Posts by magnus@mastodon.world
(DIR) Post #AUCmVQEf2X1N3WX0fw by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-04-01T05:37:37Z
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The Detroit heiress Clara Ward (1873-1916) married a Belgian prince, a Hungarian restaurant musician, an Italian train waiter and one station master in that order. She was written about by Proust, depicted by Toulouse-Lautrec, and the chef Escoffier named two dishes after her. A French newspaper wrote that she was the best example of Nietzsche’s Übermensch. Here, Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) shows her just before she acquires the title “princess” with her first marriage.
(DIR) Post #AUCmVVMHzb5swd8flA by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-04-01T05:47:07Z
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Here is a link to the claim about Übermensch, "la surfemme"."Un seul type se rapproche effectivement de l'idéal tracé par Nietzsche — et ce type est une femme. C'est Clara Ward, l'ex-princesse de Chimay. Voici, enfin, une femme qui entend faire donner à la vie le maximum de force et de beauté qu'elle peut procurer, et qui traite avec un dédain parfait tous ces préjugés ancestraux qu'on appelle habitude, tradition, science. religion, altruisme et conscience morale."https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7545861q/f1.item.zoom
(DIR) Post #AVgFz2tvPlQK2GM1OS by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-05-14T05:06:11Z
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From the ladies’ fashion, one can tell that this undated painting by Konstantin Korovin (Константин Алексеевич Коровин 1861-1939) was made after WWI, probably after he left the Soviet Union and moved to Paris in 1923. Without the financial support of his native country, he had to tighten his belt, and he produced a lot of street art. This painting of Café la Marine was likely painted after a rain that helps create reflections in the street.
(DIR) Post #AVu9zsXXQ7CCvVmSgK by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-05-22T06:32:17Z
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There is no lack of exultation in this E of an “Exultate Deo” in a Psalter from the beginning of the 13th century (BL Lansdowne MS 431; f.64v). Even the dogs are dancing and playing. At this time, musical notation included only sung voices, and one wonders how much the image is supposed to represent the mood of singing a psalm. It may be inspired by the festum stultorum, or Feast of Fools, which was a religious mock ceremony. But sometimes people really danced in church. Anything is possible.
(DIR) Post #AWEpbTKZ6Ycvumrplw by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-06-01T05:53:39Z
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During his childhood, Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681) would never have seen anyone dress like this. The tricorne hat was an evolution of hats worn by Spanish soldiers whom the French fought in 1667. The fluffy necktie or cravat, was brought to Western Europe by Croat forces during the 1660s. Louis XIV of France was fond of both, and he also liked wigs. When Gerard ter Borch painted this Reading Young Man around 1680, the fashion was well established, and we see neckties around us still today.
(DIR) Post #AWfkfomWNJPe4DGuqu by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-06-14T05:35:56Z
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The Stolen Kiss was painted in 1787, by two artists who were in family with each other. They are Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732 - 1806) and his sister-in-law Marguerite Gérard (1761-1837), who also was his pupil. They both came from Grasse, where Gérard’s family produced perfume, but they spent most of their lives in Paris with Fragonard’s wife and Gérard’s older sister Marie-Anne. Later on, Gérard made it on her own and lived from her art, even though she continued to live with her sister.
(DIR) Post #AWik5QBdkimojeODoG by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-06-12T13:17:29Z
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The flower of an Opuntia lindheimeri enjoying the last days of spring.
(DIR) Post #AWik5R5eOTabXMax72 by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-06-15T16:11:42Z
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Cactus flowers come in red as well, for those who prefer that.
(DIR) Post #AXAs1AZAbVAm24NULg by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-06-29T05:54:09Z
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Just like Greta Garbo’s beauty is widely known today, the beauty of noblewoman Simonetta Vespucci was famed in renaissance Florence. But unlike with Garbo, they had no photos of Simonetta, and artists sometimes took big liberties, like Piero di Cosimo (1462-1522) probably did in this painting that was made at least ten years after Simonetta’s death. She was said to have been model for Botticelli in his Birth of Venus and La Primavera, but we don’t know if that's true.
(DIR) Post #AXROsElNdegOki8U7M by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-07-07T05:17:48Z
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At the end of the 19th century a number of Japanese artists experimented with gradients in painting instead of traditional line drawings. The establishment mocked this novelty and called it moro-tai 朦朧体, “vague style.” One of the experimenting artists, Shunso Hishida 菱田春草 (1874-1911), soon realised that gradients indeed were of limited use, but they worked fine for sunrises and sunsets, like here in his Twilight 暮色 from 1901. Every tool is good, if you only understand when to use it.
(DIR) Post #AXoJouQpnHtnzuwMvA by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-07-18T06:37:59Z
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Not only singing, but a trumpet, a violin and a flute and even a bagpipe together with a spoon that may be used to beat the rhythm. And several pipes. The text in the background, "So de ouden songen, so pijpen de jongen" can mean either “as the old sing, the young ones play” or “… the young ones smoke the pipe.” No matter what, the parents inspire a lot of fun according to Jan Steen (1626–1679).
(DIR) Post #AYsgljWgxgtt85TulM by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-08-19T07:07:14Z
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In the mid 10th century, the scholar and diplomat Leo of Naples came upon an old collection of legends about Alexander the Great, The Alexander Romance, which was written in the early 4th century CE, about 600 years after the king’s death. Leo compiled a version of his own, the Historia de preliis, History of Battles.A scene with Alexander using griffons to create a flying machine is here shown in a French translation from 1420, Royal 20 B. xx f.76v.Never travel without your crown.
(DIR) Post #AZ33zjUQ8Sy3b2f9ai by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-08-24T07:13:28Z
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Many art historians spend a lot of time making sure they credit the right artist in works by the brothers Piero del Pollaiuolo (1443-1496) and Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1433-1498), and that’s challenging. The two brothers worked closely together, and even though they had separate workshops, they worked in the same building. Neither do we know the identity of the lady in this painting that came from the brothers’ workshops, but the beauty remains in spite of all the unknowns.
(DIR) Post #AZRthD0ZTxYlJsmr3o by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-09-05T06:46:48Z
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In some cases, it’s more efficient to have the main motive in the background, so people need to look for it, and that’s a technique Jan Sanders van Hemessen (1500-1566) often used.This painting is dominated by a lute player, who probably is Mary Magdalene, but in the background to the right, we see a backgammon game, and in the background to the left a scene which traditionally is regarded as Jesus visiting Martha.
(DIR) Post #AZuu3SrIri41qVH0ee by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-09-19T06:37:39Z
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A lady in richly ornate dress with a gloomy sonnet and sad inscriptions. This could be an allegory for how little wealth contributes to happiness, but if the artist knew the identity of the lady, the display of beautiful clothes could equally well be a consolation for some real sorrow. Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561–1636) is the man behind it all.
(DIR) Post #AaFe0sOvj3SiAKyCVk by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-09-29T06:45:20Z
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This may be a homage or a cheeky reply to Joshua Reynolds’ almost identical painting of a lady sacrificing to three nude graces. Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807) instead chose to let the lady sacrifice to the goddess of wisdom, Minerva. Kauffman was much younger than Reynolds, but they were close friends, who wisely and gracefully learnt from each other.
(DIR) Post #AaeRiOy6QzbVX9y38q by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-10-11T05:56:48Z
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The intention was religious, but the main interest of the picture is for musicology. In this painting of Mary and Jesus, they are surrounded by a vast number of instruments available at the time of 1490. Heaven has not only harps but also bagpipes, harpsichords and a vast number of string instruments. Jesus himself is playing claw bells in a duet with one of the angles, whose technique he carefully observes. The painter was likely Geertgen tot Sint Jans (1465-1495).
(DIR) Post #AcxaublYu4o1PKWLYG by magnus@mastodon.world
2023-12-19T07:23:53Z
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@dlr_next In case anyone wonders, this is NOT a picture from Iceland.
(DIR) Post #AheYC0Rn2eidlSXTzk by magnus@mastodon.world
2024-05-06T05:51:24Z
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The art auction house Goupil & Cie was founded in the middle of the 18th century. It came to dominated the art market for a long time, but it is also famous for sacking Vincent van Gogh from its staff.One of Goupil's many transactions was to buy this painting, After the Bath, directly from the artist William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) and then to swiftly make sure it become the property of king William III of the Netherlands, who said it became his favourite painting.
(DIR) Post #ApikMuWfh8ezzF9a8u by magnus@mastodon.world
2025-01-03T20:57:12Z
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@alexwild So it’s the same species, but surely a genetic variation? Or can the booty colour depend on something in the environment? Or fashion trends?