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Danseuses: 2 The social message
In the previous article, I looked at a selection of paintings showing the ballet and its dancers during the lifetime of Degas, to help put his many paintings and drawings into context. The works shown...
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Changing Stories: Ovid’s Metamorphoses on canvas, 38 Cephalus and Procris
The final story in Book 7 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is its best, and a true jewel in the author’s crown. Although it has been told elsewhere, this account is by far the best. It is told by Cephalus, the...
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Degas’ Circle: Mary Cassatt, 3 Prints perfected
In April 1880, Edgar Degas withdrew from a major project in which he, Mary Cassatt, Pissarro, and others were to publish a joint print journal. Cassatt was naturally upset by this, and for a while her...
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Coast: Storms, 1 Magnasco to Aivazovsky
Soon after our distant ancestors started to migrate from east Africa, they discovered the rich harvest to be obtained from the sea, and the benefits of living on the coast. For hunter-gatherers the...
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Coast: Storms, 2 Bierstadt to Bellows
By the late nineteenth century, coastal views had become part of the repertoire of most landscape painters, but relatively few had tackled the challenge of painting storms at the coast. Albert...
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The Nearly-Impressionist Jean-François Raffaëlli
One of the frequent points of friction between Degas and most of the other Impressionists was his choice of artists to include in the movement and its exhibitions. As I have explained with respect to...
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A Woman’s Work 1: Laundry in a Landscape
When looking at art made more than a few years ago, we need to look at its historical context. Reading a painting in modern terms with 2017 eyes will often lead us astray, to see things which would...
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A Woman’s Work 2: Portrait of a Laundress
In the first article, I looked at paintings of laundering and laundresses/washerwomen in the landscape, showing that this everyday activity has been included in paintings for a long period, and that...
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Changing Stories: Ovid’s Metamorphoses on canvas, 39 Scylla and Minos, and...
Ovid completed Book 7 of his Metamorphoses with the wonderful but tragic story of Cephalus and Procris, an aside to his thread about Minos, King of Crete, waging war against the Greeks. He opens Book 8...
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Degas’ Circle: Before Impressionism
For most artists, being invited to join a social circle was important, even career-changing, as it brought them into contact with peers and patrons. A few artists have themselves been at the centre of...
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Degas’ Circle: After Impressionism
Degas was, of course, one of the core members of the Impressionist inner circle, although he is now seen as remaining the odd man out. In addition to meeting and debating with the other Impressionists...
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Coast: On a clear day – from the cliff, Friedrich to Gude
In addition to beaches, many of our coasts feature cliffs, which offer the landscape painter two options: stand on the beach and paint the towering rock, or stand on top and use it as a vantage point....
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Coast: On a clear day – from the cliff, Homer to Hills
In the previous article, I looked at paintings of the coast made from above the beach, on cliffs, up to and including the Pre-Raphaelites. This second and concluding article concentrates on the impact...
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Painting pure colour: a short history of pastels 1
Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt were highly-accomplished painters in (soft) pastels, who were remarkably innovative in their techniques and styles. To help put their pastel paintings into historical...
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Painting pure colour: a short history of pastels 2
In the eighteenth century, pastel became established as a thoroughly acceptable medium, particularly for portraiture. It was acceptable for women, used by most of the major artists, even if more...
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Changing Stories: Ovid’s Metamorphoses on canvas, 40 Daedalus and Icarus
Ovid introduced the architect and artificer Daedalus in the previous myth of the Minotaur, as the person who made the labyrinth within which the monster was confined. This provides a smooth link to the...
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Coast: When the boat comes in – 1, Under way
When humans first migrated from their origin in east Africa and encountered the sea, they discovered its rich food resources. For much of history since, those living on the coasts around the world have...
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Coast: When the boat comes in – 2, Landing the catch
In the first of these two articles, I looked at paintings of fishing boats at work on the coast, and some of the difficult conditions in which they worked. Having got back to port, or to the beach from...
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The Post-Impressionist History Painter: Francisco Pradilla Ortiz
Claims of the death of history and other narrative painting in the late nineteenth century are greatly exaggerated if not false. Among those who brought new ideas and styles to the genre was the great...
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Edgar Degas: A life in twelve paintings
Later this month, we will be remembering the life and work of Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, who died a century ago. Degas is not my favourite artist of the group known as the French Impressionists, but...
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