Boucher's The Interrupted Sleep caught my eye while passing through the museum...
Showing posts with label art history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art history. Show all posts
The Interrupted Sleep, 1750
Boucher's The Interrupted Sleep caught my eye while passing through the museum...
How to frame a painting by François Boucher
Boucher's The Interrupted Sleep caught my eye while passing through the museum...
Jean-Honoré Fragonard's Mythological Figures
Fragonard, The Goddess Minerva. c. 1772. The Detroit Institute of Arts.
Here is a selection of mythological and fictional figures that Fragonard painted. Working throughout the 18th century, Fragonard studied with François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Charles-André van Loo and Charles-Joseph Natoire. He was and is known for his genre paintings.
Before he studied art, Fragonard was an apprentice to a notary in Paris. One account suggests his parents noticed his artistic inclinations and prompted him to seek a different apprenticeship while another says he was fired from his desk job because he doodled too often!
120 Objects From the Life of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI
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| Attributed to Jean-Babtiste Andre Gautier D'Agoty, Marie-Antoinette in front of the Temple of Love, oil on canvas. 41 x 33cm. Christie's. |
Well I am totally shocked to learn one of my favorite portraits of Marie Antoinette went up for grabs, and sadly I didn't have the $17,000 laying around to pick it up.
Christie's held the Collection Marie-Antoinette design auction in Paris. This sale features 120 objects ranging from architectural plans, paintings, fans, miniatures, books, documents, sculptures, and more. The items gathered for this sale are ah-mazing. I seriously suggest you take a flip through the catalog - it is fantastic!
Rare Gobelins tapestries from Paris go on view, first time since 1982
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We have another opportunity to view rare 18th century pieces of history (art history!). The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is displaying four very rare Gobelin tapestries, The Jason Tapestries, through April 15, 2015.
The tapestries are not kept on display due to their size and their fragility. The Atheneum is displaying them for a limited time in its Morgan Great Hall.
Marie Antoinette Inspired Sunglasses and 18th Century Eyewear: Fit for a Queen
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I recently saw a post on My Elle blog about an eye-wear ad campaign inspired by Marie Antoinette. While I am pleased that Marie Antoinette continues to influence the fashion world this year, and a new twist - eye wear, in this case I would say the interpretation is all about the styling!
This time my beloved Wildfox Couture has released their new AW2014 line of eye-wear, The Fit for A Queen collection shows (some) inspiration from the 18th century.
An 18th Century Dance
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| François Marie Isidore Queverdo. La Danse. 1772, Pen and black ink, bistre, gray and blue washes, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. |
Madame du Barry, a known beauty
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| Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Portrait of the Comtesse Du Barry. [1771] ? oil on canvas. |
A contemporary description of Madame du Barry...
Tapestry from Marie Antoinette's Drawing Room to be auctioned
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| A tapestry panel hangs at Bantry House. Image via Bantry House. |
Compelling Portraits by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779)
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| Anton Raphaël Mengs, Portrait of Isabel Parreño y Arce, Marquesa de Llano. 1771 - 1772, oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum. |
New Book: Magnificent Entertainments: Temporary Architecture for Georgian Festivals
I was just alerted to the new book by Melanie Doderer-Winkler: Magnificent Entertainments: Temporary Architecture for Georgian Festivals.
Georgians, architecture, 18th century events... I have no doubt I will be enjoying this one! By the way - see those Georgians celebrating on the cover? This is what I want to be doing as much as possible in 2014! :)
Elegant Looking at a Miniature Portrait #art
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| Michel Garnier, Elegant Looking at a Miniature Portrait. 18th century, oil on canvas. Sotheby's Paris. |
Secrets of an 18th Century Game Table from the Roentgen Workshop
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| Room from a hotel in the Cours d'Albret, Bordeaux, Carving attributed to Barthélemy Cabirol (1732–1786) and his workshop. ca. 1785, with later additions; pine, painted and carved. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Lauren |
The Metropolitan Museum of art has a wonderful collection of 18th century furniture, which you can admire from the galleries.
An 18th century game table is on view in the Wrightsman Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Wrightsman Galleries display the museum's late 17th- and 18th-century French decorative arts collection. The space consists of nine period rooms and two galleries.
Some furniture has more to offer than a single function and the museum has shared a video showing the secret behind one such table.
Joyeux anniversaire to Jean-Honoré Fragonard!
To mark the birthday of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, I thought we could take a look back at some fun posts about the famous artist who worked throughout the eighteenth century.
Versailles, Biography of a Palace
Today I finished the book, Versailles: A Biography of a Palace
. It is rather saucy, with interesting details and accounts from those who inhabited the glamorous palace. From the time of the Sun King to Louis XVI, this 'biography' recalls interesting bits of history that took place under the guilt roofs of the Palace. The sheer gossip and juicy stories keep the pages turning.You will learn that Princesse Lamballe was not so 'featherbrained' as history might recall. There is a discussion on the parties the Duchesse de Polignac threw, and who would use her for gain. In society and in this case, in Versailles, a lover could not show any affection to his mistress - in public that is!
When the doors are closed anything goes. When the doors are open, you dare to touch the back of the chair she sits in! There are even bits about which rooms certain people did you-know-what in! If you are one who wishes walls could talk, this book might be the closest thing you will come by.
Here is an excerpt:
At Versailles chamber pots were common as well, if not universal, and in the eighteenth century, despite attempts to stop the practice, servants on the upper stories frequently emptied them into the interior courts below. The dauphine Marie-Antoinette was once hit as she crossed the kings inner courtyards beneath the numerous windows of the king's mistress, Madame du Barry.
Spawforth, Antony. 2008. Versailles: a biography of a palace. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312357856
The Progress of Love: The Pursuit
The Progress of Love is a group of four canvas paintings by Fragonard. The commission came from Madame Du Barry, between 1770 and 1773, to adorn the walls of her pavilion at Louveciennes. This set of paintings are extra fun because, Du Barry decided she did not want them after Fragonard had already created them. There are theories why she decided to refuse them but the most fun is that all the male figures in the paintings resembled King Louis XV! I am sure that there were other reasons -
besides, everyone knew she was his favorite anyway!He kept the works at his cousin's place, and today they are on display at The Frick (which I can not recommend enough!) Unfortunately they are not displayed as they were intended to be, but they are still just as fabulous!
The Pursuit is set, along with the other panels, in a pleasure garden. The exact place we all wish we could hang out, all day, everyday! Highlighted by warm sunlight, three young girls lay before a fountain at play. Our leading lady sees the boy to the right, who is hidden behind a garden element and camouflaged by his pale clothing.In an exaggerated action, the girl makes a run for it. And by it, I do not mean she runs for the boy, she is escaping! Her body twist severely and her arms are thrown upwards, her dress and ribbon become caught up around her in the sudden movement.
The garden, particularly the trees in the background mimic this sudden dash. Branches, weighed down by heavy green leafage, create dramatic diagonals that lead the upward and to the right. A
particular tree bends over the top of the fountain, framing this element. Which leads me to her companions.Her companions stay at her feet, and they lay/sit in clumsy positions. Their positions reflect those of the two putti in the upper part of the fountain. This happens between figures and statues in the other canvases too. These little guys are awkwardly forced to twist and turn as they try to cling on to their subject (a whale or fish? You can fill me in on that one). The girls companions here, however do not appear to cling, but rather push the subject off- the three of them opponents to the suitor. The Pursuit is all action and surprise!
The suitor really does not deserve this treatment! He is polished and amiable. He is not hard on the eyes either. And if he is rendered after Louis, well, the we can agree that he wasn't unfortunate in the looks department as a boy! He approaches her, removes his hat and offers her a rose from the garden. His gracious gesture is right in line with courtly etiquette, obviously his mother taught him well. Imagine the game he'll have when he is in his 30's!Our figures do not seem to have planned their meeting, instead the girls had a play date and were interrupted by the interested boy. A total ambush! In a playful and exciting manner she moves to evade his pursuits, and we see a fun naive moment of love, one sided or not...
The full series:
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