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Posts Tagged ‘National Gallery of Art’

Cezanne at The Phillips

Posted in Travel, tagged Cezanne, cubism, National Gallery of Art, oil painting, Paul Cezanne, Philadelphia Museum of Art, post-impressionism, The Phillips Collection on July 6, 2013| 2 Comments »

Paul Cezanne
Fields at Bellevue,
oil, 1892-95

Paul Cezanne
Self Portrait
1878-80

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), a French Post-impressionist, whose work is said to have laid the foundation between 19th Century impressionism and 20th century Cubism. His small brushstrokes and use of color showed his concentrated study of subject matter. The Phillips has many examples of Cezanne’s work and you can see his progression of his style over the years.

I’ve enjoyed seeing Cezanne’s work several other museums including The Philadelphia Museum of Art (read about it here) and the National Gallery of Art in DC where they have one of my favorite Cezanne’s, The Artist’s Father. (Check it out here.)

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What is a Museum?

Posted in Little Known Facts, Travel, Trivia, tagged Boston Museum of Fine Art, National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia

Have you ever wondered just “What is a museum”? Museum gets its name from the Greek word mouseion, meaning “seat of the Muses”. The began as places to discuss math, philosophy, science and politics. In the 17th century museums developed into fancy houses devoted to collecting and categorizing curiosities that belonged to noblemen. Today many museums are free or cost little to enter.

They are more than just a huge places that hold artifacts, or in the case of the ones I prefer, art. They also provide classes, workshops, guided tours, interactive exhibits and gift shops.

Museum of Fine Art, Boston

I have been lucky to get to see many wonderful museums over the years in several countries and I still take every opportunity to go to one today when I can whether I have been to it before or not. I see something different every time. Here are a few posts from one of my favorite museums – the National Gallery of Art. Click here and here for more. So on my list of things each day that I am grateful for one toward the top is that I get to enjoy so much beauty at these wonderful places. Make sure you go enjoy them too!

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3-D Art at National Gallery

Posted in Travel, Trivia, tagged Alexander Calder, Calder, mobiles, National Gallery of Art on February 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

mobiles on display

Alexander Calder, untitled mobile, 1976

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A Few Favorites at the National Gallery

Posted in Travel, Trivia, tagged Henri Matisse, National Gallery of Art, Paul Gauguin on January 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Henri Matisse, Odalisque Seated with Arms Raised, Green Striped Chair, oil on canvas, 1923

Every time I go to the National Gallery I see something new even though I must have been there a couple dozen times now. And over the years my taste in art has developed and changed. I am drawn to post impressionism more and more. And Matisse has become a very favorite so I always enjoy seeing his use of color and space. And then I discovered a Gauguin painting of Peonies (my favorite flower) that I had never seen before. What a treat!

Henri Matisse, Still Life with Apples on a Pink Tablecloth, oil on canvas, 1924

Paul Gauguin, Still Life with Peonies, oil on canvas, 1884

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Restoration at the NGA

Posted in Travel, Trivia, tagged Benvenuto di Giovanni, National Gallery of Art, NGA, Washington DC on January 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Benvenuto di Giavannis

One fascinating thing I love to see at the National Gallery of Art when I visit is the work they are doing to restore and maintain the beautiful art. Sunday while visiting I ran across this painting group. It was five panels framed together (you see two of them here) that was painted by Benvenuto di Giovanni, an Italian painter (1436-1517) and is a depiction of five scenes in Jesus’ life. The panel on the right is called Christ Carrying the Cross, painted in 1491. It is tempera on panel board measuring around 16″x18″. You can see how much brighter this panel is than the one on the left. The right panel has been removed and cleaned. You can clearly see the difference in the cleaned panel compared to the one that still needs cleaning. What drew me to this grouping was that one of the panels was missing and this sign was in it’s place:It says: “Benvenuto di Giovanni’s Christ in Limbo, usually installed here, is currently in the Painting Conservation Lab for treatment. Each of the five panels in this series will be cleaned in turn.”

How cool is that?

If you want to see “Christ in Limbo”, the piece that is being cleaned, click here.

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Michaelangelo’s David-Apollo at NGA

Posted in Travel, Trivia, tagged David Apollo, Michelangelo's David-Apollo, National Gallery of Art, NGA, Washington DC on January 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

David-Apollo side view

Michelangelo’s David-Apollo

One of the reasons I wanted to get down to the National Gallery this past weekend was to see Michelangelo’s David-Apollo (c. 1530) that is currently on loan from Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence until March 3rd. It is a wonderful example of Michelangelo’s work and of his habit of working non-finito (unfinished or incomplete). You can see in the side view the stone left uncut in the back of the sculpture. He leaves much to the viewer’s imagination, wondering what was his intent. You can learn much more by clicking this NGA link.

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Learning More at the National Gallery of Art

Posted in Travel, Trivia, tagged impressionism, Landscape, Monet, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC on January 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Monet’s Cathedrals

One of the things I like best about going to the National Gallery of Art is that you can learn so very much. For instance, in the Impressionist Gallery that has recently reopened after being remodeled, I came across two of Monet’s Cathedral paintings hanging side-by-side. What a wonderful way to see Monet’s thought process as he explored color and light on canvas. He painted this same scene, Rouen Cathedral, more than thirty times at different times of day and different months of the year in his quest to master color and light. Monet used this learning tool, series paintings, on several subjects including his Water Lilies, Haystacks, Poplars, and The Parliament and it’s always a treat to see several of them displayed together.

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Wind from the Sea

Posted in Travel, tagged Andrew Wyeth, National Gallery of Art on April 16, 2012| 2 Comments »

A few weeks ago I went to the National Gallery of Art with the artists from The Southerlands. I got a few minutes to poke around a couple of galleries and ran across this wonderful painting by Andrew Wyeth (American 1917-2009) called “Wind from the Sea”, tempera on hard board, 1947. It’s hard to get a really good idea from this photo but it literally felt like the curtains were blowing in the breeze when you looked at this painting. Beautiful!

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More from the National Gallery

Posted in Travel, tagged DC, National Gallery of Art, Washington on April 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Mary Cassett, American, 1844-1926, "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, oil, 1878.

As I promised yesterday I will share more paintings that we saw at the National Gallery on our visit there Tuesday.

This is one of my favorite paintings at the National Gallery and as many times as I have seen it I never noticed how much the little pup in the chair looks like Lincoln. This explains at lot. Lincoln must be reincarnated. He lived with a wealthy French family in the late 1800’s. That’s why he is so spoiled. 🙂

See in this close-up how much he looks like Lincoln!

Edward Hopper, American, 1882-1967, "Cape Cod Evening, oil, 1939.

Claude Monet, French, 1840-1926, "The Japanese Footbridge, oil, 1899.

Monet, "The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil, oil, 1880.

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Visiting the National Gallery of Art

Posted in Travel, tagged Cezanne, Manet, Monet, National Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Pissaro, Washington DC on April 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday I enjoyed a wonderful visit to the National Gallery of Art with some of my students from the Southerlands. There was 13 of us that made the trip to see the Picasso Drawings.

No photography was allowed in that exhibit but this was the entrance poster so at least you can see what it was like. The interesting thing was that there were probably about 50 pieces in the exhibit and probably half or more belonged to private collectors. Really interesting.