Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Portrait of Marie-Antoinette with the Rose, 1783, oil on canvas, 44.5” x 34.3”, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
An exhibition of works of art by the brilliant French portraitist Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun currently is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Because her primary patrons were members of the French aristocracy, Le Brun had to flee France … Continue reading
Josiah Wedgwood and Sons and John Flaxman, Jasperware vase with lid, c. 1790, Jasperware with applied relief decoration, 16.25” x 5.5”, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Public Domain via Wikipedia.
Most people are familiar with Wedgwood’s jasperware, but not many realize the origins of the immediately recognizable blue and white porcelain. In the mid 1770’s, Josiah Wedgwood invented jasperware to meet to the rising demand in England for all things inspired … Continue reading
John Trumbull, Thomas Jefferson, 1788, oil on panel, 4.8" x 3", The White House, Washington, DC, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
“Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation and freedom in all just pursuits.” Thomas Jefferson Happy Independence … Continue reading
Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare, 1781, oil on canvas, 40” x 49 ⅞”, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The Romantic art movement in European art endured approximately sixty years, from the late eighteenth century until the middle of the nineteenth century. Romantic artists attempted to elicit strong emotions from a viewer by presenting dramatic, exotic and sometimes frightening … Continue reading
William Hogarth, Tête à Tête from Marriage à la Mode, 1743, oil on canvas, 27.6” x 35.8”, National Gallery of Art, London, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
William Hogarth was a rebel. He rebelled against the art academy and he had something to say about London society in the mid-eighteenth century. He didn’t like the nouveau-riche middle class, nor did he care for the gentry. His mode … Continue reading