ArteRosso

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-ArteRosso

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Henry VIII, 1540

Giovanani Fattori, Diego Martelli in Castiglioncello, 1870

Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrait of a Nun, 1551

In 1877, settling in the Nouvelle Athènes area, Claude Monet asked for permission to work in the Gare Saint-Lazare that marked its boundary on one side. Indeed, this was an ideal setting for someone who sought the changing effects of light, movement, clouds of steam and a radically modern motif. From there followed a series of paintings with different viewpoints including views of the vast hall. In spite of the apparent geometry of the metallic frame, what prevails here is really the effects of colour and light rather than a concern for describing machines or travellers in detail. Certain zones, true pieces of pure painting, achieve an almost abstract vision.  “You can hear the trains rumbling in, see the smoke billow up under the huge roofs….That is where painting is today….Our artists have to find the poetry in train stations, the way their fathers found the poetry in forests and rivers” - Emile Zola about Monet’s paintings.

At first glance, these objects may look like planets but they are actually photos of the bottoms of frying pans.

Marina Abramovic meets Ulay “Marina Abramovic and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again. at her 2010 MoMa retrospective Marina performed ‘The Artist Is Present’ as part of the show, a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. Ulay arrived without her knowing it and this is what happened.”

If you would like to read this post in it’s entirety, featuring further analysis and links to other relevant work, please visit my post on Inspirez.

Artwork: “Pieter van den Broecke”, 1633, Oil on canvas by Frans Hals, Dutch, 1581-1666, 26 3/4 x 21 5/8in. (67.9 x 54.9cm), Kenwood House, English Heritage; Iveagh Bequest, 1927, (88028830) Courtesy American Federation of Arts, T2012.34.17” (Seattle Art Museum)