Art Lovers discussion

Lodovico Capponi, 1550-55
Agnolo Bronzino (1503–1572)
Oil on poplar panel
45 7/8 x 33 3/4 in. (116.5 x 85.7 cm)
The Frick Collection, New York

Very Mannerist. Look at that small head and those long fingers.

A green carryover from July. I am perturbed by the youth´s disembodied right hand. Where is it floating in from? From behind the curtain? Capponi`s greatest expertise seems to be in painting drapery and fabric. The bored demeanor of the subject hardly endears him to the viewer. I could care less to have never met this character.

Ruth wrote: "Very Mannerist. Look at that small head and those long fingers."

Yes. Bronzino was briefly my favorite artist, before I knew more. In the days when crispness was more important to me than the personality of the sitter coming through. In the Uffizi I made a beeline for the Bronzinos.

Geoffrey wrote: "A green carryover from July. I am perturbed by the youth´s disembodied right hand. Where is it floating in from? From behind the curtain? Capponi`s greatest expertise seems to be in painting draper..."

Actually Capponi is the sitter, Bronzino the painter. Yes, we have a few more green backgrounds to show before we move on to a new theme.

I can see where his right hand is originating, but it is an awkward angle, perhaps.

Is that a codpiece? A stickshift?

Ruth wrote: "Very Mannerist. Look at that small head and those long fingers."

signature, yes.

Mannerism has never been one of my top favorite movements.

Dan, 2008
Wolfgang Tillmans (German b. 1968)
Inkjet print on paper
206 x 138 cm
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany

I am really interested to follow the discussion of this last photo LG posted. I will retain my thoughts for the moment.

It looks erotic to me.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Lodovico Capponi, 1550-55
Agnolo Bronzino (1503–1572)
Oil on poplar panel
45 7/8 x 33 3/4 in. (116.5 x 85.7 cm)
The Frick Collection, New York"

The texture of the black jacket.

I don´t find this photo particularly interesting. The cyan-green color is off considerably. Big deal you can´t see his leg. This is a real crappy photo in my estimation. Also the photo is overexposed. You can see his body bleaching white with no detail. Technically improficient and borrrrrrringggg.

Job, 1944
Francis Gruber (French 1912-1948)
Oil on canvas
161.9 x 129.9 cm
Tate Gallery, London

(view spoiler)["Gruber was committed to realism and to Communism. Job was painted for an exhibition which opened shortly after the liberation of Paris in 1944. Gruber uses the Biblical story of Job's suffering as an allegory for the survival of hope under the Occupation. The inscription, which comes from The Book of Job, translates as: 'Now, once more my cry is a revolt, and yet my hand suppresses my sobs.' " (Tate website) (hide spoiler)]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Dan, 2008
Wolfgang Tillmans (German b. 1968)
Inkjet print on paper
206 x 138 cm
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany"

I was wondering if it was photo shopped. Where is his leg? And why is it not shown, is there some sort of significance to that?

Otherwise, I agree with Geoffrey, I'm not impressed nor interested. It just looks weird.

Luis, I can see how you would think David and Goliath.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Job, 1944
Francis Gruber (French 1912-1948)
Oil on canvas
161.9 x 129.9 cm
Tate Gallery, London

[spoilers removed]"

At first I thought the tittle was 'job' as in occupation, not Job in the Bible. I was thinking "I feel that way about some of my jobs at times..." some of them all the time!

But after reading the spoiler, I find it interesting, enlightening, and I really like it.

Luís wrote: "I'm thinking of Giacometti in a labour life question.. If you understanding me.. "

I'm not sure what you mean. You don't mean the figure is skinny and elongated like a typical Giacometti sculpture, but something else. I don't know anything about Giacometti's life.

Portrait of a Young Girl, 1925
Karl Hofer (German 1878-1955)
Oil on canvas
25 7/8 x 19 1/4 (65.7 x 48.9 cm)
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Lobstergirl wrote: "Dan, 2008
Wolfgang Tillmans (German b. 1968)
Inkjet print on paper
206 x 138 cm
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany"

I don't think it looks weird at all. We're looking down at him from the top. The foot we see is braced against the wall. He's standing on the other one. At first I thought he was in some sort of outdoor shower, but now I wonder. That pale, pale skin against the stone and greenery, the fact that we realize that the most important thing about this photo is hidden (which emphasizes it) makes this a quite an erotic photo.

Luís wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Job, 1944
Francis Gruber (French 1912-1948)
Oil on canvas
161.9 x 129.9 cm
Tate Gallery, London

[spoilers removed]"

This is a bit like Giacometti. Don't you think?"

Yes, there is a Giacometti quality to the elongated figure. I am more struck by the artist`s brushstrokes used for the figure and the man`s pose as well. The pose complements the composition of the green gate in its angles. And nowhere else do we see the brush work that we note of the man. The particular use of paint enhances the boniness of the man`s body. His positioning parallels that of the arrangement of timber in the gate. Is the artist trying to suggest an inanimate quality to the human figure?

From backgrounds in Green to figures with missing body parts. but then the Gruber painting breaks that sequence. Or are we talking about a Lilliputan view of the human body in which it is a strange vessel, disgusting, weird and/or loathesome? Hofer`s girls arms are hidden inside her sweater?

Edna, 1915
Robert Henri (American 1865-1929)
Oil on canvas
32 3/16 × 26 1/8 in. (81.76 × 66.36 cm)
LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

(view spoiler)["Although Henri encouraged his numerous students and followers to record everyday life in bustling genre scenes featuring the middle and lower classes, he preferred to paint solitary figures. Edna Smith was a professional model who posed for Henri several times. This seemingly straightforward depiction is also an example of the artist’s experimentation with color. In the early 1910s Henri had become excited by several theories about color interaction, and he kept palette diaries in which he recorded his experiments. His friend Hardesty Maratta sold packaged paints prearranged in harmonized groups of rich colors. This system encouraged Henri to abandon his earlier, somber palette for bolder hues, such as the flaming red of the model’s hair. Henri’s portraits of 1914 and 1915 also reveal an increased contrast of lights and darks: here the deep blue-green at the left of the canvas is counterposed to the glowing white of the negligee. By the time he painted Edna, Henri had devised his own color charts. The brilliant coloration of this work clearly demonstrates his enthusiasm for modern color theory. As he told his students, “Color represents the deeper strain in human life.”

The subject is Edna Smith, a professional model who posed for other paintings, at least two of them nudes. Since they did not require him to capture the personality of the model as he did in his portraits, figure studies were for Henri an opportunity to explore formal issues that interested him, especially the Maratta system of color and the compositional ideas that interested him and his circle. The color in this work is exceptionally vivid, the model’s red hair and fair coloring set off by a complementary blue-green background. The brushwork is vigorous and joyous, clearly showing his dashing execution. Henri’s already powerful technique had steadily increased in facility into the middle of the second decade of the century. In a painting such as this, where it is given completely free play, one can see what a dexterous and masterly craftsman Henri had become. Henri taught his students to "work quickly. Don’t stop for anything but the essential .... It’s the spirit of the thing that counts." (museum website) (hide spoiler)]

My grandmother studied with Henri at the Art Students League in New York.

Btw. After years of pronouncing his name Onree, I learned that he pronounced it Hen-rye.

I recently read a book of interviews with American painters and it seemed like nearly all of them had studied under Henri. I had never heard of him before reading that book.

Can you post the title for that book, please 😊

Lobstergirl wrote: "I recently read a book of interviews with American painters and it seemed like nearly all of them had studied under Henri. I had never heard of him before reading that book."

He was known as a wonderful teacher. His book, The Art Spirit, The Art Spirit: Notes, Articles, Fragments of Letters and Talks to Students, Bearing on the Concept and Technique of Picture Making, the Study of Art remains popular today.

The last was a meeting of the two threads? Green backgrounds, missing limbs?

It's funny your interest in figuring out her themes, Geoffrey! She is being elusive at times. I get curious and have ideas of my own but enjoy reading your questioning posts.

Judi wrote: "Can you post the title for that book, please 😊"

Artists in Their Own Words: Interviews

Geoffrey wrote: "The last was a meeting of the two threads? Green backgrounds, missing limbs?"

The juxtaposition was accidental, but it is nice the way they are echoes, with the triangular shape of both figures and the "missing" arms.

By the way, Karl Hofer was a master of German Expressionism and when the Nazis came to power his work became "degenerate art."

The Prince of Aquitaine, ca. 1950
Elisabeth Collins (British 1904-2000)
Gouache on paper
48.3 x 31.8 cm
Tate Gallery, London

(view spoiler)["This painting was one of relatively few produced in the middle of Collins's career. It was made while she was staying alone at Cagnes-sur-Mer in the South of France. The melancholic Prince of Aquitaine is a fictional character who appears in Gerard de Nerval's poem El Desichado and reappears at the end of TS Eliot's The Wasteland. Her Collins paints the prince's features and downward gaze with long loose brushstrokes which accentuate his elongated face and solemn expression. De Nerval described this character as, 'the shadowy one - the widower - the unconsoled/ The prince of Aquitaine whose tower has been destroyed'." (gallery website) (hide spoiler)]

Heather wrote: "It's funny your interest in figuring out her themes, Geoffrey! She is being elusive at times. I get curious and have ideas of my own but enjoy reading your questioning posts."

I love puzzles and brainteasers. Not that I am particularly good at them, but I can solve enough to sustain the interest.

Femme nue assise dans un fauteuil, 1897
Félix Vallotton (Swiss/French 1865 - 1925)
Oil on cardboard on plywood
28 x 27,5 cm
Musée de Grenoble

Luís wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Femme nue assise dans un fauteuil, 1897
Félix Vallotton (Swiss/French 1865 - 1925)
Oil on cardboard on plywood
28 x 27,5 cm
Musée de Grenoble"

My thought is that this got a Fra..."

I don't see that at all, Luis. How so?

Heather wrote: "At first I thought the tittle was 'job' as in occupation, not Job in the Bible. I was thinking "I feel that way about some of my jobs at times..." some of them all the time!..."

Just what I was thinking!

Lobstergirl wrote: "Is that a codpiece? A stickshift? ..."

It's a sword's hilt, surely? (3...2..."Don't call me Shirley"...)

Tracey wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Is that a codpiece? A stickshift? ..."

It's a sword's hilt, surely? (3...2..."Don't call me Shirley"...) ."

That does seem more likely.

Luís wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Femme nue assise dans un fauteuil, 1897
Félix Vallotton (Swiss/French 1865 - 1925)
Oil on cardboard on plywood
28 x 27,5 cm
Musée de Grenoble"

My thought is that this got a Fra..."

I don't see a thing of Francis Bacon here. It's a peaceful relaxed pose, none of Bacon's tortured Expressionism.

I have problems with this painting. First, the red chair on the red carpet is almost dissolved in a mass of mishapen redness. Is she supposed to be hovering in the air? If that´s the artist`s intent, fie on him. It`s an unsuccessful endeavor.

Secondly the black planks don´t meet at the room`s corner. Sorry, Vallotton, but you gotta work on your perspective.

As for Hofer being considered "degenerate" by the Nazis, that is most telling in itself which were the degenerates.

They meet in the corner for me. Also I can see the contours of the chair with no problem.

Check it again, LG. The stripe on the right is actually the width of the strip above the stripe on the left.

Bulldog in a Chair #2, 1962
Robert Andrew Parker (American b. 1927)
Ink and gouache on paper
32 7/8 X 27 11/16 IN. (82.5 X 70.3 CM.)
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Bulldog in a Chair #2, 1962
Robert Andrew Parker (American b. 1927)
Ink and gouache on paper."

Ink and gouache! I didn't think you could achieve such thick brushstrokes with water-based media. I both hate this and ... kind of love it.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Bulldog in a Chair #2, 1962
Robert Andrew Parker (American b. 1927)
Ink and gouache on paper
32 7/8 X 27 11/16 IN. (82.5 X 70.3 CM.)
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C."

That's just the way I feel lately.

Perhaps the artist´s intent for us to both hate and kind of love it. He may very well have ambivalent feelings towards the canine kingdom, elevating them and satirizing it at the same time.

Green has taken over the painting, having usurped totally the background, foreground and all around. Next, LG will show up with a totally green painting with nine squares, each one of which has a different color paint base underneath.

Ballerina, ca. 1927
Henri Matisse (French 1869-1954)
Oil on canvas
65 x 50 cm
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

(view spoiler)["In 1920 Matisse became acquainted with 19-year-old Henriette Darricarrère, who became his model for the next seven years. The girl was a ballet dancer at the cinematic Studios de la Victorine and sometimes posed for a photographer. Matisse was attracted not only by Henriette's looks, her finely honed powerful body (it was no coincidence that she also posed for Matisse's sculpture), but also by her artistry. She was able to transform herself by turns into an Oriental odalisque, a passionate Spanish woman, a violinist, a pianist or a dancer. Matisse encouraged her pursuits of dancing, music and painting. The Darricarrère family lived in Nice, close to the artist's studio. Matisse's interest in ballet grew in the years after the First World War, thanks to his contact with Diaghilev's company. In his studio he had various coloured tutus that were used as props. But few of his models tried these costumes on, as they required the grace and professional skills that Henriette possessed. The painting Ballerina is remarkable for the exquisite simplicity of the treatment of colour and the compositional balance. The background is almost abstract: four horizontal stripes of different colours that set off the figure of the young dancer. It is hard to say exactly what Henriette is sitting on, but it is not that important. The figure is at one and the same time opposed to the background and connected with it by the chromatic echoes between the costume and various parts of the background. In 1927 Matisse painted Henriette twice more, but in 1928 she got married and stopped posing for the artist. (Hermitage website) (hide spoiler)]

Piti Teina, 1892
Paul Gauguin (French 1848-1903)
Oil on canvas
90,5 х 67,5 cm
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

I always love Gaugin's colors.

Luís wrote: "Are they malayan?"

No, Tahitian. In 1892 Gauguin was in Papeari, a village on the south coast of Tahiti.

Black on Mauve Grey, 1968
Sir Terry Frost (British 1915-2003)
Screenprint on paper
77.2 x 55.9 cm
Tate Gallery, London