Your Daily Art

Masterpiece Cards Guest Blogging

2009-06-21T02:17:00.002-04:00

http://www.themasterpiececards.com/famous-paintings-reviewed/

Check out the site for Masterpiece Cards - they invited me to do a guest blog.

Nimble Fingers

2009-04-07T13:46:00.002-04:00

Gee's Bend Quilters Collective, Gee's Bend Alabama

The ladies of Gee's Bend have been making quilts for more than six generations. Largely using scraps of old material, they have created some of the most original and beautiful piecework ever done.

Made a list and made it on a list!

2009-04-06T14:46:00.001-04:00

http://www.blogs.com/topten/top-10-art-history-and-museum-blogs/

The Art History Blog

Top 10

2009-03-30T08:47:00.001-04:00

I was invited by Blogs.com to list my top 10 art blogs you can find the list here.

http://www.blogs.com/topten/10-great-art-blogs-and-resources/index.html

Glowing Desert

2009-03-26T14:55:00.001-04:00

Dale Chihuly : The Nature of Glass at the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ

Through May 31, 2009 there is an installation of glass at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix - go see it if you are in the area, especially at dusk.

Spring Break

2009-03-14T09:37:00.002-04:00

Red Canna by Georgia O'Keeffe, 1923, University of Arizonia Art Museum.

Everyone has many associations with a flower - the idea of flowers. Still-in a way - nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small - we haven' t the time...So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower looks like to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it.

-Georgia O'Keeffe, Georgia O'Keeffe, Viking, 1973.

Snoozers

2009-03-03T23:49:00.002-05:00

Woman Lying on a Bench by Carl Larsson, 1913, Louvre

I guess it is pretty obvious what I would like to be doing....

Been there, done that.

2009-02-25T23:32:00.001-05:00

The New Novel by Winslow Homer, 1877, Museum of Fine Art, Springfield MA

This work is a favorite among avid readers and book clubs for obvious reasons. The orange of the dress and the girl's hair provide a warm contrast against the background dominated by shades of brown and green.

Not What it Seems

2009-02-22T01:08:00.000-05:00

Prosperity - The Holy Place by Damien Hirst, 2006.

This work is created out of butterflies and the perfect symmetry of the insects is mirrored in the perfect symmetry of the work. At first glance it appears to be a stained glass window.

More of the Same

2009-02-16T11:16:00.001-05:00

Cranes (detail) by Ogata Korin, Edo Period c. 1700, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian

This is part of a larger work (a screen). The repetition of the form of the group of Cranes gives the work a lighthearted charm.

Happy and Healthy 2009!

2008-12-27T00:00:00.004-05:00

New Year's Baby by Jessie Wilcox Smith, c. 1910.

An illustrator who was a student of Howard Pyle and worked for many magazines and book publishers.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

Adoration of the Shepards, 1622 by Gerard van Honthorst, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne.

Should Have Won

2008-12-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

Gloria, 1884 by Thomas Wilmer Dewing, The Cleveland Museum of Art.

Originally an entry for a Christmas Card contest - it is a perfect image for the season.

A Favorite

2008-12-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

The Wilton Diptych, c. 1394 for King Richard the II, artist unknown, National Gallery, London.

One of my favorite of the Madonna and Child images. The blues are so vivid especially against the gold. It is the size of a regular book when closed. Diptych refers to the two parts of the painting.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-12T21:46:00.001-05:00

Japanese Christmas card

Act 2?

2008-12-07T17:50:00.002-05:00

Poster from the Library of Congress Collection of WPA artwork.

An idea whose time has come again? Check out the posters on the Library of Congress website.

He Never Fails to Amaze

2008-11-19T00:08:00.004-05:00

Portrait of Lady Helen Vincent, Viscountess of d'Abernon by John Singer Sargent, 1904, The Birmingham Museum of Art, AL

Another beautiful portrait by Sargent.

Look Familiar?

2008-11-13T13:01:00.001-05:00

The Unswept Floor, Roman Mosaic, 2nd century CE

A Roman mosaic based on an earlier painting. It depicts the remnants of a dinner party scattered all over the floor of a dining room. Do you see the mouse?

Painted Gentleman

2008-11-08T22:18:00.001-05:00

Augustus of Primaporta, Early 1st century CE, reconstructed copy of marble, that is a copy of bronze, with paint.

Sometimes as we look at the art left behind by ancient civilizations we expect that they intended their sculpture to be viewed as the bleached white examples we see today however, that is not the case. The sculpture of the Greeks and the Romans was painted. We know this because remnants of the color survive and in rarer cases, sculpture with the paint still applied survives.

Setting the Scene

2008-10-27T11:18:00.001-04:00

Dancers in the Wings by Edgar Degas, c. 1878, Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena, CA.

Dancer Adjusting Her Slipper by Edgar Degas, 1873, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Charcoal sketch which Degas used in a painting which is why he has added the grid lines to the drawing.

Prodigy

2008-10-21T07:34:00.001-04:00

First Communion by Pablo Picasso, 1895-96, Museo Picasso, Barcelona.

Picasso's father was a painter who taught his son the skills of an artist at a young age. That allowed him to complete this work at the age of 15.

Veiled Thoughts

2008-10-17T00:28:00.001-04:00

Bronze Statuette of a Veiled and Masked Dancer, Greek Hellenistic Period, 3rd - 2nd century BCE, The Metropolitan Museum, New York.

This small statuette is a remarkable representation of a dancer caught in the midst of a complicated move. It is expressive and mysterious at the same time.

World Economy

2008-10-12T19:47:00.001-04:00

Welcome the World Famous Brand Name by The Luo Brothers, 1993-94, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney.

The Luo Brothers draw their inspirations from the modern world and Chinese propaganda images and combine the two to make statements about China's "modernization" and all that it entails.

Enhanced by Rain

2008-10-09T11:54:00.001-04:00

Peeling Paint on Iron Bench, Kyoto, 1981 by Ernst Haas.

Even on the rainy days sometimes it pays to look at something more closely.

Time Out

2008-10-07T13:53:00.002-04:00

Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game by Exekias, Greek amphora c. 540 BCE., Vatican Museums, Rome.

In this scene on a greek pot we see warriors of the Trojan battle taking time out to play a quick game of dice. We know who they are because the artist put their names by them and signed the pot with "Exekias made me."