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Tag Archives: Philip Scott Johnson

Eugène Delacroix’s “Mandarin Drake”

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Music, Romanticism

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Animals, Delacroix's Mandarin Drake, Eugène Delacroix, Exoticism, Flowers, Philip Scott Johnson, Romanticism, versatility

 
A Mandarin Drake, by Eugene Delacroix

A Mandarin Drake, by Eugène Delacroix (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

Eugène Delacroix (13 August 1863) is one of the most accomplished artists associated with Romanticism. He was also one of the most prolific and versatile artists of the early nineteenth-century. Hence the breadth of his influence.

His “Mandarin Drake” is a watercolour. But as an artist, Delacroix also used pen, chalk, graphite, pastels, and oil. In fact, he was a fine lithographer who illustrated various literary works by William Shakespeare, Walter Scott and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The paintings of Rubens were a source of inspiration to Delacroix. Moreover, he was a friend of Théodore Géricault (1791 -1824), and Géricault’s “spiritual heir.” (See Eugène Delacroix, Wikipedia.) Géricault completed his Raft of the Medusa, Le Radeau de la Méduse, at the age of 27, and his horses are magnificent.

Delacroix is known mainly for his “Liberty Guiding the People” (1830), a painting that captures the “genius,” or essence, of Revolutions. However, although the video at the foot of this post presents “Liberty Guiding the People” and reveals a more intense Delacroix, I have assembled works that show other and, at times, seemingly simpler facets of Delacroix’s art.

The work featured at the top of this post is one of my favourites. It shows a drake, a Mandarin drake or mallard (canard mallard, canard colvert [green neck]).

Delacroix’s subject matter also consisted of flowers and studies of flowers, simple branches. Moreover, he travelled abroad seizing a less familiar beauty. The Romantics loved the exotic.

However, the art of this “Romantic” tends to override the notion of movements, which may of course be true of most great artists.

Photo credit: WikiArt.org (all images)

Please click on the lower part of each image to see its title. The pictures may be enlarged and viewed as a video (press escape to exit). I just discovered this WordPress feature.

 

Study of Flowers, 1845-1850
Study of Flowers, 1845-1850
Two Branches with Leaves (pen, ink, watercolour)
Two Branches with Leaves (pen, ink, watercolour)
House in a Grove (Bocage)
House in a Grove (Bocage)
The Coast of Spain at Salabrena
The Coast of Spain at Salabrena
Horse (Cheval) (watercolour)
Horse (Cheval) (watercolour)

For “The Cottage in a Grove,” 1838, Delacroix used a pen, chalk, and ink. “The Coast of Spain at Salabrena” is a watercolour, dated 1832. Delacroix’s  “Study of Flowers” is a later work, executed between 1845 and 1850. “The Portrait of Turk in a Turban” (1826) was produced with pastels. For his magnificent tiger (below, 1830), Delacroix used a pencil and watercolours.

 

Portrait of a Turk in a Turban
Portrait of a Turk in a Turban
Seated Arab in Tangier, 1832
Seated Arab in Tangier, 1832

 

Tiger, 1830
Tiger, 1830

Yet, we have Willibald von Gluck at the “clavecin” composing the score of his Armide (1831). This painting is a watercolour and “European.” A clavecin is a harpsichord. However, the instrument Gluck is using resembles my grandfather’s humble spinet, a type of harpsichord.

 

Willibald von Gluck at the clavecin composing the score of his Armide
Willibald von Gluck at the clavecin composing the score of his Armide

Today is not a blogging day. But pictures are worth a thousand words, so I have used pictures to let you know that I am still blogging, but at a slower pace.

However, I should let you know that Eugène Delacroix is rumoured to be an illegitimate son of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. Talleyrand looked after the children he fathered. One was born to Madame de Flahaut and was named Charles-Joseph, comte de Flahaut. Everyone knew Charles-Joseph was Talleyrand’s son. In turn, Charles-Joseph, comte de Flahaut, became the lover of Hortense de Beauharnais (Napoleon’s stepdaughter and sister-in-law) and fathered the duc de Morny, a half-brother to Napoleon III.

Consequently, Delacroix was a protégé of the enigmatic Talleyrand (his father) and, later, a protégé of the Duc de Morny (Talleyrand’s grandson), whose brother ruled France.

My best regards to all of you.

Bouquet of Flowers, by Eugène Delacroix

Bouquet of Flowers, by Eugène Delacroix (Photo credit: WikiArts.org)

Delacroix

Frédéric Chopin
Nocturne, Opus 9 N° 2
Video by Philip Scott Johnson 
 
Chopin
Chopin, by Delacroix
 
© Micheline Walker
5 June 2014
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Paul Cézanne: a Glimpse

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Dutch Golden Age, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Henri Matisse, intimisme, Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Philip Scott Johnson, Still life, Wikipedia

Fruit

Fruit

Photo credit: Cézanne, the Complete Works

Dear Readers,

I had to undergo surgery this week.  Everything went very well, but I have not been able to write since the operation.  I hope to return to my normal activities as soon as possible.

CurtainsFarm at Montgerault

Curtains
Farm at Montgeroult
 

Here are a few paintings by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906).  I tend to associate Cézanne with apples or other fruit.  Cézanne painted lovely still lifes.  In fact, some of his still lifes feature skulls.  Your may remember that during the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age, still lifes were called Vanitas and often showed a skull, an element depicting the brevity of life (See Pieter Claesz, Wikipedia.)

By and large, an artist’s main frame of reference is art itself, but whether or not Cézanne featured skulls intending to underline the brevity of life would be difficult to ascertain.  As a post-impressionist, however, he did attempt to catch the brief moment when the light touches an object, suddenly transforming it.  That evanescent moment also points to the brevity of life.

Cézanne also painted landscapes, interesting displays of houses, portraits, people playing cards, nudes, groups of nudes, and works, such as “Curtains,” that constitute a lovely example of intimisme,[i] a private space.  Intimisme is often associated with impressionism as an impression is by definition a personal and fleeting view.    

Cézanne was not very popular in his days, yet both Picasso and Matisse looked upon him “the father of us all.”  (See Cézanne, Wikipedia)

Sugarbowl, Pears and Tablecloth

Ginger Jar and Fruit on a Table

Sugarbowl, Pears and Tablecloth
Ginger Jar and Fruit on a Table
The House with Cracked Walls (foot of post)
 
_________________________

[i] “Intimism”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/291874/Intimism>.

Video by Philip Scott Johnson

ZXc

Micheline Walker©
April 12, 2013
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Henri Matisse: an Eclectic Modernist

04 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Académie Julian, Alice B. Toklas, Fauvism, George Gershwin, Gertrude Stein, Henri Matisse, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Paris, Philip Scott Johnson, William-Adolphe Bouguereau

The Maid, by Matisse

The Maid, by Matisse (1896)

Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse (31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954; aged 84) was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.  He was trained at the Académie Julian where he was a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau.  He was also a student of Symbolist Gustave Moreau at the École des Arts Décoratifs, in Paris.  His first works are therefore traditional.  For instance, the above painting is a genre painting.  Genre paintings show people engaged in every day activities.  Matisse’s Maid, is in fact reminiscent of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin.  Matisse was also influenced by Nicolas Poussin (17th century) and Antoine Watteau (18th century).

As an academic painter, Matisse earned recognition from the start.  In 1896, the year he painted his Maid, he was elected an associate member of the Salon – academic – society.  Moreover, his Woman Reading (1894), shown in the gallery below, was purchased by the government.  However, Matisse’s artistic orientation broadened when he visited Australian artist John Peter Russell who had settled with his wife at Belle-Île, off the coast of Brittany.  Russell knew Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, which could explain the Fauvist period of Matisse’s life.  Fauvism is characterized by the use of vivid colours.  But, generally speaking, Matisse was an eclectic modernist.  His training as an academic painter served him well, as did the year he spent in England studying the works of J. M. W. Turner.  Matisse’s paintings also reflect the influence of Japanese and Islāmic art but, above all, they stem from an inner and very personal vision.  Artists are influenced by what they are seeking.

Fauvism: Le Salon d’automne, 1905

However, Matisse is linked with an art movement called Fauvism.  Following his trip to Belle-Île, Matisse turned to vibrant colours.  In 1905, he showed Woman with a Hat at the Salon d’Automne.  The Salon d’Automne is an annual art exhibition held in Paris France since 1903.  Woman with a Hat, a portrait of his wife Amélie, brought criticism to Matisse.  After visiting the Salon d’Automne “Paris critic Louis Vauxcelles called the group les fauves (“the wild beasts”), and thus Fauvism, the first of the important “isms” in 20th-century painting, was born.  Almost immediately Matisse became its acknowledged leader.”[i]  Other “fauvistes” are André Derain, its co-founder, and Maurice de Vlaminck.

Woman with a Hat,  1905

Woman with a Hat, 1905

By 1905, “Matisse’s studies led him to reject traditional renderings of three-dimensional space and to seek instead a new picture space defined by movement of colour. He exhibited his famous Woman with the Hat (1905) at the 1905 exhibition. In this painting, brisk strokes of colour—blues, greens, and reds—form an energetic, expressive view of the woman. The crude paint application, which left areas of raw canvas exposed, was appalling to viewers at the time.”[ii]  Matters were remedied when Gertrude Stein and brother Leo bought the painting which is now the property of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

The foremost patron and promoter of Henri Matisse’s art was Sarah Stein, Michael Stein’s wife.  As for Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) and Alice B. Toklas (April 30, 1877 – March 7, 1967), they had a salon, 27, rue de Fleurus, to which artists and art collectors flocked on an appointed day, Saturday I believe.  In 1928, when he was composing An American in Paris, George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 –  July 11, 1937) noted that “[his] purpose here [was] to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere.” (See An American in Paris, Wikipedia.)  In the 1920s, Gershwin had been a student of famed pianist, composer and teacher Nadia Boulanger (16 September 1887 – 22 October 1979).  

Americans in Paris: Gertrude Stein & brothers 

At that time in the history of art, the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, the beau monde of the United States, Hemingway and others, lived in Paris, some, on an almost permanent basis, others, as frequent visitors.  The Cone (Kahn – Guggenheimer) sisters, Claribel and Etta, visited Paris at every chance and were generous patrons and collectors of modern art.  Ironically, the success of modernist artists in France is inextricably linked to America’s Gilded Age and the years preceding the Great Depression.  Matisse would soon break from Fauvism and adopt black as a colour.  However, as of his Woman with a Hat and the support of Paris’ American colony, he had become an established artist, which gave him some freedom.  He lived in relative affluence for the rest of his life, wintering in southern France and traveling.

Alice B. Toklas

On a sadder and somewhat extraneous note, among possessions Matisse’s first American patron, Gertrude Stein, bequeathed to Alice B. Toklas, were works of art, including Picassos.  Because Gertrude and Alice were not married, the Stein family repossessed her collection when its value started to rise.  According to Wikipedia, “Stein’s relatives took action to claim them, eventually removing them from Toklas’s home while she was away on vacation and placing them in a bank vault.” (See Alice B. Toklas, Wikipedia.)  Alice was not compensated and died in poverty, which should not have been the case.  However, she is buried next to Gertrude in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Matisse’s Last Days

Beginning in 1941, Matisse was in poor health and confined to a bed or a wheelchair.  He continued to paint sometimes using a stick to which a pencil or brush was attached.  He was cared for “by a faithful Russian woman who had been one of his models in the early 1930s, he lived in a large studio in the Old Hôtel Regina at Cimiez, overlooking Nice.”[iii]

Tiny Gallery

(Please click on the images to enlarge them.)

branch-of-lillacs-1914Crockery on a Table

Woman Reading

44135-004-8760E58D

 
Branch of Lilacs, 1914
Crockery on Table, 1900
Woman Reading, 1896 (bought by the government)
Luxe 1, 1907 
 
Photo credit: Google and Wikipaintings (Lilacs)

_________________________

[i] “Henri Matisse”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/369401/Henri-Matisse>.

[ii] “Fauvism”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/202866/Fauvism>.

[iii] “Henri Matisse”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/369401/Henri-Matisse>.

Not only has Philip Scott Johnson made the lovely video we saw on 3 April 2013, on Picasso, but he has made a series of videos, one of which is on Matisse.  The music is Debussy‘s Arabesque No. 1 in E Major, performed by Peter Schmalfuss, piano.

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas

© Micheline Walker
April 4, 2013
WordPress

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