Category Archives: #FineArtFriday

February 16, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: revisiting ‘Slindebirken Vinter’ by J. C. Dahl 1838

I first posted this image in December of 2018. As I considered what painting to look at for today’s post, it seemed to me that the brief bout of snowy weather here in the Pacific Northwest called for a snowy picture, and what could be snowier than Norway in the winter? I love paintings that depict historical places–they fuel my inner author.

Slindebjørka or Slindebirken was a birch tree that stood at Inner Slinde in Sogn, Norway, until it was blown down in a storm in 1874. The tree was beloved, considered a Norwegian national treasure. People came from all over Western Norway to see the tree and picnic beneath its branches.

What I love about this painting is the personality embodied in the birch tree itself as Dahl depicts it. The tree stands proudly, offering a place for birds to rest. It seems to represent the Norwegian spirit of independence, taking what nature throws at it with humor and stoicism.

Dahl’s portrayal is powerful, showing the bent and bowed branches held high despite the barrenness of winter. The image shows a tree that intends to be there when spring comes, as do the people of the village it overlooks.

About the Artist (from Wikipedia)

Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (24 February 1788 – 14 October 1857), often known as J. C. Dahl or I. C. Dahl, was a Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the “golden age” of Norwegian painting, and one of the greatest European artists of all time.[1] He is often described as “the father of Norwegian landscape painting”[2] and is regarded as the first Norwegian Painter ever to reach a level of artistic accomplishment comparable to that attained by the greatest European artists of his day. He was also the first to acquire genuine fame and cultural renown abroad.[3] As one critic has put it, “J.C. Dahl occupies a central position in Norwegian artistic life of the first half of the 19th century.[4]

As a boy, Dahl was educated by a sympathetic mentor at the Bergen Cathedral who at first thought that this bright student would make a good priest, but then, recognizing his remarkably precocious artistic ability, arranged for him to be trained as an artist. From 1803 to 1809 Dahl studied with the painter Johan Georg Müller [no], whose workshop was the most important one in Bergen at the time. Still, Dahl looked back on his teacher as having kept him in ignorance in order to exploit him, putting him to work painting theatrical sets, portraits, and views of Bergen and its surroundings. Another mentor, Lyder Sagen, showed the aspiring artist books about art and awakened his interest in historical and patriotic subjects. It was also Sagen who took up a collection that made it possible for Dahl to go to Copenhagen in 1811 to complete his education at the academy there.

As important as Dahl’s studies at the academy in Copenhagen were his experiences in the surrounding countryside and in the city’s art collections. In 1812 he wrote to Sagen that the landscape artists he most wished to emulate were Ruisdahl and Everdingen, and for that reason he was studying “nature above all,” Dahl’s artistic program was, then, already in place: he would become a part of the great landscape tradition, but he would also be as faithful as possible to nature itself.

Credits and Attributions:

Slindebirken, Vinter by Johan Christian Dahl 1838 [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia contributors, “Johan Christian Dahl,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Johan_Christian_Dahl&oldid=866337453 (accessed December 14, 2018).

Comments Off on #FineArtFriday: revisiting ‘Slindebirken Vinter’ by J. C. Dahl 1838

Filed under #FineArtFriday

Tagged as , , , ,

February 9, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: Prisoners Marching Off by László Mednyánszky (1914)

László_Mednyánszky_Prisoners_Marching_Off_1914-18Author: László Mednyánszky (1852–1919)

Description: English: Prisoners Marching Off

Magyar: Vonuló foglyok

Date: 1914

Today’s image is by the Slovak–Hungarian painter, László Mednyánszky. Despite his age (62), he was a war correspondent on the front-lines from 1914 when WWI broke out, until his death from wounds he received in 1918. He chronicled the chaos, the living conditions, and the tragedy of it all.

I think the fact he did this one in shades of black and gray (possibly mixed media, charcoal and oils) emphasizes the grimness of the scene. He shows us the hopelessness these prisoners feel, how they are just faceless playing pieces in a game they can’t even comprehend.

About the artist, via Wikipedia:

Baron László Mednyánszky, also known by his Latinized name Ladislaus Josephus Balthasar Eustachius Mednyánszky (Slovak: Ladislav Medňanský; 23 April 1852 – 17 April 1919), was a Slovak–Hungarian painter and philosopher, considered one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of Hungarian art

Mednyánszky’s works were largely in the Impressionist tradition, with influences from Symbolism and Art Nouveau. His works depict landscape scenes of nature, the weather and everyday, poor people such as peasants and workmen. The region of his birth, the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, part of Austria-Hungary, was the site and subject of many of his paintings; scenes from the Carpathian Mountains and the Hungarian Plains are numerous. He also painted portraits of his friends and family, and images of soldiers during the First World War whilst working as a war correspondent.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Mednyánszky was in Budapest again. He worked as a war correspondent on the Austro-Hungarian frontlines in Galicia, Serbia, and the southern Tirol. In the spring of 1918, he returned to Nagyőr (Strážky) to recover from war wounds. After spending some time working in Budapest, Mednyánszky died in poor health in the spring of 1919, in Vienna. He was homosexual, having had several relationships with men throughout his life. The longest and most important one, with Bálint Kurdi of Vác, lasted for decades.

His works are currently displayed in the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava and Strážky chateau, which was donated to SNG by his niece Margit Czóbel in 1972.  Many of his works are displayed in the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest as well. A large number of his works were destroyed during the Second World War.

In 2004 a New York gallery was host to a show of about seventy 19th- and early 20th-century Hungarian paintings, and a few works on paper, from the collection of Nicholas Salgo, a former United States ambassador to Hungary. The exhibition’s title, Everywhere a Foreigner and Yet Nowhere a Stranger, was drawn from Mednyánszky’s diary. [1]

Credits and Attributions:

IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:László Mednyánszky Prisoners Marching Off 1914-18.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Medny%C3%A1nszky_Prisoners_Marching_Off_1914-18.jpg&oldid=227591696 (accessed February 8, 2024).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “László Mednyánszky,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Medny%C3%A1nszky&oldid=1197892373 (accessed February 8, 2024).

5 Comments

Filed under #FineArtFriday

Tagged as , , ,

February 2, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: Wanderer in the Storm by Carl Julius von Leypold 1835 (a second look)

Karl_Julius_von_Leypold_-_Wanderer_im_SturmArtist: Carl Julius von Leypold  (1806–1874)

Title: Wanderer in the Storm

Date: 1835

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: height: 42.5 cm (16.7 in); width: 56.5 cm (22.2 in)

Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art

What I love about this painting:

This painting completely describes typical January weather in the cold, dark, and stormy Pacific Northwest—wind and rain and rain and wind. Winter is in full swing, a few degrees warmer this week than last, but dark, cold, and wet. Hopefully, we will avoid having more snow and ice, but it’s only January. Anything can be lurking around the corner.

I love the dark and moody sky that von Leypold paints for us. It has movement, a sense of life, of wind and rain gathering momentum, a small pause while it builds toward a tantrum of the wintery kind. It feels heavy and oppressive.

One can almost hear the water lapping at the shore. Beyond the muddy lane, the trees are like me, old but strong, holding their barren branches defiant before the storm. They seem to shout, “We will bend but never break!” and by bending with the winds, those trees will survive to see yet another blossoming of spring.

The ancient stone wall stands firm, still doing its duty despite being long neglected and left to ruin. It refuses to abandon its purpose, although it no longer remembers what that might be.

The man trudges purposefully, despite the wind that whips at his long coat. Does he feel the cold, or is he walking quickly enough that he is warm? And where is he going? Who is he so intent upon seeing that he would brave the storm on foot?

More importantly, does danger lurk around the corner? Will he be safe?

There is a story in this painting.

About the Artist, via Wikipedia:

Carl Julius von Leypold (1806–1874) was a German Romantic landscape painter known for his painting, “Wanderer in the Storm.”

Von Leypold studied landscape painting with Johan Christian Dahl at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts between 1820 and 1829. From 1826 onwards, Caspar David Friedrich influenced his choice of subjects and painting style. His landscapes are characterized by “a painterly, but at the same time sharp-brushed style, in which high painting culture is combined with Biedermeier objectivity.”

On March 5, 1857, he became an honorary member of the Dresden Art Academy. [1]

Credits and Attributions:

Image: Wanderer in the Storm by Carl Julius von Leypold PD|100. Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Karl Julius von Leypold – Wanderer im Sturm.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Karl_Julius_von_Leypold_-_Wanderer_im_Sturm.jpg&oldid=675091985 (accessed January 5, 2023).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Carl Julius von Leypold,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_Julius_von_Leypold&oldid=1095364695 (accessed January 5, 2023).

Comments Off on #FineArtFriday: Wanderer in the Storm by Carl Julius von Leypold 1835 (a second look)

Filed under #FineArtFriday, writing

Tagged as , , , ,

January 19, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: The Plaza After the Rain by Paul Cornoyer

Paul_Cornoyer_-_The_Plaza_After_RainArtist: Paul Cornoyer  (1864–1923)

Title: The Plaza After Rain

Date: Before 1910

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 59 1/4 x 59 1/4 in. (150.5 x 150.5 cm)

Collection: Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

What I love about this painting:

Rain is a near-constant companion during a Pacific Northwest winter. Paul Cornoyer’s The Plaza After Rain depicts New York City, which is on the other side of the continent from me, and it takes place in a different era. But he shows the way rain is in early spring no matter where in the northern US you reside.

The sky is dark, but the trees are just beginning to leaf out. The rain is passing and the streets are wet, but a hint of blue is showing through the dark sky. When you see this painting, you see the story of a cold spring day. Yet, one has the feeling that sunshine could happen any minute.

Impressionism is flash fiction on a canvas. All the important things are there, everything the eye needs to have a perfect vision of the mood, the setting, and characters at that moment in time. The important things at that moment are depicted within the piece, but with economy.

The St. Louis Art Museum says this about The Plaza After the Rain:

A drizzling rain creates watery reflections on the streets and sidewalks along the Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan. The rain hampers our view down the vista, though the moody tones of pinks, grays, and blues make up for this loss. The light in the distance offers a hazy glimpse of the southeast corner of Central Park, with its beloved bronze statue of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. [2]

About the Author, via Wikipedia:

Paul Cornoyer (1864–1923) was an American painter, currently best known for his popularly reproduced painting in an Impressionist, tonalist, and sometimes pointillist style.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Cornoyer began painting in Barbizon style and first exhibited in 1887. In 1889, He moved to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian alongside Jules Lefebvre and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant. After returning from his studies in Paris in 1894, Cornoyer was heavily influenced by the American tonalists. At the urging of William Merritt Chase, he moved to New York City in 1899. In 1908, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery (formerly the Albright Gallery) hosted a show of his work. In 1909, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. He taught at Mechanics Institute of New York and in 1917, he moved to Massachusetts, where he continued to teach and paint.

Cornoyer received a retrospective exhibition entitled Paul Cornoyer: American Impressionist at the Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences in Peoria, Illinois in 1973. The exhibit drew heavily from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ashby, who loaned multiple paintings to the exhibit, as well as over 20 works on paper. [1]

Credits and Attributions:

IMAGE: The Plaza After the Rain by Paul Cornoyer PD|100, Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Paul Cornoyer – The Plaza After Rain.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Paul_Cornoyer_-_The_Plaza_After_Rain.jpg&oldid=345336218 (accessed January 18, 2024).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Paul Cornoyer,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Cornoyer&oldid=1118249028 (accessed January 18, 2024).

[2] St. Louis Art Museum contributors, the Plaza After the Rain by Paul Cornoyer, The Plaza after the Rain – Saint Louis Art Museum (slam.org) (accessed January 18, 2024).

Comments Off on #FineArtFriday: The Plaza After the Rain by Paul Cornoyer

Filed under #FineArtFriday, writing

Tagged as , , , ,

January 12, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: The Ninth Wave by Ivan Aivazovsky 1850

Hovhannes_Aivazovsky_-_The_Ninth_Wave_-_Google_Art_ProjectArtist: Ivan Aivazovsky (baptized Hovhannes Aivazovsky) (1817 – 1900)

Title: The Ninth Wave

Genre: marine art

Date: 1850

Medium: oil on canvas oil on canvas

Dimensions: height: 2,210 mm (87 in); width: 3,320 mm (10.89 ft)

Collection: Russian Museum

What I love about this painting:

Aivazovsky tells a story here, an epic tale showing the power and emotion of the situation. These sailors are lost at sea; their ship has gone down in a storm and even though the sun is shining in the distance, a wave of catastrophic proportions is bearing down on them.

It’s not the first such wave they’ve survived, and it won’t be the last. But that sun shining in the distances is a beacon, and they cling to hope as desperately as they do their broken mast.

About this painting via Wikipedia:

The title refers to an old sailing expression referring to a wave of incredible size that comes after a succession of incrementally larger waves.

It depicts a sea after a night storm and people facing death attempting to save themselves by clinging to debris from a wrecked ship. The debris, in the shape of the cross, appears to be a Christian metaphor for salvation from the earthly sin. The painting has warm tones, which reduce the sea’s apparent menacing overtones and a chance for the people to survive seems plausible. This painting shows both the destructiveness and beauty of nature. [1]

About the Artist via Wikipedia:

Ivan Aivazovsky was born on 29 July [O.S. 17 July] 1817 in the city of Feodosia (Theodosia), Crimea, Russian Empire. In the baptismal records of the local St. Sargis Armenian Apostolic Church, Aivazovsky was listed as Hovhannes, son of Gevorg Aivazian. He became known as Aivazovsky since c. 1840, while in Italy. He signed an 1844 letter with an Italianized rendition of his name: “Giovani Aivazovsky”.

After meeting Aivazovsky in person, Anton Chekhov wrote a letter to his wife on 22 July 1888 describing him as follows:

Aivazovsky himself is a hale and hearty old man of about seventy-five, looking like an insignificant Armenian and a bishop; he is full of a sense of his own importance, has soft hands and shakes your hand like a general. He’s not very bright, but he is a complex personality, worthy of a further study. In him alone there are combined a general, a bishop, an artist, an Armenian, an naive old peasant, and an Othello.

The house in Feodosia, where Aivazovsky lived between 1845 and 1892. It is now an art gallery.

After traveling to Paris with his wife, in 1892 he made a trip to the United States, visiting Niagara Falls in New York and Washington D.C. In 1896, at 79, Aivazovsky was promoted to the rank of full privy councillor.

Aivazovsky was deeply affected by the Hamidian massacres that took place in the Armenian-inhabited areas of the Ottoman Empire between 1894 and 1896. He painted a number of works on the subject such as The Expulsion of the Turkish Ship, and The Armenian Massacres at Trebizond (1895). He threw the medals given to him by the Ottoman Sultan into the sea and told the Turkish consul in Feodosia: “Tell your bloodthirsty master that I’ve thrown away all the medals given to me, here are their ribbons, send it to him and if he wants, he can throw them into the seas painted by me.”  He created several other paintings capturing the events, such as Lonely Ship and Night. Tragedy in the Sea of Marmara (1897).

He spent his final years in Feodosia. In the 1890s, thanks to his efforts a commercial port (ru) was established in Feodosia and linked to the railway network of the Russian Empire. The railway station, opened in 1892, is now called Ayvazovskaya [ru] and is one of the two stations within the city of Feodosia.

Aivazovsky also supplied Feodosia with drinking water. [2]

Credits and Attributions:

IMAGE: File: Hovhannes Aivazovsky – The Ninth Wave – Google Art Project.jpg Hovhannes Aivazovsky – The Ninth Wave – Google Art Project – The Ninth Wave – Wikipedia (accessed January 10, 2024).

[1]Wikipedia contributors, “The Ninth Wave,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ninth_Wave&oldid=1160319059 (accessed January 10, 2024).

[2] Wikipedia contributors, “Ivan Aivazovsky,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ivan_Aivazovsky&oldid=1194332468 (accessed January 10, 2024).

4 Comments

Filed under #FineArtFriday

Tagged as , , ,

January 5, 2024 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: An Out-of-Doors Study by John Singer Sargent (revisited)

Artist: John Singer Sargent  (1856–1925)

Title: An Out-of-Doors Study

Description: English: Paul César Helleu Sketching with his wife Alice

Signature bottom right: John S. Sargent

Date: 1889

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: Height: 65.9 cm (25.9 ″); Width: 80.7 cm (31.7 ″)

The weather has been dark and dreary here in the Pacific Northwest. I need sunny day, and I remembered this image. An Out-of-Doors Study, 1889, is by expatriate American artist, John Singer Sargent. It depicts fellow artist and great friend, Paul César Helleu sketching with his wife Alice Guérin. What a lovely day it was, for them to be sitting on the grass, enjoying a carefree moment in life.

What I love about this painting:

This painting depicts a day in the life of two great artists. The grass looks very like that which grows beside streams in my part of the world. The colors are that mix of green and brown that long grass has when summer is just beginning. The blue sky is reflected in the water. They had taken advantage of a fine day in late May or June perhaps, fortunate to have an outing before high summer turns the meadow grass crisp and brown.

The quality of light that day was perfect for a picnic beside the water. One can imagine the two artists working on their individual projects and chatting, having a relaxing lunch, and then taking a quiet walk. We can even wonder if, later, they might have taken the canoe out.

January has been overcast and rainy with little chance of seeing sunshine. I could use a day like this, a picnic beneath blue skies, and a gathering of friends beside a quiet pond.

About the artist, via Wikipedia:

Sargent’s early enthusiasm was for landscapes, not portraiture, as evidenced by his voluminous sketches full of mountains, seascapes, and buildings. Carolus-Duran’s expertise in portraiture finally influenced Sargent in that direction. Commissions for history paintings were still considered more prestigious, but were much harder to get. Portrait painting, on the other hand, was the best way of promoting an art career, getting exhibited in the Salon, and gaining commissions to earn a livelihood.

In a time when the art world focused, in turn, on Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism, Sargent practiced his own form of Realism, which made brilliant references to Velázquez, Van Dyck, and Gainsborough.

Credits and Attributions:

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Sargent – Paul Helleu Sketching with his Wife.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sargent_-_Paul_Helleu_Sketching_with_his_Wife.jpg&oldid=273586527 (accessed December 5, 2019).

Wikipedia contributors, “John Singer Sargent,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Singer_Sargent&oldid=927728162 (accessed December 5, 2019).

2 Comments

Filed under #FineArtFriday

Tagged as , , ,

December 29, 2023 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: The Merry Family, by Jan Steen (revisited)

Jan Steen was fond of painting peasants and ordinary people, and this picture is a good example of that.

What I love about this image is the chaos. Is this a New Year’s party? I hope so.

The clutter of pans and dishes heedlessly fallen to the floor, the boisterous enjoyment of wine and song, and the obvious lack of parental restraint is wonderfully depicted. The numerous children are smoking and drinking to excess, vices that weren’t acceptable diversions for youngsters in those days any more than they are now. The baby is exceedingly chubby, which was uncommon and represents the vice of gluttony–in one hand it holds bread and in the other it waves a spoon.

I suspect the children grew up with a similar love of wine and song as their parents.

The note on the wall contains the moral of the story. According to the Rijksmuseum website, “The note hanging from the mantelpiece gives away the moral of the story: ‘As the old sing, so shall the young twitter.’ What will become of the children if their parents set the wrong example?”

The Age of the Puritan had swept across Europe and while it was waning in the mid-seventeenth century, puritanism had influenced life in Holland as much as elsewhere. This painting is a wonderful visual exhortation reminding the good people to live a sober life. Steen himself was not a puritan, as he was born into a family of brewers and ran taverns and breweries off and on throughout his life. But he did need to sell his paintings as he was never a successful businessman, and his allegorical paintings were quite popular.

Quote from Wikipedia: Daily life was Jan Steen’s main pictorial theme. Many of the genre scenes he portrayed, as in The Feast of Saint Nicholas, are lively to the point of chaos and lustfulness, even so much that “a Jan Steen household,” meaning a messy scene, became a Dutch proverb (een huishouden van Jan Steen). Subtle hints in his paintings seem to suggest that Steen meant to warn the viewer rather than invite him to copy this behaviour. Many of Steen’s paintings bear references to old Dutch proverbs or literature. He often used members of his family as models, and painted quite a few self-portraits in which he showed no tendency of vanity.

Credits and Attributions:

The Merry Family, Jan Steen, 1668 PD|100 via Wikimedia Commons

Moral (English translation) quoted from Rijksmuseum website,  https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-C-229, accessed 17 May 2018.

Wikipedia contributors. “Jan Steen.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 Jan. 2018. Web. 17 May. 2018.

Comments Off on #FineArtFriday: The Merry Family, by Jan Steen (revisited)

Filed under #FineArtFriday

Tagged as , , ,

December 22, 2023 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: Christmas Eve, Chromolithograph by Joseph C. Hoover & Sons (revisited)

No_Known_Restrictions_Christmas_Eve_by_J._Hoover,_no_date_LOC_2122063062

Description: Christmas Eve, chromolithograph by J. C. Hoover and Sons

Date: 1880

This is a quintessential calendar or Christmas card picture, and I love it. It appeals to every sentiment a viewer might have of home and community and Christmas traditions.

This painting has many nostalgic style elements, which is why I find it so appealing. It has a Courier and Ives feel to it, and is reminiscent of George Henry Durie’s work, although it was painted seventeen years after his death. I don’t know who the artist was that painted this picture as he or she isn’t credited. It could have been one of the sons, or one of the many women artists employed in the industry at the time.

A significant number of artists employed in the publishing industry during the 19th and early 20th century were women. They painted illustrations for greeting cards, books, magazines, and newspapers. Often women were not acknowledged as the original creators, although some, like Mary Cassatt, did achieve fame and credit for their work.

About the publisher, via Art and Antiques Gallery’s website:

Hoover & Sons issued popular prints for the masses in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. This was a business much like Currier & Ives, though Hoover & Sons issued chromolithographs. Joseph Hoover was one of the few native-born Americans who achieved success with chromolithography. Hoover started by making elaborate wood frames in Philadelphia in 1856, but within a decade or so he began to produce popular prints. Initially he mostly worked for other publishers, including Duval & Hunter, and he worked with noted Philadelphia artist James F. Queen. He also issued a few hand-colored, popular prints of considerable charm. During the Centennial, Hoover won a medal for excellence for his chromolithographs after Queens renderings.

In the 1880s, Hoover began to print chromolithographs, installing a complete printing plant by 1885. By the end of the century, his firm was one of the largest print publishers in the county, with an average annual production of between 600,000 to 700,000 pictures. Using chromolithography, Hoover was able to produce attractive, colorful prints that were still affordable for anyone to use as decoration for home and office. The audience for Hoover’s prints was quite wide, extending throughout the United States, and overseas to Canada, Mexico, England and Germany. The subjects issued by the firm are extensive, including genre scenes, still life images, views of American locations, and generic landscapes, including a series of charming winter scenes. [1]

About Chromolithography, via Wikipedia:

Chromolithography is a chemical process. The process is based on the rejection of water by grease. The image is applied to stone, grained zinc or aluminium surfaces, with a grease-based crayon or ink. Limestone and zinc are two commonly used materials in the production of chromolithographs, as aluminium corrodes easily. After the image is drawn onto one of these surfaces, the image is gummed-up with a gum arabic solution and weak nitric acid to desensitize the surface. Before printing, the image is proofed before finally inking up the image with oil-based transfer or printing ink. In the direct form of printing, the inked image is transferred under pressure onto a sheet of paper using a flat-bed press. The offset indirect method uses a rubber-covered cylinder that transfers the image from the printing surface to the paper.

Alois Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, introduced the subject of colored lithography in his 1818 Vollstaendiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerey (A Complete Course of Lithography), where he told of his plans to print using colour and explained the colours he wished to be able to print someday. Although Senefelder recorded plans for chromolithography, printers in other countries, such as France and England, were also trying to find a new way to print in colour. Godefroy Engelmann of Mulhouse in France was awarded a patent on chromolithography in July 1837, but there are disputes over whether chromolithography was already in use before this date, as some sources say, pointing to areas of printing such as the production of playing cards. [2]

Credits and Attributions:

[1] Quote from Art and Antiques Gallery https://www.pbase.com/artandantiquesgallery/joseph_hoover_and_sons_prints (accessed December 24, 2021).

[2] Wikipedia contributors, “Chromolithography,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chromolithography&oldid=1058870233 (accessed December 24, 2021).

Image Credit: Public Domain. Library of Congress via pingnews. Additional information from source: TITLE: Christmas Eve CALL NUMBER: PGA – Hoover, J.–Christmas Eve (D size) [P&P] REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-01601 (digital file from original print) LC-USZ62-49683 (b&w film copy neg.) RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication. MEDIUM: 1 print. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [no date recorded on shelflist card]

2 Comments

Filed under #FineArtFriday, writing

Tagged as , , , ,

December 15, 2023 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: Winter landscape with bullfinches by Bruno Liljefors 1891

Bruno_Liljefors_-_Winter_landscape_with_bullfinches_1891Artist: Bruno Liljefors  (1860–1939)

Title: English: Winter landscape with bullfinches

Date: 1891

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: height: 40 cm (15.7 in); width: 50 cm (19.6 in)

What I love about this painting:

This is a Christmas card kind of scene, and I’m sure I have seen it featured on many cards over the years. However, the birds are what attracted me to this painting. Birds of all varieties enthrall me, and these birds are gorgeous.

I love the colors of these bullfinches, love the natural way they are shown roosting in the shrubbery. These birds are European and are different from the bright yellow goldfinches I know here in the Pacific Northwest.

My childhood home had begun its life as a one room hunting cabin that had been converted to a mid-century rambler and turned into a family home in the 1950s. It was situated on a large stretch of beach on the southeastern shore of Black Lake near Olympia, Washington. Our property was centered in a thick forest of Douglas fir, western red cedars, and hemlock trees.

My parents were avid gardeners, and besides the large veggie garden and flower beds, we had many ornamental shrubs. Native Oregon Grape, salmon berries, and salal bordered the edges of our property.

One of my earliest memories is that of watching the winter birds. First, they perched in shrubs, then they flew off, and then they were back again.

Dark-eyed juncos, sparrows, and chickadees gathered in the shrubs. Larger birds, such as crows, owls, and ospreys roosted in the trees. On the lake, ducks, Canada geese, and grebes swam along with the occasional swan or loon.

Birdwatching provided endless entertainment during a time when our television antenna only picked up the signals from two stations. While we did see shows like Star Trek, Batman, Get Smart, and the Addams Family in the evenings, TV overall was a wash, as storms had cut the power to our home many times. Some winters were worse than others, and sometimes, we were without power for several weeks, waiting for the linemen to hook us back up.

To this day, birdwatching is one of my family’s favorite things to do.

About the Artist, via Wikipedia:

Bruno Andreas Liljefors, 14 May 1860 – 18 December 1939) was a Swedish artist. He is perhaps best known for his nature and animal motifs, especially with dramatic situations. He was the most important and probably most influential Swedish wildlife painter of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He also drew some sequential picture stories, making him one of the early Swedish comic creators. [1]

To read more about the artist, go to Bruno Liljefors – Wikipedia.

Credits and Attributions:

IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Bruno Liljefors – Winter landscape with bullfinches 1891.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bruno_Liljefors_-_Winter_landscape_with_bullfinches_1891.jpg&oldid=812150991 (accessed December 14, 2023).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Bruno Liljefors,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruno_Liljefors&oldid=1170413866 (accessed December 14, 2023).

Comments Off on #FineArtFriday: Winter landscape with bullfinches by Bruno Liljefors 1891

Filed under #FineArtFriday

Tagged as , , ,

December 8, 2023 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Brueghel the Elder 1565

Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder_-_Hunters_in_the_Snow_(Winter)_-_Google_Art_ProjectArtist: Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569)

Title: English: Hunters in the Snow (German: Jäger im Schnee) (Winter)

Date: 1565

Medium: oil on oak wood

Dimensions: height: 1,170 mm (46.06 in); width: 1,620 mm (63.77 in)

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum

What I love about this painting:

This is one of Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s most famous paintings. Even if one doesn’t know who originally painted it, they have very likely seen it at some point, perhaps on a calendar or a Christmas card.

Critics didn’t praise his work, as it is unabashedly primitive, created for the common person’s enjoyment. Nonetheless, his work is still highly prized by collectors. Even now, four centuries after his era, ordinary people can relate to his work because he had such a sense of humor and the ability to show the truth about humanity and inhumanity in his work.

He lived during a time of religious revolution in the Netherlands, and walking the line between both factions must have been difficult. Some have said that Bruegel (and possibly his patron) were attempting to portray an ideal of what country life used to be or what they wish it to be.

I disagree. On the surface and from a distance, this is a bucolic scene depicting ordinary peasants enjoying the winter. But when you look deeper, really look at it, you can see the irony of it, the honesty that Brueghel hid in plain sight.

Brueghel used symbolism to convey paradox and gallows humor in every painting. Winter was harsh and for the average person, survival required a lot of work, sometimes for nothing.

He shows us the hunters returning with empty game bags, the lone corpse of a skinny fox, and little else. One dog looks at us with starving eyes, as if hoping for scraps.

detai_Dogs_hunters_in_the_snow_Brueghel

The tavern’s sign is about to fall down, a large hint that all is not well. That symbolic broken sign tells us the owners are bankrupt.

detai_sign_hunters_in_the_snow_Brueghel

The owners are cooking outside, directly in front of the door. A woman brings a bundle of straw out of the inn to use as fuel, while in the distance an ox-drawn wagon is heavily laden with firewood. Where is it going? Not to their inn, that is for sure. And most intriguingly, a man is carrying a table away. Is he the tax collector? A thief?

detai_innkeeprs_cooking_hunters_in_the_snow_Brueghel

A rabbit has crossed the hunters’ path and evaded their snares.

detai_rabbit_tracks_hunters_in_the_snow_Brueghel

Birds of ill omen roost in the trees above the inn and the hunters and fly above the revelers, a portent of worse days to come.

detai_birds_hunters_in_the_snow_Brueghel

But Brueghel’s people have hope and faith that things will improve. In the distance (the future) people are playing winter games.

detai_skaters_hunters_in_the_snow_BrueghelBut they are indistinct and far away, shown in a fantastic, mountainous landscape, rather than the flat terrain of the Netherlands. It is almost as if they are visions of what winter could be when the harvest had been good, rather than the truth of the lone fox, hounds with empty bellies, a bankrupt tavern, and the rabbit that got away.

About this painting, via Wikipedia, the Fount of All Knowledge:

The Hunters in the Snow (Dutch: Jagers in de Sneeuw), also known as The Return of the Hunters, is a 1565 oil-on-wood painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Northern Renaissance work is one of a series of works, five of which still survive, that depict different times of the year. The painting is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. This scene is set in the depths of winter during December/January.

The painting shows a wintry scene in which three hunters are returning from an expedition accompanied by their dogs. By appearances the outing was not successful; the hunters appear to trudge wearily, and the dogs appear downtrodden and miserable. One man carries the “meager corpse of a fox” illustrating the paucity of the hunt. In front of the hunters in the snow are the footprints of a rabbit or hare—which has escaped or been missed by the hunters. The overall visual impression is one of a calm, cold, overcast day; the colors are muted whites and grays, the trees are bare of leaves, and wood smoke hangs in the air. Several adults and a child prepare food at an inn with an outside fire. Of interest are the jagged mountain peaks which do not exist in Belgium or Holland. [1]

Credits and Attributions:

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder – Hunters in the Snow (Winter) – Google Art Project.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder_-_Hunters_in_the_Snow_(Winter)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg&oldid=723208718 (accessed December 6, 2023).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “The Hunters in the Snow,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Hunters_in_the_Snow&oldid=1186886152 (accessed December 6, 2023).

Comments Off on #FineArtFriday: Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Brueghel the Elder 1565

Filed under #FineArtFriday, writing

Tagged as , , ,