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Bonnard and the Nabis – The painting of rebellious Post-Impressionist artist
Pierre Bonnard was the leader of a group of post-impressionist painters who called themselves the Nabis, from the Hebrew word meaning ‘prophet’. Bonnard, Vuillard, Roussel and Denis, the most distinguished of the Nabis, revolutionized the spirit of decorative techniques during one of the richest periods in the history of French painting.
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Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (English version) – W. H. Helm
Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was not only the rare woman of her time who integrated herself into the French Royal Academy of Painting, but also beloved portraitist to the aristocracy. Self-taught, Vigée-Lebrun knew how to get the best from her models, mastering painting effects to perfection and making use of a delicate and refined style.
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"Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing" – Marc Chagall
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Forest of Fontainebleau – Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, 1830
Click on the image to appreciate in High Resolution every stroke of the Master Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot!!
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What Boston Loves
In an attempt to manipulate the power of the Internet, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston used crowdsourcing to select pieces for its ongoing exhibition, Boston Loves Impressionism. During the month of January, the MFA held an online vote every week, garnering up to 41,000 votes. This exhibition explores the predominating artistic taste of Bostonians. It neither focuses on the Impressionist movement nor on the individual artists, but rather highlights the connection Boston feels towards each piece. The top three selected works are undeniable favorites. Van Gogh’s Houses at Auvers received the most votes, surpassing Claude Monet’s Water Lilies by at least 1,000 total votes. The only sculpture in…
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Paris, je t’aime
Many people are acquainted with Stockholm syndrome, in which hostages develop feelings of sympathy or even defend their captors, but how many know of Paris syndrome? Typical to French style, Paris syndrome is much more romantic and far less violent than Stockholm syndrome. The intense idealization of France has deluded people into thinking that Paris lies at the top of Mount Olympus, that croissants are the baked version of ambrosia, and that the language is lovelier than a siren’s song. Some people, when they finally land at Charles de Gaulle airport and step into their Eden, suffer psychiatric symptoms – Paris syndrome. A handful of tourists a year suffer hallucinations,…
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No Room in Hollywood
There is no doubt that Hollywood dominates the global film industry. Occasionally, popular films from other countries gain international notoriety like the French film Amélie or the Swedish film Let the Right One In, but those are rare instances. While the United States dominates the film industry, the rest of the world, mainly Europe, dominates in art. The U.S. does have renowned artists but not as renowned as Europe. Even as an American, I find it difficult to name fellow artistic countrymen, but I can easily rattle off several European artists. Edward Hopper, painter of the Nighthawks, is a celebrated American painter, but his international repute is an iota of…
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Why We Owe Spain a Big “Gracias”
This is how I started my office questionnaire (I take my research for these blogs very seriously): “What has Spain given the world….go:” These were the answers I received (and yes, some of the responders are Spanish): Helicopters “America” “Hot men” Tortilla
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Don’t just do something – sit there.
In theory yoga is this beautiful, wonderful, spiritual experience that is meant to cleanse mind, body, and soul. In practice yoga causes a slew of frowned upon words to come flying out of my mouth at record speeds. It is a deep, dark torture which we, as masochists, inflict upon ourselves day after day of shaking cores, trembling arms, and ready-to-collapse legs. We stretch ourselves in ways we never thought possible, only to discover they are possible, but will we be stuck this way forever? The idea of sitting still long enough to have my portrait painted makes my muscles ache in a way that I’ve only known through Downward-Facing…
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Beaux-Arts, fromage, guillotines, and other French concepts
I started learning French about ten months ago. It was an idea that I toyed with for the ridiculously large span of one to thirteen years prior (when it was offered in middle school and my dearest mother thought Spanish would prove more useful in my future and made me study it instead – I will neither agree or disagree with that point all of these years later). Initially this venture, ten months ago, started out of spite – I was surrounded by French speakers and could never get a word in edgewise because I never knew what the hell they were talking about. I planned to learn it the…
This is an interactive art blog in multi languages, you will find new articles on artists, art history, exhibitions, etc. Contributions welcome.
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