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| The Magpie Claude Monet (PD) |
At some point in the day, it struck me just how much I like Monet's painting, The Magpie. It reminds me of my youth, of growing up, my home in Vermont. I'm not sure why, it just does.
Yes, Snow at Argenteuil also takes me back.
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| Snow at Argenteuil Claude Monet (PD) |
I like Monet, something in his paintings speaks to me. We need art, I need art. Paintings, music, they make life beautiful.
Who do you like?
Winslow Homer for the ocean and the shore.
ReplyDeleteAlfred Bierstadt for the great vistas of the American West.
Both excellent!
DeleteSarge, when we went back to Pennsylvania last Summer, we got to go to The Brandywine River Museum of Art, where I got to see a number of Andrew Wyeth's paintings. I tend to prefer his landscapes to his portraits but enjoy both. They also had a lovely collection of paintings from the Hudson River School, which I found I enjoyed very much - I like landscapes.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_School
Wyeth is a favorite.
DeleteThe Hudson River School produced a number of superb artists.
Brandywine Museum is OUTSTANDING! In the summer season, they offer an optional "studio tour" of N.C. Wyeth's home and studio. He is my favorite of the artistic family. Andrew is nearly as good, but Jamie is a bit too quirky and modern for my liking. YMMV.) Figure about an hour for the tour, in addition to your time in the museum itself, but it is WELL WORTH the time and added fee.
DeletePerhaps on one of Sarge's trips to MD he can plan some extra time for a stop, if he has not already. Everyone else, put it on your list. Don't forget the Brandywine Battlefield just down the road is historically significant, although not very impressive in terms of visitor experience.
There is a LOT of serendipitous history in the Delaware valley, but those are tales for other days.
John Blackshoe
Added to my list!
DeleteMonet suggests, directs. Your own memories are called upon to help out. Evocative. I like it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is Charles M Russell. Great eye for detail, he knows his rigging. All around painter. Portraits, landscapes, action.
And Michelangelo, too. He seems equal parts engineer and master painter.
Anyone that can put down on a medium what they actually see is superhuman. And that really speaks to me. But Monet works, too.
I like Russell as well, his paintings of the old West are wonderful.
DeleteCrusty Old TV Tech here. John Atkinson Grimshaw, particularly "In The Golden Glow of Autumn". Going to get a print of that one for Casa Crusty someday. Monet, particularly "The Red Boats". Have a print of that one in Casa Crusty. El Greco, especially "El Entierro del Conde-Duque de Orgaz". And, finally, Velazquez, particularly "Los Fusilamientos del 3 de Mayo". This one is a scene from the Peninsular Wars of recent Chant description, so appropos now to mention. I've seen it in El Prado in Madrid (yes, Mama AFCC sent me to Torrejon AB once on a TDY, never mix San Miguel and sangria is my takeaway from that adventure!), and for a war history buff, the way Velazquez painted the lighting, the darkness, the contrast of the fellow with his hands up and shouting and the soldiers in semi-darkness...sheer artistic genius. This one would be a good piece to hang in some walnut paneled smoking room in some British Army's regimental HQ.
ReplyDeleteSome superb artists there. Goya's The Second of May, 1808 depicting the madrileños dragging Napoléon's Mamelukes from their saddles is also great.
DeleteCrusty Old TV Tech again. You nailed it Sarge. Yep, Goya's "La Carga de los Mamelucos" is the bookend to "Los Fusilameintos...". BOTH just cry out to go in a walnut paneled smoking room in a British Army regimental HQ somewhere! When I build my dream "study", I will have prints of both next to the gun rack.
DeleteFunny thing, I learned more "art appreciation" in my college Spanish Civ classes than in any art class. Professor made sure to point out context and historical rationale, in addition to what is usually taught in Art Appreciation, mostly technique.
Knowing what the artist was trying to depict or say seems more important to me than the technique used. Though that can be interesting in its own right.
DeleteA fascinating book is "Venice: Lion City" by Garry Wills. It details the interaction of the city's art and the history of the city. How the art came to be and its significance.
DeleteI checked it out on Amazon, looks like a great read.
DeleteVenice is an extraordinary city, I loved the two days we got to spend there. It would be nice to return for a longer stay.
The city itself has an extraordinary history, truly a Mediterranean power back in the day!
Crusty Old TV Tech again. Goya, not Velazquez on Los Fusilamientos. Old brains and minimal coffee make for a bad combination. Love Velazquez too, particularly "Las Meininas".
ReplyDeleteI knew that. Wasn't going to mention it, I have ample brain farts of my own not to cast shade upon another's. 😁
DeleteSarge, I should have also commented (probably not a surprise) that I very much enjoy Ukiyo-e wood prints from Japan
ReplyDeleteThe Great Wave being a nice example!
DeletePlease excuse fat fingers apparently. The detail in the prints are fascinating!
DeleteFat fingers? What fat fingers? (Stares at his own hands, muttering, "traitors ...")
DeleteAny of the Winslow Homer's Adirondack paintings, especially the ones he did in Essex county. I like to go camping in that area.
ReplyDeleteAlso my great-Aunt Isabelle's paintings. She loved wildflowers, and painted many different wildflowers and "weeds". She used to go into the Rehoboth, MA schools and teach about wildflowers, and their importance in the ecosystem. I am lucky enough to have a half dozen or so of her paintings.
I did not get that creative gene.
suz
DeleteI like just about anything by Homer.
DeleteAh yes, Google keeping us all anonymous ...
DeleteHomer had his ducks in a row, waddling in step, and quacking a Jody.
DeleteManet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère” is my “look at everyday” painting. The detail, the set-up, so many things have challenged me for years. I have a framed copy in the living room. It also has value in that it’s presence allows me to never drink alone 😉
ReplyDeleteIf you can figure it out within ten minutes, you are very perceptive!
Manet is another favorite. What is it with me and French impressionists?
DeleteMagnet was also excellent. A Bar is probably my favourite. There is something about the bartender that is captivating.
DeleteMagnet?
DeleteAh, spell-check, my ancient nemesis.
DeleteIn a Jacksonville, FL, museum, full of neat things and pretty paintings, there is/was one huge big painting of wine harvesting in Italy. Absolutely stunning. Mrs. Andrew and I spent maybe an hour just sitting and staring at it. Seriously just sitting and staring.
ReplyDeleteThat's good art.
If it speaks to you, if you can't take your eyes off it ...
DeleteYup, that's art at its best.
So many wonderful works of art to enjoy. Do so quickly, lest the woke/taliban decree them to be blasphemous or racists and destroy them.
ReplyDeleteWinslow Homer- yes, just about anything. The Wyeths. Beierstadt, Remington and Russell brought the west to the rest of the country.
For military art, it is hard to beat the technical accuracy of Don Troiani, or the numerous combat artists of the various service branches.
Everyone should hie thee hither to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, about an hour east of Yellowstone. It is a complex of five magnificent museums under one roof, and surely everyone in the family will enjoy one or more. The western art by classic and contemporary artists is simply wonderful and powerfully enjoyable. Some will find the Cody Firearms Museum portion to be their favorite, and it is one of the top two or three gun museums in the U.S. Showman Buffalo Bill has ample coverage in that section. There ARE quite a few different groups of Native Americans to appreciate, and the Plains Indians are the focus in that section. Mother nature is not neglected, as the host for all who trod her soil in the west, and the interplay of geology, geography, plants, animals, weather, mankind and technology are discovered in this section.
Since you are in the wandering around the wild lands of the kickin' horse, might as well stop at the $100 million, 140,000 square-foot National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, WY. https://nmmv.org/plan_your_visit.php
It's only about 211 miles or 3 hours 18 minutes from Cody by road, despite being only about 85 miles straight line. In that 211 miles there are three towns (Thermopolis, population 2,709, Shoshoni, pop 491; and Riverton, pop 10,587) the Wind River Indian Reservation and a handful of stop signs or traffic lights, and damn few gas stations, motels or rest stops. Might as well listen to some audio books by Margaret Coel, mainly mysteries set in this locale.
Or, if someone says, "No, tanks" to the above, the fantastic Charles M. Russell museum in Great Falls, Montana is only 316 miles from Cody, getting up into Big Sky Country.
John Blackshoe
So, by all means, "expose yourself to art" this summer!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Expose_Yourself_to_Art.jpeg
So much to see, so little time!
DeleteSo many from which to choose. A lot depends on mood. The old Dutch Masters. Norman Rockwell. Stan Lynde (Rick O'Shay comic strip), the early Disney animators.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the ultimate artist, God. I was just looking out the window and admiring the sparkle of drops of water on the berries of a pepper tree. And the antics of a squirrel figuring out how to get from the top of the hook down to come of birdseed on the feeder. Plus the subtle shading of her fur.
No other artist comes close!
DeleteKen Marschall is a remarkable maritime painter. One of the losses in the fire, was a book called Carrie War, edited by Paul Stillwell, that contains a photo of a ditched SB2C, in the dark, with a FLETCHER coming alongside, and a lit up ESSEX passing by, during the recovery after the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
ReplyDeleteMission Beyond Darkness, painted by Robert Taylor.
eBay listing with a good image. Nice!
DeleteJB
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303114261967
Show me the Monet!
ReplyDeleteHeh.
Delete