Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Few famous painters have backgrounds as fascinating but unknown as that of Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), the subject of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts' upcoming show, Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit. Tanner's
Thomas Eakins. Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1900. Oil on canvas, 24⅛" × 20¼". The Hyde Collection.
mother was born a slave and remained one until her father was given freedom; Tanner's father was a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In homage to the abolitionist, John Brown, Tanner's parents gave him the middle name "Ossawa" after the town Osawatomie, Kansas, where Brown had killed several defenders of slavery.
After a childhood in the Philadelphia area, Henry Ossawa Turner enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1880, becoming its sole African American painter and the first academically trained black painter in the U.S. in one fell swoop.
For two years, Henry Ossawa Tanner studied with one of the most famous painters on the East Coast, the American realist painter, Thomas Eakins. Teaching Tanner was typical of Thomas Eakins' progressive thinking: after providing a nude male model for his female art students, Eakins was forced to resign from the prestigious (and conservative) Academy.
But back to Henry Ossawa Tanner. He left post-Civil War Philadelphia for Paris in 1891. Three years later, Tanner's paintings were exhibited in the 1894 Paris Salon, making him the first African American artist in any Paris Salon.
More recognition followed: his The Raising of Lazarus won a medal at the 1897 Salon,
Henry Ossawa Tanner. The Banjo Lesson, 1893. Oil on canvas, 49 by 35 1/2". Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA.
while Nicodemus Visiting Jesus won the Lippincott Prize from the Pennsylvania Academy for Fine Arts in 1900. Tanner remained an expatriate in Paris, frequently exhibited in Paris as well as the United States, befriended famous painters like Paul Gauguin, and was a leader of an artist's colony in the French countryside. When World War I erupted, Tanner served with the American Red Cross in France and was honored by the French government with its Legion of Honor award.
The Banjo Lesson is one of Tanner's most famous paintings, and was likely made when he visited Philadelphia in 1893 and painted "mostly Negro subjects". Lesson reveals the influence of Thomas Eakins' uncompromising attention to detail in portraiture. Tanner uses this Realist portrait style to deflate the stereotypical image of banjo playing by African Americans for entertainment of white Americans. While the background is loose, long brushstrokes, Tanner carefully carves the two faces and bathes the scene in almost sacred lighting. Tanner defuses the stereotype by making The Banjo Lesson a scene of Everyman passing tradition to a child.
The Thankful Poor again combines the Realist focus on carefully observed nature with Tanner's desire to dignify the people with whom he was raised. The man, boy and objects in the room are portrayed in greatest detail; the light pouring in from the window creates a sense of spiritual stillness.
Henry Ossawa Tanner. The Thankful Poor, 1894. Oil on canvas, 2' 11 1/2" by 3' 8 1/4". Collection of William H. and Camille Cosby.
Tanner was somewhat forgotten in art history for three decades after his death in 1937. The Smithsonian Institution showed his works in 1969 in yet another first for Henry Ossawa Tanner -- the first major solo art exhibition of a black painter in the U. S. In 1991 the Philadelphia Museum of Art hosted a retrospective. With this PAFA show, perhaps Tanner will finally earn his due, recognition as one of the most famous painters of the 20th century, not as a "black" or "African American" painter.
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
The quantity of famous Renaissance paintings - and the genius of their creators - remains a marvel of art history. This cultural movement, which roughly spanned the 14th to 17th centuries, brought a resurgence of interest in Greco-Roman culture. Renaissance painters explored themes in perspective, mythology and anatomy, among others.
Because many art history classes are now studying Renaissance art, I thought it'd be
Caravaggio. Conversion of St. Paul. Oil on canvas, ca. 1601. 7'6" by 5'7". Cerasi Chapel Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.
convenient to bundle into one post some of the Renaissance painters whose works defined and shaped this groundbreaking era in art history. To wit:
Anguissola, Sofonisba. One of the best known female painters of the Italian Renaissance, Anguissola's father believed girls deserved the same education as boys. After being apprenticed to two Renaissance painters, Anguissola, at the age of 15, was renowned for her portraiture as seen in Three Sisters Playing Chess and Phillip II of Spain.
Botticelli, Sandro. Primavera. One of the leading painters of the Early Renaissance (1400-1500), Botticelli studied with - and surpassed - another leading Renaissance painter, Fra Filipo Lippi. Tragically, many Botticelli paintings were destroyed in the infamous Bonfire of the Vanities of 1497. Primavera and Birth of Venus, are arguably the best known Botticelli paintings.
Caravaggio. The bad boy of Renaissance art. With present-day. internationaladulation of Caravaggio paintings, it's hard to believe he dwelled in art history obscurity for three centuries. Believe it. Now, his two versions of Conversion of St. Paul are some of the best known art paintings in the history of painting. Read about other Caravaggio paintings like Young, Sick Bacchus, and two genre paintings depicting the gullibility of youth.
Durer, Albrecht. Trained as a goldsmith, painter, woodcutter and in stained glass design, Albrech Durer was the best print-maker of the High Renaissance. His paintings are also notable in Renaissance art, like his Four Apostles.
Fontana, Lavinia. Now becoming more widely recognized in the history of painting, Fontana was a portraitist for two popes, had eleven children... and employed her husband as studio assistant. In Portrait of a Noblewoman, Fontana shows her skill as a portraitist, although she also created altarpieces and mythological paintings.
Gentileschi, Artemisia. The first female painter in the Italian Academy of Design, Gentileschi was illiterate but became famous in Renaissance art. Her confidence is revealled in Judith Beheading Holofernes, which challenged comparison to Caravaggio's version of the same subject, and in Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting.
Artemisia Gentileschi. Judith Beheading Holofernes, c. 1620. Oil on canvas, 78" x 64". Uffizi, Florence.
Giorgione. Although only six Renaissance paintings are inarguably attributed to Giorgione, he had an enduring impact on the history of painting. Learn about one of these six famous paintings, Three Philosophers.
Leonardo. Who isn't in awe of Leonardo da Vinci paintings?
Discover Benois Madonna and Madonna Litta, two renowned Leonardo artworks at the Hermitage; learn about one of the most beloved Leonardo da Vinci paintings, Virgin and Child with St. Anne; see which Leonardo paintings are in the blockbuster show, Leonardo: Painter at the Court of Milan (at the National Gallery in London until 2/5/2012). Hint: the Leonardo art exhibition includes the controversial painting, Savior of the World (Salvator Mundi), attributed to Leonardo in 2011.
Mantegna. Although Mantegna shunned two new painting advances of Renaissance art - linear perspective and oil paint - his Dead Christ is nonetheless one of the most highly esteemed Renaissance paintings.
Michelangelo. Explore four Michelangelo paintings (and learn about the only one in the U.S.). Read about two possible new Michelangelo paintings, Crucifixion with the Madonna and St. John the Baptist Bearing Witness.
Titian. Titian paintings (like Nymph and Shepherd, Allegory of Prudence, Jacopa Strada, St. Jerome, Slaying of Marysas) dominated Renaissance art for good reason. Learn 
about Bacchus and Ariadne. Personal
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio). Europe, 1560-62. Oil on canvas, 178 x 205 cm. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
favorite Titian paintings? Man with a Glove and Rape of Europa.
Uccello. In this triptych, one of the glories of Renaissance art, Paolo Uccello introduces linear, or one point, perspective. Battle of San Romano hangs in three discrete art museums, which barely detracts from its majesty.
van Eyck, Jan. With only 25 Renaissance paintings attributed to him, the work of Jan van Eyck is nonetheless hugely influential in the history of painting. Learn some of the most recent thinking about who is in, and what is portrayed, in Arnolfini Portrait. Explore the incomparable Renaissance altarpiece, Ghent Altarpiece, made by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and the most famous artwork in it, Adoration of the Lamb.
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Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) bridged the art movements from Realism to Impressionism, despite his initial rejection of Impressionist painters. One of the best known (and most discussed) Manet paintings is A Bar at the Folies-Bergere.
Like many Manet paintings, Manet incorporated various riddles, leading to multiple intrepretations:
behind the barmaid, the scene is crammed with festive and gay Parisian patrons, who starkly contrast with the melancholic, blank visage of the barmaid. Is Manet juxtaposing the carefree life of upper classes with the alienation of the urban working class?
Edouard Manet. A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1882. Oil on cnvas, 37 4/5" by 51 1/5". Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
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the mirror behind the barmaid presents a riddle of visual contradiction. The reflection on the right, which initially appears to be that of the barmaid, doesn't align or reconcile with the reflection she'd logically project, or with the horizontal expanse of the bar.
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is the top-hatted man at the far right propositioning the barmaid, or merely approaching to purchase food and drink? Proponents of the former cite evidence that some barmaids were prostitutes, contending that the distorted reflection is indicative of her dual roles.
I was content with these ambiguous interpretations until I read The Language of Flowers, a fictional book that recounts the troubled life of 18 year old Victoria Jones, who has "aged out" of foster care, leaving her adrift and homeless. One of her foster mothers taught her the Victorian language of flowers, in which each species is associated with a unique meaning; flowers were used to communicate feelings in lieu of words. Nettles symbolize cruelty; a daisy, innocence.
Take this to Manet's flowers on the bartop. The vase holds a pink rose ("Grace" in the language of flowers) and a peony (read "Anger"). My best hunch about the barmaid's triangular corsage (an unsubtle sexual allusion) is that these are dianthus. "Make haste", says the language of flowers. And between the reflection on the right and the male patron peeks an iris, for "Message".
Could Manet, whose painting career overlapped Victorian usage of the language of flowers, be sending a message?
I don't know (though I can well imagine the barmaid wishing to convey each of these sentiments).
I do know that the U. S. foster care system is a national disgrace, assuming that at 18 years of age, youth are capable of being independent. At 18? Vanessa Diffenbaugh, author of The Language of Flowers, started the Camelia Network to support youth who are transitioning from foster care to independence. "Camelia", in the language of flowers, means my destiny is in your hands.
In my home state of Massachusetts, 75% of youth who age out of foster care become unemployed or underemployed; 80% of prison inmates here were once in foster care.
The solution feels local. In the Boston area, we have More than Words, a social enterprise that teaches youth the basics of running on-line and physical bookstores while they work with transition counselors on their futures. After mastering this business job and the "You job", 89% of these youth have diplomas or equivalents two years after starting with More than Words. It's astonishing what empowered youth can do, when given the opportunity and challenge.
And another incredible part? The books, CDs, DVDs and audio books sold at More than Words are all donated, with sale proceeds contributing 30% of operational costs.
I'll leave the riddles to Manet paintings... and stick with the obvious, like More than Words.
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Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Of all the famous paintings in de Kooning: A Retrospective, none is more startling than Woman I. The anxiety in her is palpable and irreducible, even sixty years after her creation, even exhibited among some 200 other of de Kooning's best paintings. The lines and brushstrokes in Woman I are phenomenal; their power nearly overwhelms de Kooning's brillance as a colorist.
After Excavation, one of the most acclaimed de Kooning paintings in his career to date, de Kooning began work in 1950 on a third series of Women paintings. The art critic Clement Greenberg had loudly opined that modern art paintings should be abstract and that a return to figuration would be folly for de Kooning.
But de Kooning opted for folly, encouraged in part by a 1950 Chaim Soutine retrospective at MoMA. According to Stevens and Swan in de Kooning: An American Master, de Kooning was heartened by "... the example of a Jewish outsider who tenaciously clung to the figure against the strictures of two different religions, Judaism and modernism."
Cycladic Figure, Syros, c. 2000 BC. National Archeaologic Museum, Athens.
De Kooning worked and re-worked Woman I for 1 1/2 years, setting it aside to complete other Woman paintings. In early 1952, he angrily ripped it from its frame and abandoned the canvas. Later that year, Meyer Schapiro, the most highly respected art historian among the New York artists, visited de Kooning in his studio; his praise for Woman I encouraged de Kooning to finish it for his third solo art show in March 1953.
Woman I was the most controversial painting in an entire art show of controversial paintings and works of art. She is Everywoman. Her hulking frame seems to embody simultaneously all historical depictions of woman, from Cycladic idols to fertility goddesses to call girls, from 
woman to be revered to one to be feared. Woman I is
Willem de Kooning. Woman I, 1950-1952. Oil, enamel, and charcoal on canvas. 6' 3 7/8" by 58". Museum of Modern Art.
cartoonish but stunning, her restlessness captured in frenetically-painted, manic, sweeping brushstrokes, as if de Kooning attacked the canvas with a brush to create her.
But de Kooning was no action painter. Woman I, like the entire series of Women paintings, was actually carefully calculated. De Kooning would trace elements from other works, and tack these tracings onto a work-in-progress to test their effect; some works in these Woman paintings are perforated with tack holes. The appearance of total spontaneity is an illusion.
Art critics reviled de Kooning on two fronts: for abandoning Abstract Expressionism, as expressed by Jackson Pollock:
Bill, you betrayed it. You're doing the figure, you're still doing the same ** thing. You know you never got out of being a figure painter.
Others accused de Kooning of misogyny because of his unflattering depiction of women and the aggressive, hurried brushstrokes used to paint them. Criticism of his savage brushstrokes, though, is more about de Kooning's relationship with paint, not with women. Yes, de Kooning had a notoriously difficult relationship with an erratic, unloving, abusive mother - a mirror image of de Kooning's father.
These initial criticisms undermined de Kooning's accomplishments in Woman I, which would become one of his most famous paintings, and its contributions to modern art paintings:
- de Kooning bucked art historical tradition by refusing to choose figuration or abstraction by insisting on both;
- his famous artworks nod to Picasso and Matisse, and are a springboard for successors like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg;
- de Kooning helped revolutionize the concept of "composition" by positioning his subject in the center of the canvas;
- he was (and remains) one of the few famous painters who repeatedly succeeds in one style -- think of Excavation again -- only to conclude working in it.
He knew the depth of his talent, and explored it. The history of painting would benefit from more famous painters like this one.
Addendum: An insightful AP art history teacher has commented that the face of Woman I is derived from the Gorgon on the pediment of the Temple of Artemis.
Can't help but notice, too, that the Gorgon lacks hands also!
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Wikipedia contributors. "Chaim Soutine." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
Wikipedia contributors. "Meyer Schapiro." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Aug. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2012.
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
The first de Kooning art show, held in 1948 at New York’s Charles Egan Gallery, was comprised of ten paintings. Historically, this art show has been labeled a failure, but that’s too black and white: de Kooning's art show 
received little press; three abstract paintings did sell, one of which was Painting (1948) to MoMA; and all reviews but one were favorable.
Sadly, the unfavorable review was from Clement Greenberg, a leading, influential art critic. He commented that
Willem de Kooning. Painting, 1948. Enamel and oil on canvas, 42 5/8" by 56 1/8". MoMA, New York.
there did "not seem to be an identifiable image in any" of these black, white, tan and gray de Kooning works, concluding,"de Kooning is an outright 'abstract' painter."
That's a fascinating snippet of art history, given that de Kooning had long been (and still was) painting figurative works. John Elderfield, the Chief Curator Emeritus of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA, speculates why de Kooning didn't display these figurative paintings in his art show: Jackson Pollock's "drip" paintings had just been publicly exhibited, and de Kooning thought his abstract paintings were more mature. And more likely to stand up against Pollock paintings.
De Kooning started Painting (1948) by tracing sections of his figurative drawings, transferring them, and applying both enamel sign paint and oil paint. While Painting (1948) does initially appear to be a mass of generic, amorphous and nameless shapes, further inspection suggests an interior - isn't that the top of a table and its legs in the lower right? de Kooning chose black and white to confound figure and ground, and succeeds.
Willem de Kooning. Excavation, 1950. Oil and enamel on canvas, 6'9" by 8'4". The Art Institute of Chicago.
According to fellow New York painters, Excavation began as a multifigure composition; it ended, though, as the seminal work of de Kooning’s 1940s abstraction. Here, black outlined-shapes read as fishes, torsos, birds, noses, jaws; the seemingly ever-present eyes and teeth float around the canvas. De Kooning commented that paintings shouldn't have "hot spots", or areas in which the viewer lingers and stares. And there aren't any - your eyes dart continually around to absorb the frenzied energy of Excavation.
In the bottom foreground is a door, above which and to the right is a large finger with a triangle of nail polish. Of his style at this time, de Kooning said, “I paint this way because I can keep putting more and more things in – drama, anger, pain, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas about space.” Then he removes and scrapes paint, adds more, and continues until he unearths what he wants. Excavation is a well-titled painting.
This masterpiece, along with three other abstract paintings, was selected in 1950 for inclusion in the 25th Venice Biennale. With completion of Excavation, de Kooning immediately started working on his third series of women paintings, which proved to be some of the most controversial paintings in his career.
Next: de Kooning's famous paintings of Women.
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
The MoMA exhibition, de Kooning: A Retrospective, shows some 200 de Kooning paintings, sculptures and drawings, an exhaustive, exhilarating survey of one of the most innovative, famous painters in modern art. Abstract and figurative paintings hang side-by-side, interact and sometimes jostle each other as they convey the enormity of de Kooning's prolific career.
Willem de Kooning. Seated Man, c. 1939. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 38 1/4" by 34 1/4". Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Washington, DC. Gift of the artist through the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1972.
Because de Kooning paintings involved drawing, painting, scraping off the paint and repeating the process, sometimes over the course of years (as in one of his most famous paintings, Woman I), his output is all the more remarkable. For me, the single word that captures de Kooning's style is pentimento, classically described by Lillian Hellman:
"Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman's dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter "repented," changed his mind."
But de Kooning doesn't repent: he shares his mind as he thinks with paintbrush in hand. He wants us to know his pentimenti.
But I'm ahead of myself. This retrospective is so comprehensive and overwhelming that I'll parse it into the eras used by its curators.
Early Work: 1916-1945
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) was born in Rotterdam, and received schooling in fine and commercial art. One of the earliest surviving de Kooning artworks is his Bowl, Pitcher and Jug, which took some 600 hours, an entire year of work laboring two days a week. What diligence and skill at 17 years old!
At 22, de Kooning emigrated to New York in 1926 as a stowaway aboard a freighter (for an extraordinary biography of de Kooning, I highly recommend the Pulitzer prize-winning de Kooning: An American Master by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan).
Willem de Kooning. Bowl, Pitcher and Jug. Conte crayon and charcoal on paper, ca. 1921. 18 1/2" by 24 1/4". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
de Kooning became part of a group of New York painters who didn't form a movement per se - there were no consistent stylistic traits - but knew each other and socialized. They included Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), Franz Kline (1910-62), Arshile Gorky (1904-48) and Stuart Davis (1892-1964).
Willem de Kooning. Untitled (A Cow Jumps Over the Moon) c. 1937-38. Oil on masonite, 20 1/2" by 36 5/8". Harvard Art Museums. Fogg Art Museum.
At this time, de Kooning was heavily influenced by the semi-abstract, flat patterns in Matisse paintings and de Chirico artwork, as seen in in his Untitled (Cow Jumps Over the Moon). Other de Kooning paintings from this time - many of which are privately held - introduce the de Kooning palette: pink/coral, sunflower yellow, and swimming-pool green, occasionally punctuated by turquoise.
From 1937 to 1944, de Kooning embarked on a series of paintings of men; these are among his earliest figurative paintings. Typical of the series is Seated Man (top of page), in which a man stares into space, unengaged and bored (you nearly hear him strumming his fingers on the tabletop). You know where de Kooning's hand has been: he first sketched in charcoal, painted, and then dug into that wet surface to re-position the head, back, and chair. An abandoned jug, now an afterthought, sits atop a table whose legs and top surface have also been moved.
One of the joys of a
Willem de Kooning. Portrait of Elaine, c. 1940. Pencil on paper.
retrospective is the juxtaposition of disparate styles in which an artist concurrently worked. Nowhere is this comparison more startling than in the 1940 Portrait of Elaine, showing draughtsmanship skill worth of Ingres, and in the circa 1940 Seated Woman, one of the earliest de Kooning paintings of women.
The Seated Woman has arms seemingly disconnected from her body and legs with no feet, but despite this ambiguity, it is clearly Elaine.
Willem de Kooning. Seated Woman, c. 1940. Oil and charcoal on masonite, 54 1/16" by 36". Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Who else in the history of art (forget Picasso -- he's too easy) was able to explore such different styles at the same time?
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510) was one of the most famous painters of the Early Renaissance (1400-1500) as well as one of the most brilliant masters of line in the whole of art history.
Likely self-portrait of Sandro Botticelli, from his Adoration of the Magi, 1475.
Botticelli's given name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. After his oldest brother became successful selling barrels of merchandise, all the brothers were nicknamed "Botticelli", or "little barrels". When Sandro excelled in drawing, his father apprenticed him to Fra Filippo Lippi (ca. 1406-1469), one of the most highly regarded Renaissance painters in fresco. It is likely from him that Botticelli learned his appreciation for and mastery of line.
Botticelli soon surpassed Fra Filippo Lippi in reputation (assisted by the friar Lippi himself, who was banished from his order in 1456 after impregnating a nun). During the 1470s, Botticelli established his own workshop and found an incomparable patron in the powerful Medici family, rulers of Florence from 1434 to 1737. It was for the wedding of one of the Medicis- Lorenzo di Piero Francesco de Medici (1463-1503) - that Sandro Botticelli created Primavera. Although the exact meaning of Primavera continues to perplex art history scholars, its mythological characters convey all the promise inherent in a wedding:
- Botticelli places Venus, the goddess of fertility and beauty, slightly off
center with her head silhouetted in a halo of sky and trees; she wears a headdress typical of a married Florentine woman. On the left are Venus's attendants, the Three Graces, whose draping, feathery dresses flaunt Botticelli's facility with line: look how brilliantly the Graces' legs are shown through the sheer fabric. Above the Three Graces, Cupid, the son of Venus, teasingly aims his bow; note his characteristic blindfold. Yep, love was blind in Renaissance art, too!
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On the left is the god Mercury, identified by his characteristic winged boots and caduceus, a staff entwined with snakes that he uses here to prevent clouds from drifting into Venus' paradise. The caduceus, also a symbol for doctors, is a nod to the Medicis, whose surname means "doctor". The month of this wedding, May, comes from the name of Mercury's mother, the nymph Maia.
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On the right, the wind god, Zephyr, is pursuing a nymph whom he converts into Flora, goddess of springtime. In a floral gown, she strolls on a carpet of flowers in a reference to Florence, the "City of Flowers". The forest canopy is dense with bright orange fruit, which Fred Kleiner notes is called "mela medica", or medicinal apples; inclusion of this fruit reinforces that this is a Medici commission.
Although Botticelli was one of the leading Renaissance painters during his lifetime, his artwork became nearly obscure shortly after his death in 1510. First, Botticelli fell under the influence of Fra Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), a Dominican monk whose impassioned sermons for salvation and against worldliness persuaded many Florentines to "repent". This repentance included voluntarily burning one's books and artwork. The infamous Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497 tragically contained early Botticelli paintings among other Renaissance treasures.
Secondly, Botticelli was still working when the second generation of Renaissance painters appeared. Among these were Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Michelangelo (1475-1564), whose accomplishments eclipsed Botticelli's. It wasn't until centuries later that Sandro Botticelli was rediscovered by, among others, Jean-Auguste-Dominque Ingres and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Girolamo Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo, c. 1498.
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Fifteen or 16 Leonardo da Vinci paintings are known to exist. With nine in a new National Gallery art exhibition, the word "blockbuster" becomes an understatement.
Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan focuses on Leonardo's tenure in Milan from 1482-1499, when he served as the court painter to Ludovico Sforza (1452-1519). His requested employment from this ruling family by emphasizing his expertise in military engineering, adding this his painting and sculpture skills were a bonus.
Some bonus.
Shortly after arriving in Milan, Leonardo was commissioned to create an altarpiece, The Virgin of the Rocks. Leonardo altered the commission to include St. John the Baptist (he is in the left foreground), and the commissioners refused the price Leonardo requested.
Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with an Ermine, ca. 1493-1494. Approx. 16" by 22". National Museum, Cracow.
He sold the work elsewhere, but years later was persuaded to create a second version. The restoration of this Virgin of the Rocks, owned by the National Gallery in London, was the impetus for this Leonardo exhibition.
For the first time, these two Virgin of the Rocks will be exhibited together. Comparison of their differences - for instance, the later Virgin of the Rocks has less intricately painted naturalism but more sculptural effects created by Leonardo's modelling of light and dark - is enough to make me long to visit this show.
Other Leonardo da Vinci paintings provide more reasons:
Portrait of a Young Man (The Musician), 1486-1487. Prior to this Leonardo da Vinci painting, portraits were in strict profile. That changed with this 3/4 profile pose, which inspired other Renaissance painters and Leonardo's students.
Lady with an Ermine, ca. 1489-1490. Incredible that the National Museum in Cracow is lending its prize painting.
The Belle Ferronniere, ca. 1493-1494. This may be Beatrice d'Este (1475-1497), a leading lady of the Italian Renaissance and the wife of Ludovico Sforza.
Leonardo da Vinci. Virgin of the Rocks, 1483-1485. Probably oil on panel (transferred to canvas), 78 1/2" by 48". Louvre, Paris.
St. Jerome, 1488-1490. One of the unfinished paintings of Leonardo, on loan from the Vatican.
Madonna Litta, 1491-1495. Read about Madonna Litta, in the show, and Benois Madonna, both from the Hermitage.
Christ as Salvator Mundi, ca. 1499. Remember how this post started with reference to 15 or 16 Leonardo da Vinci paintings? This is the "or".
The National Gallery's inclusion of this controversial attribution to Leonardo will be worth following. Read some of the history behind the attribution of this Leonardo da Vinci painting.
Additionally, the show features Leonardo cartoons and drawings (many of which are on loan from the world's largest collection, owned by Queen Elizabeth), including the woman in Madonna Litta, compositional studies for The Last Supper, as well as paintings by Leonardo's students and contemporaries.
Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan runs until 5 February 2012. If you're lucky enough to go there, please, please, send a report!
Leonardo da Vinci. The Belle Ferronniere, ca. 1493-94. Oil on wood, 24" by 17". Louvre, Paris.
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Visiting Washington, DC art museums and all their famous paintings?
Take along this itinerary of famous paintings to get you started. With this ebook, Forty Famous Paintings in Washington, DC, you will:
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know which paintings are in which art museums.
Mary Cassatt. The Boating Party, 1893-1894. Oil on canvas, 44 1/8 x 54 1/4". Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
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Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
Of the 36 known Vermeer paintings, none is more spellbinding than The Girl with the Red Hat. In pure art history terms, it stands out in two ways:
I'll add a third: The Girl with the Red Hat is one of the most famous works of art... in an art museum overflowing with famous art.
Johann Vermeer. The Girl with The Red Hat, ca. 1665-1666. Oil on panel. Painted surface 9 by 7 1/16"; framed 15 7/8 x 14 x 1 3/4". Adrew W. Mellon Collection.
At first glance, The Girl looks like a portrait. Most likely, though, it is a tronie, a type of painting study that explored imaginary costume and expression and flourished in the Dutch Golden Age.
Tronie or portrait, this Vermeer painting is, inch per inch, one of the most dazzling in European art history.
At 9 by 7 1/8 inches, The Girl with the Red Hat is curiously small; its size reflects the response of Dutch painters to decorating trends in 17th century middle-class Flemish and Dutch homes. These families often had specific rooms for exhibiting small paintings, called kabinetstukken (or cabinet pieces). Dutch painters like Vermeer (and Pieter de Hooch) were commissioned to create small scale paintings for these spaces, so that these citizens significantly shaped the development of painting and collecting in 17th century Netherlands, especially in Amsterdam and Antwerp.
Art historians generally concur that Vermeer used a camera obscura, a pre-photography device used to project images. This device turns small reflections of light into tiny pinpoints or highlights; these are seen on the girl's earrings, the tip of her nose, in her 
eyes, and on the chair's lion-head finials (as well as in numerous other Vermeer paintings like Woman Holding a Balance, right).
The Girl looks momentarily startled, as if she'd just turned toward the viewer and gasped. Her surprise leaves you with questions of her. And conjecture.
As in most Vermeer paintings, the viewer isn't allowed beyond the immediacy of the scene presented. Frederick Hartt makes a marvelous generalization about Vermeer paintings:
No matter what Vermeer may suggest or summarize of the outer world or invite the spectator to imagine, wisdom begins and ends in the room, conceived as a cube of shining space in which the figures and their transitory actions seem forever suspended in light. (1)
Imagine what you will, but wisdom begins and ends in any rooms painted by Vermeer, now accepted, along with Rembrandt, as one of the most influential Dutch painters. It's hard to fathom that when Vermeer died in 1675, his wife declared bankruptcy to support herself and their (gulp) eleven children, and sold many Vermeer paintings for song. Oh, to time travel!
Johann Vermeer. Woman Holding a Balance, ca. 1664. Oil on canvas, painted surface 15 5/8 x 14"; framed 24 3/4 x 23 x 3. Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
1. Frederick Hartt, Art: A History of Paintings, Sculpture, Architecture, 4th ed., 2 vols. (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993), p. 829.
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