exchange of blood

"You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it for all your life." -Joan Miro

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Fritz Silberbauer, Illustration for “Der Tor und der Tod” by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1924

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Vija Celmins Ocean Surface Woodcut 1992

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William Scott Pears 1979

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Raoul Dufy The Kessler Family on Horseback 1931

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Edgar Degas. - At the Milliner’s. 1882-86. A Hat Maker.

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Flower Still Life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, 1614. (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA) Oil on copper. 28 x 38 cm. 

Beginning in the 16th century and lasting into the 17th century, conflicts between Protestants and Catholics resulted in the division of a country into Holland and Flanders (modern day Belgium). The rise of a wealthy middle class, particularly in Protestant Holland, led to the artistic production of secular genre scenes. Still-life paintings effectively communicated the transcience of life and themortality of all living things, two themes that corresponded well with beliefs espoused by Protestantism. The exaggerated lighting, naturalistic rendering of the flowers and insects, and the shallow theatrical spatial composition are common attrivutes of the Dutch Baroque period. 

Bosschaert, one of the first great Dutch masters to become a specialist in fruit and flower painting, expertly depicts the texture of the colorful flowers, many of which do not realistically bloom at the same time of the season. Flower Still Life shows Bosschaert’s ability to render an imagined natural environment. 

Further reading: (x) (x) (x)

For more Ambrosius Bosschaert visit Art Authority and download the award-winning app, available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

[artmastered]

Arthur Hughes, Aurora Leigh’s Dismissal of Romney (The Tryst), 1860

The subject of this painting comes from the poem ‘Aurora Leigh’, written by Elizabeth Barret Browning in 1856. The character Aurora Leigh was an aspiring poet. She was so determined to fulfil her dream that she rejected a marriage proposal on the morning of her twentieth birthday, just so that she could dedicate her life entirely to writing poetry. Romney Leigh, Aurora’s cousin, is the rejected gentleman. Though ‘gentleman’ may be stretching it a bit: Aurora holds a book of her poems, of which Romney laughed at upon finding it.

The painting was commissioned by Ellen Heaton, a friend of Browning, after John Ruskin recommended Hughes’ artistic talents to her.

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Jean Baptiste Greuze,1725-1805.(Detail) A Young Girl Seated.

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Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, detail, 1622–25.

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John William Waterhouse, I am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said The Lady of Shalott

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Salvador Dali - The Woman with a Head of Roses (partial)

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Detail of Vincent van Gogh’s The starry night (1889)

 ”Looking at the stars always makes me dream. Why, I ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star.”

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Guido Reni. Detail from St. Catherine of Alexandria.

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Paul W. Ruiz

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John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893) was a Victorian-era painter, notable for his moonlit scenes and landscapes.

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holy fuck I thought these were HDR photos at first.

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Edmund Kesting - Sans Titre, ca. 1950

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Ruth Shively