Showing posts tagged oil paintings

The Last Supper

The-last-supper

Some works of art are so ingrained in western culture and legend, that they are almost considered as given, rather than actually painted. Among these we find The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, completed in 1498.

The oil painting depicts the last supper of Jesus, in which he declares to his disciples that before the day is out, one of them will betray him. As was common in such depictions, all participants in the supper are seated on the same side of the table, facing the artist. This allows for a much more details description of the individual reactions to the announcement by Jesus.

However, while the more conventional ways of singling out Judas was to have him sit on the other side of the table, or to give all disciples except him haloes, Da Vinci used a more dramatic and effective ploy. He has Judas lean back in the shadow. This single ploy works extremely well in setting him apart in a dramatic way without making it completely obvious. A true icon of Christian culture, The Last Supper can today be found at the wall of the dining hall at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy, covering the entire back wall.

Girl With Pearl Earring

Girl-with-a-pearl-earring

Dutch master Johannes Vermeer is generally considered among the greatest painters of the Dutch golden age. Paintings like his “View of Delft” and “The Astronomer” are indeed masterful executions of the genre paintings in which Vermeer specialized. However, there was of course one painting by Vermeer that stands above all others as his most famous work – “The Girl with a Pearl Earring”. This work was painted by Vermeer around 1665 and depicts the face and upper body of a young woman as she turns to look at the artist. She is wearing a large pearl earring in her right ear. The painting has on several occasions been referred to as the “Mona Lisa of the North” and that alone should give an indication of the respect and admiration accorded to it.

Such is the influence of “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” that it has inspired novels, movies and operas, and with its slightly unusual yet captivating depiction it continues to inspire today. The angle of the portrait is certainly not the most commonly used for any such depiction, and the slightly ambiguous expression on the face of the girl only serves to heighten the confusion. The original “Girl with a Pearl Earring” can today be found at the Mauritshuis at The Hague in Holland.

Mary Cassatt and The Boating Party

A lot has been written about the mastery and master pieces of such household names as Renoir, Monet and Pissarro. Their impressionistic art stand as a light of accomplishment and define the period of the late 1800s for many an art lover. The female impressionists and their contribution to both the movement and later developments have been less covered.

Among these we find Mary Cassatt paintings. The second female artist to join the impressionist movement, she exhibited with the group for the first time in 1877 and continued to be associated with them until she declared her independence from any specific artistic style in 1886. Even then, she was still in contact with friends like Renoir, Monet and Pissarro. While notable as an impressionist, it was actually after she set herself completely free that her most prolific period as an artist came about. Thus, in the 1890s, Cassatt produced many of her most well known paintings including The Boating Party. This iconic painting shows a woman holding her child while on a trip onto a lake in a rowing boat. Her husband is meanwhile rowing the boat. What is clear in the painting is that the main subject of Cassatt is the woman and her child. They are clearly facing us while we see only the back of the man. This focus was typical of most of the later works of Cassatt, where especially the relationship between mother and child was her topic.

The Boating Party is probably the most famous of Cassatt’s works. It was reproduced as a stamp by the US Postal Service in 1966, thus underlining the status of the work. The original painting can today be seen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Cassatt paintings have sold for upwards of USD 3 million. While that puts her below e.g. Monet in terms of price, it nevertheless puts her in the heavy weight class of painters, an important artist whose works and life still inspires. 

Woman with a Hat

Among the best known and most loved paintings of Henri Matisse, we find Women with a Hat. Painted in 1905 by the artist, it was first exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris, in a room that contained a number of similar paintings as well as a classic statue. Critic Loius Vauxcelles subsequently described this as “Donatello among the Wild beasts” (wild beast being fauvres in French). The Fauvism artistic movement was thus named.

Woman with a Hat is painted in this style that became known as Fauvism. Colors are applied liberally and in saturated form, independent of the true colors of the subject. This led to critique like the paintings looking like a pot of paint has been flung at the canvas. The painting also features a rather heavy brush work which was also typical for this school. The independent use of color to express certain feelings to the viewing audience has also led to the perception of paintings like Woman in a Hat being part of expressionism.

Among the influences for Fauvism are artists like Cezanne and Gauguin, especially the Tahitian works of the later. Gauguin is also quoted as telling artist Paul Serusier:

“How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, put in yellow; this shadow, rather blue, paint it with pure ultramarine; these red leaves? Put in vermilion”

This is a clear movement towards what would become Fauvism.

Woman with a Hat was first bought by Sarah Stein, sister-in-law to Gertrude Stein, at the Salon d’Automne in 1905. She later sold the painting to her friend Elise Haas who in turn donated in to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts where it can be found today.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

The message an artist want to send varies widely. Sometimes we view scenes of joy and relaxation, other times we get an imminent sense of danger, still others capture specific societal developments. Before we start fine oil painting reproductions of your favourite American art.

Edward Hopper’s masterpiece Nighthawks belongs to this last category. It depicts a diner at night on a corner in New York city. The diners is almost empty, with only 3 patrons there, one couple and a single man. The diner attendant can be seen behind the counter, basically encircled by this same. None of the people in the diner seem very talkative, as they all seem preoccupied with their own thoughts. Meanwhile, the streets outside are empty.

Edward Hopper painted Nighthawks following the attack on Pearl Harbor. As such, the empty streets and loneliness apparent in the painting can be blamed on the recent attack on the US and with events that followed. However, the painting is also a statement on the inherent loneliness of urban living. At the same time, the lack of doors in the diner, and the confinement of the attendee by the bar on all sides, also signals the confinement and entrapment that can come with large cities.

There has been some discussion on the location of the diner painted by Hopper. While the exact spot in New York has not been agreed on, the diner has never the less found its way into popular culture, appearing in CSI, The Simpsons, Tom Waits music and much more.

The original painting is today on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Van Gogh Starry Night

With The Starry Night, painted in 1889, Vincent van Gogh left behind the Impressionist doctrine of truth to nature in favour of restless feeling and intense colour, as in this highly charged picture, a touchstone for all subsequent Expressionist painting. The composition of The Starry Night can generally be divided into three specific sections, each adding their own aspects and power to the impression derived from the painting.

Klimt The Kiss

Painted by Gustav Klimt during his ‘golden period’, The Kiss (originally Der Kuss) is probably his most famous work. It depicts a couple situated at the edge of a flowered escarpment in various shades of gold and symbols, while sharing a kiss against a bronze background.

Impression Sunrise

Painted in 1872 by Claude Monet, Impression Sunrise depicts the harbor in Le Havre. It was first on display in 1874 at the first independent showing of what was later to become known as impressionism. The movement got its name during this show when critic Louis Leroy, inspired by the name “Impression Sunrise”, declared the show “The Exhibition of the Impressionists”. It was not initially meant as a compliment, though the artist there took to the name and kept it.

Café Terrace at Night

Café Terrace at Night, also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, is an oil painting executed by the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh on an industrially primed canvas of size 25 in Alres in France, mid September 1888.

Vincent van Gogh painted several night scenes and became fascinated with depicting the stars (most famously with his Starry Night paintings) and the light effects of the night. The painting is in oils on canvas measuring 80.7 cm x 65.3 cm (31.8 in x 25.7 in) and is now at Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo.

The Great Art in Your Home

The finest of the works of art in this world have forever been a fascination to us. This appreciation of the art is reflected in the monetary value of genuinely great pieces of fine art. The measure of exceptional artwork is transcendent, and even in the most atrocious times of crisis, we still recollect their uniqueness and their value.

One alone have to consider the Second World War for an good example. During this major time of crisis, the United States Army produced a particular unit to assist protecting the cultural treasures of Europe. Dubbed the Monument Men by the troops, it was their jobs not only to seek out the numerous fine art treasures pillaged by the Nazis but in addition to to aid ensure that only marginal additional harm was caused by the war actions. One of the latter is the bombarding of the rail yard in Florence 1944, which was carefully contrived as to avoid hitting historical buildings and sites. Among their 1st were the retrieval of immense numbers of artwork Hitler’s own hoard deep in a salt mine in the Austrian Alps. Naturally today, in more passive times, the high value we place on art and our cultural heritage is easier reflected in auction prices as buyers with happiness pay for an original Jackson Pollock or for a Gustav Klimt work.

Even so, nowadays most of these great pieces of artwork are to be found either private collections or in museums. For the average gentleman, they are not immediately accessible, unless a picture or perhaps a print may suffice. If you want to see the real painting, if it is even publicly exposed it is most probably at the least a plane ride and a weighty admission away. The worlds fine art treasures are indeed not always immediately available for your viewing pleasure.

The wind of change is blustering, however, particularly in the form of the World Wide Web. Go to see art-reproductions.net and all of a certain the artistic accomplishments of the ages are accessible right there and then (at least the paintings). And not only that: You can in reality order your own museum quality reproductions of your favored paintings and have them transported directly to your doorstep. Gone are the days where you had to rely on posters or prints to recreate your preferred pieces of art. These days you can have a extremely accomplished artist reproduce your favorite painting for you. Whether you like Vincent van Gogh, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Gustav Klimt or other, they are now all within reach. And while what you receive is not the original painting, it comes so dangerously close that it can be hard to spot the difference. A website like art-reproductions.net in reality pick artists that specialize in the practical styles of painting of the artists they reproduce so the consequent arts are simply mystifying and, as is also claimed by them, truly museum quality.

This produces a fresh chance for fans of the classical artistry, as even with the master art buried away in private collections, vaults and museum collections, it is actually now conceivable to have your own reproduction of these timeless pieces right there on your home wall. It is the democratisation of artwork and it is making the classical masters at last accessible to the world, the way modern-portraits.com have previously done it for the portrait painting. It also helps us ascertain that a fresh generation can become aware of the unequalled beauty of the artwork worldwide, as we are able to at last land the arts home with us.