OK, perhaps not exactly your grandmother’s attic, but it seems that a previously unattributed, damaged work stored at Yale University is thought by many experts to be a Velazquez.
Tag: museums
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Masterworks Monday: Vermeer
I love modern & contemporary art. Artists who find a new way of translating our reality fascinate me. But the Art History geek in me also loves to look back at what was groundbreaking eons ago. We have so much to learn from those who came before us, so each Monday will be dedicated to a work by one of the “Masters”.
First up, one of my favorite artists whose work I’ve seen in person when visiting the Frick Collection in New York.
Officer and Laughing Girl by Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter 1632-1675.
Most of us are familiar with what may be Vermeer’s best known work, Girl With a Pearl Earring, but for me, he is at his best in his “slice of life” compositions such as Officer and Laughing Girl. In this captured moment, Vermeer gives us a glimpse into a private, shared conversation. Is this a young girl being courted by a gallant officer? What is their relationship? Vermeer leaves us in wonder.
Vermeer’s paintings are usually much cooler in tone than those of his contemporaries and this one is no exception. The light coming in through the leaded glass windows is clear, but feels frostly, especially in contrast to the warm tones of the officer and girl’s clothing and the looks being exchanged.
For more information on Vermeer, here are a few sources:
The Frick Collection, which houses several Vermeers, including the one above
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Art by.. Google?
Google has become a dominant source for the information we seek. “Google it” is our answer for everything. It provides us with a way to gain knowledge and now has introduced a means for visiting some of the world’s most renowned museums and viewing their collections.
Art Project, powered by Google ( http://www.googleartproject.com/ ) is a Google-run website in which Google has collaborated with some of the world’s best known museums and collections in order to bring us all up close and personal with these masterworks.
Using Google’s Street View technology, you can actually explore the halls & rooms of the museums themselves, which allows the viewer a helpful sense of scale & context when viewing the artwork. You can “walk” the corridors of Versailles without ever leaving your living room!
To see the collections up close & personally, Art Project also provides high resolution imagery of select pieces from the collections. You can zoom in with such incredible detail, even cracks in the paint will be visible!! ( Excuse me while the Art History geek in me goes a little crazy ). In addition to the visual fun to be had, also included for each piece of artwork is comprehensive information regarding the artist, subject matter, time period, provenance, etc. You can even create your own collection of favorite works– become your own curator!
So while I gather my notes from the two galleries I visited today and prepare to share those goodies, I’ll leave you with this fun little piece of the internet. Enjoy!
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First ( Art ) Love
We all remember our first love, the intensity, the drama, it stays with us forever. How a certain song or place will always remind you of those precious feelings. But what about your first ART love? That one painting or sculpture or photograph that drew you in and made you long for more?
My hubby George & I took advantage of the Free Family Day at the Cummer Museum of Art in Jacksonville on Saturday and walking through its beautiful rooms & gardens reminded me that the Cummer is where my real appreciation for art first blossomed.
Image of the Cummer Gardens via Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
The stately, elegant rooms and gardens seemed alive with history and mystery. To me, there is something so lovely and enchanting about old stone, brick and iron in a garden. The Cummer Garden paths lead me down a lane of memories that aren’t my own.. memories of others who have walked these gardens before, of Ninah Cummer lovingly attending her flowers, of characters in novels who walked similar garden paths, of lovers declaring themselves forever.
Inside the Cummer, the beauty of the architecture draws me in but it is the artwork that keeps me coming back again and again. As a young girl, my first memory of visiting the Cummer is the enchantment I discovered there, focused upon one particular piece of artwork, “Before Her Appearance” by Frederick Carl Frieseke.
Image via Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
I’m sure it is no surprise that this Impressionistic painting would be the early favorite of a young girl who loved the romance of dancing and all things girly. I wanted to BE her, to be the talented beauty preparing to take center stage. When I look back at this piece as an adult, I still love the feminine glory of it all. The pink toe-shoes, ruffled dressing gown, floral vanity skirt and draperies.. In an age where showing this kind of feminitity seems sometimes verboten, it is lovely to think back to a time when it was truly celebrated. ( Not that I would want to go back to other aspects of being a woman in that age! )
Each time I revisit the Cummer, I am drawn back in time to my younger days, of sitting and gazing upon this lovely piece, waiting for her to stand up from her stool and begin pirouetting around the room. As with any first love, there are others who have come behind, touched me in different ways, but that first passion will stay with me always.
Do you remember your first ( ART ) love? Please share in the comments, I adore a good ( ART ) love story!
