This, in and of itself, is a very simple image – both stylistically and color-wise. There is nothing complex or challenging about it. However, in a room full of paintings, it is the one that draws you in and tugs you across the way to look at it. It radiates peaceful serenity and the gentle harmony of a world that is at rest before the oncoming storm of a new day.
Tag: realism
Thursday
THIS PAINTING. This painting, you guys. This is the one painting that I always come to when I need to stop, take stock, and unwind, unravel, and put my sanity back together into a cohesive piece. This is a miracle in paint. From afar, it doesn’t look real. The closer you get, the more insanely realistic it becomes. By the time you’re within a few feet, you could swear you can hear the waves cresting and you’re going to get splashed with water. It’s some crazy mind trickery, but oh… oh, what wonderful trickery. It is, without a doubt, in my top twenty pieces of art ever – but it has such stiff competition.
Thursday
Back in the day, portrait painting was one of a handful of legitimate jobs that women could do that brought prestige. However, they very often were attributed to their male counterparts for obvious reasons (aka, a woman couldn’t paint that well, no formal training, etc.), which makes this portrait special in the SLAM collection. It is correctly attributed, it is well-painted, the brush strokes are minimal and the subject appears almost airbrushed. Welcome to the 18th century equivalent of Photoshop!
Wednesday
I’m ever so fond of this painting. I always stop in front of it and admire the realism of the asters. The rest of the painting seems unfinished or even haphazard in comparison to the care taken to present the flowers in such perfect light, but oh, what beauty. <3 (Sorry, I’m working overnights and my brain is a puddle of mush at this point.)
Saturday
This particular painting is very small but very mighty in its mastery of spacial acuity, color, dimensional flow, and everything else that goes with holding the attention of an audience. By far, it is my favorite of the newest additions to the collection.