Gauguin’s work certainly stands out from the work of others in the Impressionist school or era.   Here in his self-portrait he comes across as something of a pirate. But here is a more familiar image from Polynesia, of his painting of a young girl…. Gauguin was indeed a friend of Vincent Van Gogh, and lived with him for a while, trying to rescue him from madness.  Of all these artists Van Gogh appears to have been the most religious, even... Read more

Without much doubt or debate the Impressionists, mostly French artists, are the most well known of all artists in the last 150+ years.  I’ve done posts on them before, so in these posts I’m concentrating on a few of their greatest hits that actually reside in the National Gallery in D.C.  All these artists were concerned with how light affects the size, shape, and especially the color of objects, so they often studied the same object in different shades of... Read more

                        By now the patterns in Sargent’s paintings in Spain should be clear. He studied in Paris during the rise of the Impressionists, such as Monet, and this certainly affected the way he painted street scenes, indeed any outdoor scenes. But when he did portraiture which was his greatest skill the lines are clear and distinct, more like a photograph.   I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour of his... Read more

One thing you can say about this movie— there can be no complaints about the improbability of various turning points in the script.  Because the football game in the movie— namely the ridiculously unlikely comeback of the Patriots in the Super Bowl vs. the Falcon, is even more unbelievable, and yet it happened.  The movie is loosely based on a true story, namely about a bunch of old ladies in North Attleboro Mass. (just a few miles from my wife’s... Read more

        Though Sargent did not do a lot of commissioned religious work, he did some religious paintings anyway…. Here he is imitating the style of a famous El Greco painting ‘Espolio’—  Below is St. Teresa of Avila Read more

  This is a study of white ships at Majorca. Read more

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John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the greatest portrait painter of his age. He especially loved painting in Spain, and took no less than. seven trips there to paint, but also to learn from the great masters of Spanish artist, such as Velasquez or Goya.  There was a special new exhibit on at the National Gallery of Art and while we were in D.C. we decided to go see it, as well as to spend some... Read more

Photography from the Civil War on became an occupation for all sorts of raconteurs….. like this guy…. Of the older photographers that preferred black and white, Ansel Adams is king, and you can see his work in the museum of Western art in San Antonio.  But in this post we have other such photographers… for example of the Brooklyn Bridge, and its twin in Cinci, done by the same architect. Or check out the stylish bathing suits… Or another NY... Read more

There was a special photo exhibit off the main rotunda in the Library which was well worth a special visit.  This post and the next one will give you a clue as to some of the highlights. JFK and wife to be Jackie on their wedding day.  We had such hopes when Jack was elected President. He was so young, full of energy, with big ideas like going to the moon, starting the Peace Corps, starting VISTA, and so much... Read more