Some of the lesser known Impressionists are some of the most interesting, for example Seurat and Pissarro. In general they tend to be more abstract in their renderings, and in the case of Pissaro he’s using a pointillistic technique. This is a seascape from Port-en-Bessin in Normandy done in 1888. Contrast that with this seascape by Pissarro in 1890. But Pissarro was also quite capable of being more ‘representational’ as this painting of the Fence from 1872 shows. Read more

Ann and I both love the Impressionists, and I will devote several posts to the Gallery’s fine collection. These painters almost never do religious paintings, and even when for example they paint a cathedral, what they are really interested in is the effect of changing light on the cathedral. Impressionism in general is all about the light and lighting. It is meant to create an ‘impression’ on the viewer of the color and light that they see reflected off all... Read more

Here is an interesting painting of David and Goliath by Andrea del Castagno in about 1450. Italian painters who lived on commissions by churches and the Vatican often sought to paint pictures that were a bit out of the ordinary, as they got bored with painting the same olde Madonna and child pictures. Here’s an example. But a painting of Jonah and the whale— well even the most jaundiced of painters would be licking his chops with all the expansive... Read more

Ann and I are celebrating 42 years of marriage today…. though we are on separate continents! We’ve had a good innings, as the cricketers would say, and we’re still at bat!! Read more

Elliot is now five months old and lookin’ good….. but then I’m a little biased as his granddaddy! BW3 Read more

There are many paintings of the Adoration of the Magi but this is a very famous one by Fra Angelico and Fra Fillipo Lippi dating to about 1450. Some triptyches are just too large to get into a single shot. So here are three pictures of the one triptych. All I can say is— those are some mean looking Gospel writers, and saints, or saints and saints. The painting below would have made St. Paul hopping mad. It is entitled... Read more

Egg tempura is a hard medium to paint with, unlike oil. Yet the Greek Orthodox masters, and their Italian apprentices became absolute experts in it. Here are some wonderful examples that hang in the National Galley. Here, to begin with is John the Baptizer (complete with a banner saying ‘behold the Lamb of God’ in Latin). Lippo Memi painted this in about 1325. In the Orthodox tradition, John is treated as if he were a Christian saint (before there were... Read more

At the beginning of May I went to do some consulting for the Museum of the Bible. They gave me a few hours off one morning and I got to go see the special temporary Tintoretto exhibit, and some of my other favorites in that gallery. Here below is a painting by a little known French artist– Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, who painted a very revealing portrait in oil of the Prodigal Son in 1879. The artist has captured the... Read more