The Arch of Constantine, Rome, 312-315 CE, Photo by Xerones via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution license.
Actually, only some of the sculptures are bad… and only compared to others on the same monument. Art historians refer to this as a problem. At the very least, it’s curious. The Emperor Constantine built this triumphal arch to commemorate his … Continue reading
Henri Matisse, Dance, 1909, oil on canvas, 8' 6 1/2" x 12' 9 1/2", Museum of Modern Art, New York, Photo by Troels Myrup via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
“I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have the light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.” Henri Matisse
Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman (Fernande), 1909, bronze, 16 ¼” x 9 ¾” 10 ½”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by opacity via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
This is a sculpture of Picasso’s girlfriend from 1904 through 1911, Fernande Olivier, a complicated woman who entered into a tempestuous seven-year relationship with the womanizing Picasso. Picasso created dozens of portraits of Fernande during their time together. Their relationship … Continue reading
Flying buttresses at Amiens Cathedral, France, c. 1220-1270, Photo by Holly Hayes, Creative Commons Attribution license via Flickr.
Flying Buttress (noun) A segmented (partial) arch on the exterior of a building that supports the walls. Architects and builders first used flying buttresses in the Gothic era which allowed them to keep the interior open and pierce the walls … Continue reading
Albrecht Dürer, The Cook and His Wife, c. 1497, engraving, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons, previously for sale at Sears for $225, framed.
This is a true story. Between the years 1962 and 1971, you could buy original paintings and prints by artists including Rembrandt and Picasso at Sears. The department store wanted to change their image and did so, rather aggressively, by … Continue reading
Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Holy Family with St. John the Baptist (the Doni Tondo), c. 1506, tempera on panel, 47 1/2
“Good painting is the kind that looks like sculpture.” Michelangelo Buonarroti
Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez, High Chest of Drawers, 1765-1775, Mahogany, yellow poplar, white cedar, yellow pine, and brass, 8’ ¾” x 46½’ x 25¾”, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Photo by mharrsch via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
American furniture from the colonial era really is beautiful and the story of these pieces reveals key moments from American history. The high chest of drawers in the background of this photograph is of the American Rococo style, which is … Continue reading
Mahavairocana Mandala, Tibet, 19th century, painted wooden panel, 11 3/4" x 11 1/2", The James and Marilyn Alsdorf Collection, Photo by Cea., Creative Commons Attribution License via Flickr.
Mandala (noun) A cosmic diagram that presents Buddhist deities in schematic order. The cosmic Buddah, who presides over the universe, is at the center and attendants and other deities are in the surrounding areas in a diagrammatic structure. In this … Continue reading
Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930, oil on beaver board, 30.7" x 25.7", The Art Institute of Chicago, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Everyone knows this painting. Grant Wood, one of the leading painters from the Regionalist movement that presented the American way of life in their art, created this somewhat cynical portrait using a realistic style of painting. The image represents a … Continue reading
Richard Serra, Torqued Ellipses, 1998, steel, nearest sculpture: 11' 9
“I was in analysis and I told my analyst I wanted to be the best sculptor in the world and he said, ‘Richard, calm down.’” Richard Serra
Colossal Head #1 from San Lorenzo, c. 900 BCE, basalt, 9’3” x 6’9”, Museo de Antropología de Xalapa, Veracruz, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The civilization that created these colossal sculptures of heads and others like it, the Olmec Civilization, predates the Maya and Aztec civilizations in Mesoamerica. On the average, these huge heads carved from large boulders are nearly eight feet tall. Very … Continue reading
Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830, oil on canvas, 128" x 102.4", Musée du Louvre, Paris, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Romanticism (noun) A style of art, first popular in the early nineteenth century, that attempted to elicit strong emotions from a viewer by presenting dramatic, exotic and sometimes frightening subjects. It was the stylistic antithesis of the rational clarity of … Continue reading