Tuesday, February 07, 2012

A Strolling Pierrot Under a Full Moon

"Carnival Evening" was painted in 1886 by Henri Rousseau (Philadelphia Museum of Art). Early last evening, while driving in my car, I saw a sky that looked exactly like this with the winter trees in silhouette. Rousseau painted a pierrot strolling with his girlfriend under a full moon. This is one of my favorite paintings, although Rousseau created many pictures that I could easily call favorites. 

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Dorothea Tanning RIP

"Primitive Seating" sculpture by Dorothea Tanning 1982
Surrealist painter Dorothea Tanning (1910- 2012) died peacefully yesterday at age 101. She's the one who was married to Max Ernst. LINK to article by Jerry Saltz
LINK to decades of images

Sunday, January 29, 2012

"Fake Death Picture"

"Fake Death Picture" by Yinka Shonibare (digital print) 2011 
from upcoming Exhibit: Addio del Passato (so closes my sad story)
Feb 16- March 24, 2012
533 w.26th St. NYC, James Cohan Gallery 
Interview with artist Yinka Shonibare - Whitehot Magazine

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Mystery of a Masterpiece

Last night, there was a fascinating NOVA show on PBS. Experts were investigating whether a portrait of a girl on vellum (shown above) is really a Leonardo Da Vinci. They think it was cut from an old book of the period (they found the book in a museum in Poland).
Link to article about the story in the Guardian.
Here's the link to the show which you can watch online if you missed it.
I blogged about this picture earlier and said I thought it looked to me like it might be authentic. That was just my gut feeling based on the style of the face and execution of the drawing.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Rockwell for Collier's Magazine 1919

Last night on PBS Antiques Roadshow (Eugene, OR !) someone brought in a really old Rockwell painting. They appraised it at half a million. It is a nice one called "The Little Model". This painting is one of only four that Rockwell painted for Collier's magazine (1919, cover). I rather like it and I am surprised how large he painted his illustration work (using oils). I'll get to see it since it is on display now at the museum in my town. I don't think I have ever seen a Rockwell in person.