It's About Time: March 2014

Sunday, March 30, 2014

American Landscape painter George Inness 1825-1894

George Inness (American Hudson River School/Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Early Autumn, Montclair 1888

Rainy weekend here in the Chesapeake, and yesterday I thought about the work of George Inness several times. As you know, if you follow this blog, I seldom feature landscape painters, but George Inness (1825-1894) is an exception. His early work was influenced initially by prints of the works of Claude Lorrain & the 17th-century Dutch landscape masters. He was also touched by the work of the leading Hudson River School painters - particularly that of Thomas Cole & Asher B. Durand - whose style is evident in some of his early canvases. Travel to Europe led him to be influenced by the work of the Barbizon school, & finally, by the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism found vivid expression in Inness’ works toward the end of his life. His mature works helped define the Tonalist movement. A few of Inness’ later paintings stay with me over time. The obscured details, diffused light, organic forms, & inherent glow of these paintings are surely evocative.

George Inness (American Hudson River School/Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) The Trout Brook

George Inness (American Hudson River School/Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Spring Blossoms

George Inness (American Hudson River School/Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) The Lone Farm

George Inness (American Hudson River School/Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Niagara

George Inness (American Hudson River School - Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Early Autumn, Montclair 1891

George Inness (American Hudson River School - Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Morning, Catskill Valley (The Red Oaks) 1894

George Inness (American Hudson River School - Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Near the Village, October 1894

George Inness (American Hudson River School - Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Spirit of Autumn 1891

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The evolution of portraits of Women by Frans Hals 1623-

1611 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Portrait of a Woman

Frans Hals the Elder (c 1582-1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter born in the Southern Netherlands (present-day Belgium). He is known for his loose painterly brushwork, & he helped introduce this lively painting style into Dutch art.

1620 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Catharina Both van der Eem

1625 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Anetta Hanemans

1626 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Anna van der Aar

1628 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Gypsy Girl

1630 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Woman

1631 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Cornelia Claesdr Vooght

1633 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Malle Babbe

1633 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Seated Woman

1634 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Port of a Woman

1635 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Feyntje van Steenkiste

1635 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Woman (Marie Larp)

1635 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Malle Bbbe

1635 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Middle-Aged Woman with Folded Hands

1635 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Portrait of a Woman

1637 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Standing Woman

1638 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Woman

1640 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Woman

1640 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Woman Holding a Fan

1640 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Woman

1643 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Standing Woman

1643 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Mrs Bodolphe

1644 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Dorothea Berck

1644 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Portrait of a Woman

1648 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Woman

1648 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Seated Woman presumed to be Maria Vernatti

1648 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Seated Woman with a Fan

1650 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Isabella Coymans

1650 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Portrait of a Woman

1655 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) A Woman

1660 Frans Hals (Dutch artist, c 1582-1666) Seated Woman

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Amazing Portraits & Landscapes by Polish Artist Rafal Malczewski 1892-1965

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Portrait Kazimiera Żuławska against the Tatra Mountains 1920

I got a call yesterday from a lady who was putting together a talk on paintings of women in the 1920s. While searching for portraits of women in Europe in the 1920s, I came across several wonderful paintings of Polish women set in amazing landscapes. Each of the artist's landscapes was more breathtaking than the last. And when he portrayed the wind in the mountain by using a woman hanging laundry, I was hooked.

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Quarry 1927

Painter & author Rafal Malczewski was the son of Polish painter Jacek Malczewski. He studied philosophy, architecture, agronomy, & painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, in Vienna. Between WWI & WWII, Rafal Malczewski gained considerable fame as a painter with exhibitions in Poland & beyond (International Biennale in Venice in 1932 , Berlin , Helsinki , Los Angeles , Moscow , New York). In the years 1917-1939, he lived in Zakopane, Poland; but during the war he traveled to Hungary, France, Brazil, the United States, & finally settled in Montreal, where he lived from 1942 until his death. He painted his landscapes & portraits in both oil & watercolor.

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Portrait of Unrugów Witkiewicz, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz's wife 1923

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Wind in the Mountains c 1925

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Portrait of Sophia Stryjeńska c 1925-29

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) A Beam of Light 1926-27

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Portrait of Helena Roj-Rytardowej 1923

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Autumn 1926

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Portrait Kazimiera Żuławska background of the Alps 1924

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Brick House 1928

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Auto in Winter Landscape 1930

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Blue pinafores (Farm) 1925

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) The Tatra Rally 1930

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Mountain Landscape (Landscape with Poronin) 1928-30

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Mountain Landscape - Hutsulshchyna 1933

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) View from the Kopieniec Cyrhli Great 1927

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Spring in the Mountains 1937

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Landscape

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) The storm in the mountains of Brazil 1943

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Evening in Poronin 1924-26

Rafal Malczewski (Polish painter, 1892-1965) Mount Warsaw

Why blog?

On March 4, 2011, Emile de Bruijn of the National Trust in the UK, wrote on his blog "Treasure Hunt" of making history and & art available to all: "Traditionally art history has been inherently elitist and exclusive, both socially and intellectually. Art tended to be commissioned by the upper classes. Connoisseurship was seen as a superior, refined skill and the products of art-historical scholarship were guarded almost as fiercely as the art itself."

On May 29, 1012, William Noel, now Director of Special Collections Center & Director of Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies. University of Pennsylvania, told The TED Blog, "...digital data is not a threat to real data, it’s just an advertisement that only increases the aura of the original, so there just doesn’t seem to be any point in putting restrictions on the data. There is the further fact that the data is funded by taxpayers’ money. So it didn’t seem fair to limit what taxpayers could do with the data that they paid for."

On February 7, 2017, Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced a new policy: all images of public-domain artworks in the Museum's collection are now available for free & unrestricted use. "We have been working toward the goal of sharing our images with the public for a number of years. Our comprehensive & diverse museum collection spans 5,000 years of world culture & our core mission is to be open & accessible for all who wish to study & enjoy the works of art in our care. Increasing access to the Museum’s collection & scholarship serves the interests & needs of our 21C audiences by offering new resources for creativity, knowledge, & ideas."