Curating a major exhibit of a major painter, and borrowing paintings from all over the world is a huge undertaking, to say the least, and an expensive one as well. A lot of time, planning and money goes into it, and kudos to the curators at Kimbell for this very fine exhibit. Various of the paintings of course come from the major art galleries in England, for example the Tate, but the list of sources goes far beyond there.   Read more

This is certainly one of Turner’s most famous paintings, and one thing you notice is that some of these seascapes are more impressionistic, long before the Impressionists, and some more realistic. Read more

Turner was most famous for his seascapes, and part of this is because he was present at major battles— like Trafalgar.  He was probably the most well known and widely recognized British painter of the earlier 19th century. Like many artists of his age, Turner travelled freely in Europe especially Italy. There were early imitators (see above) who learned from Turner’s style and choice of subject matter.     We are fortunate in this exhibit to have some of Turner’s... Read more

  All of the above items reflect the great interest ever since the Renaissance in Europe and North America in the ancient Greco-Roman world, and in ancient traditions and ideas associated with mythology, or sacred traditions that were not Christian.  Even Rembrandt had such an interest as his painting of a young Jew maintaining old traditions shows.   Read more

The Fourth Sunday in Advent is of course rarely Christmas day itself and this year that Sunday is December 19th.  THE SECRET   Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb   Hidden away For the appropriate day Wrapped in enigma, cloaked in secrecy, Awaiting a wake-up call with urgency. But how shall such a song be sung?   A tale that’s never told, A trail that’s long gone cold, A mystery unrevealed, A... Read more

Some of the art in the Kimbell collection cannot be grouped with specific periods or a collection of a famous artist’s work, and some of it seems to have been chosen because it was humorous or curious in nature.  Consider the following—- Or this one…. Or here’s a matador thinking that this endless poising for a picture is a bunch of bull. Sometimes you can only laugh at paintings of people who think they are so self-important, and can’t even... Read more

There is not a good deal of Biblical or Christian art in this museum, indeed there is more Greco-Roman art objects and mythological paintings and we will look at both in this post. The flight into Egypt painting 2 pictures above is mildly interesting this painting of Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain for the sacrifice is more telling. Certainly more colorful, with gold leaf, is the raising of Lazarus painting. A fresh take on John 4 is found in... Read more

I had not been to Niagra Falls since I was quite young, and my parents and my sister and I went, and saw both the American and Canadian side of the Falls including a ride on the Maid of the Mist.  But that was during high summer, and this time my old student and friend was taking me in frigid time— November 1.  There is a reason why super spicy hot wings were invented in Buffalo and are called Buffalo... Read more

Unbeknownst to me, I went to see the Turner visiting collection, and a bunch of French impressionist art was part of the permanent collection here, including considerable diversity, from both the early and later impressionists. Impressionism is as its name suggests, not an attempt at stark realism but an attempt to render how certain lightings leave certain impressions on the artist. In other words, it is a more subjective rather than objective take on the subject matter, along the lines... Read more

This is the Advent sermon I preached in Estes Chapel on Dec. 7th at Asbury.   Read more