Art that you like

[North Star]

The colors of an image I found at wikiart are very different, so I was wondering which is more accurate.
For comparison, this is the image Discobolus posted.

And this is from wikiart.

It's even different from this.

Is it just due to how the photos were taken, depending on the surrounding light, processing method of digital images, etc.? The yellowish image is the closest to the actual painting? Also, I think colors are seen differently on different computers...

The light where the photograph is taken, white balance of the camera (settings and camera brand/model), scanning and printing in case of film cameras (and the film), processing with computer softwares, all can influence the differences in colour and luminosity of different photographs a painting. And uncalibrated displays certainly do produce colours in (usually slightly) different ways.

[Cosi bel do]

The one I posted is definitely the more accurate, this is why I chose it

[Linus]

Mmm... You are right, it is a copy. I wanted to put a picture with the frame as it is the only way the painting seems complete, with the hands in the foreground.

Ah, that does indeed add a more harmonious effect.

Do you, by the way, know if old master paintings from e.g. the Renaissance are usually cut by the margins, i.e. are the paintings originally slightly larger before a frame is added?

[torut]

The light where the photograph is taken, white balance of the camera (settings and camera brand/model), scanning and printing in case of film cameras (and the film), processing with computer softwares, all can influence the differences in colour and luminosity of different photographs a painting. And uncalibrated displays certainly do produce colours in (usually slightly) different ways.

I thought professionals handle the factors described in your first sentence carefully so that the digital images become as close to the original as possible. I was surprised how different that whitish image is. I am using MacBook Air to see images, and the color settings are all default. The same image viewed on my tablet is different furthermore, which is much more yellowish. I need to study on this.

The one I posted is definitely the more accurate, this is why I chose it

Yes, but I am afraid that the colors I am seeing are different from what you are seeing, even with the same image file.

[torut]

It is. Apart from being one of the most renowned art specialists on Italian Renaissance paintings, Arasse also did radio shows on art that were quite popular in France. A few of his books are actually made from these programmes. Arasse unfortunately died very early, more than 10 years ago, he was not even 60. Charcot's (or Lou Gehrig's) disease
Please share your impressions after reading it

I read Arasse's On n'y voit rien. It was fun indeed, and I was fascinated with the way he derives interesting interpretation from details that iconography is not able to fully explain. The writing styles are so humorous that I sometimes suspected there may be complete fabrication to trick readers , but the described matters are accurate according to the translator's commentary. Each chapter is intriguing, but I am not sure if everything is valid. For instance, regarding Bruegel's The Adoration of the Kings, Arasse tells that Casper, the Moorish King, is looking at Balthasar, as if he is criticizing the old king who is extremely eager to confirm the baby's genitals in order to believe the sacrament. However, to me it seems that Casper is gazing somewhere outside the frame. Is the painting actually about worshipping an icon and criticism of it? In any case, it is a quite evocative book.

[kishnevi]

I agree that Caspar seems to be looking outside the frame, but I do not think Balthasar is examining anything.  He is simply prostrating himself directly in front of the Virgin with the infant on her lap.

[torut]

I agree that Caspar seems to be looking outside the frame, but I do not think Balthasar is examining anything.  He is simply prostrating himself directly in front of the Virgin with the infant on her lap.

Arasse refers to Leo Steinberg's La sexualité du Christ dans l'art de la Renaissance et son refoulement moderne that claims that Balthasar is actually examining Jesus's genitals to confirm God's incarnation as a human. Since I am not a Christian, I don't know how valid or important it is, but it's interesting. Arasse also shows Ghirlandaio's painting as another example. (I myself am still not sure.)

[kishnevi]

Arasse refers to Leo Steinberg's La sexualité du Christ dans l'art de la Renaissance et son refoulement moderne that claims that Balthasar is actually examining Jesus's genitals to confirm God's incarnation as a human. Since I am not a Christian, I don't know how valid or important it is, but it's interesting. Arasse also shows Ghirlandaio's painting as another example. (I myself am still not sure.)

I also remain unconvinced.  But note Ghirlandaio also shows one of the Magi looking at something outside the picture.

[Cosi bel do]

The same claim is made by Arasse at least in one other book (On n'y voit rien, not translated I think). I think it's a sufficiently interesting theory that it deserves a serious reading, and considering the arguments before dismissing them. But Arasse is (was) so clever that even the most audacious interpretations never seem far-fetched but always enlightening, even if they are mere hypotheses (and presented as such).

[torut]

I also remain unconvinced.  But note Ghirlandaio also shows one of the Magi looking at something outside the picture.

Interesting. Arasse gives importance to each person's line of sight. No one in the Bruegel's painting is looking at Mary and Jesus except Balthasar. Is it telling the importance of believing without seeing, or suggesting people's ignorance...

The same claim is made by Arasse at least in one other book (On n'y voit rien, not translated I think). I think it's a sufficiently interesting theory that it deserves a serious reading, and considering the arguments before dismissing them. But Arasse is (was) so clever that even the most audacious interpretations never seem far-fetched but always enlightening, even if they are mere hypotheses (and presented as such).

That book's styles (letter, detective(?) novel, dialogue, etc.) are so entertaining that at times I wondered if he was really serious about some of the hypotheses, but I agree they are worth serious consideration.

[North Star]

Maria Sibylla Merian
              
               

[Henk]

Cy Twombly (1928 – 2011).



Ferragosto series.

[North Star]

Cy Twombly (1928 – 2011).

Ferragosto series.

I didn't know Twombly before. I see, from his work, and Wikipedia, that he is influenced by primitive paintings and the (other) Abstract Expressionists.
His aesthetics are rather difficult for me to appreciate, though. Would you like to elaborate what you like in about Twombly (apart from the Wodehousean surname ) Henk?

[San Antone]

Cy Twombly (1928 – 2011).



Ferragosto series.

Love his work!  Thanks for the post.



TD

Robert Rauschenberg - especially the White Paintings, Black Paintings, and Red Paintings

n 1951 Rauschenberg created his "White Paintings," in the tradition of monochromatic painting, whose purpose was to reduce painting to its most essential nature, and to subsequently lead to the possibility of pure experience. The "White Paintings" were shown at Eleanor Ward's Stable Gallery in New York during October 1953. They appear at first to be essentially blank, white canvas. However, one commentator said that "...rather than thinking of them as destructive reductions, it might be more productive to see them, as John Cage did, as hypersensitive screens – what Cage suggestively described as 'airports of the lights, shadows and particles.' In front of them, the smallest adjustments in lighting and atmosphere might be registered on their surface. Rauschenberg himself said that they were affected by ambient conditions, "so you could almost tell how many people are in the room". The Black Paintings of 1951 like the White Paintings were executed on multiple panels and were single colour works. Here Rauschenberg incorporated pieces of newspaper into the painting working the paper into the paint so that sometimes newspaper could be seen and in other places could not. By 1953-1954 Rauschenberg had moved from the monochromatic paintings of the White Painting and Black Painting series, to the Red Painting series. These paintings were created with diverse kinds of paint applications of red paint, and with the addition of materials such as wood, nails, newsprint and other materials to the canvas created complex painting surfaces, and were forerunners of Rauschenberg's well-known Combine series.

[North Star]

Jasper Johns was of course influenced by Rauschenberg's experiments in creating the White Flag, also whitewashed newspaper articles.

[Henk]

I didn't know Twombly before. I see, from his work, and Wikipedia, that he is influenced by primitive paintings and the (other) Abstract Expressionists.
His aesthetics are rather difficult for me to appreciate, though. Would you like to elaborate what you like in about Twombly (apart from the Wodehousean surname ) Henk?

I like the subtility, the colors. It expresses something very fragile to me. Zwagerman explained the white is the most tender white.

BTW, an other artwork by Twombly was kissed by a woman:

http://visual-poetry.tumblr.com/post/7298470993/a-cy-twombly-painting-kissed-by-rindy-sam-2007

[San Antone]

Jasper Johns was of course influenced by Rauschenberg's experiments in creating the White Flag, also whitewashed newspaper articles.

Another fave.  The generation after the Abstract Impressionists all interest me.  Philip Guston is another.

[Wanderer]

Nikolaos Gyzis: Το τάμα (The offering)

Depicting a folk story: a mother, accompanied by her exhausted daughter, en route to the small chapel in the precipitous background in order to pray for her lost-at-sea son's return, sits forlornly at the edge of the washed-away path, unable to reach her destination.



Georgios Jakobides: Children's Concert

[Hollywood]

One of my favorite artists is Alphonse Mucha.

   

   

[Hollywood]

One of my favorite paintings is this one by Merry-Joseph Blondel described as Ptolemais (Acre) given to Philip Augustus 1191. The king on the right is King Philip II of France (my 25 times great grandfather) and the king one on the left is King Richard I "The Lionheart" of England (my 25 times great grand uncle).