#national gallery
MWW Artwork of the Day (4/7/16)
Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819-1904)
Cattleya Orchid and Three Hummingbirds (1871)
Oil on wood, 34.8 x 45.6 cm.
National Gallery, Washington DC (Gift of The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation)
Heade was the only major American artist of the nineteenth century to make important contributions in landscape, marine, and still-life painting. Here he offers viewers an intimate glimpse into the exotic recesses of nature’s secret garden. Lichen covers dead branches; moss drips from trees; and, a blue-gray mist veils the distant jungle. An opulent pink orchid with light-green stems and pods dominates the left foreground. To the right, perched near a nest on a branch, are a Sappho Comet, green with a yellow throat and brilliant red tail feathers, and two green-and-pink Brazilian Amethysts.
Perhaps inspired by the writings of Charles Darwin, the artist studied these subjects in the wild during several expeditions to South America. The precisely rendered flora and fauna seem alive in their natural habitat, not mere specimens for scientific analysis. Defying strict categorization as either still life or landscape, Heade’s work reflects the artist’s unerring attention to detail and his delight in the infinitesimal joys of nature.
More of Heade’s exotic flora and fauna paintings appear in the MWW exhibit/gallery:
* Americana III: Westward Ho! Natural Grandeur, Human Genocide
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The Graham Children
William Hogarth, 1742
This portrait shows the children of Dr Daniel Graham, George II’s apothecary. On the left can be seen his young son Thomas, followed by his nine year old daughter Henrietta, the younger Anna Maria and the eight year old Richard. Despite this seeming like a happy portrait, there is a hidden sadness underneath. The baby Thomas died at the age of two during the painting of this portrait. This death is hinted at in the painting, the cat and the caged finch are suggestions of hopes going unfulfilled and the clock which is topped with a figure of Cupid, displayed as Time is a grim reminder of the untimely death.
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Portrait of Flemish-Portuguese physician and antiquarian Luís Nunes (1553–1645) — Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1627 (National Gallery, London)
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Jacqueline Kennedy and the Mona Lisa
Perhaps no other White House dinner had more personal meaning for Jacqueline Kennedy than the evening honoring French Minister of Culture André Malraux at the White House on May 11, 1962. The First Lady and Malraux had developed a friendship following a tour of Paris art museums during the Kennedy’s state visit to Paris in June 1961. By according him all the courtesies normally reserved for a head of state, the Kennedys hoped to focus national attention on the role of the arts in America and encourage the development of Washington as a cultural center.
At the end of the evening, Monsieur Malraux whispered a promise to Jacqueline Kennedy that he would send to her France’s most famous cultural treasure, La Giaconda–known as the Mona Lisa–to be displayed at the National Gallery in Washington. In December 1962, Malraux accompanied the painting to the United States where more than 700,000 people saw it at National Gallery of Art and more than a million others viewed it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Four Seasons in One Head, c. 1590, National Gallery, Washington DC. (link)
One of the most fascinating artists of the 16th century, it is not so easy to view an Arcimboldo in the United States. Which is why I was so excited when I spotted this painting at the National Gallery in Washington DC. It had been years since I had seen his work and I don’t remember encountering any on this side of the Atlantic. The National Gallery in Washington DC has a phenomenal collection of European art but this one alone is worth the visit.
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Lucas Cranach the Elder, Saints Christina and Ottilia, 1506. National Gallery, London.
Saint Christina is shown standing on her attribute, the millstone, as according to her legend she was thrown into Lake Bolsena in Tuscany after converting to Christianity (a trial she miraculously survived). Saint Ottilia (aka St Odile of Alsace) is said to have miraculously recovered her sight after being baptised by Saint Erhard of Regensburg; her eyes are balanced on the book she is carrying.
More information: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/lucas-cranach-the-elder-saints-christina-and-ottilia
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Singapore | 2016
National Gallery
NATIONAL TREASURES
Seen here, the ground floor of the expansive National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., boasts an encyclopedic collection of prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture, decorative arts. The museum is just a short walk or drive away from Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square.
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Il Sarto(orThe Tailor, circa 1570) - Giovanni Battista Moroni - National Gallery, London, UK
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Hi everyone!
Few weeks ago, i was in the Pablo Picasso exhibition in the National Gallery of Budapest, Hungary. I spent an amazing time there, and i studied a lot about the artist. The name of the exhibition was: transfigurations, it embraced every period of Picasso’s career, paying particular attention to one aspect of his ouvre: the constant transfigurations in his portrayal of the human figure. Most of the exhibited works have been generously loaned by the Musée national Picasso-Paris, which preserves the largest Picasso collection in the world.
I will post my favorites from the exhibition, which touched me and makes me wonder every single time. Picasso’s life was an adventurous journey, and he was a really great artist and man, so i hope i can show you a small slice of it and sou can imagine it!
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