Museum Visit

The Cantor Museum - a Rodin lover's paradise! I went to the Cantor Museum primarily because of the Rodin collection. I went on a Tuesday afternoon and was surprised at how little traffic encountered while entering the Stanford campus. The parking was easy, and I quickly bounded up the steps leading into the grand building, excited and anticipating an afternoon of pleasure and interest. I immediately noticed the modern art exhibit and quickly veered away, shunning it entirely as I am not a fan of modern art (sorry if I offend anyone but there it is). I followed the signs to Rodin and walked into a large hallway where I was met with the monumental figure of The Thinker. I prefer Despair to the Thinker and was thrilled to see it just a few feet away! I snapped as many cell camera pictures as I dared, since the volunteer in the Rodin wing gave me the evil eye each time my camera snicked. The picture above is me next to The Helmet-Maker's Wife, 1925.





What Rodin exhibit would be complete without The Kiss?













Aphrodite made me want to immediately head back to the gym for a few hours on the treadmill...











Young Girl With Flowers In Her Hair








These were all the pictures I felt comfortable taking under the watchful eye of the museum lady! Don't mess with her! I also really enjoyed Youth Triumphant although I didn't dare take another picture.

If you have a chance, go to the Cantor and check out this collection! Admission is free, parking is a breeze, and the campus is lovely. I highly recommend it!

Blog # 8 - Full Circle

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (Lunch on the Grass)
Edward Manet

I absolutely love this painting! I have to admit that I have not been a big fan of Manet (I always wanted to change the 'a' to an 'o' and make it Monet as I am a fan of his work) but this week's reading changed my mind. I appreciate the almost off-hand way the female is sitting in the middle of the grass, gaze and thoughts elsewhere, while the men are talking around her, not even paying attention to the fact that she is nude. And they are not even noticing the other woman getting out of the bath, despite the fact that she is as naked as the first woman. I love the statement Manet was making with this (at least what I see as his statement) about artistic freedom and expression of the natural world (represented by nudity) connected to the intellectual world (clothed figures in discussion).

Mary Cassatt - what an amazing artist! I so admire her paintings, her subject matter, her viewpoint and perspective. Perhaps I am drawn to her as she presents women in such a manner that brings out our strength, our uniqueness, our abilities; she brings out those characteristics in women that I most wish to develop in myself, and foster in my own daughter.

Self-portrait
Mary Cassatt, 1878

On a final note, I find it interesting that with this last post I've come full circle from my original post. Remember the first post where we talked about three pieces of art? One of my pieces was a Cassatt. And through this journey I've explored so many other exciting artists and learned histories way beyond what I imagined before this class. This makes me still hungry for more! So, the journey goes on ...

Blog #7 - Neoclassicism and Romantic Expressionism

This week's look at Goya's Romantic Expressionism certainly gave me food for thought (no pun intended with the picture below!) as I viewed some of his more darker images. There are a series of pictures painted when he was 72, already fully deaf from a debilitating fever, and all the images were originally depicted on the walls of his house. They are commonly called the Black Paintings, and were painted between 1819 and 1823.


Saturn Devouring His Son, Goya (1819 - 1823)

From the mythology surrounding this god, Saturn was forewarned that one of his sons would overthrow him. So as each of his children was born, he ate them. But his mother hid the last son Jupiter who eventually grew up to, yes you guessed it, overthrow Saturn. Just can't escape these prophecies! It is not known why Goya chose this subject matter as he did not keep any notes on his art work of this period. This painting was one of 6 that hung in the dining room. What an appetizer!







I find this painting fascinating, not only because of the artwork but also because of the controversy it sparked. And also because people had so many varying opinions about the painting! It is entitled Une Odalisque, or Grande Odalisque, which is translated to Concubine or Harem Woman. Napoleon's sister Caroline Murat, also the Queen of Naples, commissioned Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres to paint it in 1814.

Critics of the time thought he was being untrue to the neoclassical style and breaking toward Romanticism. Additionally, people thought the woman's anatomy and pose was impossible and postulated that she would have had to have 5 extra vertebrae if the pose were reproduced by a human woman.

Sound anything like our current size 00 fashion models who can't eat anything in order to stay stick thin for the camera? Or how about that woman who a few years back sculpted her body to mirror the measurements of a Barbie doll? She even removed some of her ribs. I would hope that Ingres did not have this in mind when he painted, to put forth an archetype of women that would never be feasible. I will keep my hopes pinned on the fact that he was attempting to make a different type of statement relating to the grace and beauty of women.

Blog #6 - Art in Society

The role of art in society has dramatically evolved and changed throughout history. At one time, art was virtually the only method of retaining and documenting stories outside of the verbal lore spread between members of a community. In this day of the internet, streaming audio and iPods, it is hard to believe that a primitive cave drawing could actually be a revolutionary form of expression that had express and intrinsic value as a historical documentation of a culture.

Today, art is both an encapsulation of culture as well as a spur toward further creativity; in a sense it involves metaphorically creating and pushing the envelope at the same time! Current ideas and trends are captured by artists, whether in the form of painting, sculpture, music, dance, poetry or other mediums, while newly emerging trends are fueled by those sparks of creativity and goaded into further expressions of inner thought by the artistic community as a whole.


The Swing
Jean-Honore Fragonard

I love this picture, as well as the story behind it! This week's voice thread was fascinating as it detailed the interesting history of The Swing. I really like how it showed a new "frivolous and flirtatious side" (borrowed from Professor Reiss' voice thread) of the 18th Century.

As we explored Baroque, Rococco and Neo-Classicism this week, it becomes clear that with each artistic period there is a transition from one to the other, with the last period leaving its mark heavily imprinted on the next. The resulting age could be diametrically opposed in terms of color or style, like a rebellion from the previous style, or it could be complementary and simply building its own sense in the mosaic of creativity. It makes me wonder what the next "age" will encompass; will we have a rebellion of modernism or more modern definition in the ages to come?

Blog # 5 - Dutch and Flemish Baroque

This week I want to start out my blog with Judith Leyster. She is one of very few female artists in the time of the Dutch Baroque, and seemed to be a strong and talented woman. She was one of only two female members of her artist's guild, the Guild of St. Luke. She actually sued one of her fellow-gild members for stealing her apprentice - and won! Her innovation at presenting female subjects in domestic settings when a time this was not yet popular made her an interesting and forward-thinking artist. I love this self-portrait of her.


Self-Protrait
Judith Leyster, 1630

Another self-portrait, although perhaps not one so flattering, is this one of Rembrandt. One thing that makes me wonder is why most artists are referred to by their last names, yet Rembrandt is called his first name? Hmmm ... could the fact that his full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn have anything to do with it??

Blog # 4 - Thoughts on Caravaggio

The bad boy of Italian art? The papparazzi of today would have had a field day with this tumultuous, capricious, creative genius! Even from the beginning, he was an enigmatic individual. I thumbed through a great biography by Peter Robb called M: The Man Who Became Carivaggio. He was born Michelangelo Merisi however his friends called him M, and he was ultimately called Carivaggio after the town in which he spent his childhood. Having been christened Elizabeth, but called every variation from Liz, Liza, Lizzy, Beth, Betty, Betsy, Elie, Libby, Liddy and even E, I can certainly understand how it can be difficult to attach importance and sense of self when given so many different labels.

His paintings were hidden in attics, basements, churches and other hidey-holes, painted over & rotting, and have only been discovered within the last 20 years or so. One thing amazing about his work and creative genius was his ability to show things as they really were, conveying reality and feeling and life in a way that made other artists of his time jealous of his prowess. It is also incredible to find out that he used common "street" people, i.e. prostitutes, destitue homeless people and other "down and outs" as subjects for many religious paintings. Can you imagine looking at a new prestigious painting in a new church and realizing it depicted the bum on the street corner as the apostle Peter? Or a prostitute being painted in the likeness of the Virgin Mary?

Peter Killed, or Crocifissione di San Pietro, 1601
Currently in Rome in Chiesa di Santa Maria del Popolo

10-foot-high Entombment of Christ, or Deposizione, 1602-3.
Now hanging in the Vatican Museum in Rome.

When he was 39 he disappeared, and the only few written traces of his life are some scribbled written receipts, police reports and court transcripts. What other way could a bad boy exit the center stage?

Blog # 3 - Sculpting the Italian Renaissance

This week I want to showcase artwork that reflects the sense of "confidence and promise" mentioned in our PowerPoint lecture.

For confidence, how could one miss the understated assurance bordering on arrogance of Andrea del Verrocchio's David? His pose, slightly relaxed with one arm akimbo and the sword hanging nonchalantly at his other side, the slight smile (almost smug, wouldn't you say?), and of course the head of a very-dead Goliath at his feet to remind us all of what he accomplished at almost astronomical odds! If he doesn't embody confidence, I don't know what else would!



Let's move on to Promise. The breathtaking design of Brunelleschi's Dome set Florence apart from all architectural rivals, and underscored the immense talent of one of her chief architects. The promise of the Renaissance was illuminated with this phenomenal work of artistry and architecture, and proved Florence's place in history.

Blog # 2 - Simple things make complex statements

Sometimes I'm amazed at how saying very little can speak volumes. In this case, Rogier van der Wyden's Descent of Christ from the Cross was astonishingly powerful in its seeming simplicity.

At first glance, this is a heart-rendering depiction of Christ's death and those who mourned around him. Yet the placement of specific people in specific places representing specific functionality which is inherent in the picture show a much deeper meaning that first appears on the surface. In this week's lecture we went through the atmosphere of confusion and instability in the poses of Christ and Mary, both of them supine, and Mary's utter helplessness to combat her grief and misery. Yet the three people and even the cross itself somehow provides a border to their pain and shows a semblance of stability even during the grief. And I never would have suspected that John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene's positions were parenthetical, or enclosing the others, perhaps in protective fashion? Stunning effect that would have gone right over my head had I not listened to the lecture! The fact that each of these people were important figures of their time and to Christ himself shows the solidarity the artist is trying to reveal, and it comes across in such a simple manner it would be very easy to miss the true intent.

I wonder how many other "simple" things I've overlooked because I'm not looking in the right place or with the right set of wondering eyes?

Post #1 - Three Pieces of Art

Water Lilies: Morning - Monet
I first fell in love with this piece in 1989. There was something about the colors of the water mixed with the softness of the lily pads that soothed me, while inspiring me at the same time. My sister gave me my first classical music recording at the same time that I discovered this painting. It was Debussey's La Mer, but for years I called the album The Purple Monet after this painting! I am by no means a connoisseur of Impressionism, but I know I appreciate this picture!

Dance in the City - Renoir

Impressionist art has always been my favorite. There is something about the soft light and dreamy color that speaks to me. I think it is because that is how my mind's eye sees the world, in sort of a dreamy, floaty, incandescence that flows in and out of space and time. I love this one because I am a true romantic, love to dance, and admire the way the couple are holding each other close, yet still have their own thoughts and separate musings. Isn't that what live and love are about? One thing I've noticed about Renoir is the predominance of humanism in his painting; a great majority of his most popular work depicts people in everyday activities.

Young Lady Reading - Mary Cassatt

Reading - my all-time favorite past-time! And what a great comfy couch this is. The artist captured the mood perfectly! It is a classical rendition of Impressionism.