Small Girl with a Cat

A Small Girl with a Cat
Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923)
1889
Petit Palais, Geneva

I just came across this fabulous painting in a book at work, The Cat: 3500 Years of the Cat in Art. This is not an artist I'm familiar with nor is it the best painting I've ever seen, but I love how the girl is holding the cat and the pink in black. The media and size of the painting are unknown. It does look like the artist was a fan of cats: http://www.steinlen.net/main.php?g2_itemId=94

Steinlen was most well known for his illustration work in France, designing fabulous posters like the one to the left. Yay for cats!

Shy

Shy Look, 2008
Stephen Scott Young
Watercolor on Twinrocker handmade paper
14 1/8 x 14 3/4 inches
Image: adelsongalleries.com

Another find via my daily work, watercolorist, Stephen Scott Young. I didn't put much thought into watercolor paintings for a long time because watercolor is a medium that many beginning painters approach with the thought of it being easier but in reality it is much much more difficult to excel at technically, let alone create unique interesting paintings. (Admittedly, your typical "pretty" watercolor landscapes don't hold much interest for me).

The marked fluidity that is inherent in watercolor is plainly visible here yet there is also an amazing amount of care and restraint in the attention paid to this little girl's face. The strength and tightness in the details of the face, pull your vision inward. I was struck by the girl's expression but am also drawn by the limits in color, the rich, steadiness of the brown and the almost ethereal quality of the white/light pink. Young uses the same colors in the backdrop as he does with the girl yet she does not blend in.

The Reader

A Young Girl Reading, 1770-1772
Jean-Honore Fragonard
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Image: wikimedia commons

I apologize for such a weak week in art of the day blurbing, I have been preparing for the conference I am headed to this afternoon. I set out looking for a Fragonard painting and via wikipedia discovered something I am surprised I hadn't yet. I've had a small print of this painting that I love for a number of years. I never took the time to figure out who the painting was by and am very happy it is Fragonard. Fragonard was part of my study into Rococo painting for my thesis. Oh how I love domesticity, frivolity and playfulness!

So, since it is art, a painting I love and of a lady reading it seems pretty fitting to sign off with it on my way to the ARLIS (Art Libraries Society) conference, to hang with art librarians. woo! Indianapolis here I come!

Enjoy the sweetness, the curved ring finger, the golden dress. I'll try to post while I am away but if I don't get the chance I'll be back on Tuesday!

Lonely Ones

To mennesker. De ensomme (Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones), 1899
Edvard Munch (1864-1944)
Woodcut
Image and owner: Museum of Modern Art

I think this is my first repetition of an artist (See Munch) I discovered this wonderful woodcut today. A bit moody, a bit sad, I still find the image beautiful. The mood of the image is perfectly equal to Munch's preoccupation with dark themes in direct opposition to Impressionism. Munch, through simple forms (most specifically in his prints), creates strong emotions and attachment to basic themes such as love, death and anxiety.

The woodcut lends itself to a "cutting out" of the figures, similar to a jigsaw puzzle. Each is solidly their own as if they could be plucked out of the landscape. This, along with the moody desolation of the landscape, and the very specific space between them enhances the stark contrast between the land and the water. The image remains seamless where we still see two human beings in one moment despite their separation. Munch reused elements of his works, like the woman in this print. We also see her in the lithograph, Young Girl on the Shore, 1896.

I had a recommendation for a theme week of art recently. If there is anything that you would like to learn more about and discover more of (a movement, period of time, type of media, subject matter...) please leave me a comment, or email at alisonlilith@gmail.com. Don't forget to take advantage of the tags at the bottom of each post to see previously posted art that is connected to what you are looking at.

La Coiffure

Edgar Degas (183401917)
Combing the Hair ('La Coiffure') ca. 1896
Oil on canvas
114.3 x 146.7 cm.
National Gallery, London.

One of my favorite paintings in the National Gallery. I think the initial pull was the monochromatic color. Despite the limited color palette (though there exists a wonderful red palette), the painting stands out. The pedestrian subject matter creates a focus on the detail.

Degas is most well-known for his paintings of dancers, subject matter which has never particularly appealed to me. I prefer these simple interior scenes, reminding me of Vuillard (yet his interiors have a greater focus on pattern). I find it fascinating that the maid has the same color hair as the girl who's hair she combs. It creates an affinity between the women, one that most likely doesn't actually exist outside of the scene Degas presents to us.

The National Gallery is collaborating with the London Film School on a project (Transcriptions) in which the students choose a work in the gallery as inspiration for a short film piece. Here is Mistress inspired by La Coiffure.