Saturday, September 17, 2011

Red Studio

by
Matisse

Matisse uses past realistic studios interiors by Courbet, Bazille, and others, then he merges these paintings with his present, a concern with color-field painting. The composition of this painting is casual and simplistic. The interweaving and tying together of objects in past paintings such as "Harmony in Red" can not be found. Instead, the space is very open, and always returns to the surface of the image. 1911; Oil on canvas, 71 1/4" x 86 1/4" Museum of Modern Art, New York

Bather in shallow tub

by
Dega

The Tub, done from 1885 to 1886, was another of Degas’ works focused around a woman in a shallow tub. This time the woman is standing bent over  Not a very attractive pose, it easy to see why some may have taken issue with the way Degas portrayed his women. However, Degas would argue that he portrayed his woman only in the way that they actually existed. Charcoal and pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, laid down on silk bolting

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Starry Night

by Van Gogh
is a painting by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting depicts the view outside his sanitarium room window at night, although it was painted from memory during the day. Since 1941 it has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Reproduced often, the painting is widely hailed as his magnum opus.

Evening, Honfleur

by 

                                                Georges-Pierre Seurat  

                                                   (French, 1859-1891)

1886. Oil on canvas, with painted wood frame, 30 3/4 x 37" (78.3 x 94 cm) including frame. Gift of Mrs. David M. Levy

Entombment


By Pontormo
an altarpiece by the Italian Renaissance painter Jacopo Pontormo, completed in 1528. It is broadly considered to be the artist's surviving masterpiece. Painted in oil on wood, The Deposition is located above the altar of theCapponi Chapel at the church of Santa Felicita, in Florence.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The School of Athens


 in Italian, is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artistRaphael. It was painted between 1510 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The Stanza della Segnatura was the first of the rooms to be decorated, and The School of Athens the second painting to be finished there, after La Disputa, on the opposite wall. The picture has long been seen as "Raphael's masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the High Renaissance. Located at Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

Friday, August 12, 2011

The Tachi



With a few exceptions katana and tachi can be distinguished from each other if signed, by the location of the signature (mei) on the tang(nakago). In general the mei should carved into the side of the nakago that would face outward when the sword was worn. Since a tachi was worn cutting edge down, and the katana was worn cutting edge up the mei would be in opposite locations on the nakago of both types of swords.[1]