cared for and loved and lived through for hundreds of years and is a living piece of history.

This is a piece of sheer perfection in wood.

Saturday

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I truly apologize for the light glare in the photo – there is glass over the top of the painting and there is no way to get a shot without some kind of reflective glare regardless of no-flash and low-light photography.

The truth of the matter is this: the textiles in this work of art are second to none. Say what you will of the composition, say what you will of the subject matter, say what you will of the colors and the execution of all of the above; the fabrics in this painting are some of the most exquisitely rendered textures ever captured in paint by human hands. Until you’re up close and can see the effects with your own eyes, you cannot and will not understand.

I have seen Old Master works up close and personally. I’m apparently descended from Hans Holbein (which leads to merry games of ‘spot the Holbein’ in museums wherever I go). I’m not talking out my backside when I say I know what a good cloth is meant to look like in paint.

I’m only cross that my photo doesn’t do it adequate justice so I can share the euphoric sense of wonder with you all when you realize it for yourselves.

Friday

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This particular statue has always felt to me like someone long suffering, world-weary, on the verge of giving up everything, stopping to take stock, to take one last breath, to hold onto one last shred of hope before she gives in. It’s a reminder that none of us are infallible.

Wednesday

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Sooooo, I have feelings about this piece. Intense feelings, both positive and negative. And that’s part of the point of this blog, right? To talk about art in a way that scholars don’t necessarily talk about art because they think their credibility is on the line and whatever else, and so on and so forth and I digress.

Venus Victorious does not have any of the typical feel of Renoir’s works that I have seen – even his other sculptures. The modus operandi is not similar. The compositions are completely different, alien. It may have been directed and micromanaged within an inch of its life by Renoir, but I cannot reconcile it being a Renoir in my head. It’s like if Beethoven’s 5th was rewritten as death metal, recorded backwards, and deconstructed, then released under Beethoven’s attribution: it just doesn’t work.

The sculpture itself is insanely beautiful. You can walk around all sides of it and take in all of the details, marvel at the casting and the intricacies of the craftsmanship…

But dear lord, please stop calling it a Renoir when clearly its primary attribution should be to Richard Guino.

Monday

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To me, this painting symbolizes movement of all kinds: dancing, singing, gestures, walking, breathing, existing, growing. There is a simplistic kind of impressionistic expressionism that smacks of introversion and an inner turmoil that can only be explained by these childish slashes of paint that is very appealing and I love it. I see everything from growing flowers to a flamenco dancer in the lines and between the lines is a world of unexplored pleasure and pain.