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Vallotton: One of Art’s Greatest Over-Achievers
Félix Vallotton is perhaps the chameleon of the Nabis era. With a traditional start in academic and portrait painting, Vallotton mastered printmaking, portrait painting, wood engraving, Nabis-style genre scenes and nudes, and then moved on to Realism before leading the way for the New Objectivity movement. He did not stop at painting, however, but tried his hand at writing no fewer than eight plays and three novels. Whilst these may not have been the most significant or even best-selling tomes of their time, it was still a remarkable achievement. After adding landscapes, still life painting, and sculptures to his already impressive repertoire, the resulting impression of this artist is that…
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Olympia in Venice
Remember the first time you went away from home for an extended period of time? Your mother made sure you packed warm socks and clean pants, even if it was going to be 40 degrees Celsius in your final destination. She called and wrote you often, making sure you were eating your vegetables and brushing your teeth. She loved and worried about you. I imagine this is what the Musée d’Orsay is going through at the moment, having sent one of its most precious babies off to Italy for the summer.
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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…
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Edward Hopper: The Man, The Mystery, The Muse
Edward Hopper, the man of many movements. Whether it be romanticism, realism, symbolism, or formalism, Hopper has covered them all. I am not going to analyse which oeuvre he was best suited to, nor to which he owes the most allegiance. Instead I am going to try and find the man behind the paintings…. Ok, let’s fast-forward Hopper’s life a little… and hello Josephine! A fellow artist and former student of Robert Henri (a past teacher of Hopper’s), Josephine Nivison was ‘The One’. She was the Simon to Hopper’s Garfunkel, or the Kate to Hopper’s Wills if you want to be a little more current. Model, Manager, Life-Companion, she truly…












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