Woman with a Crow

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)
Woman with a Crow, 1904
Charcoal, pastel, and watercolor on paper
Toledo Museum of Art 1936.4
Check out the TMA link above, I can't like to the work itself so check under Works on Paper.

I'm back! By both request and need (I really missed this). I do hope I can keep it up! Thanks so much to those who follow the blog and let me know how much they enjoy it. That is exactly what I hoped for when I started it. Yay!

The TMA has an endless array of incredible works of art. Normally I wouldn't be one to pull out a Picasso as being one of the best. Yes, yes too typical I often feel. I adored Picasso when I was in high school, but quickly realized that it wasn't such a stretch to be a fan of Picasso and I distanced myself while I learned and fell in love with a greater world of art. I've come back a bit and discovered so much more than the cubist paintings I spent so much of looking on.

The thing that is incredible about artists like Picasso is their artistic range. Picasso went through many periods in both his art and the world of art he was a part of. This gorgeous drawing/watercolor was made when he was only 23 during what is now considered his blue period (noting not only the more melancholy feeling of the work but also the predominant use of the color). I've seen many a Picasso over the years, but this easily ranks up there as a favorite.

Camera Obscura

Jasmijn, to the light, 2008
Richard Learoyd (British, b.1966)
unique camera obscura Ilfochrome photograph
h: 71.1 x w: 60.2 in
image: http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425986868/396/richard-learoyd-jasmijn-to-the-light.html

I browse through art magazine dog-earing images that catch me eye, and this is one from today. On first glance I thought it was a painting, the softness, the light, look on the woman's face. Currently part of the exhibition, Unique Photographs at the McKee Gallery in NYC, Learoyd's photographs are more than life size.

"Created with a camera obscura, each image is projected directly onto giant pieces of Ilfochrome, and each glossy print is unique. The lack of a negative yields an almost overwhelming clarity and one needs to see the prints in person to truly appreciate them." (Brea Souders Photography: A Place for New Projects and Updates blog)

The Corn Poppy

The Corn Poppy, c.1919
Kees van Dongen (Dutch, 1877-1966)
oil on canvas
21 1/2 x 18 in
Collection: MFA Houston
image: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/dongen/corn_poppy.jpg.html

Sorry I've been mia for a bit of time. I was off on a 10 day road trip to Austin for a wedding and then was a bit too beat upon my return to a new job to get myself up and running. Hopefully today we'll start a good solid upkeep to this blog.

We got to see a bit of art (and a respite from the heat) on our road trip to Texas, and this was one of my favorite paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. A museum trip is always worthwhile if i discover a new work or artist, and happily van Dongen and The Corn Poppy fit both categories.

Promenade

Promenade, 1917-18
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) French, b. Russia
oil on canvas
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Image: royalacademy-Fron Russia

A scan of my art shelves brought me across a new book of mine, a bible illustrated by Chagall. While today's art is not from that work it got me searching for a Chagall. Another artist whose work didn't interest me until recently, Chagall is beginning to grab my eye. His figures float through the canvas. Promenade caught my eye with its color and the figure of the woman who looks as if she may float out of the scene at any point. Take note of what the man holds down as his lady floats up. The man is Chagall and the woman, his wife Bella, who appears in many of his paintings.

Love is a significant theme in much Chagall's work, and is evident here. The painting makes me smile. Chagall is insanely popular (I had much trouble sifting through the oodles of links to sites selling reproductions) and to see his work, this popularity can be understood. The beauty, whimsy and passion for life in his work is a little hard to resit. I went to the Chagall Museum when I was in Nice some years ago and what has stayed with me is his stained glass, the infusion of light in these beautiful compositions is an experience.

This is only tangentially related but Chagall recently came up in my world through the book, The World to Come, by Dara Horn. Developed around a Chagall drawing and some his history but not about Chagall, it is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it.

Surrealist

Remedios Varo (1908—1963)

Mujer saliendo del psicoanalista [Woman Leaving the Psychoanalyst]

1960

oil on canvas

70.50 x 40.50 cm

Museo de Arte Moderno. INBA, Mexico

I was introduced to Remedios Varo by a very good friend years ago, and unfortunately have not spent much time with her work since. Her work is laden with psychological imagery, symbolism and surrealistic subjects. In this painting, the woman is about to drop a piece of her "baggage" (one of her veils) that she has succeeded in removing through her visit to the psychoanalyst. She carries more to be gotten rid of, requiring return visits. Unfortunately Varos is a relatively unknown surrealist amongst her peers.

A great group of her work on a Flickr page.

A video of more of Varos' work:



I hope to get a work in for Friday, but I'll be driving to Buffalo tonight so I can't promise anything. I am very excited about checking out a special exhibition at the Albright Knox Art Gallery this weekend though, will probably be sharing some of the work next week!

Image of artist

Frida Kahlo, 1931
Imogen Cunningham

Yay! A work of art by a woman, with a woman artist as its subject. Double women artist day. Imogen Cunningham was a glorious artist. Her photography is wonderful. Spend some time with her Published works.

Cunningham output consisted mostly of portraits, nudes and flowers. She did many self-portraits (which I adore - see the one to the left), one of her first self-portraits being a nude self-portrait from 1906. Cunningham found her way to the creative side of photography through studying chemistry in college where she wrote her thesis on the chemical process of photography. (http://www.cs.washington.edu/building/art/ImogenCunningham/) She became one of the first professional woman photographers, opening her own studio in 1910. Cunningham worked as a photographer her entire life, dying at the age of 93, and as a result the joy of discovering new images if her work is new to you can last for a time.

Camille Claudel

Camille Claudel (1864-1943)
The Waltz, 1892-1905
Neue Pinakothek, Munich

Unfortunately, Claudel's life story often overshadows her accomplishments as a sculptor. Both a student of Rodin and his lover until she was 30 years, their tumultuous relationship and her later incarceration in a mental asylum for the last 30 years of her life seep into the details of her work. While I am never one to think that biography is separate from creativity, talent and genius, it is important to look and see how an artist's work stands on its own.

Due to Claudel's connection with such a revered and well-known artist, it was difficult for her to shine on her own as a sculptor once their relationship ended. Some believe that her work is derivative of Rodin's others see its special beauty and her unique talent. Claudel's sculptures are intimate and flowing as you can see in The Waltz. At the same time it is fascinating to see read about discussions of the affect of Claudel on Rodin's work (she remains a source of inspiration for his work)

The original version of this sculpture was criticized for its too blatant nudity and it was strongly suggested to Claudel to add the drapery which she did. While the drapery may detract from Claudel's original intentions it showcases her sculptural talent.

An exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Art focused on the relationship and work of the two, both influencing the other in their work. Camille Claudel & Rodin: Fateful Encounter

The Ladies

Elizabeth Vigee le Brun
Self-portrait in a straw hat, after 1782
National Gallery, London

In honor of Women's History Month, a week of works by fantastic women. Vigee le Brun was one of the most successful women artists of her time as well more successful than many of the male counterparts of her day. Primarily self-taught due to the exclusion of women from art schools, Vigee Le Brun painted her way into the French Court at the age of 20. She was commissioned to paint portraits of inflential people of the time, including Queen Marie-Antoinette. She was admitted (one of only 4 seats reserved for women) to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris.

While marriage and children often ended the artistic careers of women, Vigee Le Brun supported herself and her daughter with painting. Her self-portrait focuses on her status as a professional artist, her palette showing the colors with which this portrait is painted. (NG London/Painting of the Month). She was revered by both critics and fellow painters alike. When coming across this painting in the National Gallery (I wandered its halls often while studying in London) I always stopped to spend some time with Elizabeth.

Oddly, a lover of both bats and Vigee Le Brun dedicates a site to her... I don't exactly understand it but it offers much in the way of text and images. http://www.batguano.com/vigee.html

Reading

Woman Reading, ca.1876, cast 1902
Aime-Jules Dalou (1838-1902)
Musee d'Orsay
H. 56.1; W. 43.9; D. 35.3 cm

This little gem was discovered on one of my weekly walks through one of the museum's galleries (I try to go once a week during lunch and spend time with things I've neglected up until now). I never noticed the piece before and adore the beauty and simplicity of the sculpture, and it doesn't hurt that the subject is a woman reading. This particular image comes from the collection of the Musee d'Orsay, as a number of statuettes were most cast from the original model, in various materials, stoneware, porcelain and bronze.

This particular statuette stems from an original model, Femme nue lisant dans un fauteuil
(Nude Woman Reading in an Armchair). This is my first foray into the work of Jules Dalou as a I rack up the areas of omission in my art historical brain (with the plethora of art history, that shall always be the case, happily!). My late 19th c. knowledge of sculptors is horribly limited to Rodin and it turns out Dalou was considered his rival for France's greatest sculptor! (as I read more, bits of memory float back so I am pretty sure he may have crossed my radar in the past but apparently did not stick!) "Dalou played a major role in French cultural life by providing influential alternatives to the Academy and the Salon as arbiters of modern art. He was a founding member of the Société des Artistes Français and later a founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts." (NGA bio)

Dalou had a strong belief in political and social equality, and is known for his statues of workers, in addition to grand-scale public works in Paris. Despite this, his domestic, more intimate realistic sculptures of women actually inaugurated the genre at the Salon in 1870 as the move beyond Academic Art (idealization of the human figure in this case) continued.

She

She turned her face to the window, 1868
Winslow Homer
Wood engraving, Engraver: Edward Sears
Page from The Galaxy, May, 1868, vol. V, opposite p. 581 Drawn by Winslow Homer, engraved by E. Sears

As commonly occurs in my wanderings (both virtually and physically) I've fallen in love with another artist, but not yet as a whole. Winslow Homer never held any particular interest for me, I tend to shy away from much American painting, while pretty and nice and often wonderfully real, I admit to finding it a bit dull. Many a painter was also a gifted draftsman, and Engravers such as Sears (who I can't find any info on quickly, only that he probably had his own engraving co. - via an ad in Harper's, maybe I'll do a little more research) spent their time bringing these drawings to the printed page. You'll see many of these images from Harper's Weekly, but all kinds of magazines and journals from the late 19th century appear.

I was playing around in the Brooklyn's Museum's collections using their new tag search to find works with women in them (an email from a dear friend prompted this :) and fell into the wonder of Homer's engravings. Maybe it is the lack of pretension in a drawing that has no color, where the focus is on the details of line, the need for a straightforward picture that tells a story, so it stands out amongst the text that surrounds it in the pages of the magazine. Either way (or ways I have yet to pinpoint), these wood engravings are great little stories that I can't stop looking at.

Also check out HarpWeek's cartoon of the day.