Poetry, stories and strange odds and ends from the desk of a writer
Wrestlers1899Realism, Early American ModernismOil on canvasCollection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, USA Two youths locked in a wrestling hold are the focal point of this painting. In the left background, a wrestler uses a rowing machine, and on the right another young athlete is standing next to a suited coach, … Continue reading Wrestlers by Thomas Eakins
Cabaret Voltaire by Marcel Janco Cabaret Voltaire1916DadaAcrylic on canvasUnknown A crowded canvas portrays the chaotic action, sound, and fury of a night at the Cabaret Voltaire. A jumble of performers, spectators, and inanimate objects fill the space so it is overcrowded and almost bursting. The artist makes little distinction between the performers and the audience, … Continue reading Cabaret Voltaire by Marcel Janco
Man at a Table1961Pop ArtPlaster, Wood and GlassCollection Museum Abteiberg, Monchengladbach, Germany The first of Segal’s sculptures using, what was to become his signature medium, bandages dipped in plaster. ‘Man at a Table’ is a life-sized figure based on the body of the artist. Segal wrapped parts of his body in bandages and made casts … Continue reading Man at a Table by George Segal
A Wall for Apricots by Anne Truitt A Wall for Apricots1968Washington Colour School, Minimalism, Abstract ExpressionismAcrylic on woodBaltimore Museum of Art, Maryland, USA A tall, elegant tower containing three bands of vivid colour stacked one on top the other, A Wall for Apricots is a deceitfully simple piece that with closer inspection reveals a delicate … Continue reading A Wall for Apricots by Anne Truitt
I Saw Three Cities1944SurrealismOil on canvasPrinceton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA A desolate, geometric landscape dominated by a tail, cloaked guardian in the foreground. The human figure is composed of a central pole and swirling drapery. Fluid and animated drapery gives a feeling of movement and wind blowing through the fabric made figure contrasting … Continue reading I Saw Three Cities by Kay Sage
Depression Bread Line1991Pop ArtPlaster, wood, metal, and acrylic paintCollection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, USA An overarching theme of Segal’s work, waiting is presented with poignancy in Depression Bread Line. Life-sized hunched over men in old hats and overcoats stand in a single line queue beside a brick wall. Brad lines … Continue reading Depression Bread Line by George Segal
Paysage by Dora Maar Paysage1957SurrealismOil on canvasUnknown Maar turned to paining as an exclusive media after Picasso encouraged her to give up photography. Even after their relationship ended she continued to [paint preferring still-life landscape, with the latter becoming more and more abstract. By the time Maar was painting landscapes such as ‘Paysage’ she had … Continue reading Paysage by Dora Maar
Café de L'Aubette1926-8ConstructivismCafé de L'AubetteStrasbourg, France One of the first intermedia artists, Taeuber-Arp applies a hard-edged geometric abstraction with Constructivist leanings to interior design. Taeuber-Arp applied the visual language found in works on paper to interior walls and ceilings of this leisure complex to bring the Utopian ideals behind abstraction into practice to create a … Continue reading Café de l’Aubette by Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci Virgin of the Rocks1483-86High RenaissanceOil on wood transferred to canvasLouvre, Paris, France Da Vinci presents the Madonna with infant versions of Christ and John the Baptist, alongside the archangel Gabriel. They are sat amid a mystical imagined landscape that exemplifies the artists depth of perspective. In the … Continue reading Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci
Head on2006Installation ArtInstallation of replicas of wolves (gauze, resin and hide) of variable dimensionsDeutsche Bank Collection An installation, Head On comprises of 99 replica wolfs in motion, running as a pack into a glass wall. In life-size, the wolves possess vitality and sense of movement as in real life. The placement of the wolves presents … Continue reading Head On by Cai Guo-Qiang
Pava LXV2003Washington Colour SchoolAcrylic on woodArtwork and Estate of Anne Truitt Like a floating block of pure colour a warm red square sits on an elevated base. In contrast to Truitt’s slender columns that suggest a breezy, airy quality, Pava LXV has weight and density, suggestive of a sense of permanence. Truitt created this piece … Continue reading Pava LXV by Anne Truitt
Cats1913RayonismOil on canvasSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York USA Two cats at play, or fighting, used by Goncharova to illustrate the complex new movement of Rayonism. On a primarily yellow background the black and white rays of feline form splinter into shards and intersect with the ray of light. Painted lines instantly break up the … Continue reading Cats by Natalia Goncharova
Untitled #264 by Cindy Sherman Untitled #2641992The Pictures Generation, Feminist ArtChromogenic colour printGuggenheim Museums and Foundation, New York, USA Sherman’s intent was to shock the unsuspecting viewer with her series of Sex Pictures featuring anatomical dolls posed in compromising positions. Clearly set apart from actual pornography, photograph #264 cruelly comments on the dehumanization of women … Continue reading Untitled #264 by Cindy Sherman
Henry Ford Hospital1932SurrealismOil on canvasDolores Olmedo Collection, Mexico City, Mexico Many of Kahlo’s paintings from the early 1930s relate to religious ex-voto paintings of which she and Rivera possessed a large collection ranging over several centuries. Ex-votos paintings are a gesture of gratitude for salvation, a granted prayer or an averted disaster and are left … Continue reading Henry Ford Hospital by Frida Kahlo
Man in Oriental Costume by Rembrandt Man in Oriental Costume1632Baroque, Dutch Golden AgeOil on canvasMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, USA An ambitious painting, ‘Man in Oriental Costume’ depicts the Dutch idea of a Near Eastern Potentate, an exotic subject that would appeal a knowledgeable and experienced collector. A stately and colossal figure … Continue reading Man in Oriental Costume by Rembrandt
Way VII1974Washington Colour SchoolAcrylic on canvas Way Vii is a sea of umber red on an expanse of canvas with vertical bands creating thin slivers of light shining through suggesting depth and space beyond the monochrome surface. Best known for sculptures Truitt is described as a painter working in three dimensions, yet she made countless … Continue reading Way VII by Anne Truitt
Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome (Vision of St Jerome)1526MannerismOil on panelNational Gallery, London, UK The only altar piece Parmigianino was commissioned to make whilst in Rome, ‘Vision of St Jerome’ is one of the artist’s most accomplished religious works. The painting combines different temporal perspectives and toys with spatial relations … Continue reading Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome (Vision of St Jerome) by Parmigianino
La Femme Foudroyée by Achille-Etna Michallon La Femme Foudroyée1817RomanticismOil on canvasLe Louvre, Paris, France Michallon painted La Femme Foudroyée for the Prix de Rome for historic landscape. The Prix de Rome, a French scholarship for arts students was established in 1663. Winners were awarded a student bursary to stay in Rome for three to five … Continue reading La Femme Foudroyée by Achille-Etna Michallon
Vault1976Colour Field Painting, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Washington Colour SchoolAcrylic on canvasPace Gallery, London, UK Noland’s Chevrons and Circles created visual tension between colour and background, however, Vault is animated from edge to edge with colour. The shaped canvas allows the painting to echo and reinforce the wedges of colour that are the sole content of the … Continue reading Vault by Kenneth Noland
Grass Grows by Hans Haacke Grass Grows1969Conceptual ArtSoil, seeds, and grassCornell University's Johnson Museum of Art, New York, USA Consisting of a pile of soil in the shape of a cone sprinkled with grass seeds that sprouted throughout the exhibition, the audience of Grass Grows arrived and observed the piece in different moments of its … Continue reading Grass Grows by Hans Haacke
Our Banner in the Sky1861The Hudson River SchoolOil on paperFine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA An unusual context for Church, ‘Our Banner in the Sky’ is one of the artist’s most personally revealing works. It is considered to have been painted when civil war broke out in America. A break in the clouds forms … Continue reading Our Banner in the Sky by Frederic Edwin Church
Elementary Forms1917ConstructivismEmbroidery Elementary Forms was made to hang on a wall, unlike most other textile at the time. By treating embroidery like a painting Taeuber-Arp attempted to erode the ideas of what materials could be used to create art. The weft changes how the viewer sees the embroidery, forcing the consideration of texture and the … Continue reading Elementary Forms by Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Artist: Frida Kahlo Born: 6 July 1907, Mexico City, Mexico Nationality: Mexican Movement: Naïve art, Modern art, Surrealism, Magical Realism, Symbolism, Naturalism, Primitivism, Social realism, Cubism Died: 13 July 1954, Mexico City, Mexico...
A Bigger Message2010British ArtOil on 30 canvasesThe David Hockney Foundation " A Bigger Message is the culmination of a series of works by Hockney inspired by Claude Lorrain’s the Sermon on the Mount (1656). Hockney spent three weeks digitally cleaning the original painting on his computer, a process that enabled him to get know the … Continue reading A Bigger Message by David Hockney
Winter Timber2009British ArtOil on 15 canvassesGuggenheim, Bilbao, Spain Many of Hockney’s most renowned works were inspired by photographs, however, ‘Winter Timber’ was painted in front of the motif, at the corner of an old Roman road in Yorkshire. The purple palette generated a contemporary landscape and an eternal, almost like a computer-generated illusion of a … Continue reading Winter Timber by David Hockney
Mama, Papa is Wounded!1927SurrealismOil on CanvasMuseum of Modern Art, New York, USA The vast space, pale palette, and dark shadows cast by airborne objects in the eerie light evoke a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Typical of the correlation between words and images in Surrealism, the title does nothing to clarify the meaning of the work, in fact … Continue reading Mama, Papa is Wounded! By Yves Tanguy
William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River1876-77RealismOil on CanvasCollection of Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA The painting depicts Philadelphian sculptor and ship carver, William Rush, in his studio as he carves a female figure based on the woman posing in the foreground. A woman sits, knitting, as she serves as … Continue reading William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River by Thomas Eakins
Bathsheba at Her Bath1654Baroque, Dutch Golden AgeOil on canvasThe Louvre, Paris, France A life size canvas presenting the biblical character Bathsheba in a shallow space, illuminated from the left in front of a darker background. The Old Testament tells how King David noticed a woman bathing outdoors when he was on the terrace of his … Continue reading Bathsheba at Her Bath by Rembrandt
After the Rain1933SurrealismPhotograph Maar travelled to various places in Europe ii the early 1930s working as a photojournalist, and she also began taking her own pictures. Her focus on street scenes and glimpses of isolated city life, these works are melancholic and quietly piquant. ‘After the Rain’ depicts a mother and child walking along a … Continue reading After the Rain by Dora Maar
Noses and Ears, Etc.: The Gemini Series: Profile with Ear and Nose2006Conceptual ArtScreen print on paper mounted on Sintra with hand painting. © John BaldessariNational Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia Baldessari exposes an isolated nose and ear on a profile in silhouette in this piece. He views the anatomical elements of the individual organs, rather … Continue reading Noses and Ears, Etc.: The Gemini Series: Profile with Ear and Nose by John Baldessari
Viewing Matters: Upstairs1996Conceptual Art, Institutional CritiqueInstallation and storage props (lather, drill, toll box, crates, etc)Collection of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Netherlands Both a curated exhibition and an installation, Haacke juxtaposes works from the collection of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum to create new relations between them. In seemingly iconoclastic manner he mixed works from … Continue reading Viewing Matters: Upstairs by Hans Haacke
The American Dream I1961Abstract ArtOil on canvasMuseum of Modern Art, New York, USA The American Dream I is four circles depicted in two rows of two. Each circle contains the common elements of Indiana’s paintings, including stars, text, and numbers. Indiana’s characteristic use of stencils to create text and numbers in bold colours is also … Continue reading The American Dream I by Robert Indiana
A Bigger Splash1967Pop ArtAcrylic on canvasTate Gallery, London, UK Painted while at the University of California in Berkley, ‘A Bigger Splash’ was a result of two smaller paintings in which Hockney developed his ideas, ‘A Little Splash’ and ‘The Splash’. One of the first artists to make extensive use of acrylic paint, a relatively new … Continue reading A Bigger Splash by David Hockney
La Fornarina and Raphael1814Neo-ClassicismOil on canvasHarvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Massachusetts, USA Conceived as part of a series of paintings illustrating the life of Ingres’ idol, Raphael, La Fornarina depicts the Renaissance master in the arms of his mistress. Ultimately Ingres abandoned the project, however he painted five or six versions of this scene, showcasing both … Continue reading La Fornarina and Raphael by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Flower Geometry1917ExpressionismPainted Plaster ReliefPrivate Collection Janco answered Tzara’s call for artists to create directly in the media of stone, wood and iron with this abstract plaster relief. He creates tension by juxtaposing Cubist elements with Expressionist elements. The irreconcilable contradictions of Dada, the meeting of geometry and nature, breaking down the traditions of fine art. … Continue reading Flower Geometry by Marcel Janco
Untitled2004The Pictures GenerationColour photographMetro Pictures Posing as a sad clown, Sherman is wearing elaborate make-up and costumes. Positioning herself in front of digitally manipulated backgrounds she explores the clown character extremes with intense yet superficial humour. Set up as a glamour shot the photograph focuses on the face of the clown as its character stares … Continue reading Untitled by Cindy Sherman
Villa Jean Fuchs1927-29Cubism, ConstructivismResidential Building27 Negustori Street, Bucharest, Romania This Janco-designed villa was the first modernist residential building in Bucharest. It primarily featured flat, clean, white facades, free of unnecessary decorative element s on the exterior, and light-filled interior spaces. Movement between exterior and interior spaces was defined through a smooth system of terraces and … Continue reading Villa Jean Fuchs by Marcel Janco
Sea Garden1964Kinetic ArtMarine paint on aluminiumPart of a private collection Made after Truitt moved to Japan, Sea Garden is an angular form, resembling a rocky out crop in a barren landscape. Truitt carefully choreographed the relationship between the sculpture’s earthy colours and its form to suggest balance and stillness with a subtle hint of movement … Continue reading Sea Garden by Ann Truitt
Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph1656Baroque, Dutch Golden AgeOil on canvasLocation: Schloss Wilhelmshone, Kassel, Hesse, Germany Rembrandt’s biblical paintings are cited as his most masterful work and in this scene we see Joseph, as a chief advisor to the Pharaoh, bringing his sons to Jacob’s, his father, deathbed to receive the family blessing. Ostensibly guided … Continue reading Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph by Rembrandt
The Agnew Clinic1889RealismOil on canvasCollection of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Dr. Agnew stands at the edge of the operating arena overseeing a mastectomy performed by three doctors. Behind them a nurse stands waiting to assist with the procedure. Seated medical students watch the operation. The white clothing of the doctors and the sheets … Continue reading The Agnew Clinic by Thomas Eakins
Cataract 31967Op ArtEmulsion PVA on linenArts Council Collection, London, UK Riley created the series of Cataract paintings in 1967, and they constitute her first explorations into the use of colour, just before Riley became the first British painter and the first woman to win the International Prize for Painting at the 1968 Venice Biennale. Riley … Continue reading Cataract 3 by Bridget Riley
Harran II1967Abstract ExpressionismPolymer and fluorescent polymer paint on canvasSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA In his explorative work Stella worked in series, developing increasingly complicated variations on a selected theme. Harran II is part of his Protractor series, and Stella uses a vibrant palette and a composition of rectangular shapes superimposed on curving and … Continue reading Harran II by Frank Stella
Patti Smith1978Straight PhotographyGelatin Silver PrintLos Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angles, USA In an everyday home setting, Patti Smith cuts her hair ceremoniously. Facing the camera and staring directly into the lens she is uninhibited by the camera’s gaze. Likewise the cat, perched nonchalantly, echoes the stare into the lens. Mapplethorpe captures Smith’s essence … Continue reading Patti Smith by Robert Mapplethorpe
Rainstorm over the sea1824-28Romanticism, LandscapeOil on paper laid on canvasLocation: Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK Rainstorm over the Sea is an oil sketch of Brighton Beach quickly painted to capture the turbulent feel of the advancing storm. It diverges from the strict documentation and accuracy of Constable’s earlier work and his paint surface is … Continue reading Rainstorm over the Sea by John Constable
Self Portrait as a Young Girl1914Modern PhotographyPhotographic printJersey Heritage, St Helier, Jersey One of the earliest known self-portraits by Cahun, the photograph displays an intensely, penetrating stare. The artist’s head is seemingly disembodied, suggesting an imbalance between head and body as though the head is too heavy making the body redundant. The abundant flowing hair … Continue reading Self Portrait as a Young Girl by Claude Cahun
Bold androgyny doubled by a mirrored- reflection, Cahun presents themself in an image of lush textures and tones. The checked jacket, highlighted hair and sun-kissed skin all make for an image vividly abundant with life...
The young Ingres dedicated himself to historical painting, the most respected genre at the Académie. In accordance to his neoclassical training he selected his subject from Greek mythology...
Like so many of his works, Flags over the Town Hall is based on an image on a postcard representing the village of Maixe, located in Lorraine in eastern France...
According to Gould Madonna dal Collo Longo is Parmigianino’s most characteristic and most extreme work. That a single piece can be most extreme and most characteristic illustrates the visionary artist Parmigianino was...
At the insistence of his teachers in 1817 Michallon was awarded a prize. The honour permitted the young artist to spend the nest two years in Italy, where he painted numerous outdoor sketches such as Goatherd Opposite the Falls of Tivoli...
About the Jez of It 