Art is the Solution

Young Herdsmen with Cows Source: MET Museum In this stressful time, I thought I’d offer you a calming scene: Young Herdsmen with Cows by Aelbert Cuyp. This painting dates to the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great prosperity in the Netherlands that is associated with an explosion of artistic production. Paintings from this period often depict domestic scenes and scenes of everyday life. In this time of prosperity, Dutch art tended to look inward, celebrating the cultural and social values that brought wealth to the Netherlands (or, at least, that was what contemporary Dutch society believed). This painting, entitled Young Herdsmen with Cows , follows this model. As the title suggests, the piece depicts a herd of cows being tended by two young men. The majority of the painting is dominated by a placid blue sky, tinged with golden light. The animals look out over a river or lake, the surface of the water luminous and smooth. Although it seems like a simple scene, Cuyp relies...

Noli me Tangere Source: Arthive.com In this time of social distancing, I thought I’d bring you another painting from the mannerist movement: Noli me Tangere by Lavinia Fontana. Noli me Tangere translates to Touch me Not ; it refers to a biblical scene in the Gospel of John in which Mary Magdalene encounters Christ after his resurrection. Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to touch him, implying that he is now separate from the corporal world. Fontana’s interpretation of this scene is lush and colorful, featuring warm, jewel-toned colors. The figures of Mary Magdalene and Christ dominate the foreground, while the two other Marys arrive at the tomb to meet the angel who tells them that Jesus has been resurrected. Although this scene has been reproduced many times in the history of Western art, Fontana’s painting is unusually warm and tender in comparison to other depictions of the same moment, which usually have a more formal air. Christ stands in a casual pose; his body forms an S sha...

Laocoön Source: National Gallery of Art In this history of Western art, the painter El Greco stands out as one of the most unique artists of all time. I’ve written about El Greco many times on this blog. He was a visionary, a man who was ahead of his time in many ways. Although he worked in Spain during the sixteenth century, his work appears exceptionally modern to twenty-first century viewers.  His work is characterized by distorted, elongated figures and a strange, grey-toned color scheme. His style has a painterly quality that gives it an energetic aura. Although some aspects of El Greco’s style (a name that literally means the Greek, a reference to the artist’s birth place) are in keeping with the Mannerist movement, his paintings exhibit a singular style totally unique to the artist. This painting, entitled Laocoön , is particularly unique. The piece tells the story of the demise of the mythological figure Laocoön, a character in Virgil’s Aeneid. Virgil recounts the d...

Portrait of Pig Source: The Brandywine River Museum In this time of stress and isolation for many people around the world, I thought it might be uplifting to chat about a rather whimsical painting, Portrait of Pig by Jamie Wyeth. Jamie Wyeth is a member of the famous Wyeth family, and is the son and grandson respectively of celebrated painters Andrew Wyeth and N.C. Wyeth. Although he’s probably not as well known as his relatives, he’s certainly a famous and talented painter in his own right. Wyeth has a bit of a flair for paintings of animals, and Portrait of Pig is probably his best known effort in this category. According to my research , Portrait of Pig is the product of Wyeth’s efforts to capture the character of a particular pig named Den Den. The painting is life size and uses a painterly style to re-create the bristly texture of Den Den’s hair. Although it is a charming and entertaining painting, Portrait of Pig also represents the fundamental search for truth an...

Sir Lancelot and Sir Bors outfit Galahad with his spurs Source: Boston Public Library I’ve written many times about my great love of Pre-Raphaelite art. Although it’s not something I know much about, it is a style that I find very attractive on an aesthetic level. If you want to know more about the style, I suggest you read this excellent essay . However, I can tell you that Pre-Raphaelite artists believed art should portray “serious” subjects, such as literature, poetry, mythology, and history. In particular, they drew inspiration from medieval art. Although Edwin Austin Abbey (the artist I’m discussing today) was not a Pre-Raphaelite artist, his work owes much to the Pre-Raphaelite tradition. Abbey, who was a famed illustrator and muralist, employed the same realism tinged with the mystical symbolism that makes Pre-Raphaelite art so appealing. The Quest and the Achievement of the Holy Grail Murals—commissioned by the Boston Public Library (where they can still be seen)—are a good...

A few days ago, I talked about a particularly strange painting from the Medieval period , an era that should be famous for its inventive and highly imaginative art. Today, I want to discuss another piece of unique art from the Medieval period: the Ebbo Gospels.  Saint John Source: PBS Illuminated manuscripts remain some of the most important artistic artifacts from the medieval period. In an age when all books had to be copied by hand, the scholars—mostly monks—took special care to produce high quality and beautiful manuscripts. However, because artistic training was less centralized at the time, Medieval art varied widely in terms of style, giving rise to the great originality of Medieval art.  Saint Luke Source: Pintrest The Ebbo Gospels are a good example of this phenomenon. The artistic style of this manuscript—which is richly illustrated—is truthfully, unlike anything else in Western art. The four illustrations of writers of the gospels are perhaps the best exa...

Last Supper Source: Wikipedia I’ve written many times about my love of Mannerist painting. It’s a particularly weird, yet dramatic genre of painting, both qualities that endear it to me and make it continually interesting to modern viewers. The Venetian artist Tintoretto was one of the most famous Mannerist artists of his time. One of his most striking pieces is his interpretation of the Last Supper, the biblical scene in which Christ shares one last meal with his apostles before his crucifixion. Because of its theological significance to Christians, the Last Supper has traditionally been a common subject for Western artists, particularly during the Renaissance and Counter-Reformation periods. Leonardo da Vinci’s version of the Last Supper has long been one of the most famous paintings in the world, a classic of the Renaissance movement. In many ways, da Vinci’s Last Supper represents the standard practices for depicting the subject at the time. All of the figures face the viewe...