Hello beautiful people!
I want to start saying that I can be very intense, specially writing and sharing photos, so this post will be long but if you like to learn and see ART, culture and some crazy things, then this post it's for you,
This week I finally got out of my cave/studio! I honestly can't remember the last time I went out to visit a place that wasn't for art or grocery shopping.
VISITING ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM
I want to show you what I saw at the St. Louis Art Museum, which by the way has been one of the places I've frequented the most since I moved here, I could spend quite a few hours here looking at my favorite pieces and even painting there some studies.
Here we see the bronze sculpture of St. Louis IX, King of France, this sculpture dates from 1904-1906 designed by Charles Henry Niehaus and created by W.R Hodges.
So, lets explore some pieces with me...starting with the European art and those Madonnas. This room always reminds me of the books I used to see as a child, with those religious figures in incredible super intense primary colours with the striking gold added to the halos or to some objects, but another thing that is striking is the framing, the frame or the wood altarpieces itself are another work of art.
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Sts. Christopher, Blaise, Sebastian, and Francis- 1484
Artist
Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino
This triptych piece always makes me turn around, it's impossible not to see it with that striking design as if it were a golden cathedral. Saints Christopher and Blaise to the left, Saints Sebastian and Francis to the right. Above, in three-part openings called trefoils, God the Father blesses in the center panel, while the Virgin Mary and the archangel Gabriel enact the Annunciation
Here a wide view of the green room.
The Madonna and Child with Saints Louis of Toulouse and John the Evangelist with donors Ludovico Folchi and his wife Tommasa.
Artist
Davide Ghirlandaio
I really like this Renaissance-style piece, the golden shell and the frame seem to belong together, and I also like to see all the details in gold, tiny dots creating the auras with a beautiful composition, look at the classic expressions of the painting period and those skins.
To emphasize the spiritual meaning of the work, the artist uses the technique of architectural perspective with a central vanishing point to draw the eye to the pomegranate, a symbol of Christ's resurrection.
Artist
Spinello Aretino
From this painting I like the way the baby takes her mother mantle and his face like wanting to play while the face if the mother is kind of lost in peace. The angles are just contemplating the moment like waiting to see if they approve or not. It takes my attention the color of the mantle, usually they paint this in blue color as symbol or high power, and this one it's almost black...maybe a fashion trend in Italy in that moment?.
Annunciation, c.1515
Artist
Gerard David
I love this painting and frame, it captures that intimate moment that can be projected in this work where Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel giving her the news, we can see the Holy Spirit and the angel's cape with all the jewelry adornments. The angel's white robe is reminiscent of the contemporary garments worn by the acolytes who assisted priests in celebrating Roman Catholic Mass.
And now, lest move to another room...
Mary, Lady Guildford, 1527
Artist
Hans Holbein the Younger
I have to confess that the first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful framing with those little faces like little suns.
Then I can see a not very happy face, maybe she was modeling without wanting? look at those details of the hands holding her prayer book and a rosary, isn't amazing? Can you see some kind of rosemary herbs in the middle of her chest? Not sure if that's rosemary.
The artist also incorporated green grape vines and leaves (symbols of wealth) and his favorite blue to create a background of considerable beauty.
Portrait of a Lady, probably Camilla Martelli de'Medici, 1570's
Artist
Alessandro Allori
What I really like about this portrait is the light, specially the fuchsia pink with the embroidery on the costume and the way it is decorated, her necklace of pearls, rubies and emeralds combined with her ring are the perfect adornment, fashion in all its splendor.
The Wounded Seagull, 1788
Artist
Jules Breton
When I saw this piece years ago I felt in love with it, the light and the details of the hands with the seagul are so beautiful. The artist was fascinated by the “mystic wildness” of Breton women and focused on this peasant’s compassion for a wounded bird while other healthy birds glide in the distance. Yes! thats the feeling I get: COMPASSION. Actually I did two watercolors inspired in this painting and they are available on my Etsy.
Let's move to another room...
The Dreamer, 1879
Artist
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
I have always liked Renoir because his works seem very fresh to me, both in color and brushstrokes. I like how the optical illusion of the loose brushstrokes creates detail at the same time.
The look and the finger on the lips have been classified as "saucy" for their time. Although I see myself with a doubtful face rather than a flirtatious one.
Léonard Renoir, The Artist's Father, 1869
Artist
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Painted when the artist was twenty-eight, Renoir’s work represents his 70 year-old father, who was a tailor from Limoges in the south-west of France.
I don’t think I’d ever paid attention before to this portrait of Auguste’s father, but you can still see the artist’s style in the brushstrokes, although the colors are darker except for the pink of the face, and what I think makes it more striking is the frame
Head of a Peasant Woman, 1884
Artist
Vincent van Gogh
For me the title is a bit strange because it is not just the woman's head, but well, as we know Vincent was very related to the life of the peasants and here we can see one of his works in dark tones, where the white tones are the ones that stand out the most, this piece was created before Van Gogh changed the palette to his super bright tones. It is not one of my favorites, but it is a Van Gogh from an early age.
Artist
Vincent van Gogh
Stairway at Auvers, 1890
Artist
Vincent van Gogh
Factories at Clichy,1887
Artist
Vincent van Gogh
In these pieces we can see that Vincent colors his brushstrokes more vivid, with the red colors of the poppies and roofs predominating, the waving yellows of the grass and that peculiar shape of the stairs where everything seems to be in motion, green meadows and smoky blues getting lost among the clouds. Have you seen the tiny couple in the middle of the factory field?
Vineyards at Auvers it's strange to me because Vincent has an unusual composition where in the center we see only the grass, the small houses at the very top and a line of red poppies on the left almost coming out of the frame. What is it that draws our attention the most? What is your focal point of reference? He plays with focal distances.
And now...
Water Lilies, 1915-26
Artist
Claude Monet
This is absolutely beautiful to observe, so meditative and peaceful, the effect of the colors and the wide view is enchanting. Monet and me, both flower lovers.
This painting constituted the center part of a triptych, which was separated in 1956 when it was sold at Knoedler's. The left panel of the composition was sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, and the right panel was purchased by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Can you imagine all them together? what a marvel!
Now lest see the Picassos, surprisingly the museum has many pieces but this time I will focus only in 2: Seated Woman from 1973 and Pitcher and fruit bowl from 1931.
Im not a fan but I appreciate his works and I do like a few not cubists, But speaking of cubism, here we can appreciate how the woman's body, especially her buttocks and her face, are fragmented, creating different perspectives.
Pablo was a crazy man and artist, his still lives were full with secret meanings, it is said that this work is a disguised portrait of his lover, Marie-Thérèse Walter. The pitcher is painted in the brilliant yellow often used to represent Marie-Thérèse's hair while the green apple suggests the shape of her breast and the curling black lines referring to the contours of her body. Who would imagine!
But now lest deform images even more. Here a few images from the abstract section.
Fuel Rods, 1984-87
Artist
Anselm Kiefer
I like abstract art, but not all of it. However, I do like some of Anselm Kiefer's pieces quite a bit and the way he handles color balances and textures.
Anselm Kiefer combined paint with the unlikely materials of lead, copper, and straw. Blackened furrows extend toward a distant horizon while a rusted ice skate and a porcelain shard, both placed in the foreground, emphasize the surface of the painting.
"In this ravaged view, Kiefer merges ancient mythology with the realities of modern technology. The 14 vertical rods at the center of the composition allude to the Egyptian myth of Osiris, a god who was turned into 14 pieces before being reassembled by his sister-wife, Isis. The rods also represent fuel rods used in nuclear power plants, such as the one at Chernobyl that catastrophically failed in 1986. The painting's monumental size and imposing physical bulk are matched by Kiefer's ambition to address the profound issues of death, destruction, and renewal that continually confront humanity."
And now....
Ici, 1992
Artist
Joan Mitchell
Really? No matter how big or small, or how many words about the meaning of this...I don't like it, this is HAMPARTE (Hamparte means the art of not having any talent).
But now from one crazy thing to another I want to show show you what I have found...
Relief with Winged Genie
Culture
Assyrian, c.2400–612 BCE
This is a carved image in this relief may represent a mythical being known as a winged genius. The figure ensures fertility and stability by pollinating a sacred tree with a cone and situla, a bucket with a handle. The cuneiform inscriptions on the surface of the sculpture exposed the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II's splendid endeavors and exploits.
I have seen this before in past visits but never with atention, and now...BOOM! I saw it!
What I saw? Not only an unknown deity but one that I have begun to know: THE ANUNNAKIS.
When I made the comment, a person looked at me as if I was crazy and that's fine, but I was quite excited to be able to witness this piece a few centimeters in front of me, where a key being from a magnificent part of the beginnings of humanity is carved and that perhaps many who see this piece have no idea about, since not even the description offered by the museum mentions it.
Last year I was reading a little about these beings that have inherited so much to us. The Anunnaki were a group of gods in the ancient Mesopotamian religions of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. They were believed to be responsible for the fate of humanity.
The term "Anunnaki" comes from the Sumerian word Anuna, which means "descendants of An". An was the Sumerian god of the sky.
The Anunnaki were described as children of the Earth and sky.
It is said that thanks to them we have all those unimaginable constructions that can't be attributed to man due to his height and strength.
The Anunnaki were depicted as human-like in appearance, with wings but often of extraordinary size and strength. They were believed to have magical powers and to be made of magical substances. The Sumerians credited the Anunnaki with many of their technological and scientific advances.
Now I have to return to make a selfie with him!
NEW HUGE CANVAS!
In other news, I have finally received my new canvas and this one it's going to be the biggest one that I have paint and I am so excited! I have already started to transfer my sketch and for sure will be so challenging, but I love challenges specially when I want to paint, here some fun pictures with the projection of my digital sketch and next day doodling it. What do you see?
Of course I will be sharing more about this as I go along with it.
TO EAT: I made raw salsa verde and this is delicious, perfect for rice, beans, vegetables or just tortilla chips, you can see the recipe HERE
TO LISTEN: "Larger than life" by Backstreet boys...I know, I know, but they have a few songs that makes me dance and enjoy a lot and I was happily dancing while I was doodling my sketch, the music feels so energetic and vibrating that was perfect to work with.
TO QUOTE: I am currently reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" Book by Friedrich Nietzsche just because I remember when I was in the uni, there were some rebel people loving this, so I was curios to know about it. so I will be sharing my favorite quotes so far. (I shall wrote about my opinion about the book once I finish)
-"For great souls there is still a free life. Truly, he who possesses little, is possessed even less".
-The world revolves around the inventors of new values, it revolves without anyone noticing it. But the people and fame revolve around the actors: that is how the world moves. The actor has spirit, but little consciousness of spirit".
-"If only they were perfect as animals".
-"And with what kindness does the sensual know how to beg for a piece of spirit when she is denied a piece of flesh?
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