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18951_T

Dora Maar au Chat

Focus on Dora Maar au Chat and explore the Description.

Dora Maar au Chat is one of the largest portraits of the subject by Picasso. It is an oil on canvas painting measuring 128.3 cm x 95.3 cm and is signed by the artist on the lower left corner. As Picasso's mistress and main model, Dora Maar was the artist's main source of inspiration and his artistic companion. The painting was created in 1941 during the midst of their tempestuous relationship. The painting is a rare, three-quarter length portrait of Maar, who is sitting in an armchair. Picasso used a vibrant palette to depict Maar's clothing and gave particular attention to details of the angles of the chair and the pattern on the dress. Maar's hat is particularly significant, as it signifies her involvement in the Surrealist movement. Like a crown on her head, the hat is ornate, embellished with colourful feathers and red trim. The presence of the subject is pronounced, reflecting the way a queen would sit on her throne.In this painting, Picasso aims to depict not only Dora's beauty, but also her temperament. He once described her as an "Afghan cat" in reference to her personality. The presence of the cat on her shoulder offers special significance, as it reflects the traditional pairing of cats and women in art that was used to suggest female cunning and sexual aggression. This theme is particularly noticeable in the way that the artist depicted Maar's long manicured fingernails, which in Picasso's portrait have been rendered as long talons.Picasso depicted Maar's portrait in the Cubist style. He used faceted planes and blocks of colour to sculpt her body. The outlines of shapes in the body are accentuated in black, while Maar's face is sculpted in white. The composition is a construction of shapes with vertically inclined planes that contrast with the lines of the wooden floor in the background. Maar's face is presented from two angles, one half in profile with the eye looking straight at the viewer, and the other half of a full face. This possibly reflects Freud's writings about the double self existing in every person. David Norman, Chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Department Worldwide, summarised the importance of the composition.Dora Maar Au Chat presents the artist’s most mysterious and challenging mistress regally posed three-quarter length in a large wooden chair with a small black cat perched behind her in both an amusing and menacing attitude. The faceted planes of her body and richly layered surface of brushstrokes impart a monumental and sculptural quality to this dazzling portrait. The painting is also remarkable for its brilliance of color and the complex and dense patterning of the model’s dress. The powerful figure is set in a dramatic, yet simple setting composed of a vertiginously inclined plane of wooden floorboards and shallow interior space that is arranged in a manner reminiscent of Picasso’s earliest manipulations of space in a Cubist manner.

18951_NT

Dora Maar au Chat

Focus on this artwork and explore the Description.

Dora Maar au Chat is one of the largest portraits of the subject by Picasso. It is an oil on canvas painting measuring 128.3 cm x 95.3 cm and is signed by the artist on the lower left corner. As Picasso's mistress and main model, Dora Maar was the artist's main source of inspiration and his artistic companion. The painting was created in 1941 during the midst of their tempestuous relationship. The painting is a rare, three-quarter length portrait of Maar, who is sitting in an armchair. Picasso used a vibrant palette to depict Maar's clothing and gave particular attention to details of the angles of the chair and the pattern on the dress. Maar's hat is particularly significant, as it signifies her involvement in the Surrealist movement. Like a crown on her head, the hat is ornate, embellished with colourful feathers and red trim. The presence of the subject is pronounced, reflecting the way a queen would sit on her throne.In this painting, Picasso aims to depict not only Dora's beauty, but also her temperament. He once described her as an "Afghan cat" in reference to her personality. The presence of the cat on her shoulder offers special significance, as it reflects the traditional pairing of cats and women in art that was used to suggest female cunning and sexual aggression. This theme is particularly noticeable in the way that the artist depicted Maar's long manicured fingernails, which in Picasso's portrait have been rendered as long talons.Picasso depicted Maar's portrait in the Cubist style. He used faceted planes and blocks of colour to sculpt her body. The outlines of shapes in the body are accentuated in black, while Maar's face is sculpted in white. The composition is a construction of shapes with vertically inclined planes that contrast with the lines of the wooden floor in the background. Maar's face is presented from two angles, one half in profile with the eye looking straight at the viewer, and the other half of a full face. This possibly reflects Freud's writings about the double self existing in every person. David Norman, Chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Department Worldwide, summarised the importance of the composition.Dora Maar Au Chat presents the artist’s most mysterious and challenging mistress regally posed three-quarter length in a large wooden chair with a small black cat perched behind her in both an amusing and menacing attitude. The faceted planes of her body and richly layered surface of brushstrokes impart a monumental and sculptural quality to this dazzling portrait. The painting is also remarkable for its brilliance of color and the complex and dense patterning of the model’s dress. The powerful figure is set in a dramatic, yet simple setting composed of a vertiginously inclined plane of wooden floorboards and shallow interior space that is arranged in a manner reminiscent of Picasso’s earliest manipulations of space in a Cubist manner.

18952_T

Dora Maar au Chat

Focus on Dora Maar au Chat and explain the Significance and legacy.

Charles Moffett, Vice Chairman of Sotheby's, remarked on the painting's significance.Dora Maar with Cat is unquestionably one of Picasso's most extraordinary portrayals of the woman who for nearly a decade was his muse, model, and lover. An accomplished photographer who was close to key members of the Surrealist circle, Maar appealed deeply to Picasso because of her arresting and wild beauty, engaging intellect, and commitment as an artist. As Brigitte Léal has observed with regard to the portraits of Dora Maar that Picasso painted in the early 1940s, ‘...they embody the height of modern beauty as [André] Breton envisioned it, based on the principle of vital disorder, which the figure of Dora Maar, in her extreme mutability, her real, spiritual restlessness, will forever incarnate’.

18952_NT

Dora Maar au Chat

Focus on this artwork and explain the Significance and legacy.

Charles Moffett, Vice Chairman of Sotheby's, remarked on the painting's significance.Dora Maar with Cat is unquestionably one of Picasso's most extraordinary portrayals of the woman who for nearly a decade was his muse, model, and lover. An accomplished photographer who was close to key members of the Surrealist circle, Maar appealed deeply to Picasso because of her arresting and wild beauty, engaging intellect, and commitment as an artist. As Brigitte Léal has observed with regard to the portraits of Dora Maar that Picasso painted in the early 1940s, ‘...they embody the height of modern beauty as [André] Breton envisioned it, based on the principle of vital disorder, which the figure of Dora Maar, in her extreme mutability, her real, spiritual restlessness, will forever incarnate’.

18953_T

Dora Maar au Chat

Explore the Provenance of this artwork, Dora Maar au Chat.

Pierre Colle of Paris acquired the painting by 1946. The painting was then obtained by Chicago collectors Leigh and Mary Block by 1947. They sold the painting in 1963. After that, the painting was never seen in public until the 21st century.During 2005 and 2006, Dora Maar au Chat, then owned by the Gidwitz family of Chicago, was shown worldwide as part of Sotheby's exhibitions in London, Hong Kong and New York. It came up for sale in an auction held at Sotheby's on 3 May 2006 in New York, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a painting at auction at the time. An anonymous Russian bidder who was present at the auction won the work with a final bid of $95,216,000, well exceeding the pre-auction estimate of $50 million. The identity of the bidder, who also purchased an 1883 Monet seascape and a 1978 Chagall, was a topic of much speculation. The winning buyer is listed as Georgian businessman and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

18953_NT

Dora Maar au Chat

Explore the Provenance of this artwork.

Pierre Colle of Paris acquired the painting by 1946. The painting was then obtained by Chicago collectors Leigh and Mary Block by 1947. They sold the painting in 1963. After that, the painting was never seen in public until the 21st century.During 2005 and 2006, Dora Maar au Chat, then owned by the Gidwitz family of Chicago, was shown worldwide as part of Sotheby's exhibitions in London, Hong Kong and New York. It came up for sale in an auction held at Sotheby's on 3 May 2006 in New York, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a painting at auction at the time. An anonymous Russian bidder who was present at the auction won the work with a final bid of $95,216,000, well exceeding the pre-auction estimate of $50 million. The identity of the bidder, who also purchased an 1883 Monet seascape and a 1978 Chagall, was a topic of much speculation. The winning buyer is listed as Georgian businessman and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

18954_T

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

Focus on Woman in Hat and Fur Collar and discuss the abstract.

The Woman in Hat and Fur Collar (Marie-Thérèse Walter) is a painting by Pablo Picasso executed in 1937 and exhibited at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya) in Barcelona, Spain.

18954_NT

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract.

The Woman in Hat and Fur Collar (Marie-Thérèse Walter) is a painting by Pablo Picasso executed in 1937 and exhibited at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya) in Barcelona, Spain.

18955_T

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

How does Woman in Hat and Fur Collar elucidate its History?

It was painted in Paris in 1937, and is one of the numerous portraits Picasso did of Marie-Thérèse Walter, his lover between 1927 and 1935, approximately, and the mother of his daughter Maya. In these portraits, Picasso carries out an exhaustive analytic exercise in which the youth and personality of Marie-Thérèse are subjected to a thousand metamorphic transfigurations. The artist merges the frontal view of the face and the profile into a single image and turns the model into an icon of sensuality by means of a rich pictorial language in which the distorted forms marked the consolidation of the so-called 'Picasso style'. The portrait is at the same time epilogue to the confrontation between the two essential models of the moment, Marie-Thérèse and Dora Maar. Despite the distorted forms, the diverging eyes and the angular features, this portrait is easily identifiable because, like the ones he did at the same time of Nusch, Paul Éluard's second wife, and of Dora Maar, it preserves the sitter's essential features.The clear connection of Picasso's works and his love life is taken for granted today, and when his art of the early 1930s is discussed, the growing phrased used is "the Marie-Therese period." Picasso's affair with Marie-Therese was a secret, and she would gradually usurp the throne then occupied by Olga Khokhlova, the artist's legal wife. Marie-Therese will be subject to constant transformations. Some range from portraits that are instantly recognizable to transcendent universal symbols. Fantastic reinventions of the human body were always at the core of Picasso's genius. In Woman in Hat and Fur Collar, the artist shows her facial profile and frontal view in the same painting. She is looking to viewers both left and right. In his work, woman is the vehicle for the expression of intense emotion, but the feelings expressed are those of humanity at large: far from being the other, she is the self.

18955_NT

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

How does this artwork elucidate its History?

It was painted in Paris in 1937, and is one of the numerous portraits Picasso did of Marie-Thérèse Walter, his lover between 1927 and 1935, approximately, and the mother of his daughter Maya. In these portraits, Picasso carries out an exhaustive analytic exercise in which the youth and personality of Marie-Thérèse are subjected to a thousand metamorphic transfigurations. The artist merges the frontal view of the face and the profile into a single image and turns the model into an icon of sensuality by means of a rich pictorial language in which the distorted forms marked the consolidation of the so-called 'Picasso style'. The portrait is at the same time epilogue to the confrontation between the two essential models of the moment, Marie-Thérèse and Dora Maar. Despite the distorted forms, the diverging eyes and the angular features, this portrait is easily identifiable because, like the ones he did at the same time of Nusch, Paul Éluard's second wife, and of Dora Maar, it preserves the sitter's essential features.The clear connection of Picasso's works and his love life is taken for granted today, and when his art of the early 1930s is discussed, the growing phrased used is "the Marie-Therese period." Picasso's affair with Marie-Therese was a secret, and she would gradually usurp the throne then occupied by Olga Khokhlova, the artist's legal wife. Marie-Therese will be subject to constant transformations. Some range from portraits that are instantly recognizable to transcendent universal symbols. Fantastic reinventions of the human body were always at the core of Picasso's genius. In Woman in Hat and Fur Collar, the artist shows her facial profile and frontal view in the same painting. She is looking to viewers both left and right. In his work, woman is the vehicle for the expression of intense emotion, but the feelings expressed are those of humanity at large: far from being the other, she is the self.

18956_T

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

Focus on Woman in Hat and Fur Collar and analyze the Collection history.

When the MNAC opened in 2004, there were some gaps in content especially with respect to modern artists. One of the most absent was Picasso. The work entered the museum in 2007, one of a set of 8 pieces that are part of a group and fills many gaps in the artist's career. Details of the work: Oil on canvas Painted in Paris, on December 4, 1937. The painting is not signed but dated as "4D37" in the upper right corner. It is a deposit of State since 2007, the company Albertis Foundation joined the museum MNAC reference number 214090.

18956_NT

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Collection history.

When the MNAC opened in 2004, there were some gaps in content especially with respect to modern artists. One of the most absent was Picasso. The work entered the museum in 2007, one of a set of 8 pieces that are part of a group and fills many gaps in the artist's career. Details of the work: Oil on canvas Painted in Paris, on December 4, 1937. The painting is not signed but dated as "4D37" in the upper right corner. It is a deposit of State since 2007, the company Albertis Foundation joined the museum MNAC reference number 214090.

18957_T

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

In Woman in Hat and Fur Collar, how is the Exhibits discussed?

In addition to being in the museum's collection, the picture was shown in the following exhibitions:Picasso. De la caricatura a les metamorfosis d'estil (From caricature to metamorphosis), Barcelona, Museu Picasso 2003.

18957_NT

Woman in Hat and Fur Collar

In this artwork, how is the Exhibits discussed?

In addition to being in the museum's collection, the picture was shown in the following exhibitions:Picasso. De la caricatura a les metamorfosis d'estil (From caricature to metamorphosis), Barcelona, Museu Picasso 2003.

18958_T

Relativity (M. C. Escher)

Focus on Relativity (M. C. Escher) and explore the abstract.

Relativity is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, first printed in December 1953. The first version of this work was a woodcut made earlier that same year.It depicts a world in which the normal laws of gravity do not apply. The architectural structure seems to be the centre of an idyllic community, with most of its inhabitants casually going about their ordinary business, such as dining. There are windows and doorways leading to park-like outdoor settings. All of the figures are dressed in identical attire and have featureless bulb-shaped heads. Identical characters such as these can be found in many other Escher works. In the world of Relativity, there are three sources of gravity, each being orthogonal to the two others. Each inhabitant lives in one of the gravity wells, where normal physical laws apply. There are sixteen characters, spread between each gravity source, six in one and five each in the other two. The apparent confusion of the lithograph print comes from the fact that the three gravity sources are depicted in the same space. The structure has seven stairways, and each stairway can be used by people who belong to two different gravity sources. This creates interesting phenomena, such as in the top stairway, where two inhabitants use the same stairway in the same direction and on the same side, but each using a different face of each step; thus, one descends the stairway as the other climbs it, even while moving in the same direction nearly side by side. In the other stairways, inhabitants are depicted as climbing the stairways upside-down, but based on their own gravity source, they are climbing normally. Each of the three parks belongs to one of the gravity wells. All but one of the doors seem to lead to basements below the parks. Though metaphysically possible, such basements are certainly unusual and add to the surreal effect of the picture.

18958_NT

Relativity (M. C. Escher)

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

Relativity is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, first printed in December 1953. The first version of this work was a woodcut made earlier that same year.It depicts a world in which the normal laws of gravity do not apply. The architectural structure seems to be the centre of an idyllic community, with most of its inhabitants casually going about their ordinary business, such as dining. There are windows and doorways leading to park-like outdoor settings. All of the figures are dressed in identical attire and have featureless bulb-shaped heads. Identical characters such as these can be found in many other Escher works. In the world of Relativity, there are three sources of gravity, each being orthogonal to the two others. Each inhabitant lives in one of the gravity wells, where normal physical laws apply. There are sixteen characters, spread between each gravity source, six in one and five each in the other two. The apparent confusion of the lithograph print comes from the fact that the three gravity sources are depicted in the same space. The structure has seven stairways, and each stairway can be used by people who belong to two different gravity sources. This creates interesting phenomena, such as in the top stairway, where two inhabitants use the same stairway in the same direction and on the same side, but each using a different face of each step; thus, one descends the stairway as the other climbs it, even while moving in the same direction nearly side by side. In the other stairways, inhabitants are depicted as climbing the stairways upside-down, but based on their own gravity source, they are climbing normally. Each of the three parks belongs to one of the gravity wells. All but one of the doors seem to lead to basements below the parks. Though metaphysically possible, such basements are certainly unusual and add to the surreal effect of the picture.

18959_T

Carmagnola (Venice)

Focus on Carmagnola (Venice) and explain the abstract.

Carmagnola or la Carmagnola is the traditional name of a porphyry head of a late Roman emperor, widely thought to represent Justinian, now placed on the external balustrade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice.

18959_NT

Carmagnola (Venice)

Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract.

Carmagnola or la Carmagnola is the traditional name of a porphyry head of a late Roman emperor, widely thought to represent Justinian, now placed on the external balustrade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice.

18960_T

Carmagnola (Venice)

Explore the Description of this artwork, Carmagnola (Venice).

The Diadem unambiguously identifies the head as that of a late Roman emperor, and on stylistic grounds it has been dated between the 4th and 6th centuries, with several scholars identifying it as a depiction of Justinian. The flattened nose is ostensibly the result of damage and subsequent repolishing. It is "one of the most significant" of the ornamental trophies that adorn the Basilica's facade, looking straight into the direction of Constantinople.A headless porphyry statue kept at the Archiepiscopal Museum in Ravenna has been hypothesized to belong to the same original.

18960_NT

Carmagnola (Venice)

Explore the Description of this artwork.

The Diadem unambiguously identifies the head as that of a late Roman emperor, and on stylistic grounds it has been dated between the 4th and 6th centuries, with several scholars identifying it as a depiction of Justinian. The flattened nose is ostensibly the result of damage and subsequent repolishing. It is "one of the most significant" of the ornamental trophies that adorn the Basilica's facade, looking straight into the direction of Constantinople.A headless porphyry statue kept at the Archiepiscopal Museum in Ravenna has been hypothesized to belong to the same original.

18961_T

The Toilette of Esther

Focus on The Toilette of Esther and discuss the Narrative.

The subject derives from the Book of Esther (2:8-9, 15), in which King Ahasuerus, having renounced his wife Vashti, seeks a new queen. Esther, a woman of great beauty, finds favor with Hegai, the eunuch responsible for preparing women for presentation to the king. Upon seeing Esther, Ahasuerus chooses her as his wife. She later reveals that she is Jewish, and intercedes with the king in order to spare the lives of the empire's Jews. While choosing a biblical theme as a subject, it is likely that Chassériau drew upon more recent literary sources for inspiration. The play Esther, produced by Jean Racine in 1689, offers a more chaste version of Esther's seduction, while describing the artifice employed by her rivals for the king's attention. The exoticism of the painting is closer to an 1817 poem by Alfred de Vigny entitled Le Bain d'une dame romaine, which includes the description:A slave from Egypt, her skin glistening and black, Presents her, kneeling, with the pure steel of the mirror, To tie up her hair, a virgin from Greece, In Isis's compass joins her two braids....and is reminiscent also of Les Orientales by Victor Hugo:Have I not, for you, lovely Jewess, Sufficiently emptied my seraglio?The episode had rarely been painted before. Only two previous versions are known: a 17th-century painting by Aert de Gelder, and an 18th-century work by Jean-Francois de Troy. Given the dearth of pictorial illustrations of the story, Chassériau would have looked to paintings of women at their toilette, including depictions of Venus, of which there were more numerous examples.

18961_NT

The Toilette of Esther

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Narrative.

The subject derives from the Book of Esther (2:8-9, 15), in which King Ahasuerus, having renounced his wife Vashti, seeks a new queen. Esther, a woman of great beauty, finds favor with Hegai, the eunuch responsible for preparing women for presentation to the king. Upon seeing Esther, Ahasuerus chooses her as his wife. She later reveals that she is Jewish, and intercedes with the king in order to spare the lives of the empire's Jews. While choosing a biblical theme as a subject, it is likely that Chassériau drew upon more recent literary sources for inspiration. The play Esther, produced by Jean Racine in 1689, offers a more chaste version of Esther's seduction, while describing the artifice employed by her rivals for the king's attention. The exoticism of the painting is closer to an 1817 poem by Alfred de Vigny entitled Le Bain d'une dame romaine, which includes the description:A slave from Egypt, her skin glistening and black, Presents her, kneeling, with the pure steel of the mirror, To tie up her hair, a virgin from Greece, In Isis's compass joins her two braids....and is reminiscent also of Les Orientales by Victor Hugo:Have I not, for you, lovely Jewess, Sufficiently emptied my seraglio?The episode had rarely been painted before. Only two previous versions are known: a 17th-century painting by Aert de Gelder, and an 18th-century work by Jean-Francois de Troy. Given the dearth of pictorial illustrations of the story, Chassériau would have looked to paintings of women at their toilette, including depictions of Venus, of which there were more numerous examples.

18962_T

The Toilette of Esther

How does The Toilette of Esther elucidate its Exoticism?

The choice of an Old Testament story about a young woman in a harem freed Chassériau to take advantage of Orientalist and Romantic elements. The presence of Asian figures and sumptuous jewelry serves to further eroticize Esther's figure. Having previously painted a Birth of Venus and a Susanna and the Elders, Chassériau found another theme which permitted a frankly sexual presentation of the female body.The painting was not fully understood when first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1842. If the critics recognized an insipidness in Esther's expression—one journalist complained "But why that elongated figure, those wild eyes, that savage look? There is no soul under that face..."—they failed to properly appreciate the originality of a biblical story re-imagined in an erotic, Romantic fashion. The painting would later inspire painters such as François-Léon Benouville and Gustave Moreau.The Toilette of Esther was bequeathed to the Louvre in 1934 by Baron Arthur Chassériau, a distant relative of the artist, as part of a donation that included most of the artist's work in his possession.

18962_NT

The Toilette of Esther

How does this artwork elucidate its Exoticism?

The choice of an Old Testament story about a young woman in a harem freed Chassériau to take advantage of Orientalist and Romantic elements. The presence of Asian figures and sumptuous jewelry serves to further eroticize Esther's figure. Having previously painted a Birth of Venus and a Susanna and the Elders, Chassériau found another theme which permitted a frankly sexual presentation of the female body.The painting was not fully understood when first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1842. If the critics recognized an insipidness in Esther's expression—one journalist complained "But why that elongated figure, those wild eyes, that savage look? There is no soul under that face..."—they failed to properly appreciate the originality of a biblical story re-imagined in an erotic, Romantic fashion. The painting would later inspire painters such as François-Léon Benouville and Gustave Moreau.The Toilette of Esther was bequeathed to the Louvre in 1934 by Baron Arthur Chassériau, a distant relative of the artist, as part of a donation that included most of the artist's work in his possession.

18963_T

Saint George in the Forest

Focus on Saint George in the Forest and analyze the abstract.

Saint George in the Forest is an oil painting on parchment, mounted on linden wood by German artist Albrecht Altdorfer, datable to 1510 and held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

18963_NT

Saint George in the Forest

Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract.

Saint George in the Forest is an oil painting on parchment, mounted on linden wood by German artist Albrecht Altdorfer, datable to 1510 and held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

18964_T

Saint George in the Forest

In Saint George in the Forest, how is the Description discussed?

The picture shows in the lower quarter the black armored saint on a white horse and next to it a rather inconspicuous red dragon. The horse is frightened of the monster, which George is staring at with his lance lowered. Most of the remaining space is filled with foliage; in the lower right half of the picture, the forest thins out and reveals a landscape with fields and mountains. The small-format picture is painted in oil on parchment; such a combination is quite unusual. Altdorfer uses the Alla Prima technique, known since the 16th century, which dispenses with layered structure, like underpainting and glaze, since only the yellow-green leafy scrolls are painted in the dark and the highlights are heightened.The legendary episode of Saint George on horseback fighting with the dragon appears in this painting in fact more as a pretext, since it's relegated to the lower end of the table, to represent instead the magic of the wooded, harsh, and wild landscape, which evokes an arcane atmosphere full of suggestions, in which the human figures, overturning the traditional relationship, appear small and subordinated to natural forces. The colors are in accordance with the green and brown tones, while a sudden landscape opens in an unusual position, at the bottom right, where the gaze can sweep away towards the mountains that are lost in the distance.

18964_NT

Saint George in the Forest

In this artwork, how is the Description discussed?

The picture shows in the lower quarter the black armored saint on a white horse and next to it a rather inconspicuous red dragon. The horse is frightened of the monster, which George is staring at with his lance lowered. Most of the remaining space is filled with foliage; in the lower right half of the picture, the forest thins out and reveals a landscape with fields and mountains. The small-format picture is painted in oil on parchment; such a combination is quite unusual. Altdorfer uses the Alla Prima technique, known since the 16th century, which dispenses with layered structure, like underpainting and glaze, since only the yellow-green leafy scrolls are painted in the dark and the highlights are heightened.The legendary episode of Saint George on horseback fighting with the dragon appears in this painting in fact more as a pretext, since it's relegated to the lower end of the table, to represent instead the magic of the wooded, harsh, and wild landscape, which evokes an arcane atmosphere full of suggestions, in which the human figures, overturning the traditional relationship, appear small and subordinated to natural forces. The colors are in accordance with the green and brown tones, while a sudden landscape opens in an unusual position, at the bottom right, where the gaze can sweep away towards the mountains that are lost in the distance.

18965_T

Orchard with Cypresses

Focus on Orchard with Cypresses and explore the abstract.

Orchard with Cypresses (Verger avec cyprès in French) is an 1888 painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. The work was in the collection of artworks of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and was sold at auction on 10 November 2022 by Christie's New York branch for $117.2 million dollars, the highest amount paid for a work by van Gogh.

18965_NT

Orchard with Cypresses

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

Orchard with Cypresses (Verger avec cyprès in French) is an 1888 painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. The work was in the collection of artworks of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and was sold at auction on 10 November 2022 by Christie's New York branch for $117.2 million dollars, the highest amount paid for a work by van Gogh.

18966_T

Midsummer Carnival Shaft

Focus on Midsummer Carnival Shaft and explain the abstract.

Midsummer Carnival Shaft is a public artwork by American architect Alfred C. Clas in the Court of Honor, in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is on Wisconsin Avenue, between N. 8th and N. 11th Streets.

18966_NT

Midsummer Carnival Shaft

Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract.

Midsummer Carnival Shaft is a public artwork by American architect Alfred C. Clas in the Court of Honor, in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is on Wisconsin Avenue, between N. 8th and N. 11th Streets.

18967_T

Midsummer Carnival Shaft

Explore the Description of this artwork, Midsummer Carnival Shaft.

The Midsummer Carnival Shaft was commissioned by the City of Milwaukee, which chose Alfred C. Clas as the artist to design/construct it. It was built as part of the Milwaukee Midsummer Carnival, an annual festival started in 1898 to honor Wisconsin's semicentennial, but which only lasted until 1901.The sculpture is constructed from Bedford limestone. It consists of one pillar that stands 65 feet (20 m) in the median of Wisconsin Avenue. The sculpture stands nearly as tall as the surrounding buildings, and invites viewers to take notice of it as they pass by, rather than being viewed for long periods of time.

18967_NT

Midsummer Carnival Shaft

Explore the Description of this artwork.

The Midsummer Carnival Shaft was commissioned by the City of Milwaukee, which chose Alfred C. Clas as the artist to design/construct it. It was built as part of the Milwaukee Midsummer Carnival, an annual festival started in 1898 to honor Wisconsin's semicentennial, but which only lasted until 1901.The sculpture is constructed from Bedford limestone. It consists of one pillar that stands 65 feet (20 m) in the median of Wisconsin Avenue. The sculpture stands nearly as tall as the surrounding buildings, and invites viewers to take notice of it as they pass by, rather than being viewed for long periods of time.

18968_T

Midsummer Carnival Shaft

Focus on Midsummer Carnival Shaft and discuss the Artist.

Alfred C. Clas was born in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1860. As Clas was a local architect and city planner at the time, he was a good choice to create the publicly-located sculpture. Clas was also a partner of a local architecture firm Ferry & Clas. The two architects were responsible for much of the city planning and development that was happening at the time. Clas was a member of City Park Board, and designed the Milwaukee Auditorium and other public buildings.The City of Milwaukee commemorated a park in Clas's name in appreciation of his work as a city planner. Alfred C. Clas Park is located in Milwaukee County, just off N. 9th St and Wells St (Latitude: 43.0405556, Longitude: -87.9238889).

18968_NT

Midsummer Carnival Shaft

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Artist.

Alfred C. Clas was born in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1860. As Clas was a local architect and city planner at the time, he was a good choice to create the publicly-located sculpture. Clas was also a partner of a local architecture firm Ferry & Clas. The two architects were responsible for much of the city planning and development that was happening at the time. Clas was a member of City Park Board, and designed the Milwaukee Auditorium and other public buildings.The City of Milwaukee commemorated a park in Clas's name in appreciation of his work as a city planner. Alfred C. Clas Park is located in Milwaukee County, just off N. 9th St and Wells St (Latitude: 43.0405556, Longitude: -87.9238889).

18969_T

A Street in Brittany

How does A Street in Brittany elucidate its abstract?

A Street in Brittany is a painting dated 1881 by the artist Stanhope Forbes. Forbes was born in Dublin in 1857. When his family moved to England he studied at Dulwich College, the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. In 1880 he went to Paris where he was influenced by the French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage. The following year he went to work in Cancale, a small fishing village near Saint-Malo in Brittany.A Street in Brittany was Forbes' first "out-of-doors" painting, and it shows Breton women knitting and making nets in a street in Cancale. For the girl in the foreground Forbes used as his model a young girl from the village named Desiree, who insisted on a daily payment. He was anxious about how his picture would be received, partly about the figure in the foreground being out of scale with the rest of the figures, and possibly about the visible brush-work and the picture's overall blue tone. A critic in the Pall Mall Gazette accused him of "seeing nature through blue spectacles".The painting was shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1882 and then at the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition. It was bought by the Walker Art Gallery for £73.50 (equivalent to £7,100 as of 2021). Forbes later moved to Cornwall where he became a leading figure in the Newlyn School of painters. The painting is in oil on canvas and measures 104.2 centimetres (41 in) by 75.8 centimetres (30 in).

18969_NT

A Street in Brittany

How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?

A Street in Brittany is a painting dated 1881 by the artist Stanhope Forbes. Forbes was born in Dublin in 1857. When his family moved to England he studied at Dulwich College, the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. In 1880 he went to Paris where he was influenced by the French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage. The following year he went to work in Cancale, a small fishing village near Saint-Malo in Brittany.A Street in Brittany was Forbes' first "out-of-doors" painting, and it shows Breton women knitting and making nets in a street in Cancale. For the girl in the foreground Forbes used as his model a young girl from the village named Desiree, who insisted on a daily payment. He was anxious about how his picture would be received, partly about the figure in the foreground being out of scale with the rest of the figures, and possibly about the visible brush-work and the picture's overall blue tone. A critic in the Pall Mall Gazette accused him of "seeing nature through blue spectacles".The painting was shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1882 and then at the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition. It was bought by the Walker Art Gallery for £73.50 (equivalent to £7,100 as of 2021). Forbes later moved to Cornwall where he became a leading figure in the Newlyn School of painters. The painting is in oil on canvas and measures 104.2 centimetres (41 in) by 75.8 centimetres (30 in).

18970_T

Mary Magdalene as Melancholy

Focus on Mary Magdalene as Melancholy and analyze the abstract.

Mary Magdalene as Melancholy is a 1622–1625 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, showing Mary Magdalene as a personification of Melancholia. It is now in the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City. It is an autograph copy of Penitent Magdalene by the artist now in the Treasury of Seville Cathedral, although X-ray examination has shown that the fabric on the saint's shoulder is wider in the Seville version and was probably added later to fit with the canons of the Catholic Church. This has also demonstrated that the two faces are different - the Mexico City version seems to be a self-portrait by comparison with Judith Slaying Holofernes and Cleopatra - and that there are corrections in the brushstrokes in the Seville version but not in the Mexico City variant.

18970_NT

Mary Magdalene as Melancholy

Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract.

Mary Magdalene as Melancholy is a 1622–1625 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, showing Mary Magdalene as a personification of Melancholia. It is now in the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City. It is an autograph copy of Penitent Magdalene by the artist now in the Treasury of Seville Cathedral, although X-ray examination has shown that the fabric on the saint's shoulder is wider in the Seville version and was probably added later to fit with the canons of the Catholic Church. This has also demonstrated that the two faces are different - the Mexico City version seems to be a self-portrait by comparison with Judith Slaying Holofernes and Cleopatra - and that there are corrections in the brushstrokes in the Seville version but not in the Mexico City variant.

18971_T

Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon)

In Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon), how is the abstract discussed?

A 1915 marble statue of Abraham Lincoln by Antonio Frilli is installed in Ashland, Oregon's Lithia Park, in the United States. The statue was gifted to the city by Gwin S. Butler, who dedicated the artwork as a memorial to his stepfather, pioneer Jacob Thompson, in 1916.

18971_NT

Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon)

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

A 1915 marble statue of Abraham Lincoln by Antonio Frilli is installed in Ashland, Oregon's Lithia Park, in the United States. The statue was gifted to the city by Gwin S. Butler, who dedicated the artwork as a memorial to his stepfather, pioneer Jacob Thompson, in 1916.

18972_T

Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon)

Focus on Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon) and explore the Description.

The statue is a standing figure of Lincoln with books stacked on his proper left foot. He wears an unbuttoned coat and holds a scroll in his proper right hand. The marble sculpture measures approximately 5 x 2 x 1 1/3 ft and rests on a granite base measuring approximately 4 ft, 4 in tall. One bronze plaque reads:IN MEMORY / OF / JACOB THOMPSON / PIONEER OF / 1847 Another reads: ABRAHAM LINCOLN / DONATED TO THE CITY OF ASHLAND IN 1915 BY / GWIN S. BUTLER / IN MEMORY OF HIS STEPFATHER / JACOB THOMPSON / ORIGINALLY SCULPTED IN FLORENCE, ITALY BY / A. FRILLI / EXTENSIVE RESORTATION (sic) IN 1990 BY / JEFFRY BERNARD.

18972_NT

Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon)

Focus on this artwork and explore the Description.

The statue is a standing figure of Lincoln with books stacked on his proper left foot. He wears an unbuttoned coat and holds a scroll in his proper right hand. The marble sculpture measures approximately 5 x 2 x 1 1/3 ft and rests on a granite base measuring approximately 4 ft, 4 in tall. One bronze plaque reads:IN MEMORY / OF / JACOB THOMPSON / PIONEER OF / 1847 Another reads: ABRAHAM LINCOLN / DONATED TO THE CITY OF ASHLAND IN 1915 BY / GWIN S. BUTLER / IN MEMORY OF HIS STEPFATHER / JACOB THOMPSON / ORIGINALLY SCULPTED IN FLORENCE, ITALY BY / A. FRILLI / EXTENSIVE RESORTATION (sic) IN 1990 BY / JEFFRY BERNARD.

18973_T

Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon)

Focus on Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon) and explain the History.

The statue was created in 1915. It was originally installed near Butler-Perozzi Fountain and was later relocated to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and eventually Lithia Park. It has been vandalized several times, including in 1958 and the beheading of the statue in 1967. The artwork was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993. It was beheaded once again in 2008 and removed from the park for repairs.

18973_NT

Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Ashland, Oregon)

Focus on this artwork and explain the History.

The statue was created in 1915. It was originally installed near Butler-Perozzi Fountain and was later relocated to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and eventually Lithia Park. It has been vandalized several times, including in 1958 and the beheading of the statue in 1967. The artwork was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993. It was beheaded once again in 2008 and removed from the park for repairs.

18974_T

Plum Park in Kameido

Explore the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo of this artwork, Plum Park in Kameido.

The picture is part of the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo which actually features 119 views of named places or celebrated spots in the city of Edo (modern Tokyo). The series was the first to feature this many separate landscape views.The series was produced between 1856 and 1859, with Hiroshige II finishing the series after the death of Hiroshige in 1858. This print is the 30th in the series, within its spring section, and was published in the eleventh month of 1857. The series was commissioned shortly after the 1855 Edo earthquake and subsequent fires, and featured many of the newly rebuilt or repaired buildings. The prints may have commemorated or helped draw the attention of Edo's citizens to the progress of the rebuilding. The series is in portrait orientation, which was a break from ukiyo-e tradition for landscape prints, and proved popular with his audience.

18974_NT

Plum Park in Kameido

Explore the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo of this artwork.

The picture is part of the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo which actually features 119 views of named places or celebrated spots in the city of Edo (modern Tokyo). The series was the first to feature this many separate landscape views.The series was produced between 1856 and 1859, with Hiroshige II finishing the series after the death of Hiroshige in 1858. This print is the 30th in the series, within its spring section, and was published in the eleventh month of 1857. The series was commissioned shortly after the 1855 Edo earthquake and subsequent fires, and featured many of the newly rebuilt or repaired buildings. The prints may have commemorated or helped draw the attention of Edo's citizens to the progress of the rebuilding. The series is in portrait orientation, which was a break from ukiyo-e tradition for landscape prints, and proved popular with his audience.

18975_T

Plum Park in Kameido

Focus on Plum Park in Kameido and discuss the Description.

The print shows part of the most famous tree in Edo, the "Sleeping Dragon Plum" (臥竜梅, garyūbai), which had blossoms "so white when full in bloom as to drive off the darkness" and branches that travelled looping across the ground like a dragon to emerge as further trunks over an area of 50 square feet. The tree is shown with a unique abstract composition, with wide branches taking up much of the foreground but cropped by the frame of the picture giving a resemblance to Japanese calligraphy. The tree is situated in Umeyashiki, a plum garden by the banks of the Sumida River in Kameido. Visible between the branches of the Sleeping Dragon Plum are further trees and small figures behind a low fence contemplating the plum blossom. A sign, possibly forbidding vandalism, is in the foreground at the top left of the image. The image demonstrates Hiroshige's mastery of Japanese landscapes and uses his exaggerated single-point perspective whereby the closest objects in view are increased in size. The positioning of the undetailed subject 'too close to the lens' is intended to draw the eye to the scene beyond. In addition the use of the unnatural red sky has the effect of flattening the visible space.

18975_NT

Plum Park in Kameido

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Description.

The print shows part of the most famous tree in Edo, the "Sleeping Dragon Plum" (臥竜梅, garyūbai), which had blossoms "so white when full in bloom as to drive off the darkness" and branches that travelled looping across the ground like a dragon to emerge as further trunks over an area of 50 square feet. The tree is shown with a unique abstract composition, with wide branches taking up much of the foreground but cropped by the frame of the picture giving a resemblance to Japanese calligraphy. The tree is situated in Umeyashiki, a plum garden by the banks of the Sumida River in Kameido. Visible between the branches of the Sleeping Dragon Plum are further trees and small figures behind a low fence contemplating the plum blossom. A sign, possibly forbidding vandalism, is in the foreground at the top left of the image. The image demonstrates Hiroshige's mastery of Japanese landscapes and uses his exaggerated single-point perspective whereby the closest objects in view are increased in size. The positioning of the undetailed subject 'too close to the lens' is intended to draw the eye to the scene beyond. In addition the use of the unnatural red sky has the effect of flattening the visible space.

18976_T

Solitude (Bazovský)

How does Solitude (Bazovský) elucidate its abstract?

Solitude (Slovak: Samota) is a painting by Miloš Alexander Bazovský from 1957.

18976_NT

Solitude (Bazovský)

How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?

Solitude (Slovak: Samota) is a painting by Miloš Alexander Bazovský from 1957.

18977_T

Solitude (Bazovský)

Focus on Solitude (Bazovský) and analyze the Description.

The painting was created in 1957. It has the dimensions 54.3 x 84.5 centimeters. It is in the collection of the Slovak National Gallery.

18977_NT

Solitude (Bazovský)

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Description.

The painting was created in 1957. It has the dimensions 54.3 x 84.5 centimeters. It is in the collection of the Slovak National Gallery.

18978_T

Solitude (Bazovský)

In Solitude (Bazovský), how is the Analysis discussed?

Bazovský was a modern Slovak painter who portrayed folk life in an iconic style.

18978_NT

Solitude (Bazovský)

In this artwork, how is the Analysis discussed?

Bazovský was a modern Slovak painter who portrayed folk life in an iconic style.

18979_T

Landscape with Venus and Adonis

Focus on Landscape with Venus and Adonis and explore the abstract.

Landscape with Venus and Adonis is an oil-on-canvas painting by Flemish painter Tobias Verhaecht. The work was probably painted in the 1600s, and is now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.

18979_NT

Landscape with Venus and Adonis

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

Landscape with Venus and Adonis is an oil-on-canvas painting by Flemish painter Tobias Verhaecht. The work was probably painted in the 1600s, and is now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.

18980_T

Landscape with Venus and Adonis

Focus on Landscape with Venus and Adonis and explain the Painting.

The view is from a vantage point. A river stretches down into a wide valley. To the left, two separate castles are visible behind the tall trees sitting on the wooded slope. In the foreground, on the roadside, there sit Venus and Adonis. A putto and Adonis' hunting dogs sit close by. From the foreground, a stony road unbends down into the dale. In the middle distance there stands a long palace's garden. High highlands are discernible in the misty background.While Verhaecht reportedly visited Italy (living in Rome, where he reportedly was active as a painter of landscape frescos) his landscape paintings bear the mark of the Northern landscape tradition, and evince the influence of Brueghel and Patinir. Landscape with Venus and Adonis, like many other paintings by Verhaecht, depicts an imaginary, Weltlandschaft landscape characterized by mountainous topography. The Weltlandschaft tradition was popularized by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.Verhaecht didn't paint his drawing or drew his studies while crossing the Alps in the context of his trip to Italy (possibly in the 1580s). Some of his mountain landscapes and drawings thereof are dated a late as 1620, long after his return to Flanders.The custom of inserting biblical and mythological figures in the landscape paintings, practiced by Verhaecht contemporary landscapists such as Joos de Momper and Paul Bril, goes back to the first landscapists, which include Joachim Patinir and Herri met de Bles. These figures are but adornment to the real subject, the landscape, although they may give a painting its title and convey moral meanings, sometimes paralleled by items in the landscape.

18980_NT

Landscape with Venus and Adonis

Focus on this artwork and explain the Painting.

The view is from a vantage point. A river stretches down into a wide valley. To the left, two separate castles are visible behind the tall trees sitting on the wooded slope. In the foreground, on the roadside, there sit Venus and Adonis. A putto and Adonis' hunting dogs sit close by. From the foreground, a stony road unbends down into the dale. In the middle distance there stands a long palace's garden. High highlands are discernible in the misty background.While Verhaecht reportedly visited Italy (living in Rome, where he reportedly was active as a painter of landscape frescos) his landscape paintings bear the mark of the Northern landscape tradition, and evince the influence of Brueghel and Patinir. Landscape with Venus and Adonis, like many other paintings by Verhaecht, depicts an imaginary, Weltlandschaft landscape characterized by mountainous topography. The Weltlandschaft tradition was popularized by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.Verhaecht didn't paint his drawing or drew his studies while crossing the Alps in the context of his trip to Italy (possibly in the 1580s). Some of his mountain landscapes and drawings thereof are dated a late as 1620, long after his return to Flanders.The custom of inserting biblical and mythological figures in the landscape paintings, practiced by Verhaecht contemporary landscapists such as Joos de Momper and Paul Bril, goes back to the first landscapists, which include Joachim Patinir and Herri met de Bles. These figures are but adornment to the real subject, the landscape, although they may give a painting its title and convey moral meanings, sometimes paralleled by items in the landscape.

18981_T

Untitled Film Still 48

Explore the abstract of this artwork, Untitled Film Still 48.

Untitled Film Still #48 is a black and white photograph taken by Cindy Sherman in 1979. It is part of her Untitled Film Stills photographic series, taken from 1977 to 1980. This picture is also known as The Hitchhiker.

18981_NT

Untitled Film Still 48

Explore the abstract of this artwork.

Untitled Film Still #48 is a black and white photograph taken by Cindy Sherman in 1979. It is part of her Untitled Film Stills photographic series, taken from 1977 to 1980. This picture is also known as The Hitchhiker.

18982_T

Untitled Film Still 48

Focus on Untitled Film Still 48 and discuss the History and description.

The current photograph was taken in Arizona, when the artist was there on holiday, and depicts her portraying a woman, with a blonde wig and arms crossed behind her back, dressed in a pleated skirt, standing at the left side of a road, with her briefcase behind her, looking away, probably waiting for someone to pick her up. To her left, a natural landscape extends. This picture reflects the influence of both American and European cinema, like the rest of the series, and also recalls the work of American photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Sherman said about the picture: "Out there I wanted to be further away from the camera; I didn't want to compete with the landscape. I liked being smaller in the picture and having the scenery take over".

18982_NT

Untitled Film Still 48

Focus on this artwork and discuss the History and description.

The current photograph was taken in Arizona, when the artist was there on holiday, and depicts her portraying a woman, with a blonde wig and arms crossed behind her back, dressed in a pleated skirt, standing at the left side of a road, with her briefcase behind her, looking away, probably waiting for someone to pick her up. To her left, a natural landscape extends. This picture reflects the influence of both American and European cinema, like the rest of the series, and also recalls the work of American photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Sherman said about the picture: "Out there I wanted to be further away from the camera; I didn't want to compete with the landscape. I liked being smaller in the picture and having the scenery take over".

18983_T

Untitled Film Still 48

How does Untitled Film Still 48 elucidate its Art market?

Three prints of this photograph are amongst the most expensive ever sold. A print was sold by $2,965,000 on 13 May 2015 at Christie's, New York. Another print was sold by $2,225,000 at 11 November 2014, at Sotheby's, New York, and a third by $1,565,000 at 1 April 2008, at Christie's, New York.

18983_NT

Untitled Film Still 48

How does this artwork elucidate its Art market?

Three prints of this photograph are amongst the most expensive ever sold. A print was sold by $2,965,000 on 13 May 2015 at Christie's, New York. Another print was sold by $2,225,000 at 11 November 2014, at Sotheby's, New York, and a third by $1,565,000 at 1 April 2008, at Christie's, New York.

18984_T

Untitled Film Still 48

Focus on Untitled Film Still 48 and analyze the Public collections.

There are prints of the photograph at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and at the Tate Modern, in London.

18984_NT

Untitled Film Still 48

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Public collections.

There are prints of the photograph at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and at the Tate Modern, in London.

18985_T

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

In Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil, how is the abstract discussed?

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a public artwork by Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz. It is located on the Kilbourn Avenue boulevard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The 2001 aluminum sculpture consists six pieces organized in columns. The column heights are 4–6 meters, and the dimensions of the birds are: height 100–160 cm, width 190–260 cm, length 120–135 cm.

18985_NT

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a public artwork by Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz. It is located on the Kilbourn Avenue boulevard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The 2001 aluminum sculpture consists six pieces organized in columns. The column heights are 4–6 meters, and the dimensions of the birds are: height 100–160 cm, width 190–260 cm, length 120–135 cm.

18986_T

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Focus on Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil and explore the Description.

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil is an aluminum sculpture located near E Kilbourn Ave & N Cass St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. The sculpture faces toward Lake Michigan. It is also across from the Woman's Club of Wisconsin. It contains six separate pieces, each piece depicting a bird. Three of the birds have two wings and the other three birds have four wings. All of the bird's wings are at different angles. The six birds are arranged to mimic the ground they are set up on. Although the sculpture represents birds they are not depicted in full detail. Like many of Abakanowicz's sculptures Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil lack heads. When asked about her work Abakanowicz states, "perhaps the experience of the crowd, waiting passively in line, but ready to trample, destroy or afore on command like a headless creature, became the core of my analysis." Along with the bird's lack of heads their surface is that of an organic texture. This is juxtaposed with their aluminum material.There is a plaque in the lawn where the public work is located. It reads: Commissioned by members of the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on the occasion of its 125th anniversary. Celebrating Milwaukee's tradition of community service The artist wishes to acknowledge the special assistance of Artur Starewicz, Warsaw Poland

18986_NT

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Focus on this artwork and explore the Description.

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil is an aluminum sculpture located near E Kilbourn Ave & N Cass St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. The sculpture faces toward Lake Michigan. It is also across from the Woman's Club of Wisconsin. It contains six separate pieces, each piece depicting a bird. Three of the birds have two wings and the other three birds have four wings. All of the bird's wings are at different angles. The six birds are arranged to mimic the ground they are set up on. Although the sculpture represents birds they are not depicted in full detail. Like many of Abakanowicz's sculptures Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil lack heads. When asked about her work Abakanowicz states, "perhaps the experience of the crowd, waiting passively in line, but ready to trample, destroy or afore on command like a headless creature, became the core of my analysis." Along with the bird's lack of heads their surface is that of an organic texture. This is juxtaposed with their aluminum material.There is a plaque in the lawn where the public work is located. It reads: Commissioned by members of the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on the occasion of its 125th anniversary. Celebrating Milwaukee's tradition of community service The artist wishes to acknowledge the special assistance of Artur Starewicz, Warsaw Poland

18987_T

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

In the context of Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil, explain the Location history of the Description.

Yankee Hill is one of the oldest neighborhoods on Milwaukee's East Side. It was once a wealthy neighborhood and to this day still retains its wealth.

18987_NT

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

In the context of this artwork, explain the Location history of the Description.

Yankee Hill is one of the oldest neighborhoods on Milwaukee's East Side. It was once a wealthy neighborhood and to this day still retains its wealth.

18988_T

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Explore the Acquisition about the Description of this artwork, Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

In order to honor the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on their 125th anniversary Abakanowicz was commissioned to make a public artwork for Milwaukee. The piece was meant to honor the club, as well as to pay respect to the club's members and their dedicated years of volunteer work.

18988_NT

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Explore the Acquisition about the Description of this artwork.

In order to honor the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on their 125th anniversary Abakanowicz was commissioned to make a public artwork for Milwaukee. The piece was meant to honor the club, as well as to pay respect to the club's members and their dedicated years of volunteer work.

18989_T

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Focus on Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil and discuss the Artist.

Quotes by Abakanowicz "I'm frightened by crowds of people, birds or even insects swarming in great masses. People in an airport, people on a metro or on a tram, can seem threatening, horrible, a brainless entity. Today we are pushed by quantity in general. I create these crowds of figures as a warning: they're saying we are too many.""I feel overawed by quantity where counting no longer makes sense. By unrepeatability within such a quantity. By creatures of nature gathered in herds, droves, species, in which each individual, while subservient to the mass, retains some distinguishing features. A crowd of people, birds, insects, or leaves is a mysterious assemblage of variants of certain prototype. A riddle of nature's abhorrence of exact repetition or inability to produce it. Just as the human hand cannot repeat its own gesture, I invoke this disturbing law, switching my own immobile herds into that rhythm."

18989_NT

Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Artist.

Quotes by Abakanowicz "I'm frightened by crowds of people, birds or even insects swarming in great masses. People in an airport, people on a metro or on a tram, can seem threatening, horrible, a brainless entity. Today we are pushed by quantity in general. I create these crowds of figures as a warning: they're saying we are too many.""I feel overawed by quantity where counting no longer makes sense. By unrepeatability within such a quantity. By creatures of nature gathered in herds, droves, species, in which each individual, while subservient to the mass, retains some distinguishing features. A crowd of people, birds, insects, or leaves is a mysterious assemblage of variants of certain prototype. A riddle of nature's abhorrence of exact repetition or inability to produce it. Just as the human hand cannot repeat its own gesture, I invoke this disturbing law, switching my own immobile herds into that rhythm."

18990_T

Portrait of Maud Cook

How does Portrait of Maud Cook elucidate its abstract?

Portrait of Maud Cook is an 1895 painting by the American artist Thomas Eakins, Goodrich catalogue #279. It is in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. Given the artist's lack of interest in fashion or conventional beauty, the portrait has been noted as "a rare example of Eakins's studying the physical beauty of a young woman," and "one of Eakins's loveliest paintings."Maud was the sister of Weda Cook, who posed for Eakins' The Concert Singer in 1892. She is seen in a pink dress, the fabric flowing from her shoulders and pinned between her breasts. Her head is tilted to the left, in the direction of the light source. The light creates deep shadows that define the structure of her face, yet is subtle enough to suggest a youthful skin tone.In a letter written to Lloyd Goodrich in 1930, Cook recalled: "As I was just a young girl my hair is down low in the neck and tied with a ribbon....Mr. Eakins never gave (the painting) a name but said to himself it was like a 'big rose bud'." Several art historians have remarked on the implications of Eakins' description, especially the Victorian association of the rose with virginity, and the bud with sexual potential. Cook was in her twenties when she sat for the portrait and did not marry until eleven years later.The painting has been described as an example of Eakins' typical stark and unflattering vision. Although described as "resembling a classical sculpture more than a pretty, contemporary woman", Cook's representation is viewed as sensual, and representing an intensely private moment, underscored by the attention paid to her features and the disarray of her hairline. The suggestion of repressed sexuality has been seen as both intriguing and disturbing.Before giving the painting to Cook, Eakins inscribed "To his friend/Maude Cook/Thomas Eakins/1895" on the back and carved its frame. Eventually the painting was acquired by Stephen Carlton Clark, who bequeathed it to Yale University Art Gallery, where it has been held since 1961.

18990_NT

Portrait of Maud Cook

How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?

Portrait of Maud Cook is an 1895 painting by the American artist Thomas Eakins, Goodrich catalogue #279. It is in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. Given the artist's lack of interest in fashion or conventional beauty, the portrait has been noted as "a rare example of Eakins's studying the physical beauty of a young woman," and "one of Eakins's loveliest paintings."Maud was the sister of Weda Cook, who posed for Eakins' The Concert Singer in 1892. She is seen in a pink dress, the fabric flowing from her shoulders and pinned between her breasts. Her head is tilted to the left, in the direction of the light source. The light creates deep shadows that define the structure of her face, yet is subtle enough to suggest a youthful skin tone.In a letter written to Lloyd Goodrich in 1930, Cook recalled: "As I was just a young girl my hair is down low in the neck and tied with a ribbon....Mr. Eakins never gave (the painting) a name but said to himself it was like a 'big rose bud'." Several art historians have remarked on the implications of Eakins' description, especially the Victorian association of the rose with virginity, and the bud with sexual potential. Cook was in her twenties when she sat for the portrait and did not marry until eleven years later.The painting has been described as an example of Eakins' typical stark and unflattering vision. Although described as "resembling a classical sculpture more than a pretty, contemporary woman", Cook's representation is viewed as sensual, and representing an intensely private moment, underscored by the attention paid to her features and the disarray of her hairline. The suggestion of repressed sexuality has been seen as both intriguing and disturbing.Before giving the painting to Cook, Eakins inscribed "To his friend/Maude Cook/Thomas Eakins/1895" on the back and carved its frame. Eventually the painting was acquired by Stephen Carlton Clark, who bequeathed it to Yale University Art Gallery, where it has been held since 1961.

18991_T

Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine

Focus on Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine and analyze the abstract.

Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine is a 1927 oil painting by the American Realist artist Edward Hopper. The work depicts the Cape Elizabeth Lights, a frequent subject of Hopper and wife's frequent summer visits to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.

18991_NT

Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine

Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract.

Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine is a 1927 oil painting by the American Realist artist Edward Hopper. The work depicts the Cape Elizabeth Lights, a frequent subject of Hopper and wife's frequent summer visits to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.

18992_T

Bust of Richard Owen

In Bust of Richard Owen, how is the Historical information discussed?

In February 1862, after the fall of Fort Donelson, Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton agreed to hold Confederate prisoners of war at Camp Morton in Indianapolis. Morton summoned Owen's regiment, the 60th Indiana Volunteers, and others to Indiana to guard the camp's 3,700 prisoners. Owen assumed command of the camp on 24 February 1862 and remained in charge until his regiment was transferred to General Halleck's command in Kentucky on 26 May 1862. Owen left Indianapolis with his regiment on 20 June 1862. As commandant of Camp Morton, Owen established new rules for prisoner conduct and was known for his generosity and fair treatment of the camp's prisoners. Fifty years later, in 1911, S. A. Cunningham, a longtime editor of the Confederate Veteran magazine wanted to commission a memorial to Owen. Cunningham was imprisoned at Camp Morton while it was under Owen's supervision. To obtain state government approval for a memorial, William W. Spencer, a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, put forth a resolution to authorized its creation:Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein, that the Governor of this State be authorized to permit the surviving Confederate prisoners who were confined in Camp Morton during the War between the States to erect a tablet to the memory of Col. Richard Owen for the kindness shown said Confederate prisoners, and that the Governor be authorized to designate the spot where said tablet shall be placed, either in the Statehouse, on the grounds of the Statehouse, or on the soldiers' monument in the city of Indianapolis. The bill was approved unanimously by both houses. Initially, Cunningham planned to commission a memorial tablet and asked for donations in the Confederate Veteran from anyone who had been under Owen's command at the camp. Cunningham received more than $1,100 in contributions and had Belle Kinney Scholz, a sculptor and the daughter of a Confederate soldier, create a bronze bust instead of a tablet. The bust was dedicated at the Indiana Statehouse in June 1913, with Civil War veterans from both sides in attendance. The sculpture was called, "a bond between North and South."Two replicas of the Owen bust were cast in 1933. One is installed in the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University in Bloomington; the other replica is in the Purdue Memorial Union at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

18992_NT

Bust of Richard Owen

In this artwork, how is the Historical information discussed?

In February 1862, after the fall of Fort Donelson, Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton agreed to hold Confederate prisoners of war at Camp Morton in Indianapolis. Morton summoned Owen's regiment, the 60th Indiana Volunteers, and others to Indiana to guard the camp's 3,700 prisoners. Owen assumed command of the camp on 24 February 1862 and remained in charge until his regiment was transferred to General Halleck's command in Kentucky on 26 May 1862. Owen left Indianapolis with his regiment on 20 June 1862. As commandant of Camp Morton, Owen established new rules for prisoner conduct and was known for his generosity and fair treatment of the camp's prisoners. Fifty years later, in 1911, S. A. Cunningham, a longtime editor of the Confederate Veteran magazine wanted to commission a memorial to Owen. Cunningham was imprisoned at Camp Morton while it was under Owen's supervision. To obtain state government approval for a memorial, William W. Spencer, a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, put forth a resolution to authorized its creation:Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein, that the Governor of this State be authorized to permit the surviving Confederate prisoners who were confined in Camp Morton during the War between the States to erect a tablet to the memory of Col. Richard Owen for the kindness shown said Confederate prisoners, and that the Governor be authorized to designate the spot where said tablet shall be placed, either in the Statehouse, on the grounds of the Statehouse, or on the soldiers' monument in the city of Indianapolis. The bill was approved unanimously by both houses. Initially, Cunningham planned to commission a memorial tablet and asked for donations in the Confederate Veteran from anyone who had been under Owen's command at the camp. Cunningham received more than $1,100 in contributions and had Belle Kinney Scholz, a sculptor and the daughter of a Confederate soldier, create a bronze bust instead of a tablet. The bust was dedicated at the Indiana Statehouse in June 1913, with Civil War veterans from both sides in attendance. The sculpture was called, "a bond between North and South."Two replicas of the Owen bust were cast in 1933. One is installed in the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University in Bloomington; the other replica is in the Purdue Memorial Union at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

18993_T

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids

Focus on A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids and explore the abstract.

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids is a painting by the English artist William Holman Hunt that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 and is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It was a companion to John Everett Millais's Christ in the House of His Parents. Both artists sought to depict similar episodes from very early Christian history, portraying families helping an injured individual. Both also stressed the primitivism of the scene.

18993_NT

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids is a painting by the English artist William Holman Hunt that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 and is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It was a companion to John Everett Millais's Christ in the House of His Parents. Both artists sought to depict similar episodes from very early Christian history, portraying families helping an injured individual. Both also stressed the primitivism of the scene.

18994_T

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids

Focus on A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids and explain the Subject.

Hunt's painting depicts a family of ancient Britons occupying a crudely constructed hut by the riverside. They are attending to a missionary who is hiding from a mob of pagan British Celts. A Druid is visible in the background on the left pointing towards another missionary, who is being taken by one of the mob. A stone circle is noticeable behind the missionary but is visible only through gaps in the back of the hut used by the Christian family. The contrast between Christian and Druidic symbols is identified by the painting of a red cross over a stone within the Christian family's hut. The presence of the druid presumably locates the intended period of the scene before the Roman conquest of Britain in the mid-1st century, making the missionaries very early ones indeed, although the vestment-like clothes that they wear would, even to the well-informed Victorian, suggest a much later period.

18994_NT

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids

Focus on this artwork and explain the Subject.

Hunt's painting depicts a family of ancient Britons occupying a crudely constructed hut by the riverside. They are attending to a missionary who is hiding from a mob of pagan British Celts. A Druid is visible in the background on the left pointing towards another missionary, who is being taken by one of the mob. A stone circle is noticeable behind the missionary but is visible only through gaps in the back of the hut used by the Christian family. The contrast between Christian and Druidic symbols is identified by the painting of a red cross over a stone within the Christian family's hut. The presence of the druid presumably locates the intended period of the scene before the Roman conquest of Britain in the mid-1st century, making the missionaries very early ones indeed, although the vestment-like clothes that they wear would, even to the well-informed Victorian, suggest a much later period.

18995_T

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids

Explore the Reception of this artwork, A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids.

Hunt's painting was less controversial than Millais's companion piece, but Hunt was still heavily criticised for the odd composition and the contorted poses of the figures. In 1860, Florence Claxton's painting The Choice of Paris: An Idyll parodied the composition of Hunt's picture along with other works by the Pre-Raphaelite artists of the previous years.Hunt himself continued to believe it to be one of his best works. In 1872, referring to the painting as "the Early Xtians", he wrote in a letter to Edward Lear, stating that "sometimes when I look at the Early Xtians I feel rather ashamed that I have got no further than later years have brought me, but the truth is that at twenty – health, enthusiasm and yet unpunished confidence in oneself carries a man very near his ultimate length of tether".

18995_NT

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids

Explore the Reception of this artwork.

Hunt's painting was less controversial than Millais's companion piece, but Hunt was still heavily criticised for the odd composition and the contorted poses of the figures. In 1860, Florence Claxton's painting The Choice of Paris: An Idyll parodied the composition of Hunt's picture along with other works by the Pre-Raphaelite artists of the previous years.Hunt himself continued to believe it to be one of his best works. In 1872, referring to the painting as "the Early Xtians", he wrote in a letter to Edward Lear, stating that "sometimes when I look at the Early Xtians I feel rather ashamed that I have got no further than later years have brought me, but the truth is that at twenty – health, enthusiasm and yet unpunished confidence in oneself carries a man very near his ultimate length of tether".

18996_T

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair

Focus on Portrait of a Woman in a Chair and discuss the abstract.

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1627 and now in the Art Institute of Chicago. It is considered a pendant portrait, but the sitter is unknown and therefore the pendant is not certain.

18996_NT

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair

Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract.

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1627 and now in the Art Institute of Chicago. It is considered a pendant portrait, but the sitter is unknown and therefore the pendant is not certain.

18997_T

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair

How does Portrait of a Woman in a Chair elucidate its Painting?

This painting of a young woman with a diadem cap and dark bodice with gold buttons holding a glove or handkerchief, was first documented by W.R. Valentiner in 1923. He mentioned it as being in the Chicago collection of Max Epstein (1875–1954) and dated it to 1635. In 1974 Seymour Slive listed the painting as catalog number 52 and mentioned that after cleaning, the rosy landscape on the left hand side was removed to reveal the back of a chair and the inscription "aeta suae 33 Ano 1627", leading him to conclude the woman was aged 33 at marriage and dating the portrait seven years earlier than Valentiner's original estimate. Slive felt the painting showed similarities (lace cuffs and flesh tones) with Hals' portrait of Aletta Hannemans, but it had been cropped on all sides. He based his conclusion on the idea that Hals would not have allowed a woman's hand to be cropped at the painting's edge as seen in this portrait. In 1989 Claus Grimm listed it again as by Hals, catalog number 35.

18997_NT

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair

How does this artwork elucidate its Painting?

This painting of a young woman with a diadem cap and dark bodice with gold buttons holding a glove or handkerchief, was first documented by W.R. Valentiner in 1923. He mentioned it as being in the Chicago collection of Max Epstein (1875–1954) and dated it to 1635. In 1974 Seymour Slive listed the painting as catalog number 52 and mentioned that after cleaning, the rosy landscape on the left hand side was removed to reveal the back of a chair and the inscription "aeta suae 33 Ano 1627", leading him to conclude the woman was aged 33 at marriage and dating the portrait seven years earlier than Valentiner's original estimate. Slive felt the painting showed similarities (lace cuffs and flesh tones) with Hals' portrait of Aletta Hannemans, but it had been cropped on all sides. He based his conclusion on the idea that Hals would not have allowed a woman's hand to be cropped at the painting's edge as seen in this portrait. In 1989 Claus Grimm listed it again as by Hals, catalog number 35.

18998_T

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair

Focus on Portrait of a Woman in a Chair and analyze the Possible pendants.

A possible pendant of this painting (slightly larger, if this one was indeed cut down) Another possible pendant of this painting (slightly smaller, if both were cut down)

18998_NT

Portrait of a Woman in a Chair

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Possible pendants.

A possible pendant of this painting (slightly larger, if this one was indeed cut down) Another possible pendant of this painting (slightly smaller, if both were cut down)

18999_T

Narcissus (Caravaggio)

In Narcissus (Caravaggio), how is the abstract discussed?

Narcissus is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, painted circa 1597–1599. It is housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. The painting was originally attributed to Caravaggio by Roberto Longhi in 1916. This is one of only two known Caravaggios on a theme from Classical mythology, although this is due more to the accidents of survival than the artist's oeuvre. Narcissus, according to the poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, is a handsome youth who falls in love with his own reflection. Unable to tear himself away, he dies of his passion, and even as he crosses the Styx continues to gaze at his reflection (Metamorphoses 3:339–510).

18999_NT

Narcissus (Caravaggio)

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

Narcissus is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, painted circa 1597–1599. It is housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. The painting was originally attributed to Caravaggio by Roberto Longhi in 1916. This is one of only two known Caravaggios on a theme from Classical mythology, although this is due more to the accidents of survival than the artist's oeuvre. Narcissus, according to the poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, is a handsome youth who falls in love with his own reflection. Unable to tear himself away, he dies of his passion, and even as he crosses the Styx continues to gaze at his reflection (Metamorphoses 3:339–510).

19000_T

Narcissus (Caravaggio)

Focus on Narcissus (Caravaggio) and explore the Background.

The story of Narcissus was often referenced or retold in literature, for example, by Dante (Paradiso 3.18–19) and Petrarch (Canzoniere 45–46). The story was well known in the circles of such collectors in which Caravaggio was moving in this period, such as those of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte and the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani. Caravaggio's friend, the poet Giambattista Marino, wrote a description of Narcissus.The story of Narcissus was particularly appealing to artists according to the Renaissance theorist Leon Battista Alberti: "the inventor of painting ... was Narcissus ... What is painting but the act of embracing by means of art the surface of the pool?"Caravaggio painted an adolescent page wearing an elegant brocade doublet, leaning with both hands over the water, as he gazes at this own distorted reflection. The painting conveys an air of brooding melancholy: the figure of Narcissus is locked in a circle with his reflection, surrounded by darkness, so that the only reality is inside this self-regarding loop. The 16th century literary critic Tommaso Stigliani explained the contemporary thinking that the myth of Narcissus "clearly demonstrates the unhappy end of those who love their things too much."

19000_NT

Narcissus (Caravaggio)

Focus on this artwork and explore the Background.

The story of Narcissus was often referenced or retold in literature, for example, by Dante (Paradiso 3.18–19) and Petrarch (Canzoniere 45–46). The story was well known in the circles of such collectors in which Caravaggio was moving in this period, such as those of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte and the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani. Caravaggio's friend, the poet Giambattista Marino, wrote a description of Narcissus.The story of Narcissus was particularly appealing to artists according to the Renaissance theorist Leon Battista Alberti: "the inventor of painting ... was Narcissus ... What is painting but the act of embracing by means of art the surface of the pool?"Caravaggio painted an adolescent page wearing an elegant brocade doublet, leaning with both hands over the water, as he gazes at this own distorted reflection. The painting conveys an air of brooding melancholy: the figure of Narcissus is locked in a circle with his reflection, surrounded by darkness, so that the only reality is inside this self-regarding loop. The 16th century literary critic Tommaso Stigliani explained the contemporary thinking that the myth of Narcissus "clearly demonstrates the unhappy end of those who love their things too much."