Art History Daily

Alexandre Cabanel - The Birth of Venus - 1863 “This Venus...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:19:00 -0400

Alexandre Cabanel - The Birth of Venus - 1863

“This Venus hovers somewhere between an ancient deity and a modern dream; the ambiguity of her eyes, that seem to be closed but that at a close look reveals that she is awake… a nude who could be asleep or awake is specially formidable for a male viewer.” - Robert Rosenblum, art historian and curator

Alexandre Cabanel - Self Portrait - 1852 French painter, known...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:54:00 -0400

Alexandre Cabanel - Self Portrait - 1852

French painter, known very well for his fine portraiture and academic style.
First exhibited at the Paris Salon at the age of 19.
Napoleon III’s preferred painter - Napoleon III actually ended up purchasing Cabanel’s most famous piece, The Birth of Venus.

Art History Daily.

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:46:35 -0400

More like “Art History Once Every Six Months.” :/

Espérances by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1885. via bonjourtableau

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:04:06 -0500

Espérances by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1885.

via bonjourtableau

Silver Favourites by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1903 Silver...

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:09:00 -0500

Silver Favourites by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1903

Silver Favourites is an outstanding example of Tadema’s contrasting gleaming white marble against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea. The artist obliterated the middle-ground, and the foreground is abruptly juxtaposed with the distant horizon, creating a dramatic effect.

Oil on wood.

Dream of Spring by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1901

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:41:00 -0500

Dream of Spring by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1901

Self-portrait in a Straw Hat by Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebru,...

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:19:30 -0400

Self-portrait in a Straw Hat by Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebru, 1782.

Vigée-Lebru is recognized as the most famous woman painter of the eighteenth century, and was a part of the Rococco and Neoclassical movements. She worked as Marie Antoinette’s portraitist for six years.

The National Gallery, London

Boy with a Top by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, 1735 In 1757,...

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:14:50 -0400

Boy with a Top by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, 1735

In 1757, Chardin was granted a studio and living quarters in the Louvre by Louis XV.

Dante and Virgil in Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau,...

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:56:09 -0400

Dante and Virgil in Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1850.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Theo van Gogh (art dealer)

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:30:51 -0400

Theo van Gogh (art dealer)

After the Bath by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875.

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:38:01 -0400

After the Bath by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875.

Porträt der Mary Gainsborough, Tochter des Künstlers by Thomas...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:43:48 -0400

Porträt der Mary Gainsborough, Tochter des Künstlers by Thomas Gainsborough, 1777.

Thomas Gainsborough’s captured image of his daughter, Mary.

Oil on canvas, Tate Gallery.

Mr. And Mrs. William Hallett by Thomas Gainsborough,...

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:54:37 -0400

Mr. And Mrs. William Hallett by Thomas Gainsborough, 1785.

Thomas Gainsborough was an English painter of portraits and landscapes who lived from 1727 to 1788. Gainsborough was noted for the speed with which he applied his paint, and he worked more from his observations of nature (and of human nature) than from any application of formal academic rules.

Oil on canvas, National Gallery in London, England.

The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1767-1768. Oil on canvas.

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 01:23:17 -0400

The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1767-1768.

Oil on canvas.

David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio,...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:51:22 -0400

David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio, 1609-1610.

Chiaroscuro was practiced long before he came on the scene, but it was Caravaggio who made the technique definitive, darkening the shadows and transfixing the subject in a blinding shaft of light. With this came the acute observation of physical and psychological reality which formed the ground both for his immense popularity and for his frequent problems with his religious commissions. He worked at great speed, from live models, scoring basic guides directly onto the canvas with the end of the brush handle; very few of Caravaggio’s drawings appear to have survived, and it is likely that he preferred to work directly on the canvas.

Galleria Borghese, Rome.

"If a man devotes himself to art, much evil is avoided that happens otherwise if one is idle."

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:38:00 -0400

“If a man devotes himself to art, much evil is avoided that happens otherwise if one is idle.”

- Albrecht Dürer

Self-Portrait by Albrecht Durer, 1493. The earliest painted...

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:35:27 -0400

Self-Portrait by Albrecht Durer, 1493.

The earliest painted self-portrait of the German painter, printmaker and theorist. It was painted during a four year stint spent travelling to various locations throughout Europe, learning skills from other artists. (He was 22 when he painted this particular portrait.) It was most likely sent back to his fiancée, Agnes Frey.

Oil on canvas transferred from vellum, the Louvre.

Bathsheba by Willem Drost, 1654 Willem Drost is a mysterious...

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:12:03 -0400

Bathsheba by Willem Drost, 1654

Willem Drost is a mysterious figure, closely associated with Rembrandt van Rijn, with very few paintings clearly attributable to him. At the age of 17, he became a student of Rembrandt. At the age of 21, he painted “Bathsheba,” which now hangs in the Louvre, where his tutor’s painting of the same title also resides. He was 25 when he died in the city of Venice.

Drost is considered one of Rembrandt’s most talented disciples, so much so that his 1654 painting titled: Portrait of a Young Woman with her Hands Folded on a Book was attributed to Rembrandt for more than 300 years. In fact, Rembrandt is credited with over 2,000 paintings and etchings, and the authenticity of his paintings is so important that the Rembrandt Research Project was formed in Amsterdam to review the attribution of all his works. They have now reattributed a number of Rembrandt’s paintings to his pupils and associates, such as Drost.

Oil on canvas, the Louvre.

The Nightwatch by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1632 This piece is...

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:16:00 -0400

The Nightwatch by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1632

This piece is interesting because Rembrandt depicted the Kloveniersdoelen, the musketeer branch of the civic militia, in an action scene rather than a stately, formal line-up. It is also interesting because parts of the canvas were cut off (approximately 20% from the left hand side was removed) to make the painting fit on the designated wall when it was moved to Amsterdam town hall in 1715. However, the Rijksmuseum contains a smaller reproduction of the work in what is understood to be its original form; the four, foremost figures occupy the painting’s center.

Oil on canvas; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

"All painting, but also all literature, is merely a process of going round and round something..."

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:02:32 -0400

“All painting, but also all literature, is merely a process of going round and round something inexpressible.”

- Anselm Kiefer