My Recent Art Discoveries

There have been several paintings going around Twitter that I have liked recently, and I thought that I would share them here. It doesn't seem appropriate to share these paintings on my art history blog, because I don't have anything scholarly or noteworthy to say about them. And besides, I like these paintings for more personal reasons, so I'd rather explain myself here.

Albert Gustav Edelfelt, Idyll, 1878

I just was introduced to this painting tonight, and I love it for a lot of reasons. First of all, I want to wear a ruffly pink dress like that (complete with a parasol as an accessory!) while I sit outside in a garden and read a book. In fact, the sleeves of this dress remind me a bit of the sleeves that I had added to my wedding dress. I showed this painting to J tonight and said it would be nice to have him wear a handsome suit and join me in such a garden, and he jokingly responded (while looking at the male figure), "Yes, you'd want me to wear both a suit and a full head of hair!" Ha ha! (I only don't want J to be smoking a cigarette. Everything else in this picture is ideal. An ideal idyll.)
 

 Albert Edelfelt, Good Friends (Portrait of the Artist's Sister Bertha Edelfelt), 1881

This is another painting by the Finnish artist Albert Edelfelt. I've only recently begun to discover his art. This painting is so great on many levels, especially because of the girl's dress, reddish-orange stockings and shoes. I love the colors and textures of the silken pillows, too. Lately I've thought about getting a print of this painting and putting it in Lucy's room. Maybe it would encourage her to love reading (and cute little doggies) as she gets older. (Note: HERE is a higher resolution image of the painting. The coloring is a bit different, and I'm not quite sure which one is accurate. But I think I like the color scheme a bit better in the image I have posted.)

 Albert Edelfelt, Chez L'Artiste (Les Graveurs), 1881
One last painting by Edelfelt. Some of the proportions of the woman's body are a wee bit funky, but I still like this painting quite a bit. This painting reminds me a little bit of other paintings from the 19th century that depict women in studio spaces. But I especially love this painting because of the dress.  The black and white details seem like something that Manet would love to paint. And that the woman is looking at art, of course.

Wilhelm Schutze (1840-1898), Best Friends, n.d.

The style of this genre painting reminds me a bit of Greuze and Chardin. Perhaps I am becoming drawn to depictions of little girls because I now have a daughter myself. The round cheeks and soft arms of this little girl make me think about Lucy and what she might look like in the next few years. Plus, I just think that this subject matter is very sweet. Another painting with a little girl that recently appealed to me is George Frederich Leighton's The Music Lesson (1884).

 Lawrence Alma Tadema, A Kiss, 1891
This is another painting with a darling little girl that makes me think of Lucy. I like to think that the woman on the right, who is kissing the little girl, is the girl's mother. Plus, the light blue color of the water is very striking. I also love the composition, with the high horizon line of the water and the strong receding line created by the stone parapet on the left.

 Winslow Homer, Morning Glories, 1873

I like this painting for a lot of reasons. First of all, I like that this painting takes me by surprise, because it doesn't really remind me of other paintings by Winslow Homer. The potted plants in the foreground remind me of RB and the old Bellevue house. I also like the outfit of this girl, and I like to think how the windows are a little reminiscent of the windows of my own house. Plus, I like the geometricity of the composition and the red hues of the house and plants. J likes the flatness of the painting, with a lot of straight lines and rows.

I also like this painting because it reminds me of my mom. On one hand, I think that my mom would have liked the subject matter, since she liked some paintings of young females that were outdoors or out in nature (like Bougureau's shepherdesses). But this painting's title also reminds me of a poem that my mom wrote when she was in elementary school. I think she wrote this poem when she was in first or second grade, if I remember right. My mom's teacher really praised her for this poem, and it is quite nice. My mom told us about getting recognized for this poem by her teacher, and I can tell that it really made a positive impression on her. I think it's a great example of how a teacher's sincere enthusiasm and encouragement is not easily forgotten by the student. I'm pretty sure that this is how my mom's poem went:

 The morning glory

Has come again

To wind around my roses. 

Claude Monet, The Magpie, 1869

I love the composition of this painting, as well as the long blue shadows that infiltrate into the foreground of this piece, creating a nice contrast with the white snow. This painting was made a few years before Impressionism really took off, and in some ways the whites and dark browns remind me a bit more of Manet's aesthetic (except Manet would have used black instead of brown, if he had made this painting). So, to me, this Monet is like a warm, outdoorsy Manet.

Alfred Stevens, Young Woman Reading, 1906

 I love the strong composition in this painting, in having the girl centrally placed and frontally oriented. I also love that she has one petite foot peeking out from her dress, and this foot helps to subtly emphasize the vertical axis of the painting. Plus, that dress! I need a frilly white dress for when I read. (In truth, the white tiered curtains in Lucy's room look very similar to this dress.) The gauzy fabric and flowing lines of the tiered skirt provide a nice contrast from the direct, frontal composition. Plus, this dress is awesome because tiered skirts remind me of the Minoans and the depiction of Shamash on the Stele of Hammurabi.

John White Alexander, An Idle Moment, 1885

 This lady has the auburn hair that Anne Shirley and I could only dream of owning. And did you notice the lovely curl that is coming out of her bun? I think that this painting's title fits with the subject matter, but the strong brushstrokes used to create the hair and the sleeve of this women suggest anything but an idle moment on part of the artist. What vigor and purpose are shown through these strokes! This painting is also great because the dark palette, combined with the fair skin of the woman's arm, remind me a little of Caravaggio's dark palette and tenebristic techniques.

George Elgar Hicks, On the Seashore, 1879

I love the sweet, fluid lines that are used to create the dainty facial features of this girl. Plus, I love the way that her tresses are lightly swept about by the wind. (J pointed out that the texture and color of this girl's hair is similar to that of my sister V.) This girl seems graceful to me for so many reasons, even in the manner that she lifts her hand up to her neckline. I'd love to carry myself and look as graceful as this figure.

George Frederich Leighton, The Painter's Honeymoon, 1864

I love this painting, not only because of the composition and texture created by the woman's dress on the right, but also because of the subject matter. It reminds me of how I like to sit with J and look at his different creative projects (although his projects most often appear on a computer screen instead of a draftsman's board). But I think that the sentiment is the same. Here is a wife who is invested in and appreciative of the creativity of her spouse. Plus, I love the way that the figures are holding hands and leaning against each other, since it reminds me of how J and I like to express our mutual affection and love.

I suppose you can tell what type of subject matter and aesthetic has been appealing to me lately! I like depictions of women in period clothing who are reading books or lost in thought. (J sums it up by saying that I like paintings of women in "foofy dresses.") It's funny how much I am drawn to paintings of the 19th century. When I was an undergrad, I deliberately avoided taking an upper-level class on 19th century art, because of my childish dislike for Impressionism (a silly opinionated bias that I have overcome, except for my distaste for Renoir). But in truth, the 19th century is really where I am drawn. If I could go back in time, I would have focused more energy on learning about the 19th century when I was a student.