Welcome to the Friday Afternoon Challenge! My humble offering today: The Pose of the Art!

[CTyankee]

Here are pose details from great works of art that should be familiar to you. Do you know their artists and titles of the works?

...and be good DUbies and don’t cheat...
1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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[frazzled]

1. #4 John Singer Sargeant

a detail of the portrait of Catherine Vlasto 1897

[CTyankee]

2. something about this detail that screams Sargent...I love this pose!

[frazzled]

3. Yeah, it's screaming it loudly!

That was the easy one. I believe the first one is the statue of Cupid and Psyche at the Louvre. I just looked up the artist, Canova. Am I right?

[CTyankee]

4. Oh, yes. Isn't it lovely? One of my BIG favorites, just for the sheer beauty of it.

Hard to exactly place Canova...this was done in about 1795...hmm, it doesn't appear to be too Roccoco but it isn't quite in the Romantic era...

[panader0]

5. I should have known that one.

I have a print of Sargeant's 'Spanish Dancer" (I think it is called). The folds of cloth are similar.
By the way, thanks to C T for these great art lessons. My score is terrible but I'm learning.

[CTyankee]

7. Yeah, come to think of it you are right! It's called "El Jaleo" and I had looked and looked for

a detail I could use from that painting but couldn't find one that didn't SO give it away. SO dramatic and fabulous!

Thanks for your good vibes! More to come in the future!

[countryjake]

6. #3 has to be something to do with the burial of Jesus...

at first I thought it might be one of Marat Sade in the bathtub but those always have a pen in that right hand and seeing that vague bare foot there next to the stone slab makes me think tomb.

I've no idea who did it or what it's called, just my hunch.

[CTyankee]

8. Hmm...interesting comparison with Death of Marat....

[countryjake]

14. The Entombment of Christ by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio...

heh heh, found it! And I'd never before seen that one! Interesting placement of each and every hand in that painting.

Yeah, on Marat, I didn't think Charlotte took off her shoes to murder him, ha, but it is what first came to mind. Obviously dead fingers.

[CTyankee]

16. Aren't you leaving something out? It's not just ONE artist...

[countryjake]

18. Aha, is that why I couldn't see that foot in the one by Caravaggio?

And the greenery was different. Hmmm....

[horseshoecrab]

17. #3 on the right...

Nice job countryjake!

The painting to the right of Caravaggio's Entombment of Christ is another Entombment of Christ by Peter Paul Rubens.


Hi CTyankee!

[CTyankee]

20. There you go! Rubens is SO evident with his brushstroke! I love this photo comparison!

Caravaggio stripped it down (oh, god that plank!) and Rubens flourished it up!

I was in Rubens house in Antwerp last October. What a thrill. I also saw his Elevation of the Cross the Deposition from the Cross, the ORIGINALS, in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp because the Museum of Fine Arts was closed for renovation then! What a JOY! Otherwise, I would have seen copies. This was a fluke and I was SO THRILLED!

[frazzled]

9. I'm feeling hot today

So many of these details are so familiar. And then a clue pops into your head. #6 is from the Vermeer painting The Astronomer, which I saw discussed somewhere in the last several years. And bingo, there it is:

[CTyankee]

10. Oh, my, yes indeed! You can see in the detail the glisten of the paint!

Last edited Fri Dec 7, 2012, 07:26 PM - Edit history (1)

I will tell you that when I saw View of Delft at the Mauritshaus in The Hague in 2011 I was dumbfounded by that "glistening." I had no idea from the photographs I had seen of it, that it was a picture of the town right following a cloudburst of rain. I could not take my eyes off of it!
A docent kindly told me that when Salvador Dali made a "pilgrimage" to see that painting he sank to his knees before it...

[frazzled]

12. That's why I hope the Internet (or reproductions in books) never

come to replace, in people's minds, the experience of seeing works of art in person (cf. Google Art Project). Come to think of it, that goes for music, too. And other things. (Even "talking" on the Internet, which is very different from having a conversation in real life!)

We live in a world of simulacra of simulacra, and sometimes we have to remember that the lived phenomenological encounter is still the most potent form of experience. I was talking to a painter at Thanksgiving dinner, and we were discussing this very issue about reproductions of paintings: people think they are very tiny! or that the colors they are seeing are the same as those used in the actual work; or that texture or light are not elements. I'm grateful for books and reproductions, but you can get led very astray by them.

I'm glad you got to see that beautiful glistening light. I can only imagine Senor Dalì dropping to his knees upon witnessing it.

[CTyankee]

15. I feel very blessed that I have been able to travel and see paintings in person. I recall

The Death of the Virgin in the Louvre. It was very different from what I had seen in reproductions in books when I had done an Independent study of Caravaggio. Amazing difference in real life.

BTW, the Mauritshuis is closed for renovation until 2014 but Girl With Pearl Earring will be in the U.S. next year in the fall at the Frick in NYC. I am sorry that View of Delft isn't with it. I did see Girl at the Mauritshaus when I saw the View. It was a very fascinating portrait but it didn't glisten like View. Interesting...

[frazzled]

19. Oh, my, there will be lines out the Frick's doors to see it

I'm pretty sure I'll get to NYC next year, so I'll definitely have to stand in that line. I've never been to the Mauritshuis.

[CTyankee]

21. I LOVE house museums, like Mauritshaus and the Frick! They are so welcoming and personal!

I am blessed that I can hop on a train from New Haven to NYC in a matter of about an hour and a half...altho I do take a cab to the 90s and Central Park West...

[CTyankee]

34. It will be at the Frick in October, IIRC. Google their website for the dates.

Girl is smallish and very lovely...

The Frick also has "St. Francis in the Desert" by Bellini. Google that one before you go, if you don't already know it. There are details in that painting that are joys to discover and there was a NYT article on it a couple of years ago that show some of its details. There is also a room of Rococco paintings that are quite charming. I saw the Renoir selections of couples dancing which was on tour at the time and was in heaven...

[yardwork]

24. I remember seeing van Gogh paintings in the Met. Incredible colors and brushstrokes!

The reproductions are nothing like the originals.

Or the first time I saw Turner's painting of the Houses of Parliament on fire. Like seeing a vision.

There's nothing like seeing them in person. I agree.

[CTyankee]

25. Oh, thanks. It is such a joy, isn't it? I have a bucket list of paintings I want to see before I die

I had a melt down with Van Gogh at his museum in Amsterdam. It was at the end of the barge trip I had going to all the towns where the Old Dutch Masters had painted. I was overwhelmed at one of his wheat fields paintings with crows (to this day I don't know which one) and the tears just flowed. I think it was because I was so grateful that I could see them, in addition to what else I had seen during that trip, esp. the Vermeer.

[yardwork]

26. I really want to go to the Netherlands.

Your travels are an inspiration to me!

I love your Friday night threads.

[CTyankee]

28. a barge trip on the canals is not the worst way to see the Netherlands. I had a half price offer

from Road Scholar (used to be Elderhostel). I signed up immediately. We had a great group of about 20 people on a little barge with about 12 cabins. Not a bad way to see how people lived along the canals and the stops in towns were terrific. Glorious, magnificent art.

Of course, that is my love and destiny. Others might not feel that way and that is fine. I'm just a little crazy over art so...

[Nay]

41. Agree about seeing art in person. I saw a few Van Goghs for the first time and was struck

dumb by how much more powerful paintings are IRL. There's no comparison. Ditto on Monet.

[CTyankee]

45. You can OD on Monet at the Orangerie in Paris. They have his huge waterlilies which you

see in enforced silence and they play this rather odd music as you float among the rooms. It's a pretty strange museum experience...and you can get ejected for violating the rules.

[elehhhhna]

11. HELP me DU artsmarties!

There's an old painting of a man laughing at a globe, iirc. Any clues? It's charming and funny and by an old master, I'm sure.

There's also a dutch painting of a woman with a baby with an obviously stinky diaper that's a hoot. Painters name starts with an H I think?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CTyankee]

22. You know, the Golden Age of Dutch Art (late 17th century) has a VAST amount of art!

People produced art like you wouldn't believe! There is SO MUCH of this art, you really can't keep track. Or at least I couldn't and believe you me, I TRIED! God, there's a lot.

Just Google what you can and you may find it. Google is pretty good...

[CTyankee]

35. do you mean Hals? I was in his house museum in Haarlem but I don't recall seeing those two.

[elehhhhna]

40. It may be Hals "Sense of Smell" but I can't google a pic of it --

evidently it was sold at auction relatively recently. I looked for like an hour last night.

[CTyankee]

42. It makes sense that you can't google something that has been in a private collection for ages...

unless a photo was published in an article on the auction. I would think that the auction of a Hals would be covered somewhere in t he press (I see stuff on auctions all the time in the NYT art section), but maybe not if it is considered a minor work...

How did you know about this painting?

[elehhhhna]

43. I know -- in fact the catalogue online HAD a pic but it's gone, deleted

and not cached! I saw it online a few years ago and sort of loved it -- although Hals may not be the pic I'm recalling -- there was quite a trend of painings with homey scenes of drunks and stinkypanted babies, etc. back in the day.

Sidebar; I am of Dutch descent and the ONE time I visited Holland, the Rijksmuseum (sp) - yanno, Rembrandt! - was CLOSED FOR remodeling. Dammit. The Anne Frank House was open, thank jah - so one out the top 2 burning desire stops was available.

[CTyankee]

44. I visited Amsterdam in the fall of 2011 and the Rijksmuseum was undergoing some renovation

but they moved "The Night Watch" to another section so folks could see it. I had seen it many, many years ago when my mother took me on a European trip. I had a vivid memory of that painting and wanted to see it again.

I did not have time for the Anne Frank House and it was a distance from the arts district I was in. But I did visit the wonderful Van Gogh Museum. Three floors of his stuff! The man really kept busy!
I also visited Rembrandt's house and it was the coolest thing ever to stand in his studio...and I even saw his bed!

I was also in Delft, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Gouda (an absolutely beautiful town with gorgeous cheese).

[librechik]

13. Cupid and Psyche by Canova is #1

Canova--so refined and perfect!

often called simply "The Kiss"nowadays when it's reproduced flagrantly!

[CTyankee]

23. such beauty! I love this sculpture...were you an art student?

[librechik]

53. yes

have the terminal degree, in fact--MFA in Art & Art History--wrote criticism & art features for 10 years, 16 yrs ago.

wish i hadn't fallen asleep so much in slide lectures--my memory is shot! I can't identify most of your exquisite choices.

cheers!

[CTyankee]

56. my undergrad degree was in Fine Arts, but in drama.

When I went back to school many years later for a Masters I decided to go for Liberal Studies. If I were younger I'd try for a Masters in Art History, but I know I don't have it in me at my advanced age to go through the rigor of another Master's. I attend as many art lectures as I can and I visit lots of museums instead...

[librechik]

57. "consuming" and enjoying art is so much more important than degrees, anyway

and your ability to appreciate art is so enhanced by study, even if in a non-academic venue--

and art history is the ONLY way to study history, IMO!

[CTyankee]

58. problem is, the more you see, the more you want to learn more about it. I'm constantly scouring

my interlibrary system online for books. Right now I am trying to make my way through Prof. Kathleen Curran's tome "The Romanesque Revival: Religion, Politics, and the Transnational Exchange." Her lecture at Trinity College in late October on "Reinventing Rome" inspired my architecture Challenge of a few weeks ago, named (surprise) "Reinventing Rome" and to whom I gave credit and thanks in the post...

[CTyankee]

27. SO, #2 and #5 are to be solved! C'MON FOLKS! YOU CAN DO IT!

[Liberal In Texas]

29. Pieta

[CTyankee]

31. no, no Pieta here. If you mean #1, that is Cupid and Psyche by Canova...

[JackRiddler]

30. Is #6 from a Holbein portrait of Henry VIII?

(No, it's not, at least after googling and seeing the Holbein with a globe. Oh well.)

[CTyankee]

32. sorry, no Holbein, altho he did some terrific portraits, didn't he?

It is Vermeer's "The Astronomer" and has already been guessed.

[TrogL]

33. isn't #5 "the piano lesson" or something like that?

There's a guy off-frame kissing her.

[CTyankee]

36. No...if you mean #5. If you mean #6, that has been guessed and is Vermeer's "The Astronomer."

So you had the right artist.

#5 was painted later and is not Vermeer...

[TrogL]

37. It was actually #4

[CTyankee]

38. #4 has been identified. It is Catherine Vlasto by John Singer Sargent.

[CTyankee]

39. A major HINT for #2!

If you know what she is holding in her hand, you will easily figure out this painting!

[frazzled]

46. If it's a golden apple ...

It should be the Judgment of Paris, but it's not the Raphael or Rubens versions of that myth, nor any other I can tell. The blue dress is not what Greek goddesses wore.

So it's not a golden apple, I guess.

[pinboy3niner]

47. #2: Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Persephona

For whatever reason, pomegranates seem all the rage these days. Indeed, the juice-packed seeds contained in this fruit carry quite the punch, and the removal of the seeds from the membranes is an experience quite unlike any other. While the fruit itself is growing in popularity (apparently it has a plethora of health benefits), for many the religious significance of the pomegranate is still relatively unknown.

Obviously, with the hundreds of blood red seeds contained within, the pomegranate has often been a symbol of fertility. In Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by the God Hades and taken away to the Underworld to live as his wife. Demeter, the mother of Persephone and the goddess of the Harvest, became so saddened by the loss of her daughter that all vegetation on earth ceased to grow. Zeus, not about the let the earth die, commanded Hades to return Persephone. According to the rule that governed the universe, those who ate or drank while in the underworld were doomed to spend eternity there. While Persephone attempted to avoid food, Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds. Because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld every year. Every year, during the six months that Persephone joins her husband in the Underworld, Demeter returns to mourning and the earth is no longer fertile. This Greek myth became the explanation for the change in seasons. Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting Persephona depicts Persephone holding the fatal fruit:

http://causafinitaest.blogspot.com/2010/12/pomegranates-from-persephone-to-jesus.html

[CTyankee]

48. Whattid I tellya!

So Pinboy, did you figure out that it was a pomegranate and take it from there or did you know the painting?

[pinboy3niner]

49. I didn't know the painting

And, while pomegranate seemed a possibility, I began with a broader search focusng on fruit generally--et viola, shirley! It wasn't even as hard as I expected. The others were tougher and took longer, and though I got a couple, I was too late. It was a fun Challenge, though!

[CTyankee]

50. Would you like to venture a guess on #5?

[pinboy3niner]

51. Rut-roh...

I had no luck there, but I could give it another shot.

[CTyankee]

52. Here ya go, everybody!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Carr,_Countess_of_Bedford

Lots of intrigue around the royal court of her day...this gal was born in the Tower of London!

[Baitball Blogger]

54. Thank you CTyankee!

[CTyankee]

55. Thank YOU for stopping by! Hope to see you this coming Friday...