Tag Archives: Auguste Renoir

seine: inseinity

What was it while gazing at the Seine that Verlaine came upon his definition of water,”that impure liquid, a drop of which is enough to spoil the transparency of absinthe.” ? What was it about the Seine that attracted so … Continue reading

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balzac: from appearance into essence

Rodin’s memorial to Balzac, the great writer offended decency, and the prevailing taste of the public and a good part of the French establishment. Auguste Rodin’s statue of Honore de Balzac is an imaginary figure, conceived and sculptured half a … Continue reading

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steal, conceal, & no deal : Blood Canvas

The theft of Art from occupied and conquered countries by the Nazis has been well-documented, and the complex legal issues in the recovery of stolen art, and legal title continues to be an emotional and divisive issue that touches more … Continue reading

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EXUBERANT BUT NOT ABERRANT: No Orgies Of COLOR

Henri Matisse was termed a “wild beast”, a fauve. Traditional art was soon to become an irrelevancy, an anachronism, as experimental art began to develop its own audience, its own markets, and its own rationales apart from being merely anti-traditionalist. It seemed … Continue reading

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SEURAT & THE PSYCHOLOGY of GEOMETRY: Point By Point

Over the past several decades, many scholars have attempted to explain the meaning of this great composition. For some, it shows the growing middle class at leisure. Others see it as a representation of social tensions between modern city dwellers … Continue reading

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BONNARD: INTIMATE ESCAPE Into Charged Psychological Moments

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was not a revolutionary artist but he synthesized several different styles to create works of striking painterliness and memorably glorious color. He borrowed a lightness from the Impressionists, a bold palette from the Post-Impressionists and Fauves, a compressed … Continue reading

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IMPOSSIBLE WORLD: DISILLUSIONED SOULS AS A REFRAMED VALUE

Jean Antoine Watteau( 1684-1721) was thirty-three when he painted “Embarkation” . Two years later in 1719 he went to London to sonsult Dr. Richard mead, the queen’s physician, and was there subjected to such treatment as the best medical knowledge … Continue reading

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MANET & MORISOT: AMBIGUITY BETWEEN PLEASURE AND DESIRE

“For Realist painters at mid-century, the experience of the senses was not something to be allegorized. It was something to be given to the viewer full-on. Such a statement became a philosophical position. It was part of the materialist view of the world … Continue reading

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REAL IMPRESSIONS: NOBLESSE OBLIGE LESS

In contrast with Post-Impressionism and the avant-garde trends of the twentieth century the painters of French Naturalism and Impressionism rarely gave verbal expression to their aesthetics. “The most solid base for the work of art is reality constantly studied.” ( … Continue reading

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BEHIND THE NONCOMMITTAL GAZE

Who else? Who but the well bred, courteous Edouard Manet could have put before an astonished public the “female gorilla”, that “gamy courtesan” Olympia? Public and critics were for once unanimous. There could be no two ways about it: Manet … Continue reading

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