EPPH - Every Painter Paints Himself

EPPH is devoted to short, captivating interpretations of Western masterpieces that help the viewer see from the inside out

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Short and surprising explanations of Western masterpieces.

One of the world’s most popular sculptures. Everyone seems to love it...but what does it mean?

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Short and surprising explanations of Western masterpieces. EPPH reveals the universal themes around which artists have long weaved visual illusions. We make understanding art fun.

www.epph.org

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Raphael, Self-portrait with a Friend

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Great artists may follow dogma out of social etiquette or necessity but they think freely, leading them somewhat paradoxically to a similar conclusion. They know in unison, as do poets and other sensitive types, that our minds trick us into thinking that we are only self-contained, independent entities with an ego and that we are different from everyone else and every other species. They see past that, the normal assumptions of daily life, to recognize our unity with nature. What, though, is that we have in common with nature? Existence.

The Meaning of Existence

Everything except language knows the meaning of existence. Trees, planets, rivers, time know nothing else. They express it moment by moment as the universe. Even this fool of a body lives it in part, and would have full dignity within it but for the ignorant freedom of my talking mind.

from Poems the Size of Photographs

Les Murray (1938) Australian poet 

Photo: Dancing Tree by Carol Lynn Fraser of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

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Degas' landscape are not well-known but they are revealing. Anyone who thinks that the Impressionist artist just copied nature or the model may want to take a look. It's eye-opening!

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Titian's Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (1545-6) Oil on canvas. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

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Delacroix's Arabs of Oran (1837) Watercolor on paper.

For a simple but fascinating explanation of this image and the accompanying illustrations, above, see Arabs of Oran at www.epph.net

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Left: Detail of Leonardo's Mona Lisa (1503-06)        Right: Detail of Leonardo's Self-portrait (n.d.), inverted 

Find out how a scientist solved the mystery of the Mona Lisa, perhaps the greatest art historical discovery of the 20th century. 

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Albrecht Dürer's Study for the Virgin and Child (1491) Ink on paper. o to www.everypainterpaintshimself.com for an analysis and explanation of its various visual illusions.

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An interesting discussion of mirror symbolism

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Rembrandt, Three etchings of beggars and peasants (c.1629-30)

Find out on the website how Rembrandt's peasants have art on their mind...literally.

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Annibale Carracci's Portrait of a Musician (1587) Oil on canvas. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

See how to find this picture's meaning at EveryPainterPaintsHimself.com

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Degas, At the Races in the Countryside (c.1869) Oil on canvas. See the giant boob on Manet's single-breasted jacket! Find out why at Every Painter Paints Himself.

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If you painted a portrait of your wife or girlfriend, would you give her a phallus? Picasso did. To find out why, see the latest entry at www.everypainterpaintshimself.com.

Top: Picasso, Seated Woman (Dora Maar) (1943) Oil on canvas. Private Collection. Bottom: Picasso, Woman in an Armchair (Françoise Gilot) (1948) Lithograph on paper.

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Ingres, The Forestier Family (1806) Louvre

This remarkable drawing, as usual, has more to it than meets most eyes......  Go to EPPH for a concise explanation.

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The Van Gogh Gallery is being updated and improved with higher-quality and larger images. The accompanying detail includes date, medium and location. As the Gallery grows, it should become a valuable resource for Van Gogh lovers and specialists. And, then, of course, there are 43 other Galleries on other artists including some devoted to portrait comparisons between the sitter and the artist.

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Ingres, The Forestier Family (1806) Pencil on paper. Louvre, Paris with some comparisons to a copy of Ingres' own Self-portrait (1804) copied the next year by none other than Julie Forestier, the girl in the center of the drawing.