Art is the Solution

Fear Source: Art Institute of Chicago French painter Odilon Redon was the leader of his own particular artistic revolution. His work was far ahead of its time, so much so that his art would inspire and inform the work of Surrealist painters and other modern art movements years after Redon’s death. Redon was aligned with the Symbolist movement, which centered on the idea of seeking a higher truth through art. Unlike previous generations of artists who sought truth through realism, Symbolist artists reacted against the increasing industrialization and standardization of the modern world. Instead, they used their own powers of imagination, dreams, and visions to explore the artist’s personal experience of reality. Redon’s paintings and drawings are wildly creative and inventive, utilizing a unique and easily recognizable visual style. His early work is particularly innovative; as a young artist, Redon created a series of noirs , drawings and lithographs executed in shades of black. These ...

Smiling Spider Source: Wikimedia Commons French painter Odilon Redon was a revolutionary artist. Or, perhaps it’s better to say that he was the leader of his own particular artistic revolution. His work was far ahead of its time, so much so that his art would inspire and inform the work of Surrealist painters and other modern art movements years after Redon’s death. So, what makes his work so revolutionary? Redon’s paintings and drawings are wildly creative and inventive, utilizing a unique and easily recognizable visual style. His early work is particularly innovative; as a young artist, Redon created a series of noirs , drawings and lithographs executed in shades of black. These pieces tend to be dark, bizarre, and melancholic with otherworldly or supernatural themes. The Smiling Spider is one of Redon’s most famous noirs . As the title suggests, the piece is a lithograph of a grinning spider with a humanoid face. Its ten legs are sprawled across the page, making it seem almost like...

Orestes Pursued by the Furies Source: Wikimedia Commons Some of the most gruesome and frightening stories in Western literature come from ancient Greek literature. As Halloween season continues, I want to bring you a painting that represents one of the darkest stories in Greek canon: the tale of Orestes. In Greek mythology and literature, Orestes is the son of the legendary King Agamemnon (of The Iliad ) and Queen Clytemnestra. As the story is told by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus, Clytemnestra swore vengeance against Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia. When Agamemnon returned home after the end of the Trojan war, Clytemnestra and her lover murder Agamemnon and seize control of his kingdom. Years later, Orestes returns home bent on seeking revenge for his father’s death. Spurred on by the god Apollo, Orestes and his sister Electra conspire to kill their mother, and Orestes eventually succeeds in killing Clytemnestra and her lover. However, the murder of a family members...

Dejanira (Autumn) Source: J. Paul Getty Museum Today is the first day of fall! In honor of the new season, I wanted to share a painting with you that captures the autumnal spirit: Dejanira or Autumn by Gustave Moreau. Dejanira (Autumn) depicts a story from Greek mythology. According to legend, Dejanira was the wife of the great hero Hercules. One day, while attempting to cross a river, Dejanira was abducted by a wild centaur named Nessus. However, Hercules was able to rescue his wife by hiding among the rocks on the other side of the river and successfully ambushing and killing Nessus. This incident indirectly led to Hercules’ death. Moreau’s painting captures Nessus carrying Dejanira across the stream, the moment before the pivotal battle between the centaur and the hero. It can be seen as the calm before the storm, a liminal space on the edge of death and destruction. Moreau was one of the primary leaders of the Symbolist movement, which reacted against the increasing industriali...

The Monkey Painter Source: Musée du Louvre Monkeys are always funny, right? To celebrate April Fool’s Day—the day devoted to humor—I want to share Jean-Baptiste Chardin’s The Monkey Painter , one of the most famous and entertaining examples of the singerie style. As the name suggests (singerie is derived from the French word for monkey), the singerie style is primarily characterized by depictions of monkeys engaged in human behaviors. Although this style dates back to the time of the ancient Egyptians, the style became particularly popular in Europe starting in the sixteenth century and lasting into the early eighteenth century. During this time, singerie was all the rage, with wealthy individuals amassing collections of singerie paintings and sculptures. The style was popular primarily because the paintings were humorous and entertaining, but many were also well known as satirical works of art that offered a commentary on contemporary life. Although in modern times most people tend...

Rest on the Flight into Egypt Source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston As the holiday season begins to wrap up, I want to share one more painting that celebrates the Christmas season: Luc-Olivier Merson’s version of Rest on the Flight into Egypt . The piece depicts a scene from the gospel of Matthew in which an angel appears to Joseph in a dream to warn him that Herod is seeking to kill the Christ child. Upon waking, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt, where the family was safe. Although the rest on this journey is not specifically mentioned in the bible, it became a part of recognized Christian iconography by the fourteenth century, and, over the years, it has provided the framework for some of the most imaginative pieces of art in Western history. Merson’s version of this subject is particularly unique and interesting. Here, we see the Holy Family silhouetted against a star-strewn desert sky. Joseph sleeps on the sand, wrapped in his cloak while the family’s mule rests nearby. Ma...

Baby (Nativity Of Tahitian Christ) Source: WikiArt Paul Gauguin can best be described as a controversial—yet brilliant—artist. While Gauguin was a deeply unpleasant human being (for many reasons), he was also one of the most original and inventive artists of his age. Today, his paintings and sculptures are recognized for their original and expressive character and for Gauguin’s unique approach to color. Gauguin’s work is also remarkable for the mix of cultural themes and ideas that permeate his work. Gauguin is most famous for the art he executed while living in Tahiti, and, while his understanding of Tahitian culture was limited, his time in French Polynesia made a huge impact on his work. Bé bé ( Baby or Nativity Of Tahitian Christ ) is a fine example of the way Gauguin used cultural synchronism to create interesting and impactful art. As the title suggests, the painting is a variation on the traditional Christian nativity scene. Instead of a manger in Bethlehem with shepherds look...

Winter Source: MET Museum Today is the first official day of winter (although, in my opinion, it’s felt like winter for a while already). So, in honor of the winter solstice, I want to share a piece of art that personifies winter itself. There is a long tradition in Western art of anthropomorphizing the seasons and other abstract concepts. The seasons carry special symbolism and they are often associated with the cycle of life. Winter, as the coldest and darkest season of the year, is typically associated with death and old age. As such, winter is usually depicted as an old man or old woman, a person approaching the end of life. French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon, however, took a different approach to this subject. Rather than an elderly man, Houdon depicts winter as a young girl. Houdon’s Winter stands nude, hunched and shivering. Her head and shoulders are covered by a large, yet ineffective, shawl. Although it is obvious that the shawl does very little to warm the girl, it provid...

The Dining Room Source: Google Arts and Culture The nineteenth century was a time of remarkable expansion and growth in the world of art. It saw the development of many new artistic styles and innovations in regards to color, form, and line. Pointillism—the practice of creating an image through small dots of color—was one such new technique. The highly recognizable technique was developed by French artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in the late nineteenth century and has since gained a great deal of popularity. Together, the two artists researched color theory and the science of contrast to determine how to make pictures out of dots of color. While Signac’s work has subsequently been overshadowed by that of his contemporary Georges Seurat, he created extraordinary paintings using pointillism. The Dining Room is one of his most interesting masterpieces. It depicts the artist’s mother and grandfather eating breakfast in their dining room with a maid standing at attention. Signac use...

The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer Source: National Gallery of Art Most people think of Edgar Degas as the painter of ballerinas. Degas rose to prominence as an artist in the mid-nineteenth century. While he originally studied to be a history painter, Degas became one of the leading painters of the Impressionist movement, and he quickly began to paint scenes of contemporary life. The ballerinas were some of his earliest and most common subjects. He even painted rehearsals and backstage scenes at the ballet. While he is most famous for these paintings, Degas also created several sculptures over the course of his career. However, The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer is one of his only surviving sculptures. As the title suggests, the sculpture depicts a young girl in the costume of a ballerina. Many ballerinas came from poor, working class backgrounds. As such, these young girls lived difficult lives and were subject to many threats. The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer reflects this sad r...

At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance Source: Wikimedia Commons During these cold, dreary days, there’s nothing better than a bright and colorful piece of art. So, today, I’d like to share a rather theatrical piece titled At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance . The piece was created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a French artist who is known today for his many lively paintings of brothels and dance halls. Although he was born into an aristocratic family, Toulouse-Lautrec suffered from various genetic disorders that left him physically disabled. He found it difficult to connect with members of his own social class because of this disability, leading him to seek friends with prostitutes and other members of the “underclasses.” Toulouse-Lautrec felt that these people were more authentic and down to earth, and, thus, they became the subjects of his paintings. At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance is a good representative of Toulouse-Lautrec’s typical style. The painting uses loose, painterly brushstrokes to cr...

The Angelus Source: Wikimedia Commons As we all prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow (if you live in the US and celebrate it, that is), I thought I’d share a painting that reminds me to be grateful for all the blessings in life. The Angelus is one of the most recognizable and moving piece of art in Western history. It was created by Jean-François Millet, one of the leading painters of the Realist movement in France. The Realists rejected the drama and overwrought emotion of the Romantic movement, choosing instead to portray the unglamorous trials and tribulations of ordinary life. Millet was particularly interested in rural life and created many paintings of farmers, their lives, and the countryside. However, The Angelus is, without a doubt, his most famous painting. The piece portrays two farmers engaged in digging potatoes. They have paused in their work and stand with their heads bent in prayer. In the background, the fields stretch away towards a sky streaked with bright clouds. Acc...

Women of Algiers Source: Wikimedia Commons There are few Romantic artists more famous than the great French painter Eugène Delacroix. Like all Romantic artists, Delacroix’s work is expressive, filled with emotion, spiritual energy, and visual drama. He was also interested in seeking authenticity within artistic expression, which Delacroix sought in Eastern cultures, a trend in art known as Orientalism. Orientalist painting emerged in Europe in the nineteenth century. It typically involved depicting sensational or stereotypical depictions of Eastern or Middle Eastern cultures. Generally, Western artists found these cultures to be more “primitive” or authentic, which made them of artistic interest. While Orientalist art reflects a deeply flawed understanding of non-Western cultures and intense ethnocentrism, Delacroix truly believed he was looking for truth in his art. He explores this idea through his monumental piece Women of Algiers . As the Louvre (which owns the painting) notes , “T...

Les Mangeurs de Serpents Source: Wikimedia Commons In the late-nineteenth century, Paul Gauguin established an artist’s community in the Breton town of Pont-Aven. Many artists who were exploring abstraction and other new forms of expression moved there to work and experiment in a creative environment. Among these artists were members of the Post-Impressionist, Symbolist, and Les Nabis movements. One such artist was Paul Sérusier, one of the early adopters of the move toward abstraction in art and a follower of Les Nabis . Les Nabis were a group of artists who sought to connect to a higher spiritual reality through their art. They believed that art had the ability to reflect the human soul and to express a deep level of meaning. Their motto explains it all: "sounds, colors, and words have a miraculously expressive power beyond all representation and even beyond the literal meaning of the words." Sérusier accomplished these goals through a bold, expressive style that featured...

Le Mystère Catholique Source: Wikimedia Commons When considering the history of Western art, it’s easy to imagine that art has become more secular over the years. While European art was once almost exclusively religious, artistic horizons began to expand in the eighteenth century, allowing painters more latitude to express themselves. Although it’s tempting to view this as a linear progression, many artists continued to find new ways to explore religious art through a modern lens. Maurice Denis was one such artist. Denis was associated with Les Nabis , a group of artists who sought to connect to a higher spiritual reality through their art. They believed that art had the ability to reflect the human soul and to express a deep level of meaning. Their motto explains it all: "sounds, colors, and words have a miraculously expressive power beyond all representation and even beyond the literal meaning of the words." That being said, the work of Les Nabis tended to be very particu...

Nuit Effet de Lune Source: Wikimedia Commons French painter Félix Vallotton is probably best known for his paintings of domestic life in nineteenth century Paris. While his interior scenes have been rightly praised, he also executed many fascinating landscapes throughout his career. Vallotton took an unconventional approach to landscapes, painting from odd or unusual angles. He was known for throwing out the rule book when it came to these scenes, choosing instead to simplify such scenes into something that gave emotional resonance. Vallotton seemed to be particularly interested in the night sky, a subject he returned to several times throughout his artistic career. Nuit Effet de Lune depicts a moonlit night sky filled with puffy, pillowy clouds. Dark trees are outlined against the sky. The composition of the scene suggests that it was painted from the point of view of someone laying on their back and looking up, perhaps a stargazer. The colors in the piece are extraordinary. The brig...

Les Licornes Source: Artsy Symbolism was a reaction against the increasing industrialization and standardization of the modern world. The Realist movement celebrated these aspects of modern life, and Realist painters devoted themselves to capturing the world in all its gritty disarray. The Symbolists, however, felt that artists should seek a higher truth in their work. French artist Gustave Moreau—one of the leaders of the Symbolist movement—sought to achieve this through mythological and religious subjects, portrayed in a fantastical style that drew inspiration from the art of the Italian Renaissance. While many of his paintings are wonderfully weird, dramatic, and elaborate (in the best possible sense), Les Licornes is a particularly lavish and fantastical piece. The painting depicts a group of richly dressed princesses surrounded by a herd of unicorns. According to my research , the painting depicts a magical island with an all-female population, inspired by Themyscira, the mytholo...

A Burial at Ornans  Source: Wikimedia Commons I am of two minds when it comes to Realism in art. While I generally believe that art should portray the details of real life and not shy away from the gritty aspects of reality, it is undoubtable that less realistic art is often more fun and enjoyable to look at. Yet, however you feel about Realism in art, it is impossible to deny that Realism plays a crucial role in the history of art. The Realist movement in Europe was pioneered in the mid-nineteenth century by French artists, including Gustave Courbet, who is widely considered to be one of the great masters of European Realism. The Realist movement was a reaction against the drama and emotional excesses of Romanticism and the pomp and stoicism of Neo-Classicism. Instead, the Realists sought to capture the reality of everyday life, complete with mundane and unpleasant details. Courbet’s A Burial at Ornans is one of the most famous paintings of this age (although Courbet and his art ...

Reflection Source: Wikimedia Commons As we drift towards winter, I thought I’d share a painting that reminds me of spring and summer. With its warm, vibrant colors and serene subject matter, it is certainly a piece for gentler weather. Reflection depicts a woman, dressed in a long, flowing garment, gazing down at her reflection in an indistinct body of water. The landscape blurs together here, detail lost in a haze of bluish-purplish water, rolling blue hills, and a pinkish sky. Simply put, it is a feast for the eyes, a cheerful and peaceful painting that inspires introspective calm. French artist Odilon Redon executed a number of these soothing, colorful paintings after recovering from a serious illness in 1895. During this period, he developed a dreamlike style that was heavily inspired by Japanese art and the natural world. Redon himself was a rather revolutionary artist. His paintings and drawings are wildly creative and inventive, utilizing a unique and easily recognizable visual...

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post entitled “ Five Female Artists You Should Know .” I enjoyed writing the post, but it didn’t give me nearly enough space to talk about all the female artists I wanted to mention. So, today, I’m going to give you five more! The world of art is vast and varied. However, in almost every culture around the world, female artists have been undervalued or dismissed at some point in history. That being said, female artists have persisted in creating amazing art throughout the ages, and we’re going to continue discussing that today. Lavinia Fontana - Lavinia Fontana was one of great Italian mannerists of the sixteenth century and also happens to be one of the first Western, female artists with a well-documented career (there, of course, were many female artists before the sixteenth century, but their work was often anonymous or misattributed). She was (and is) quite famous in her home city of Bologna and was much in demand as a portrait artist as well as a ...