Ottavio Leoni, Caravaggio portrait sketch early 17th century,. Biblioteca Marucelliana, Firenze By Leslie Ilic – Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known universally as Caravaggio, was a genius Baroque painter. Much of his life, and certainly his death, is shrouded in mystery, due to the lack of contemporaneous accounts of his activities. […]
Tamara de Lempincka, Madonna, 1937 By P. F. Sommerfeldt – Tamara de Lempincka (1894-1980) was a gifted artist and an iconoclast, often considered a founding leader of the Art Deco movement from the 1920’s through the 1930’s. Art Deco was the perfect trope for an artist known for bold color, […]
Salvator Rosa, Philosophy, ca. 1645, image courtesy National Gallery London By Natalie Vander Pol – One of the most moving pieces to me personally in the National Gallery is undoubtedly Philosophy by Salvator Rosa (ca. 1645), which symbolizes both a love story and a bond between human thought and art. At first […]
By P. F. Sommerfeldt – If I had to name one of the jewels of European museum collections not enough people visit, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid would be high on that list. Its iconic collection of Renaissance paintings can compete with much larger holdings especially because it is not […]
By John Roman – Historians suggest some religious paintings of the Renaissance may have been intentionally designed to induce subliminal, out-of-body experiences in church patrons. Michael Kubovy, in his book The Psychology of Perspective and Renaissance Art (1989), uncovered a remarkable twist in artists’ use of perspective during the Renaissance. He explored the idea that […]
Calouste Gulbenkian in 1912 (Image courtesy of Financial Times London) By P. F. Sommerfeldt – In Lisbon in late March I had a list of must visits to Portugal’s beautiful capital city, including the famous Gulbenkian Museum in its private foundation premises. This renowned museum – in modern brutalist style […]
Cover of Eugene Field and Maxfield Parrish, Poems of Childhood, 1904 By P. F. Sommerfeldt – If you had a favorite book as a child, depending on how old – or young – you were, this book is not unlikely to look fairly battered if you’ve still had it long […]
By Patrick Hunt – Sometimes there are portraits that are so gripping you cannot move on for a long time. As a prelude I spend time in Bergen, Norway, every year and my visits always include the Kode Bergen Art Museum, especially the collection in the four white buildings along […]
By Patrick Hunt – Seldom has ancient literature been so psychologically riveting as the biblical peripety of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel II and following to the conclusion of the book with David’s diminished end. King David’s multiple mistakes with Bathsheba – adultery and the requested murder of her […]
By Patrick Hunt – Introduction Significant prior studies have summarized and at times specifically delineated the ways Vermeer employed music in his carefully-wrought and subtly staged mise-en-scène genre paintings. One of the most recent and fairly comprehensive is Marjorie Wieseman’s excellent Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure, […]