vendredi 31 décembre 2010

mercredi 29 décembre 2010

Marcel Gromaire

 Marcel Gromaire - Nu au balcon 1933
Nu au Balcon, 1933, huile sur toile, 100 x 81 cm, coll. particulière ©Galerie de la Présidence
 Etude de nu au manteau

jeudi 23 décembre 2010

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) - Sitwell family

 John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) -Sitwell family
Sitwell Family; From left: Edith Sitwell (1887-1964), Sir George Sitwell, Lady Ida, Sacheverell Sitwell (1897-1988), and Osbert Sitwell (1892-1969)

mercredi 22 décembre 2010

Edith Wharton - the house of mirth

Edith Wharton  1862-1937


une biographie interessante ( link )


une autre  ( link  )  


Chez les heureux du monde (The House of Mirth) 1905


  Edith Wharton - the house of mirth

Dickens' Dream - Robert W. Buss (1804-1875)

 Dickens' Dream - Robert W. Buss (1804-1875)



Dickens' Dream - Robert W. Buss (1804-1875) 

Robert William Buss was hired by Dickens' publishers, Chapman and Hall, to provide two illustrations for Pickwick after the original illustrator, Robert Seymour, committed suicide. The publishers were disappointed with the illustrations provided by Buss and the job went to Hablot Browne. Buss, however, remained a lifelong admirer of Dickens and produced several painting celebrating the author's work. The watercolor, Dickens' Dream, showing the author surrounded by the characters he created, was done after Dickens death in 1870. Buss himself did not live to complete the painting. 

Charles Dickens- The Pickwick Papers


Christmas Eve at Mr Wardle's. Mr Pickwick kisses a lady under the mistletoe bough., From Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens, Illustration by Phiz or Hablot Knight Browne (1815-1882/British)


Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club  was published in twenty instalments



20 Monthly parts:
April 1836 – November 1837

dimanche 12 décembre 2010

Leonardo da Vinci - Lady with an Ermine

 Leonardo da Vinci - Lady with an Ermine    

Lady with an Ermine (  link )by Leonardo da Vinci.
Oil on wood panel, 54 × 39 cm

the panel is depicting Cecilia Gallerani,
 mistress of Ludovico Sforza, ruler of Milan and patron of Leonardo

samedi 11 décembre 2010

Hans Memling - A Man holding a Coin of Emperor Nero, ca. 1473-74



  Hans Memling -  A Man holding a Coin of Emperor Nero, ca. 1473-74



Hans Memling, Portrait of a Man with a Coin of the Emperor Nero, 1473

(Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp)

Oil on panel,31x23,2 cm

Hans Memling (1435-1440 1494) - Crucifixion

Hans Memling (1435-1440 1494) - Vanité

  Hans Memling -Vanité


Polyptyque de la Vanité et de la Rédemption terrestre
Vers 1490
Peinture sur bois: 6 panneaux; 20 x 13 cm (chacun)

Né en Allemagne, Memling est un des fondateurs de l’école de Bruges où il s’installa. Il y créa un art fait d’élégance, de clarté et d’équilibre. Sa renommée s’étendit de son vivant à l’Italie avant de culminer au temps du Romantisme.
Dans le Ciel est représenté le Christ en gloire, le Salvator Mundi. La Vanité est figurée par une jeune femme tenant un miroir. Cette figure nue est la plus célèbre du polyptyque, bien que la présence de sandales à ses pieds intrigue. Les deux lévriers qui l’accompagnent ont une symbolique érotique, renforçant la force de ce nu. Son miroir est emblème de Luxure. Il faut y voir une réminiscence d’Eve, ou de Bethsabée, à la source du péché et elle doit être mise en relation avec le transi de la Mort.
Memling a le talent raffiné d’un miniaturiste dans le traitement des détails mais aussi le souffle et l’ampleur pour aborder la mort et son spectacle désolant. La lecture se fait pas à pas, de l’exhortation à fuir les bien tentants plaisirs terrestres pour atteindre le Jugement dernier et éventuellement le Paradis. A côté du Salvator Mundi, l’Enfer perd de son caractère effroyable. Mais la méditation moralisante sur la mort et le salut éternel n’excluaient ni la contemplation des activités terrestres ni la fierté de son commanditaire.

dimanche 5 décembre 2010

Hokusai - Le rêve de la femme du pêcheur

Hokusai 1760–1849
 Hokusai -  Le rêve de la femme du pêcheur

 Hokusai - Le rêve de la femme du pêcheur,1820

peintre de l'époque Edo 1603-1867

époque Meiji 1868-1912

Caravaggio -Sette opere di Misericordia.

Michelangelo Merisi, dit le Caravage ( link )
(Caravaggio, 1571 - Porto Ercole, 1610)


Les sept oeuvres de miséricorde,

 huile sur toile. 390 cm × 260 cm 
Pio Monte della Misericordia,Naples,

Style Baroque - peinture religieuse , Naples (Italie) , 1607

Bartholomeus van der Helst




Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster

Oil on canvas, 232 × 547 cm (91.34 × 215.35 in),1648
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam 

Nicolas de Largillierre - Partridg in a Niche


Largilliere, Nicolas de (1656-1746) - 1680-85 Partridg in a Niche (Musee du Petit Palais, Paris)

Nicolas de Largillière was born in Paris. A failed attempt at business led him to the studio of Goubeau. However, Largillière left at the age of eighteen to seek his fortune in England, where he was befriended and employed by Lely, for four years at Windsor. The fury aroused by the Rye House Plot against Roman Catholics alarmed Largillière. He left for Paris where he was well received by Le Brun and Van der Meulen. His reputation was soon established. Largillière's brilliant colour and lively touch attracted celebrities of his day—actresses, public men and popular preachers flocked to his studio. He became a member of the Academy in 1686 and ultimately its Director. His principal rival was Rigaud, but Largillière specialized in portraits of the wealthy middle classes, leaving the aristocrats to Rigaud. By the late 1680s, Largillière had established his reputation among the bourgeoisie. He produced 1,200 to 1,500 portraits in his lifetime, gradually becoming less formal and more relaxed in describing pose and costume. He also painted group portraits to commemorate solemn occasions, landscapes, still lifes, and religious works.

Jean-Baptiste Oudry -


Oudry, Jean Baptiste (1686-1755) - 1725 Dog Pointing a Partridge (Hermitage, St. Petersburg)

French painter, tapestry designer, and illustrator. He was a pupil of Largillière and painted some portraits, but he is renowned chiefly as one of the outstanding animal painters of the 18th century. With Desportes he was the foremost exponent of hunting scenes and still-life with dead game. Some of his best work was done as a tapestry designer, and he was head of the Beauvais and Gobelins factories from 1734 and 1736 respectively. He also did book illustrations, notably for an edition of La Fontaine's Fables (1755). His son Jacques-Charles (1720-78), a flower and animal painter, sometimes collaborated with him.

samedi 4 décembre 2010