LadyKflo: Recent Episodes
LadyKflo
LadyKflo treats you to passionate Art & History insights. Her quick takes are packed with info and personality.
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When Gainsborough painted this classic artwork it was an experiment. He loved to paint landscapes but portraits were the order of the day. So, this painting was his way of combining the two genres. Gainsborough considered it a failed attempt. He left the painting unfinished and handed it off to the Andrews family. That was in the mid 1700s. Then in the 20th century the painting resurfaced and became an acclaimed icon of its time. Mr and Mrs Andrews made its exhibit premiere in 1927 and then the National Gallery in London bought it in 1960. The piece is now considered one of their most famous and popular paintings. It's beloved for the fresh and charming way the subject matter presents the typical social practices of the time it epitomizes.
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Marriage a la Mode II: The Tete a Tete works like a meme rather than just a painting. That's because William Hogarth was more than a mere master painter. He was a writer and satirist with an unabashed bawdiness and humor that made Hogarth an icon. In fact, his work punctuated a significant part of the social milieu to the point that "Hogarthian" refers to art done in his satirical style even today.
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Lady Jane Grey was the Queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was the great granddaughter of King Henry VII and her first cousin, Edward VI nominated her for accession to the throne. He was an ardent Protestant and knew that Lady Jane would carry that through her reign. This subverted the claim of his half sister, Mary Tudor who was Catholic but considered by many the rightful heir to the throne. Only nine days after Lady Jane became Queen of England, the Catholics dethroned her for Mary Tudor. Soon after she was executed on the Tower Green in the same spot where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard died. She was later considered a Protestant martyr by many. We can see this in the masterpiece The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.
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Rubens loved to draw his wife, Isabella Brant. The old Flemish master married her in the early 1600s when he was a young upstart. Peter Paul Rubens was popular and famous for his baroque paintings in his lifetime. The work of Rubens now lives in the collective unconscious as an icon of sensual and lush depictions of dramatic scenes.
He's considered an old master thanks to his classical training, role as Master of his local guild, and impressive body of work. But the definition for "old master" also calls for working independently. Still, artworks completed by an apprentice or factory are often included in collections by old masters. This can be especially true of a Rubens work.
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The Swiss painter Angelica Kauffman created her self portrait Colors as part of a series for the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Kauffman was one of two women who founded the Academy. Her four part series on crucial elements of painting still graces that art institution today.
Colors sets the best example of her allegorical personification for teaching purposes. These four oval paintings grace the Academy's lecture room ceiling. Kauffman's quartet serve as reminders of fundamental principles but aren't too academic. They're accessible without seeming wholly real.
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The Red Jackson photograph by Gordon Parks sent me into a whirlwind of reactions from the first time I saw it. Encountering this black and white masterpiece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art feels like a lucky break at first. It's a thoughtful photographic version of a Vermeer that's still fresh today, even though it's from 1948.
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The Red Jackson photograph by Gordon Parks sent me into a whirlwind of reactions from the first time I saw it. Encountering this black and white masterpiece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art feels like a lucky break at first. It's a thoughtful photographic version of a Vermeer that's still fresh today, even though it's from 1948.
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
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The true star in this portrait is his gorgeous greyhound. Van Dyck reveals himself as a master of realism with his uncanny portrayal of Stuart's dog. Whenever I see this painting it's the greyhound that holds my attention. How did Van Dyck get the fur so subtle and soft while also giving the dog's musculature such definition? Even with all the finery and fanfare atop James Stuart, the greyhound steals the show in a naked and natural state.
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The true star in this portrait is his gorgeous greyhound. Van Dyck reveals himself as a master of realism with his uncanny portrayal of Stuart's dog. Whenever I see this painting it's the greyhound that holds my attention. How did Van Dyck get the fur so subtle and soft while also giving the dog's musculature such definition? Even with all the finery and fanfare atop James Stuart, the greyhound steals the show in a naked and natural state.
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
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The Robert Frank photograph Trolley New Orleans captures a candid moment in 1955. It shed light on the true America. Frank was a nomad photographer who crossed the United States from New York to California. As a German man born in Switzerland, Robert Frank brought an outsider perspective to this nationwide journey with a camera.
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Manet hints at the deeper meaning of his painting in the title Mademoiselle V. in the Costume of an Espada. This masterpiece puts on a show for viewers. We know that partially from the term "costume". Also, if you're into Goya, you may recognize this as an homage to his Tauromaquia series. Though it honors the Spanish master's work, this is no copy. Manet gave his favorite model, Victorine Meurent, a pink rather than a red cape. She's also shod in footwear that no bullfighter would be caught dead in... bows and all.
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Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Checkout her socials too:
https://www.instagram.com/ladykflo/
https://twitter.com/ladykflo
Read LadyKflo’s collected works.
Learn about this painting and many more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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Joan of Arc caught Jules Bastien-LePage's attention long after she died a hero. France had just given up a region of their territory to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war. Ms. Arc and Bastien-Lepage were both from Lorraine. After the war Bastien-Lepage experienced, he looked to his local underdog historical hero - Joan - for inspiration.
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Stationary Figure represents Philip Guston's most macabre self portrait. He painted himself plenty, and many of his works explored dark topics. In fact, Guston portrayed the KKK in many of his works. This painting enjoins that morbidity level with self portraiture in a sublime synergy. We see these elements thanks to the specific details Guston includes. But viewers can also learn from what the painter chose to eliminate.
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Joan Miro's Bleu II punctuates the middle of a three part series. This one sits at center for good reason. It grounds the blue triptych with solid strength. Red slashes one side of the blue canvas, yet this masterpiece seems balanced. My favorite thing about Miro is the way his imagery shifts between recognition and intrigue. We see that with this Zen garden masterpiece on a bed of brilliant cobalt.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art calls The Harvesters "the first modern landscape". Pieter Bruegel also shifted the Renaissance paradigm with this masterpiece. He transported the art world from biblical and classical subjects into everyday people. That's why Bruegel the Elder became the "peasant painter".
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Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1. portrays an iconic mother and a Victorian Mona Lisa. These are only two of the many takes on this ultra famous painting. It's more well known by the colloquial name Whistler's Mother. That's because he did this portrait of his mother, Anna McNeill Whistler.
Though many say Anna looks much older in this portrayal, she was only 67 when he painted this. Though, many say Anna looks much older in this portrayal. At the time she was living with her son and adjusting to his bohemian lifestyle. Anna called it "flamboyant" and made a weak attempt to tolerate it. We can see how adept she was at tolerance from the look on her strident face.
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Picasso shifted his point of view while working on Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. This perspective change shows in the painting. In fact, he fragmented the figures into ambiguous planes. This gives viewers a sense of looking at them from several angles. We get a combination of views within a single scene.
For instance, the woman at the bottom right squats. Her legs face away from us. But this same woman's head looks straight at us. This serves as the most extreme example of ambiguity.
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I love Yellow-Red-Blue from 1925 because it's such a joyful Kandinsky. The colors explode across each side of the canvas. In fact, it almost feels like two paintings. There's a brilliant box of sunshine to our left. While a bountiful trumpet of pinks, purples and blues blows into the sky on our right.
When he painted this, Kandinsky was also teaching painting and color theory. He combined these subjects with elements of form psychology. That means he composed emotional orchestrations out of colorful shapes.
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Why was Monet's painting, The Magpie controversial when it was introduced?
- Shadows in color
- Shifting emotions traverse a snowscape
- Observing the scene from a magpie's perch
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Why is Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night an important painting?
- Van Gogh's favorite hot spot
- Yellow light at night
- Forecast calls for more starry nights
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What inspired Salvador Dali to paint The Elephants in 1948?
- An Egyptian obelisk and Italian elephant
- The nature and limits of power
- Freudian dreams in oil paint
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What's the meaning behind Hieronymus Bosch's triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights?
- Christianity, the Middle Ages, and terror
- Proud cherries
- God's glorious shutter
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What is the meaning behind the painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich?
- Rumination and romance
- Exultation in one man's insignificance
- A mysterious mist sets a sublime scene
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What’s the story behind the painting Oath of the Horatii by Jacques Louis David?
– Roman soldiers and a concocted salute
– Loyalty and love at war
– Strident brothers and their despairing sister
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What’s the symbolism in New York Office by Edward Hopper?
– Three figures, light fixtures, and frames
– Starring Hitchcock’s cool blonde
– A minor character disappears into the office building
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What’s the story behind masterpiece The Bolt (The Lock) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard?
– Velvet lady parts
– Push and pull of love
– Rococo’s exclamation point
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Why is Lord Frederic Leighton’s masterpiece Mother and Child still so popular?
– Symbolism in lilies, shoes, birds, and a grape
– When a mother frames your whole world
– The Baron painter Leighton: rich, famous and still relevant
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Egon Schiele paintings, like The Embrace, grip us in raw emotions. That’s thanks to the jutting bones and Expressionist renderings of nude figures. We can feel the raw pangs of their hunger for love. Egon Schiele paintings, like The Embrace, grip us in raw emotions. That’s thanks to the jutting bones and Expressionist renderings of nude figures. We can feel the raw pangs of their hunger for love.
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What’s the story behind the Portrait of Kate Perugini – Daughter of Charles Dickens?
– In mourning? Stunning sophisticate? Both.
– Portrait painter influences her own portrayal
– Losing it all and looking back while starting over
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What’s the meaning of In the Chapel by Alice Bailly?
– Wimples with wings
– Nuns, Angels, Mary, Jesus… and a golden brushstroke
– Christianity’s mystery of faith
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How does Self Portrait in Tuxedo by Max Beckmann stand out among his many self portraits?
- James Bond in a mask
- The rebellious New Objectivity movement
- An avant garde art world figure
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What is different about the Saint George that Albrecht Altdorfer portrays in his masterpiece?
– Teutonic tales vs. Roman stories
– Loneliness, relief, and looming trees
– Humility and a fresh take on victory
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Why is Robett Delaunay’s painting Carousel of Pigs a masterpiece?
- Riding a carousel = visiting a museum
- A lyrical kaleidoscope of colorful contrasts
- The bridge of Orphism
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Franz Marc was a German Expressionist master. He cemented the importance of essence over subject matter with this colorful portrait - Yellow Cow. Check out my link in bio to find out who he’s portraying with this blissful bovine.
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What's so special about Antonello Da Messina's Virgin Annunciate (Palermo)?
- Who and where is the Annunciate angel?
- Oil paint's glorious glow
- Mary transitions from human to saint
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Patriotic Demonstration marks the moment just before WWI when Italian Futurists rallied to support war. Check out LadyKflo's piece about this critical inflection point of a painting.
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What is happening in Cristofano Allori’s painting Judith With the Head of Holofernes?
- The Power of Women topos
- Heroism and subversion
- Two shiny droplets – jewels on a golden robe
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What’s so special about the sculpture Woman Combing Her Hair 1915 by Aleksander Archipenko?
- A moving figural map
- The void within
- Futurist fundamentals in 3D
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How did Duchamp’s painting Nude Descending a Staircase No 2 set the art world ablaze?
– Abhorred and adored all at once
– Nudity without critical comprehension
– Changing a turn of the century outlook
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How does Woman Combing Her Hair 1936 stand out as an abstract sculpture?
- Wild gestures in iron
- Welded with Picasso’s friendship
- Ruminations on a pelvic curve
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What is Fernando Botero saying with his painting Abu Ghraib 46?
– Botero bodies: beaten, naked, and bloody
– The Geneva Convention is key
– Green blindfolds = hope
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What makes Man Ray’s sculpture Cadeau (The Gift) so special?
- Mass production, war, and Dada
- Poking at prevalent perspective
- Multiple copies of a stolen masterpiece make its point
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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Why is The Jungle by Wifredo Lam considered a Cubist masterpiece?
- Hybrid creatures – animal, human & plant
- A totem-tall woman with shears takes the blame
- Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism in the back seat
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What’s the meaning of Robert Rauschenberg’s Canyon painting?
– A bird, a pillow, a god and a boy’s bottom
– An excuse for trauma built into Greek myth
– Canyon’s three dimensions create depth
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What makes New York Night by Georgia O’Keeffe such a special painting?
- Glimmering window panes
- The machine age and Precisionism
- An avant-garde squad
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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PS: To the descendents of Giacomo Balla, please forgive my Americanization of your artist ancestor's name.
What kind of painting is Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash by Giacomo Balla?
- Futurism, Cubism, and critical rejection
- An avant garde, dog’s perspective
- Stasis and motion = comedy
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What makes Duane Hanson’s sculpture Supermarket Shopper a masterpiece?
- Desolation of spirit and a TV dinner to match
- A typical American moment stands apart
- Destroying a controversial past
Read LadyKflo’s collected works and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What’s the story behind El Greco’s painting Laocoon?
- A Spanish Trojan War
- The vengeance of Laocoon’s broken vow
- 300 years ahead of his time
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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Why is Kerry James Marshall’s painting De Style so perfect for this moment?
- Where South Central LA meets the 1917 Netherlands
- Barbershop as cultural oasis
- Whimsy and gravity unite on canvas
Read the rest of this LadyKflo essay and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Listen to the LadyKflo podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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What makes Untitled (Man Smoking/Malcolm X) by Carrie Mae Weems a masterpiece?
- Malcolm X in a supporting role
- Where Black America meets the globe
- Arm wrestling, poker, and booze
Read the rest of this LadyKflo essay and learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Listen to the LadyKflo podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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https://www.pinterest.com/Ladykflo
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Why does Cindy Sherman’s photograph Untitled Film Still 35 looks so familiar?
– Soft core porn set the rules
– Stereotypes beware Cindy Sherman’s face
– Setting the stage for ankles in Untitled Film Still 35
Learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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What’s the significance of the Magdalena Abakanowicz sculpture 80 Backs?
- Sacred space
- Different figures – all with the same form
- 80 Backs and zero heads
Check out these insights and much more at LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/80-backs-by-magdalena-abakanowicz/
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How does Ana Mendieta’s Flowers on Body both subvert and epitomize feminist art?
– Outsider gets inside the earth
– Culture and nature without gender
– Breaking binaries and boundaries
Check out these insights and more with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog:
https://www.ladykflo.com/flowers-on-body-silueta-series-by-ana-mendieta/
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Why does the mural Ancient Mexico: Conquest to 1930 by Diego Rivera matter?
- Invaders, Animals, & a Sun God
- A Marxist makes his mark on Mexico
- Technique trumps complexity
For more insights on this and many other masterpieces, check out LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
Listen to the LadyKflo podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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What makes Kehinde Wiley’s painting Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps a masterpiece?
- Strategic opposition in casting
- War bleeds – Africa glitters gold
- The field of power reframed
Learn about more masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/category/masterpieces/
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How did the 1977 painting Marilyn (Vanitas) help pioneer Superrealism/Photorealism?
- Time, death, and masks
- Candle in the Wind 1973 & 1977
- A real woman lost long ago
Learn about more masterpieces like this onw with a click through to LadyKflo's site.
https://www.ladykflo.com/marilyn-vanitas-by-audrey-flack/
How did the sculpture Object – Luncheon in Fur impact the art world?
- The MOMA’s broken glass ceiling
- Object – Luncheon in Fur: a rarity among men
- Give that lady a break (for a decade)
Learn more about these insights and many other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/object-luncheon-in-fur-by-meret-oppenheim/
What makes The Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo an important painting?
- Aztec hearts bleed for Mexico
- Clothes don’t make the woman
- Feminist protest and divorce
Click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog for these insights and much more.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-two-fridas-las-dos-fridas-by-frida-kahlo/
What makes the Aaron Douglas painting From Slavery Through Reconstruction significant?
– Harlem Renaissance revival murals
– The watermarks of yesteryear teach us today
– Racism and Outcry in From Slavery Through Reconstruction
More insight and analysis at LadyKflo's Art Blog. Check it out at:
https://www.ladykflo.com/from-slavery-through-reconstruction-aaron-douglas/
What’s the story behind Ernst Barlach’s Floating Angel sculpture?
– Twofold path to serenity
– A complex gate encircles death
– Floating Angel makes a martyr of a man
Check out these insights and analyses with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/floating-angel-or-gustrower-memorial/
What makes The Night by Max Beckmann a masterpiece?
– War gusto tempered by trauma
– Angularity, violence, and absurdity in The Night
– Futurist art leads into the New Objectivity
Get all the goods with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog - more on this and many other masterpieces.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-night-by-max-beckmann/
Why’s the Migrant Mother photograph by Dorothea Lange so iconic?
- Defining the Great Depression
- Strength, vulnerability, and shame in Migrant Mother
- Assistance …and then regret
Click to LadyKflo's Art Blog for more insights on this and many other masterpieces.
https://www.ladykflo.com/migrant-mother-nipomo-valley/
Why is Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale a masterpiece?
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Framing an unreality
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Threat? That bird’s tiny
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Disruption and a dance
Get the details on these and more insights with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/two-children-are-threatened-by-a-nightingale/
Table of contents for Hartley on the Rocking Horse by Alice Neel.
- Home is where the work is
- Time portrayed in Hartley on the Rocking Horse
- Feminism and the many penises of Joe Gould
Check out these insights and more at LadyKflo's Art Blog:
https://www.ladykflo.com/hartley-on-the-rocking-horse-by-alice-neel/
What’s so special about Yves Tanguy’s painting Imaginary Numbers?
- Surrealist love bites
- Sponsored by Peggy Guggenheim
- Hopeful blobs in Imaginary Numbers
- Mother Dada and then baby Dali
Check out these insights and more at LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/imaginary-numbers-by-yves-tanguy/
Why’s Vermeer’s painting Young Woman with a Water Pitcher such a big deal?
- Light elevates everyday tasks
- Young Woman with a Water Pitcher – the inner sanctum
- A more iconic shield than Captain America’s
Learn these insights and check out much more about many masterpieces. All it takes is a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/young-woman-with-a-water-pitcher/
Table of contents for this post on The Three Youngest Daughters of George III.
- Whoah. King George had how many kids?
- The Three Youngest Daughters of George III - anything but posers
- Copley's red connections
Learn about these insights and more with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog:
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-three-youngest-daughters-of-george-iii-john-singleton-copley/
Why is Rosa Bonheur’s painting The Horse Fair important?
- Muscularity in motion
- Obedience and freedom in The Horse Fair
- Bonheur – LGBT pioneer and fashion iconoclast
Check out all these insights and more at LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-horse-fair-by-rosa-bonheur/
Why is Charles Demuth’s I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold one the top 100 NYC paintings?
- Artistic friendship on a poster portrait
- I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold‘s vibrant electricity
- William Carlos Williams named 3 times
Get these answers and much more about this and other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's art blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/i-saw-the-figure-5-in-gold-by-charles-demuth/
What does Willem de Kooning evoke in the painting Rosy Fingered Dawn at Louse Point?
- Homeric phrases and Long Island
- De Kooning's gestural impact
- Landscape ladies
Read all about this and many more LadyKflo takes with a click to her Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/rosy-fingered-dawn-at-louse-point-by-willem-de-kooning/
What’s so special about Arctic Tern, the Audubon bird painting?
- Audubon – hunter turned lover
- Blue moves the Arctic Tern
- Feet make the bird
As a child I loved Arctic Tern by John James Audubon. I grew up outdoorsy. So, I pored over his collection of bird paintings. This classic guidebook series, The Birds of America, also works like an art collection. Audubon accomplished masterworks like this one thanks to his heartfelt love of nature. But he also trained with French master Jacques Louis David.
Check out more on this and many other masterpieces. Click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/arctic-tern-by-john-james-audubon/
Why is the painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte an emblem of Impressionist zeitgeist?
- Georges Seurat – obsessed and bullied misanthrope
- A passionate painting with dispassionate subjects
- How is A Sunday on La Grande Jatte like a mullet?
Get all these goods and more with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/a-sunday-on-la-grande-jatte-by-georges-seurat/
You know it. You might even love it. But why is Nighthawks by Edward Hopper so cool?
- Isolated details
- Smoking as distraction in Nighthawks
- Light patches create composition
- Lonely, anonymous birds
Edward Hopper’s masterpiece Nighthawks conjures big city themes. From loneliness to anonymity, it’s an existential homage to New York City in 1942. Details shift from surreal to familiar. But they all point to the same conclusion. Though its title refers to predatory birds, this painting’s about the human condition.
For all the goods on this and other LadyKflo takes on masterpieces, check out her Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/nighthawks-by-edward-hopper/
Here’s a few tidbits of introduction to the painting Woman Descending the Staircase:
- Abstract Expressionist and/or Photo Realistic
- Woman Descending the Staircase – pure movement
- What’s Duchamp got to do with it?
The first time I saw a Gerhard Richter painting in person I thought he was a photographer. That’s his remarkable skill. Here, though, Richter works through opposites. His masterpiece, Woman Descending the Staircase illustrates this duality. He first creates a photo realistic work. Then Richter messes with it. Of course, he doesn’t always blur his paintings. Richter leaves some photo-realistic works crisp and pristine. These portray a meticulous reality. But sometimes he adds a step and also abstracts it.
Get all the goods on many more masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/woman-descending-the-staircase-by-gerhard-richter/
Learn the following about the White Flag painting by Jasper Johns:
- Is White Flag even white?
- What’s lacking and better for it.
- Johns and Rauschenberg – inspirations
Pop Art can be confusing. But not the Jasper Johns masterpiece White Flag. It’s a rare case of what you see is what you get. Checking out this painting in person feels significant because of its enormity. The Metropolitan Museum of Art showcases it well. Thanks to the white wall behind this piece, viewers can’t help but notice it’s not a true white flag. There’s no surrender to this piece. At more than six feet by ten, viewers can’t help but take in its size or materials. Simple and spare as it seems – White Flag gives us a lot.
Want to learn about what it gives us? Check out LadyKflo's Art Blog for this and many more masterpieces.
https://www.ladykflo.com/white-flag-by-jasper-johns/
LadyKflo’s podcast about the 110 Express painting covers:
- How Robert Rauschenberg stops thoughts
- Red stripe unity
- Where de Kooning meets Warhol
Movement pervades the 110 Express Painting. Rauschenberg injected the canvas with energy. There’s only one band of color – a red stripe at the top. It brings a bit of heat to the otherwise cool, black and white painting. The Avant-Garde painter often used silkscreen and paint on canvas. This creates a collage effect that draws the eyes across shifts in shape and texture.
For even more check out her Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-110-express-painting-by-robert-rauschenberg/
This podcast about La Tour’s The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs includes:
- A fancy pants sucker
- Finger pointing
- Fraud on many levels
- Mastery in 17th century details
For all the goods on this and more masterpieces, check out LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-cheat-with-the-ace-of-clubs-by-georges-de-la-tour/
Learn about the symbolic expressions in Girls on a Pier including:
- Pink and feminine youth
- Abyss of the unknown – trees in Girls on a Pier
- A puppy surrounded with Munchian dread
Why is Girls on a Pier my favorite Edvard Munch painting? It’s that wistful pink bridge and how it blends into the road to nowhere. Many choose The Scream for its iconic emotionalpower and pull. I respect that. But I’m drawn more to the subtlety of this piece. The resonant dread of Munch still permeates this painting. But there’s a delicacy and poignance as well. At its core, this piece portrays the significance of time and longing in human life.
Check out all the LadyKflo goods on this and more masterpieces at her Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/girls-on-a-pier-by-edvard-munch/
Table of Contents for Ada and Alex by Alex Katz includes:
- Reduced to spare parts
- Cutthroat culture by Alex Katz
- Abstract Expressionism versus Ada and Alex – a competition
Simplicity takes balls. For instance, the level of confidence required to create Ada and Alex. This double self portrait shows painting minimalism at its post 70s peak. It was 1980. Women wore shoulder padded power suits and scrunchies. Still, artists like Alex Katz prove that restraint flourished too. In fact, his career took off thanks to paintings such as this one. Like many minimalists, Katz threw a lot away. He destroyed at least a thousand paintings in search of his unique style.
Want more? Click through for all the goods on this and other masterpieces.
https://www.ladykflo.com/ada-and-alex-by-alex-katz/
This podcast investigates several aspects of The Lackawanna Valley painting such as:
- Why the train?
- George Inness’s rejection
- Opposites in harmony
Learn and see lots more about this and other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-lackawanna-valley-by-george-inness/
What’s the story withRenoir’sAcrobats at the Cirque Fernando?
- Truth about his real acrobat models
- What oranges represent
- Darkness lurking nearby
Find out with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog -
https://www.ladykflo.com/acrobats-at-the-cirque-fernando-by-renoir/
What makes Whistler’s portrait Harmony in Gray and Green Miss Cicely Alexander special? Many things… including:
- Butterflies and muted tones as siblings
- Disappearing into the woodwork
- Whose jacket brings the green to Harmony in Gray and Green?
For all this and more click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/harmony-in-gray-and-green-miss-cicely-alexander-by-james-whistler/
What’s the story behind this Count’s smug mug?
- Son of a revolutionary lady
- The challenge of Amédée David the Comte de Pastoret
- Bad reputation and Legion of Honor
- Symbols vs. substance
Introducing Amédée David the Comte de Pastoret. The painter Jean Auguste Dominiqué Ingres was a student of Jacques Louis David. It’s funny because thirty five years before this portrait, David did one with Amédée in it. He was the baby in Madame de Pastoret and Her Son. There were no signs of the man he’d become from his tiny presence in that painting. In contrast, this portrait shows us the man – Amédée David the Compte de Pastoret.
Learn more about this and other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/amedee-david-the-comte-de-pastoret/
Table of Contents for art blog on Madame de Pastoret and Her Son:
- Aristocrats vs. revolutionaries
- Symbols in Madame de Pastoret and Her Son
- Working mothers of the French Revolution
- Prison, exile, and a missing needle
Timing wasn’t on the side of Madame de Pastoret and Her Son. In fact, she married Count Pastoret on Bastille Day. That was the climactic end of the French Revolution. As a noble aristocrat, this wasn’t an ideal anniversary day. It also meant revolutionaries, like David, started to see her in a different way. When he agreed to paint Adelaide Anne Pastoret, she was running her own revolution.
Learn more about it with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/madame-de-pastoret-and-her-son-jacques-louis-david/
Why is Stag at Sharkey’s much more than a boxing painting? Here are a few reasons:
- Stag night & wild stags
- A thrilled, expectant arena
- George Wesley Bellows – Ashcan art star
Boxing may seem brutish. But it makes a masterpiece of Stag at Sharkey’s. George Wesley Bellows uses realistic representation and abstract blurring here. This heightens the excitement around the action. It gives viewers the immediate feeling of recognition. Oh! I know what this is about. There’s so much happening at the center. Boxers and a referee draw us into the contest. But there’s more to the story. It’s not a mere popcorn moment. Sure, boxers fight in the painting. In fact, Bellows often portrayed boxing. It was one of his favorite subjects.
Dive a bit deeper into this and more masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/stag-at-sharkeys-by-george-wesley-bellows/
Fascinating insights about the Gray and Gold Painting lie ahead, including:
- John Rogers Cox: Bank Teller-Painter-Soldier-Painter
- Fences and distance in Gray and Gold
- Magic mixed with Realism
- A meticulous method
Paintings like Gray and Gold by Cox aren’t what one might think of as art about war. It lacks literal soldiers and arms. But that’s because this painting portrays war through analogy. This natural landscape might not contain any people. But human emotion permeates the picture. Cox wields fury and frustration in a controlled chaos of weather. The clouds loom with foreboding grey peaks and an ominous black sky behind. This represents human nature’s shadow side. That’s why we go to war.
Learn more about this masterpiece with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog:
https://www.ladykflo.com/gray-and-gold-by-john-rogers-cox/
This podcast on Rousseau’s The Fight of a Tiger and a Buffalo includes:
- Bottoms up bananas – reality is overrated
- Fight? What Fight?
- Rousseau’s self esteem
- Flowers and animals paired in The Fight of a Tiger and a Buffalo
- Jungle mystery
Henri Rousseau creates a sense of play – not battle – in The Fight of a Tiger and a Buffalo. His singular style suits this particular fancy. That’s because Rousseau brings us into his world without much regard for the “real” one. He paints fantasy. But one that only he could imagine. There’s nobody quite like Rousseau. His vision includes upside down banana bunches. So, we know it’s unlikely he ever saw a banana tree in person. In fact, Rousseau claimed to have visited the jungle. But we now know he’d only ever been to zoos and botanical gardens. Given his bananas, he likely went to the farmer’s market as well.
Learn more about this and other masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-fight-of-a-tiger-and-a-buffalo-by-henri-rousseau/
Contents for The Parasol painting by Goya include:
• Trapped lady and free servant
• Greenery versus greys
• Color and the duty in the Spanish royal court
• Six tiny, hopeful, leaves
Learn more about this and other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/the-fight-of-a-tiger-and-a-buffalo-by-henri-rousseau/
My blog piece about the painting Portrait of a Young Man in his Study explores:
- Details as personae in the Young Man in his Study painting.
- Lorenzo Lotto’s secretive, telling lizard.
- This Young Man’s dating profile.
Portrait of a Young Man in his Study tips a hat to complicated gentlemen. A sense of story pervades this masterpiece. But Lorenzo Lotto lays out only the raw materials for us. We must construct the narrative ourselves. That’s the most powerful part of this piece. The painter gives us a confluence of detail. So, viewers drown in bits of information about this gentleman. He’s a hunter, intellectual, musician, and most of all – mysterious.
Learn more about this and many other masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/portrait-of-a-young-man-in-his-study-by-lorenzo-lotto/
In this evaluation of the painting Primavera by Botticelli I cover the following concepts:
- Why Primavera is such a popular painting
- Mythical characters featured in Primavera
- Love stories in the Primavera painting
- My Primavera YouTube video
- Frequently Asked Questions including, “Why is Sandro Botticelli’s painting Primavera important?”
Botticelli’s Primavera (Spring) exalts. It’s one of the most popular and well known paintings of all time. But this masterpiece deserves all that attention. Some times notoriety sprouts from vapid glitterati. This is time, though, it’s packed with meaning. No matter that this masterpiece graces tote bags and tees. Its popularity springs from genius – not marketing. There’s true mastery in this piece. The deep meaning’s only one of many reasons why. Nobody paints like Botticelli. He employs distinctive style. But Botticelli’s best at characterization. It’s easy to pinpoint his subjects.
Learn more with a Primavera blog and video after a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/primavera-spring-by-sandro-botticelli/
The young Raphael, a notorious ladies man, painted this fresh sprite of a portrait. They were likely close in age. But viewers also sense that there was nothing between painter and subject in Lady With a Unicorn. She’s a remote beauty. Her loveliness resonates more chilly than sensual. The battered looking unicorn she cradles brings a tenderness to her, though. This isn’t a typical unicorn. Most sparkle with bright and magical elegance. The Lady’s unicorn appears fragile as a brown baby bird. This gives her the essence of motherhood. The tiny mythical creature leans into a velvety soft crook of her arm.
Turns out this wasn’t Raphael’s original take on Lady With a Unicorn. One of the painting’s owners later paid an artist to cover the unicorn. They wanted a portrait of St. Catherine. So, no mythical creatures allowed. This over paint was later removed to again reveal our delicate unicorn. That’s why the tiny animal seems a bit smudged beside the clear luminosity of our Lady. It brings even more meaning to this masterpiece. Unicorns represent innocence and virginity. The painting’s tribulations through time run parallel to this Lady. A woman of this time, the late 1400s, struggled to maintain an immaculate reputation.
Learn more about this and many other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.
https://www.ladykflo.com/lady-with-a-unicorn-by-raphael-raffaello/
Caravaggio’s deft handling of light grounds Calling of St. Matthew with a sense of reality. That’s why we’re able to look at this scene from a gospel story through secular eyes. The painter presents an extraordinary event through an everyday lens. This familiar but implausible story thus seems real. Caravaggio brings an angelic visitation down to earth. He painted St. Peter summoning St. Matthew to follow Jesus Christ in a casual setting.
We get the same biblical information about the story. But placing the situation in our familiar world helps us relate to it. Caravaggio includes a thick, solid table. He grants the forefront boy raw, muscular legs and even spotlights one. This gives the painting earthiness. It’s a real world scene. Yet, we also know from the title, Calling of St. Matthew, that it’s a gospel story. The only other hint of religiosity floods through the window at right. It’s the light of Matthew’s Lord Jesus. But we don’t see the source here – only that streaming, soulful, light.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/calling-of-st-matthew-by-caravaggio/
Does Correggio’s Portrait of a Lady portray his poet friend Ginerva Rangone or his other poet friend Veronica Gambera?
Correggio’s Portrait of a Lady beckons with a silver bowl. This meaningful detail might get missed at first. That’s because this classic portrait features a striking lady. Her wry expression seems natural and self-possessed. The painter imbues her face with expressive strength. She’s sure of herself. Antonio Allegri da Correggio also fills this painting with prescient details.
Her silver bowl, held out to us, presents an obvious clue about this lady. It’s engraved with a phrase from Homer’s Odyssey. This bit refers to demi-goddess Helen. She concocts a potion to help people escape their earthbound troubles. With art, music, and poetry Helen lifts them out of everyday life. Fine arts transport them into joyful wonder and awe.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/correggios-portrait-of-a-lady-by-antonio-allegri/
Black Sea presents an audacious absurdity in oil. Obsessed with the lowly boot heel, painter Philip Guston dwells in a crude and even cruel reality. He creates a vivid, disconcerting portrait. The bare bottom of the boot heel atop dark waters. The plebeian symbol seems to rise like a Roman arch in the canvas center. But with its slanted sides, raw wood, and wonky nails, this heel’s not fooling anyone. No matter where Guston places it, a boot heel bottom holds no majesty.
This one doesn’t even have a sole to cover its shabby wooden innards. Instead of elevating the heel, Philip Guston raises questions about it. Given the title, Black Sea, viewers must check out the setting. That valiant, choppy sky’s intriguing compared to the bruteish boot bottom. Canadian American painter, Guston varies his sky brushwork. He mobilizes many hues into an active atmosphere. The sky dances around the banal boot heel. It mocks the stodgy brown stick-in-the-mud. Winds blow and toss. They change with the weather. A boot heel stays what it is – forever. There’s not much to see on the boot’s bottom. We see this crude object from the point of view of a bug. Turns out, that’s the point.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/black-sea-by-philip-guston/
Wayne Thiebaud championed unappreciated pastries. For instance, the 1963 Display Cakes sits at the center of the Pop Art movement. It’s tempting to thus label this masterpiece as such. After all, Pop Art elevates popular mainstream subject matter. This spotlights our desires, and even obsessions. Thiebaud’s pastry portrayals point to America’s sugar fixation. He’s got a point there. But there’s much more to these immaculate sweets. Their impact transcends Pop Art. That’s because they’re as philosophical as they are delectable.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/display-cakes-by-wayne-thiebaud/
Gustave Courbet believed in two types of people. There were artists, like himself, and bores. He didn’t keep such opinions to himself. So, it’s no surprise that the painting Bonjour Monsieur Courbet created a ruckus. This masterpiece, also called The Meeting – La Rencontre in French, teems with binaries.
For instance, Courbet’s critics gave this piece a different name. They liked to call it Fortune Bowing before Genius. After all, Courbet painted this threefold portrait against his will. His patron, Alfred Bruyas, wanted a piece to show himself with his favorite artist. So, the miffed Courbet painted Bruyas in a humble stance. He also stuck an uptight valet between them. Service thus separates the money from the art.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/bonjour-monsieur-courbet-by-gustave-courbet/
It’s hard to believe Thomas Eakin’s painting The Biglin Brothers Racing dates back to 1873. Point and click cameras weren’t yet invented. So, this action’s a straight shot from Eakins. He had to be there to capture a split second. That’s only one of the wonders at work in this piece. A striking clear portrait of a moving moment in oil paint. It’s a marvel of action and atmosphere. Thomas Eakins planned this race day portrait ahead of time. Then Philadelphia weather brought challenges. It would have been hard enough to capture this race on a sunny morning. Turns out rain held off the scheduled contest until early evening.
This urgent situation may account for some of the painting’s palpable tension. Thanks to that, a thrill runs through The Biglin Brothers Racing. Careful composition gives the painting this competitive charge. For instance, the brothers’ boat edges out both sides of the canvas frame. An opponent boat peeks into the bottom corner halfway. That’s how Thomas Eakins creates suspense. We’re mid-race. The brothers row – paddles in the air. At the moment, they’re in the lead. But this could change any second. So, the painting holds us spellbound in anticipation.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-biglin-brothers-racing-by-thomas-eakins/
Edward Hicks paints neat and tidy artworks. It’s easy to recognize his trademark style in The Cornell Farm. Hicks obsessed over creating order in his paintings. Many art historians attribute this to a yearning within to quell his inner demons. But it may have been quite the opposite. Completely self-taught, Hicks could have adopted this perfectionism to prove his artistic merit. Thus, it wasn’t his animalistic urges Hicks wanted to quash – but his amateurism. Turns out, he accomplished exactly this. He created more than one masterpiece. American painter Edward Hicks achieved this with a meticulous attention to detail. He also charms viewers with his bewildered and tame beast depictions.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-cornell-farm-by-edward-hicks/
Wife of a rich New York merchant, the Mrs. Richard Yates portrait judges. Her expression evokes wisdom and confidence, though. So, it’s not unwarranted judgement. Once considered, the question Who do you think you are? may help us find our true selves. But Catherine Brass Yates has already reflected on her personal truth. She knows who she is. It’s also clear that this woman cares little about the judgement of others. After all, this portrait shows her flaws as well as perfect eyebrows and luxurious silks. She’s a woman of means. So, Mrs. Richard Yates could have had this painted in a more flattering way. But she left the mustache on her lip.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/catherine-brass-yates-mrs-richard-yates-by-gilbert-stuart/
Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art painting M-Maybe reflects childhood comics. It commands our attention with nostalgic dots. They evoke the newsprint of yesteryear’s comics. Still, Lichtenstein uses this technique in only two facets of the painting. He differentiates aspects within the portrait. Lichtenstein uses dots to color the woman’s face and skin as well as reflective surfaces.
The Pop Art painter thus emphasizes her most human traits with this choice. He also reflects that back to us, the viewer. Mirrors are the only other polka dotted parts of the painting. That’s how the artist communicates the painting’s theme – being human. It’s an ironic painting. But there’s no mocking here. He elevates the art of comics rather than dismissing it. We see that in the careful reworking of comic representation here.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/m-maybe-a-girls-picture-by-roy-lichtenstein/
Benjamin West’s The Death of General Wolfe is a near perfect History Painting. Not because it’s accurate. Rather it sets a prime example of West’s reinvented genre. With his buddy, John Singleton Copley, West created a new form of history portrayal. The duo painted current events with dramatic flair. Before them, History Paintings stuck to Classical and Bible stories. These artist friends thus founded contemporary History Painting.
For instance, the General falls with tragic grace at the center of The Death of General Wolfe. This had just happened in 1759, during The Seven Years War. Eleven years later West weaved artistic license into it. In truth, Wolfe took three musket balls at the height of battle. There’s no way he died with such elegance. He appears to float into the arms of his compadres, gentle as a feather.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-death-of-general-wolfe-by-benjamin-west/
The painting Watson and the Shark tells a dramatic story. So much so, it made the painter famous. Before this, John Singleton Copley painted portraits. He made a name for himself portraying leaders like Myles Cooper, Thomas Gage, and Paul Revere. But Copley married into a stringent Tory family. So, in 1774, the American Revolution inspired his move to England. This changed his work. No longer painting gentlemen and lady portraits, he became a storyteller. In fact, with painter friend, Benjamin West, Copley created a whole new kind of art. They started what’s now known as History Painting. These pieces tell stories, often of heroic figures facing danger, in a historic manner. Watson and the Shark exemplifies such a History Painting.
Art historians often point to this painting as the reinvigoration of Copley’s career. After all, he couldn’t paint colonial characters anymore on British soil. He had to start over anyway. Lucky for us, he did it with drama. This painting has it all: nudity, imminent violence, heroism, and the funkiest shark of 1778. John Singleton Copley took General Watson’s tale from youth and crafted a masterpiece.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/watson-and-the-shark-by-john-singleton-copley/
Rooster, Hen, and Hydrangeas epitomizes the painstaking care of silk painting. There’s no room for error. Each brushstroke is permanent as soon as it hits the delicate fabric. Imagine the inner peace Ito Jakuchu must have had to achieve this level of detail.
He was an 18th century Buddhist Japanese painter. In fact, this work illustrates his Buddhist principles. They include stillness and respect for animals. Buddhists also value practice and spontaneity. These two opposite themes work together. In fact they’re both crucial aspects of this painting.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/rooster-hen-and-hydrangeas-by-ito-jakuchu/
American Gothic may be the most recognizable American painting. After all, tee shirts, memes, and mementos galore showcase various versions. But Grant Wood’s simple, esteemed, original’s my favorite. Viewer reactions are the best part of this masterpiece. It’s simple yet iconic. That’s why many seem to project their own lives onto these farm folk of yore. Few fine art fans share the stolid rigidity or spare lifestyle of this duo. Yet viewers often feel they know them. They seem real and not like caricatures.
Grant Wood painted this portrait the way a theater director puts on a show. First he discovered the setting. Wood saw the house, now famous for inspiring American Gothic, in a small Iowa town and knew it had to be in a painting. Then he cast his sister and dentist to play the two roles. Many presume them farmer and daughter. But that’s never been nailed down. In fact, the painter left it ambiguous on purpose. The pair’s grim faces seem more stubborn than sad. These are salt of the earth folks. The kind that take, “You’re a tough old bird,” as a compliment.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/american-gothic-by-grant-wood/
Andrew Wyeth’s The Drifter brings to mind a romantic archetype. A drifter’s that person you can never know. Right when you think you might understand them, they’re gone. Poof. The feelings this brings up make this a romantic painting. That’s why it’s so very unusual. Despite its emotion, this is a remote portrayal. We don’t know much about this man. But Wyeth gives us clarion details to point out every bit of information. He’s sad. His clothes are grubby. He looks away.
These features point to loneliness and isolation. They also make us wonder. Viewers want to know more about him. When I first saw this painting I felt like I was waiting for The Drifter to lift his head and look at me. That’s how much I wanted it to happen. I wanted to meet his gaze and know him a little better. There’s a sense of longing built into this portrait. It tells us that Wyeth chose this man because he had a similar sense. That there was more to this drifter than what we see on the surface.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-drifter-by-andrew-wyeth/
Rosalba Carriera’s Self Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister fascinates me. In fact, this masterpiece highlights what makes self portraits special. These paintings reveal how artists see themselves. On some level, every painting is a peek into its painter’s point of view. It’s their gift to us – a new way of seeing. When they portray themselves, painters convey a few levels of perspective. There’s what they see in the mirror. On the surface, this is how they see themselves. Of course, one can’t presume utter candor in all cases. So, on another level, artists show what they want us to see about them with a self portrait. However, the painter also has in mind what they want viewers to think is how they see themselves.
But Carriera’s frank depiction here sets a stunning example of honest reflection. It’s charming. The cleft chin of the artist and her sister’s pock mark point to the reality of their looks. She emphasizes their noticeable imperfection. Both women were what was oft-called spinsters in their day. In fact, Rosalba’s sister, Giovanna, worked as her housekeeper. They supported each other in both the literal and symbolic sense. Self Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister points out, warts and all, their unconventional stature.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/self-portrait-holding-a-portrait-of-her-sister/
The little girl in A Princess of Saxony seems weird at first. She’s got that impossibly high 1500s forehead. The iconic Queen Elizabeth had one too. As did most lady court portraits in those days. That’s because big foreheads were a sign of intelligence and class in the 16th century. This enormous noggin doesn’t quite suit our princess’s vulnerable young face. It also doesn’t take away from the resonant sense that she’s a child, though. That sets this painting apart from others of its day. After all, many 16th century kid portraits look more like an adult with a child body. Sure, this princess has a strange face. But she’s also the real deal.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/a-princess-of-saxony-by-lucas-cranach-the-elder/
Paul Klee entitled this painting The Golden Fish. But it's often called The Goldfish by viewers and even art historians. I'm not a fan of this practice. Words matter. There's a big difference between the two entities. Klee's fish here is nothing like an actual goldfish. The Golden fish has a sleek, slender figure.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-golden-fish-the-goldfish-by-paul-klee/
Brushwork flips reality to the abstract in Vaulting. Modern artist Susan Rothenberg’s known for her expressive technique. Her paintings exemplify movement. This is the key element to Vaulting. A vaulter becomes motion rather than mere man. This American painter reveals the inner experience of movement. It’s also how she created this masterpiece.
As a dancer, Susan Rothenberg knew what it felt like to move. There’s intensity inside a moving body. This is what comes through in her painting Vaulting. It’s not just a body moving. This portrays a body as movement. When she painted this, Rothenberg was living by the sea. Its constant shifting inspired her to capture the concept of movement itself. So, her painting took on a fresh quality. She used paint to show the liquidity of motion.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/vaulting-by-susan-rothenberg/
People love to talk about The Tempest by Italian Master Giorgione. There are a few reasons behind its appeal. Of course, it’s gorgeous and portrays a fantasy with expertise. It’s mysterious. Those are obvious answers. Women didn’t breastfeed nude outside in the early 1500’s. Controversy noted.
But there’s also binary imagery and composition throughout this painting. Two of everything with few exceptions. That makes it easy to categorize and discuss. People are comfortable with pairs: new and old, male and female, urban and rural, etc. So, The Tempest’s a frequent discussion target.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-tempest-by-italian-master-giorgione/
Every time I look at The Blind Girl I forget the two girls are beggars. That may be due to the blind girl’s blissful expression. Also, John Everett Millais sets them in a picturesque field of lush, joyful color. Still, this lovely duo holds us gripped in their happy moment. The Blind Girl glows with golden serenity. Her companion gasps at the rainbow behind them. They each capture a sublime sensory experience. The younger girl keeps it simple with sight. Her tiny hand also clasps the elder girl’s. So, she’s got a connection with nature and humanity all at once.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-blind-girl-by-john-everett-millais/
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun painted this portrait more than 300 years ago. But it still creates a buzz today.
In fact, Portrait of Countess Golovina inspired a recent talk on Queer Erasure that I watched online from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/countess-golovina-by-elisabeth-louise-vigee-le-brun/
Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist didn’t make Guido Reni famous. His 17th century Italian frescos made him the artistic darling of Bologne. This painting captures a Bible story with a singular image. Salome’s story revolves around beauty, obligation, and cold loathing. These themes make Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist Reni’s masterpiece.
The underlying story makes it macabre. Salome’s beauty tempts her stepfather. So, King Herod of Judea asked her to dance for him. The Princess did so out of obligation. But she loathed the drunken creep. As reward the King offered Salome whatever she wanted.
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Acid colors and electricity quiver through objects in Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles. With our comfortable distance, it’s a pleasure to bask in Van Gogh’s sickly greens and odd figures. After all, we aren’t stuck in his mind. That’s why we can appreciate this wonder. It seems unthinkable now.
But Van Gogh wasn’t so aware of his deteriorating mental state at this time. His illness now echoes through art history – a loud and clear bell. Still, when he was stuck inside this state, Vincent lacked understanding. We know this thanks to his painting like Bedroom in Arles. Van Gogh showed this room to his family – a proud papa. Truth is, it looks more like a prison cell portrait than a badge of honor. The room reveals his trapped state of mind.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/bedroom-in-arles-by-vincent-van-gogh/
Balthus uses both realistic and surreal imagery to give The Mountain a sense of mystery. We call this contemporary painter Balthus because his name’s a mouthful. Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola. His paintings are hard enough to digest without swallowing that too. Also, the alias Balthus has the same distinctive grace we see in his paintings.
It’s easy to pick out a Balthus piece among modern artworks. His muted palette, clean lines, and sensual resonance are unmistakable. This painting sits among the early work of Balthus. The plan was for this to be part of a series about the seasons. We can get a sense of summer in the work. But once complete, it was clear this painting’s all about The Mountain.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-mountain-by-balthus/
Two Women at a Window tells a story within a natural frame. It’s the tale of two specific women. But the story also speaks of the two sides all women have. The window itself provides a deep, dark background for Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s story. He includes the shutter as an apt symbol as well. It represents the borders and traps these two, and all women, must face. Notice how the nanny holds the shutter with one hand. That’s because she accepts life’s limitations – embraces them even. No matter the boundaries, this woman laughs. She still sees joy around her, despite life’s limits.
Her charge, the young girl at the heart of the painting, represents the opposite. She’s got an ironic detachment from the darkness at her back. Her facial expression registers complete freedom from care. She’s engrossed in what she sees. After all, the governess at her side handles all other matters. She’s cared for. The smile she shares seems unaffected, lost in the moment. This young woman still wears bows; one in her hair and another decorates her dress. Although young and naive, she’s also the emotional center of the portrait.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/two-women-at-a-window-by-bartolome-murillo/
Mary Cassatt’s painting Mother About to Wash Her Sleepy Child dwells in motherhood. Its careful composition combines with a smudgy Impressionist technique. This painting captures a moment of messy mothering. A child’s face tells the story. In fact, we don’t even see the mother’s face. She seems lost in the toddler’s expression. Cassatt directs our attention to how the child feels. The mother’s priority thus becomes the viewer’s focus.
Moments like this mark motherhood transitions. Getting a toddler’s bath in before bedtime can be a challenge. But it’s also sweet and cuddly in this painting. There’s trust in the child’s face combined with resistance in their awkward position. Cassatt’s cold blue paint traces frame those squirming legs. While coral smudges color and highlight sweet vulnerability in the child’s face. Sometimes cranky can be cute, especially when it’s your kid. These are classic toddler traits, after all. It’s natural. Growing up means lots of combos and transitions like this.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/mother-about-to-wash-her-sleepy-child/
This painting, Young Woman Drawing by Marie-Denise Villers meditates on love versus art. Art wins the contest here. This piece works as a rumination on the self and identity too. That's partly because of the subject matter. But the situation behind the work tells that story as well. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art got this work, Jacques-Louis David got credit for it. At that time art critics declared it a masterpiece. He was, after all, an acclaimed artist.
But soon after facts revealed Marie-Denise Villers as Young Woman Drawing's true creator. That revelation wiped the Vaseline off critics' lenses. With newfound clarity of vision they saw problems with the piece. Proportional issues and other imperfections came to light. She plays with imperfections to make a point in the piece, though.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/young-woman-drawing-by-marie-denise-villers/
When we think of Georgia O’Keeffe, paintings like White Rose with Larkspur No 2 pop to mind. They rouse realistic flora with a fantasy feel. O’Keeffe zooms in tight. So, it’s like the flower took a selfie. Many focus on the feminine aspect of this. After all, these flowers seem vulnerable, pure, and enticing. It’s a combination that feels female.
There’s innocence in these images even as they draw us into their most private parts. Before O’Keeffe few artists portrayed floral depth with such detail. It’s why so many speak of the sensuality of O’Keeffe’s work. But that’s only a tiny part of the wonder in her paintings. Let’s not narrow our lens to a mere sliver of the unknown worlds she’s created. In many ways these are more landscape than portrait.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/white-rose-with-larkspur-no-2-georgia-okeeffe/
Paul Cézanne believes in painting, repainting, then painting the damn thing another hundred times. His piece, Bathers, shown here, sits in many of the worlds best museums as an example of this obsessive painterly practice.
Perhaps that’s what made Cézanne so extraordinary. Picasso and Matisse both declared him the Father of Modern Art and few will argue that point.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/bathers-by-paul-cezanne/
A Bigger Splash by David Hockney resonates across time with its familiar, fresh image. Painted in 1967, this masterpiece feels new no matter when you check it out. Sure, modern classic sounds like an oxymoron. But it’s also a fitting phrase for this piece. That’s thanks to its split second splash. It would be hard enough to capture this with a camera. The impossibility of painting such an event in person thus feels photographic. It’s of-the-moment – splash in a flash.
David Hockney catapulted the Pop Art movement in England. Then he fell in love with Los Angeles, California and its beautiful boys. In a way, this works as a portrait of one. It’s the momentary absence of a boy. He slid into the cool blue and left only a memory with a white brushstroke behind. This points to love and its absence, a reality in every relationship. One moment we’re mad for each other and in the next, we’re apart. It’s a vivid new take on humanity’s oldest story.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/a-bigger-splash-by-david-hockney-1967/
Picasso painted Girl Before a Mirror as a doubled abstract portrait. It portrays his beloved Marie-Thérèse Walter. She was young and it shows in the left side of this work. Her face glows like a radiant sun. Her belly swells in pregnancy. She represents the full potential of youthful beauty. But the Marie-Thérèse on the right has passed through the looking glass. She’s aged. Her glorious blonde tresses hide behind a shawl. That pale luminosity on her cheeks has shifted into ruddy redness. There are many moon shapes built into the elder portrait in the young girl’s reflection.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/girl-before-a-mirror-by-pablo-picasso/
Portrait of the Artist’s Wife with Katherine and Philipp is the least famous but most poignant of Hans Holbein’s works. More historian than poet, Hans Holbein was the visual documentarian of his time. He was the ultimate portrait painter of 16th century England. Holbein’s portrayals of King Henry VIII and his court impact us to this day. In some ways his work enlightens. We know what they wore down to the tiniest jeweled bits. The hair and makeup also share compelling details about beauty ideals of the time.
But he also painted propaganda. That classic portrait of Henry with his white-stockinged legs wide apart? Hans Holbein painted it when the King no longer held himself with such majesty. The strength we see in it was Holbein’s creation. He was a working artist; trying to keep his boss happy. We see his wizardry at work in this as well as Holbein’s signature full length court portraits.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/portrait-of-the-artists-wife-with-katherine-and-philipp-by-hans-holbein/
The Cardsharps defines early work from the famous painter Caravaggio. He's so well-known that his first name (Michelangelo) isn't necessary to identify him. Due to another well known painter with that same name, it might even cause more confusion. Caravaggio created this painting when he was broke and unknown.
Then he chanced upon rich gambler Cardinal de Monte, who loved this piece. It was a lucky draw for the young painter. He'd snagged himself an influential and rich patron. Caravaggio became quite a worthy investment. The Cardsharps shows why. This masterpiece tells a fun and familiar story in an innovative way for 1594.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-cardsharps-by-michelangelo-caravaggio/
The painting Head Surrounded by Sides of Beeffeatures one of Bacon’s infamous Screaming Popes. This masterpiece explores many dualities, especially Bacon’s obsession with horror. Here he plays with the two sides of terror; power and vulnerability. The Pope holds tremendous power. But he’s also trapped in the role. That makes him vulnerable.
Bacon’s sides of beef hover above this Pope in what looks a lot like a cage. A thick black arrow points to the Pope’s head, in case we missed “Head” in the title. Head Surrounded by Sides of Beef doesn’t refer to a Pope. It speaks only of a “Head”. The Pope is the Head of his people and the state, even the world in some historical periods. Still, Bacon shows us here that this powerful position doesn’t make a man happy. There’s tremendous tension built into this canvas to help us see this.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/head-surrounded-by-sides-of-beef-by-francis-bacon/
Frederic Leighton fared as an underestimated salon painter up till 1895. Then he painted this masterpiece – Flaming June. It sings to us with radiant color and elemental symbols. Many see this painting as simple. It’s a beautiful woman in a glorious dress. They’re not wrong. But as with most masterpieces, more levels of meaning resonate here.
The initial pulse check on this painting delivers heat. It’s titled Flaming June for good reason. Orange bursts through the canvas as cascading fire. The gown’s flames ripple like an out of control blaze. This lovely woman seems to sleep inside an inferno. Surrounding details balance this piece, though. It’s not only about fire. Leighton frames June with earth, sea, and air elements to harmonize the painting.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/flaming-june-by-frederic-leighton/
An eerie mystery permeates The Colossus by Francisco de Goya. That's because even though we know a lot about this historic work, mastery lies in its subtle imagery. Clouds tickle the looming giant and disguise details. But even more important, they bring his meaning into question. Does he protect the people below?
Or is he what they fear? It could be both. He's naked, as fear itself is often described. The giant also hovers over the scene like a cloud himself. But he grounds the otherwise dynamic composition. He's solid and sure, the opposite of Spain's frantic figures below.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-colossus-painting-by-francisco-de-goya/
Copley was a beloved American artist when he painted Paul Revere in this 1768 portrait. It was a standout portrayal, though, and quite unlike his other works. That’s because Copley wished to remain neutral about politics when that was impossible. America teetered on the edge of revolution. Paul Revere was an intense and articulate Son of Liberty. He supported the colonies 100%. But Copley, engaged to a hardcore Tory, wished to abstain from political discourse.
Lucky for us, this portrait captures that moment in time. It’s a confrontation between Revere’s principles and Copley’s austere portrayal. This shines through details in the piece.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/paul-revere-by-john-singleton-copley/
Rule breaker and risk taker Nellie Bly lived full blast. She trail-blazed across centuries as a pioneering journalist and world traveler. Still, there's not much writing available on Nellie Bly beyond her own. In fact, until 1994, the only books about her were either shorties for kids or those she wrote. Lucky for us Bly reveals herself in these writings. That's how Nellie Bly created the concept of Intrepid Reporter. She played a central role in her stories.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/ms-behavior-nellie-bly/
The iconic Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez gives us an intimate perspective on a secret world. This portrait of Spain’s King Philip IV reveals the inner court. We see the Infanta Margarita Theresa at center. She’s surrounded with a collection of servants. These are her Ladies in Waiting exemplified in the title. They take care of her in sanctioned hierarchies.
On one such level we spy the blurry figures of her parents, the King and Queen. Right behind Margarita’s head they stand together. This could belie a portrait within a painting. Or it may be a reflection. The royal pair might be standing in the doorway. In the former case, we see this scene from their point of view.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/las-meninas-by-diego-velazquez/
Sisters dwell in distinct developmental stages for The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit. This famous John Singer Sargent painting holds viewers rapt in a sisterhood spell. Four year old Julia faces us. As the youngest, she most wants and needs our attention. Julia's also the most rooted in place as the only sitting sister.
She clutches a pink baby doll in her lap. This makes sense given the loneliness of the portrait. It's a painting of a family without any familial sense. Pricey objects and paintings stand in for parents. The space seems vast and empty - more museum than home.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-daughters-of-edward-darley-boit/
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE HIGH LINE? Like many New Yorkers, it’s got a patchwork identity. Part public artspace and non-profit, The High Line’s also a landscaped park and walkway. It’s the site of old school railroad tracks. At certain points on the boardwalk visitors encounter them in the landscaping. This lends a rustic feel to the otherwise polished space.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-high-line-nyc/
Mute painter Hendrick Avercamp sings an icy opera with Frozen River. His expressions range from delight to death in this painting. Without a word spoken, Avercamp tells us a complex emotional story. It's a dramedy. People frolic to the tune of 1620. That means long, poofy frocks and stovepipe hats at a hockey game. They're having a blast. It's bitter cold with an icicle-white sky. But there's a warmth to these people.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/frozen-river-by-hendrick-avercamp/
Nature versus Man whips like wind through the painting Approaching Storm. Eugène Boudin often painted the moneyed and middle class. Their fancy finery struck a wry contrast with Mother Nature. Critics of his day (1864) called Boudin's landscapes "vulgar" for painting the stylish.
But whimsy's also part of nature - human nature. There's a jovial tone at the base of this. The approaching storm looms above for us, the viewer, to see. While the partiers below seem to not even notice the wind's uptick as their bonnet ribbons blow.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/approaching-storm-by-eugene-boudin/
A complex woman with a vision, Louise Bourgeois turned anxiety into art. Her work provoked audiences. She channeled emotions into her pieces to jolt us awake. Good or bad, Bourgeois makes us feel things. That’s the gift of her sculptures, installations, paintings, and drawings. Aggressive artwork gives us meaty ideas to digest. That’s the nourishment of it. Louise Bourgeois fed the art world like a mother.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/louise-bourgeois/
Foreboding waves crash The Undercliff painting. This makes literal and figurative sense. After all, Richard Parkes Bonington painted it one month before dying. He was twenty five years old with TB. It was 1828 and tuberculosis was known as the “robber of youth” at the time. That’s because TB fatalities were especially high among young people. In fact, Bonington and John Keats, the poet, were two particularly talented victims of it that year.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/the-undercliff-by-richard-parkes-bonington/
Charisma and extemporaneous insight earned Sojourner Truth a spotlight. She didn’t only grab attention in the mid 1800’s. Her impact remains today. Sojourner was born a slave. Lied to, raped, and robbed of her son, she fled her oppressors at the birth of her daughter. Sojourner converted to Christianity. She also dropped her slave name, Isabel Hardenburgh. The name Sojourner Truth empowered her new identity.
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https://www.ladykflo.com/ms-behavior-sojourner-truth/