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Maurice Prendergast, Landscape with Figures, 1921.
Originally posted in 2010.
I am currently getting ready to make a trip up to Nova Scotia and Québec and in looking-up Canadian artists I discovered that one of my favorites, Maurice Prendergast was born in St. John, Newfoundland. His family eventually settled in Boston and he was part of the Ashcan School but usually with a lighter tone, a brighter palette, and a more abstract hand.
Anne with a Japanese Parasol, 1917 by George Bellows.
Bellows did quite a few portraits of his family and friends. This is his oldest daughter. He was a member of the group known as The Eight and a teacher at the Art Students League.
Girl with a Watering Can, 1876 by Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Renoir painted this young girl to attract people and some portrait business. Portraiture was the 19th century artist's bread and butter.
Susanna Fourment and her Daughter, 1621 by Anthony van Dyck, The National Gallery of Art.
A popular subject - Susanna appears again in another 17th century court painting by Anthony van Dyck.
Nonchaloir ,1911 by John Singer Sargent, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
After 1907 Sargent grew tired of painting so many society portraits for money. he chose to concentrate instead on outdoor scenes and more casual poses like this one of his niece.
Dis me.
The Hunter (Catalan Landscape) by Joan Miro, 1923-24, MoMA, NYC.
Miro began his work as a painter doing portraits but soon found the work of artists like Picasso and the Surrealists with whom he socialized in Paris, to influence him to try other directions in his paintings. The Spanish Civil War drew his work into a political realm as his countrymen suffered at home. His career lasted well into the later part of the twentieth century, in fact a large tapestry he did for the World Trade Center was one of the most valuable pieces of art work that was destroyed on September 11, 2001.
Figure 6 by Joan Miro, 1974, The World Trade Center (destroyed 9/11/01).
Child Wearing a Red Scarf by Edouard Vuillard, c. 1891, The National Gallery of Art (US)
This is one of my favorite Vuillard pieces. It is not very big, but I just love the little girl. She seems so proud to be wearing that "grown-up" scarf (reminds me of myself as a girl, always wanting to wear something beyond my years).
Vuillard was interested in color and he and other like-minded art students (Pierre Bonnard was one) were influenced by Paul Gauguin's use of color and Symbolism and belonged to a group called Les Nabis.
