Lavinia Fontana, The Holy Family with Saints Margaret and Francis, 1578. Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. It is very rare that a museum can present an exhibition of the work of an artist who is not only very good, but also relatively unknown – especially when they lived in the 16th Century. ButContinue reading “197 – Lavinia, Mary and Margaret”
Category Archives: Titles
194 – Visionary, too
Hilma af Klint, Tree of Knowledge, No. 1, 1913-15. Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland. Tate is currently hosting a remarkable exhibition, Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian, about which I will be talking this Monday, 8 May at 6.00pm. It is remarkable, I think, in that it combines two artists who never met, and who, inContinue reading “194 – Visionary, too”
166 – From C- to Sea
Barbara Hepworth, Pelagos, 1946. Tate. As so often, things have turned out to be more complicated than I expected – and that refers not just to today’s post, but also to what, exactly, I’m going to be doing in September. This much is settled: on Monday 22 August I will be giving a talk entitledContinue reading “166 – From C- to Sea”
151 – Mommie dearest
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. This coming Monday’s talk, White: Whistler’s Woman… is an introduction to the Royal Academy’s exhibition entitled Whistler’s Woman in White. This does not refer to one specific painting, though, but to a person, as the subtitle of the exhibition makesContinue reading “151 – Mommie dearest“
139 – Cavalier attitudes
Judith Leyster, The Last Drop (The Gay Cavalier), c. 1629. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA. Famously, Frans Hals’ painting, The Laughing Cavalier, is neither laughing, nor a cavalier – I will talk about what he is and who he might be this coming Monday, 25 October at 6pm in the context of the WallaceContinue reading “139 – Cavalier attitudes”
Day 100 – A New Life
Giotto, The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1305 Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. We looked at The Raising of Lazarus a few days ago, in the dark and mysterious painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner in the Musée d’Orsay (Picture Of The Day 95). Admittedly his work is titled ‘Resurrection’ rather than ‘Raising’, but that might be a result of translation fromContinue reading “Day 100 – A New Life”
Day 77 – Sofonisba Anguissola
Sofonisba Anguissola, Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola, late 1550s, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena. Who could not love this artist given her name? Quite apart from her talent, of course. I will come back to her very soon to explore her life and her work in more depth. But for now, I want to look at a paintingContinue reading “Day 77 – Sofonisba Anguissola”
Day 55 – A Straw Hat
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, 1782, National Gallery, London. I’m no milliner, but I know a straw hat when I see one. And Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun is wearing one here. This is a defiantly confident self portrait. Doubly confident, in fact, because it is a copy she madeContinue reading “Day 55 – A Straw Hat”
Day 46 – Psyche III
Claude, Landscape with Psyche outside the Palace of Cupid (‘The Enchanted Castle’), 1664, National Gallery, London. So… Psyche has done the one thing she was supposed not to do, and has tried to find out who her mystery lover really is (if you missed the first parts of the story, head back to Picture Of TheContinue reading “Day 46 – Psyche III”
Day 39 – La Tempesta
Giorgione, La Tempesta, c. 1504, Accademia, Venice. I’ve been asked to talk about Giorgione’s evocative and mysterious painting La Tempesta, which I’m very happy to do, even if it is something I have often avoided, for reasons which should become obvious. The best translation of the title would be ‘The Storm’, but, if translated at all, itContinue reading “Day 39 – La Tempesta”
dr richard stemp 