The art history thread...

Draccae · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 02:56:06 am

Baron Raimund von Stillfried (1839 - 1911)

Baron Raimund von Stillfried was a 19th Century Austrian photographer. He lived and worked for several years in Yokohama, Japan. He often combined albumen silver photography with color dyes.

Geisha - ca 1880
albumen silver photograph with colour dyes

Japanese Gentleman in Western Garb - ca 1875
tinted albumen print

Musician - ca 1880
albumen silver photograph with colour dyes

Draccae · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 02:58:30 am

MihÃ¡ly von Zichy (1827 - 1906)

MihÃ¡ly von Zichy was a 19th Century Hungarian romanticist - a painter, printmaker and illustrator. He was also a Russian court artist at one point in time (pre-revolution, the court of Czar Nicholas II) and lived in Paris for the latter part of his life. He is probably most recognized today for Liebe, a series of erotic drawings published as a private edition in Leipzig in 1911. Here are a few pieces from Zichy...

Dream - ca 1865
watercolour on paper
(Private collection)

Coronation of Alexander II - 1857
Watercolour and gouache on cardboard
(residing at The Hermitage, St. Petersburg)

Artist's Love - 1861
Charcoal on paper
(residing at The Hermitage, St. Petersburg)

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 08:15:42 am

In 2005, The Fighting Temeraire was voted the greatest painting in a British art gallery. The painting, which hangs in the National Gallery in London, won 31,892 votes, more than a quarter of the 118,111 cast in a poll organised by the BBC Today radio programme. In second place was John Constable's The Hay Wain, ‰douard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-BergÃ¨re was third, and The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck was fourth. Any painting displayed in a British gallery was eligible for the vote.

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 08:17:42 am

The Hay Wain

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 08:19:41 am

A Bar at the Folies-BergÃ¨re

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 08:21:32 am

The Arfolini Portrait

Draccae · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 08:36:58 am

iomoon wrote:

The Arfolini Portrait

One of my favorite paintings - I always liked the way in which he hid his own self-portrait inside of it. And I totally want to steal that guys hat.

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:47:32 am

My favorites are the French impressionists.

I particularly like Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Manet, though never have figured out why the woman is naked while eating lunch :?:

Draccae · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:26:55 am

It was considered obscene at the time. The dichotomy of it is rather visually interesting. A lot about the painting is actually, the lighting is very uncommon for one thing. As far as I know, it's about juxtaposition - and probably a little self-indulgence on the artist's part as well. IIRC it is also an unusually large piece for that type of subject matter...which I am sure would have been intentional to get the point across in a rather blatant manner. Usually canvas of that size (in that specific time) was used for works of allegory, mythology, etc.

Draccae · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 01:18:22 am

Two letters...

I am sure that many here will recognize the second artist, it's the same man that designed the Mulready envelope.

Girl with Letter -1797
by Teodoro Matteini
(residing at Museo d'Arte Moderna, Ca' Pesaro, Venice)

The Sonnet - 1839
by William Mulready
(residing at Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

MargoZ · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 06:53:57 am

iomoon wrote:

My favorites are the French impressionists.

I particularly like Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Manet, though never have figured out why the woman is naked while eating lunch :?:

Hey...they're FRENCH!!!

BTW Thanks Draccae for this interesting thread

MargoZ · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 06:57:32 am

Frederick McCubbin
Down on his luck 1889
oil on canvas
145.0 x 183.3 x 14.0 cm (framed)
State Art Collection,
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

Some impressionism from down under....can't get anything more quintessentially Australian than this image.

MargoZ · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 06:59:40 am

BTW- this reproduction does not do the original justice......you can look at it and smell the eucalyptus smoke (a bit like California really)

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 09:11:14 am

MargoZ wrote:

Some impressionism from down under....can't get anything more quintessentially Australian than this image.

That is really good.

When I first looked at it, I thought it was a photo.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 09:14:48 am

Someone asked in another thread who was J.J. Audubon.

Here is an example of one of his bird paintings - White Gerfalcons.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 09:37:54 am

And another American painting which is arguably the best known - Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother, famous under its colloquial name Whistler's Mother.

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 09:47:16 am

Of western artists, Frederic Remington has become notable for his paintings of people and horses, as in - The Scout: Friend or Foes?

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 09:49:14 am

Whereas others, such as Albert Bierstadt glorified the landscape, as in - Looking down Yosemite Valley.

aethelwulf · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 18:03:03 pm

MargoZ wrote:

He's thinking about his biscuit tin of rare stamps he forgot at the side of the road

MargoZ · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 18:18:40 pm

I wonder if Andy Warhol considered the artistic possibilities of the biscuit tin when he was in his Campbell's soup phase?

Draccae · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 01:35:39 am

Cycladic Idols...

As far as Aegean art goes, there is a lot more known about the Minoan & Mycenaean stuff than the Cycladic. So there simply isn't a whole lot to say about these little guys...but I have always been so in love with them, so I want to post a few this morning.

They are pre-Greek (neolithic)...looking at a general timeframe of around 2100-3000ish BC.

The heads are highly stylized and specific to these idols...very disk shaped. A lot of them are musicians. It's not really clear on others (female idols) if they are about fertility or not - most likely not, IMO, for several reasons. The vast majority are marble.

One interesting thing about them is that occasionally they used a body part as an extension of an object. It's the first time this can really be seen. For example, a seated musician will be on a chair with three legs and his leg will overflow to become the forth leg of the chair or his leg will meld together with the chair leg to become one piece as that forth leg...yet on other idols they don't flow together like that. So, while it can be seen and it was unique, it's wasn't common exactly. I am not sure if my explanation is very clear here, so I will just skip ahead straight to the art...

Draccae · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 03:01:44 am

This one never fails to amuses me...

Self Portrait with Death as a Violinist - ca 1872
by Arnold BÃ¶cklin

iomoon · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 04:20:05 am

Andy Warhol.

What can you say?

MargoZ · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:41:48 am

Another McCubbin
1889 'Lost'

There are a number of paintings with a similar theme-speaks volumes about the relationship European settlers in Australia has with their environment.

Draccae · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:46:09 am

MargoZ wrote:

Another McCubbin
1889 'Lost'

There are a number of paintings with a similar theme-speaks volumes about the relationship European settlers in Australia has with their environment.

He incorporates a very effective use of muted colors, I especially like his muted greens, it really gives a slightly 4 dimensional quality to his work.

MargoZ · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:54:52 am

Agree.....I love the way the landscape is rendered as inextricably beautiful and hostile .

Also he get the colour 100% right- early Aust landscape artists usually represented everything with a European colour palette- lush greens and browns where in reality the colours are far more subtle and bleached.

aethelwulf · **Posted:** Sun Dec 06, 2009 02:33:20 am

Draccae wrote:

Cycladic Idols...

They are pre-Greek (neolithic)...looking at a general timeframe of around 2100-3000ish BC.

The figures from the Cyclades have always posed a bit of a mystery, along with the Linear A/Linear B scripts of the same area. They're so radically different from other works of really any region in the world at that period. Highly stylized, quite 'advanced' you could say for the age, similar to work seen by the Cubists in the early 20th century...on the other hand maybe modern artists were just imitating what they saw in the earlier pieces?

Just one academic point...when quoting BC dates, the numbers are always reversed, as you're counting down to zero...so dates would be stated as 3000-2100 BC...

Draccae · **Posted:** Sun Dec 06, 2009 03:49:46 am

aethelwulf wrote:

The figures from the Cyclades have always posed a bit of a mystery, along with the Linear A/Linear B scripts of the same area. They're so radically different from other works of really any region in the world at that period. Highly stylized, quite 'advanced' you could say for the age, similar to work seen by the Cubists in the early 20th century...on the other hand maybe modern artists were just imitating what they saw in the earlier pieces?

Just one academic point...when quoting BC dates, the numbers are always reversed, as you're counting down to zero...so dates would be stated as 3000-2100 BC...

Certainly possible...while it may not have been imitation exactly, people are absolutely influenced by what they see and experience over time both directly and indirectly and that is usually heavily ingrained in any visual aesthetic in one form or another. It's even the primary method used in moving a viewer from the associative to the cognitive response usually. There is a specific area of Egyptian art where a similar stylization (similar to some modern art, not similar to the Cycladic idols) can been seen as well. However, it's debatable as to if it was the art in itself changing so drastically or that the art demanded a drastic change due to the suddenly unusual look of the specific people being depicted - a family of rulers with odd genetic issues that made them look different. I will post some of those next week if I have time.

(and sorry aethelwulf, I will pay closer attention to writing my timeframes in proper chronological order next time.

)

At the moment, one from Goya...

Friar Pedro Shoots El Maragato as His Horse Runs Off - ca 1805
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
(residing at The Art Institute of Chicago)

iomoon · **Posted:** Sun Dec 06, 2009 06:09:56 am

The Mustangs at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas by Robert Glen.

aethelwulf · **Posted:** Mon Dec 07, 2009 03:10:35 am

Draccae wrote:

aethelwulf wrote:

.on the other hand maybe modern artists were just imitating what they saw in the earlier pieces?

Certainly possible...while it may not have been imitation exactly, people are absolutely influenced by what they see and experience over time both directly and indirectly
At the moment, one from Goya...

It can be a bit of a 'chicken and egg' cycle when it comes to discussing ancient art...some will say "these ancient artists were visionary, the work they did and styles used was not thought of by artists until millennia later"...on the other hand, the fact that later artists had these pieces sitting there in museums where they could easily be seen and studies, lends heavily to the fact that they (the later artists) were influenced by what they saw...ie. Van Gogh by Japanese prints, Braque and others by African 'primitive' sculpture. The only sure way that the former argument could be applied easily is if the later artist were to produce their work without having any knowledge or access to the earlier pieces...

About the Goya, i would add a light-hearted comment: "Ouch"

Draccae · **Posted:** Mon Dec 07, 2009 07:22:08 am

Franz von Stuck (1863 - 1928)

Some German Symbolism based in mythology...

Sin - 1893

Luucifero - ca 1891

Tilla Durieux as Circe - 1913

He designed Villa von Stuck from the architecture to the furniture and had it built in the late 19th century, it is now partially a museum of his work.

Link to Museum Villa Stuck.
http://www.villastuck.de/index.html

Draccae · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 02:53:12 am

The botanical illustrations of Otto Wilhelm Thomé (1840-1925)

These are from Flora von Deutschland Ã–sterreich und der Schweiz (1885)...there were 572 of these illustrations in the original 4 volumes.

Wolfsbane

Poppy

Belladonna

And here is a great website where you can see loads more of them...it is written in German but very easy to navigate.
http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/thome/index.html

aethelwulf · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 03:13:48 am

It seems that the postings here are heavy on German/Germanic artists. Following that trend, here's a favourite painting of mine, from the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, by Otto Dix. The illustration doesn't capture the full effect; the eyes have been painted very thickly, and in some sort of shiny enamel-like paint, giving the figure a slightly bug-eyed and eerie look (not that his overall countenance would pass as 'normal'):

And something completely different...During the Qing dynasty in China (1644-1911), cloisonne enamel (enamel painted onto bronze) was popular. There are all types of objects created in this manner, bowls, vases, urns...then there are my favourites, the animal figures. Since they have been selling at auction for £2,000-10,000 each (be it a single or pair), at this point all I can do is save the images in building my 'menagerie'. Here a pair of doves:

Draccae · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 03:45:27 am

aethelwulf wrote:

These are a beautiful pair! I love the colors.

aethelwulf · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 04:49:47 am

Further pieces from what I call 'the menagerie'...

mule

birds (of some sorts)

parrots

birds of some sort again...

dogs

duck (a perfume burner i believe)

horse

This one is in plain bronze...cute little thing, called a 'qirin', a Chinese mythical beast

Draccae · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 05:06:33 am

aethelwulf wrote:

Further pieces from what I call 'the menagerie'...

mule

This one is in plain bronze...cute little thing, called a 'qirin', a Chinese mythical beast

That mule is just lovely, really glad that you posted it.

The qirin is rather cute isn't he! He reminds me a lot of one of the Notre Dame gargoyles...

and one more while I have them out, just because he has always been my favorite goyle with an appetite...though that one may be a grotesque rather than an actual gargoyle, not sure if the rain comes through with that guy stuck in his mouth like that?

iomoon · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 09:18:08 am

L'Absinthe - Degas, 1876

iomoon · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 09:43:33 am

Katsushika Hokusai - The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Draccae · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:16:15 am

iomoon wrote:

L'Absinthe - Degas, 1876

Love that one!

Draccae · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2009 01:15:17 am

Gustave Moreau (1826 - 1898)

...some (very) early Symbolism.

The Apparition - ca 1876
by Gustave Moreau
(residing at Gustave Moreau Museum, Paris)

The Voices - 1867
by Gustave Moreau
(residing at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid)

The Triumph of Alexander the Great - ca 1885
by Gustave Moreau
(residing at Gustave Moreau Museum, Paris)

Salome Dancing - ca 1886
by Gustave Moreau
(residing at Musee d'Orsay, Paris)

iomoon · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2009 07:43:15 am

Utagawa Hiroshige - Man on horseback crossing a bridge. From the series The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso KaidÅ, this is View 28 and Station 27 at Nagakubo-shuku, depicting the Wada Bridge across the Yoda River.

Draccae · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 01:54:05 am

Sandro Botticelli (ca 1445 - 1510)

The Calumny of Apelles - ca 1494
by Sandro Botticelli
(residing at Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence)

Venus and Mars - 1483
by Sandro Botticelli
(residing at The National Gallery, London)

iomoon · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 07:42:25 am

Fabergé egg - The Moscow Kremlin, 1906

Draccae · **Posted:** Fri Dec 11, 2009 01:54:12 am

The tapestry of Fran'ois Spiering (ca 1575 - 1630)...

Cephalus and Procris - ca 1610,
by Fran'ois Spiering
Wool and silk - 345 x 520 cm
(residing at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

Detail of Cephalus and Procris - ca 1610,
by Fran'ois Spiering
Wool and silk - 345 x 520 cm
(residing at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

Urgande Handing over the Lance to Amadis - ca 1592
by Fran'ois Spiering
Gold thread, wool and silk - 348 x 328 cm
(Private collection)

Scenes from the Amadigi di Gaula - ca 1602
by Fran'ois Spiering
Wool and silk - 430 x 206 cm
(residing at Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan)

Detail of Scenes from the Amadigi di Gaula - ca 1602
by Fran'ois Spiering
Wool and silk - 430 x 206 cm
(residing at Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan)

iomoon · **Posted:** Fri Dec 11, 2009 04:39:48 am

Venetian glass

Draccae · **Posted:** Sat Dec 12, 2009 01:28:15 am

Master G. Alpais - French goldsmith (active 1180-1200 in Limoges)

Ciborium - ca 1190
Master G. Alpais
Gilt, engraved, and chiseled copper - height 30 cm
(residing a Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Reliquary of Thomas Becket - ca 1185
Master G. Alpais
Champlevé enamel - 28 x 39 x 12 cm
(residing at British Museum, London)

Draccae · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 02:57:36 am

Henry Fuseli (1741 - 1825)

Portrait of a Young Woman - 1871
by Henry Fuseli
(residing at Institue of Arts, Detroit)

Brunhilde Observing Gunther, Whom She Has Tied to the Ceiling - 1807
by Henry Fuseli
(residing at City Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham)

The Nightmare - 1871
by Henry Fuseli
(residing at Institue of Arts, Detroit)

Lady Macbeth with the Daggers - 1812
by Henry Fuseli
(residing at Tate Gallery, London)

Silence - ca 1799
by Henry Fuseli
(residing at Kunsthaus, ZÃ¼rich)

iomoon · **Posted:** Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:55:15 pm

Chippendale

Draccae · **Posted:** Mon Dec 14, 2009 04:04:10 am

Roger of Helmarshausen - German goldsmith (active 1100-1125 at Helmarshausen).

Book Cover - ca 1105
by Roger of Helmarshausen
Silver, gilded, semi-precious stones - height 38 cm,
(Domschatz, Trier)

Draccae · **Posted:** Tue Dec 15, 2009 01:48:46 am

Master Honoré - French illuminator (active 1285-1315 in Paris)

Two minatures from a copy of La Somme le roi - ca 1290
by Master Honoré
Illumination on parchment
(residing at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)

Book of Hours - ca 1290
by Master Honoré
Illumination on parchment
(residing at Stadtbibliothek, Nuremberg)

La Somme le Roy - ca 1290
by Master Honoré
Illumination on parchment
(residing at British Museum, London)


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