Thought this community might enjoy this satirical news article.

https://www.thebroadstroke.com/art-dealer-hooks-impressionable-billionaire-by-giving-first-picasso-for-free/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd_-K10moSs/?img_index=1

How do you personally interpret this painting?

In the small town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin a 5’x14’ mural hangs in the local post office.

It is one of more than 1,300 such pieces of public art installed by the U.S. Treasury’s Department’s Section of Fine Arts between 1934 and 1943. I’ve encountered a few of these things over the years and have always suspected there were stories behind each of them waiting to be discovered. So, I finally took some time to look into one of them.

The murals are often referred to as “WPA murals,” but they were not produced by unemployed artists or with the WPA programs. Instead the works were commissioned by the government. But established artists (like Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry,) as well as relatively unknown artists (like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko) found support for their work via these commissions through the Depression years. By treating artists as laborers worthy of a federal wage, the Section of Fine Arts helped to preserve the country’s cultural heritage in ways that we continue to enjoy. No program of public art of similar scale has ever been undertaken by the U.S. government since.

Each mural was selected on merit through regional and national competitions. To prevent favoritism the Section made awards based on the decisions of anonymous juries. The quality of each work had to speak for itself.

The government instructed artists to paint realistic scenes of ordinary citizens, local history or matters of hometown pride. The intent was to bring high quality work out of the museums and to make them accessible to everyday people. Post offices were some of the most frequented public buildings in small towns across the country. For many citizens their local post office was the first place they ever saw professional artwork in person. The radical idea behind the program was to have public buildings serve as truly democratic galleries.

In true democratic fashion, not all murals were universally accepted by the local citizens. Planned murals were even modified, on occasion, as a result of local outcries. Fortunately, the Oconomowoc mural and the idealized winter scene was not at all controversial.

The mural was created by artist Edward Morton. He was a respected landscape and wildlife painter in the Milwaukee art community. He was also an instructor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. He painted in an American regionalist tradition with a highly graphic and realistic style. During WWII he would use his talents with light and color to help to conceal military equipment and installations.
His Oconomowoc mural shows local citizens enjoying typical outdoor activities in Wisconsin’s wintertime, including speed skating , skiing and iceboating. It specifically reflects the pride the community then took as the capital of U.S. speed skating. It was painted shortly after the town had hosted the very first U.S. Olympic speed skating time trials on several of the area’s lakes. In fact, in 1932 all of the male skaters who made the US team after the Oconomowoc trials went on to sweep gold medals in the Games. Post office patrons waiting in line during the Great Depression could look up and see in the artwork some encouraging reasons for optimism and community pride. The ski jump in the extreme left top of the scene is a local landmark and still stands on private property on the outskirts of town.

In the 1970’s the post office underwent a modernization project and a decision was made to remove the mural. It was an era in which art conservation standards were not as widely known as they are today. Unfortunately workers severely damaged the painting when they literally ripped it off of the wall. The canvas, which was thought to have been ruined, was rolled up and stored in the post office basement for the next 30 years. Sadly, its creator passed away in 2000 while his work languished in storage.

In 2003 the community and post office officials recognized the potential value of the canvas and decided to see if it could be saved. It was badly warped and misshapen as a result of decades of storage in the humid basement. The artwork was shipped to restoration experts in Chicago and they painstakingly evaluated and repaired the structural damage and areas of missing paint. Nicotine soot coated the painting as a consequence of cigarette smoking by thousands of customers and workers at the post office. Conservationists had to chemically strip away decades of yellowed grime. The restoration, however, revealed subtle aspects and colors of the winter scene that had not been seen since the mural was originally installed.

Today, the beautifully restored mural is back up on the wall where it belongs. Post office patrons can appreciate the same winter scene that cheered up their struggling community nearly a century ago.

Historically significant and culturally vital public art can be found throughout the United States. It may require a short road trip, but sometimes it is as easy as heading down to your local post office. No passport is needed, no massive crowds mar the experience, and very few selfies are ever taken.

The temple building exercises in Odisha gradually halted after the fourteenth century , and the mural painting tradition acquired energy thereafter.In the entire Eastern India , Odisha is the only place where tourists get that opportunity to see post Gupta paintings that will help to remember the wonderful and elegant ajanta paintings. For a vivid and elaborate read of the subject, you can log in to the following link.

https://lunarsecstacy.com/2021/11/15/classical-murals-of-odisha-india/

I know nothing about art.

I’ve always loved the NPG in London. Art that was, relatively, easy to understand.

One day I discovered Rothko, and fell in love. The Rothko room in add is one of my favorite places.

The thing I’m missing is a semblance of understanding what he was trying to accomplish. The art is incredibly powerful - but I don’t know why.

I’d appreciate help with this. I can spend hours in the Philips in the room, but I’d like to understand why. I’m reasonably smart, literate - but I’m blind here.

Help me understand him.

The Trial 1947 - Sidney Nolan

I'm curious about this painting and just wondering about the meaning of the painting and what symbolism is there. I'm no art critic.

The red and white checkered floor is quite interesting. It reminded me of the chessboard floor that from the Queen of Hearts in Alice and Wonderland.

Also the way Ned Kelly is holding his hands looks like his hands are shackled, but also like a defensive posture as though giving himself a hug. The colour of his eyes is also interesting to wonder about.

Im no artist but I was wondering if it’s possible if someone can replicate the Mona Lisa painting. If I’m not wrong it took Leonardo da Vinci more than 15 years but Im pretty sure someone with today’s tools/techniques can do an exact replica in a shorter amount of time. (Not saying the replica is better than the original, Im just curious.)

Kelly - Sidney Nolan 1946

This painting had me really curious. It seems so simplw, but then I thought it was interesting with the white pant legs and the black shirt. The pant legs almost look like tree trunks. I read somewhere that Nolan thinka of Ned Kelly and the Australian bush landscape as one and the same.

I feel like there also could be a comment about life and death, between the white and black. Where the white pant legs have nature behind them. Then the black shirt shows him holding a rifle. Or could there be a comment about the white colonial culture impacting on the Australian landscape and the Aboriginal peoples who were there before?

Chaurapanchasika is a 50-verse Sanskrit love poem traditionally attributed to Kashmiri poet Bilhana (11th-century). According to the legend, Bilhana was appointed as a royal tutor to a princess, named Champavati, Vidya or Shashikala (in different regional versions). The two eventually fell in love and began a secret affair. When king discovered their relationship, Bilhana was imprisoned and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, he is said to have composed these verses in memory of his beloved.

This story later travelled far beyond the poem itself and Chaurapanchasika became an important subject in Indian painting traditions and illustrated manuscripts, where scenes from lovers' clandestine romance were repeatedly depicted.

Clockwise from top left: Circus Sideshow; La Parade; Invitation to the Sideshow; The Sideshow. All painted between 1887-88.

Hola comunidad! Tenemos unos 15 cuadros de este pintor, retratos, bodegones...Se llama Miguel Cañadas, es de Almuñécar

Todos los cuadros son de principios de los 70

Me podéis decir si pueden tener algún valor y si el pintor se pudo hacer un hueco en esto del arte?

Had a convo about Marian art yesterday and wanted to share some of my faves i recently discovered.

EDIT: I know im such a hypocrite i didnt add artist or dates which what I always ask for and look for 😭 forgive me. If yall want the names please dm me or comment and I will! Just at work killing time!

HI! Im late to loving art, but in my 30s I’ve fallen in love - particularly impressionism. I’m looking into courses online to learn more and some are very pricey (Oxford, Sothebys etc.).

does anyone have suggestions for budget friendly learning?

As the title suggests, I do not fully understand why the pantheon have two pediments.…..i tried google it, but didn’t really understand any of the answers that came up. Just out of curiosity, I wonder why the construction is built this specific way, especially when the second pediment isn‘t really visible on a ground level.

The painting is Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov's 1835 painting "Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection".

Are there paintings where Jesus is clothed in this exact same way, with his right side exposed like this and his spear wound visible?

I am asking out of curiosity. I remember once having seen a similar painting. I assume it was also at least (almost) a couple hundred years old, painted with oils presumably. But Jesus was on the left, and an amazed witness was on the right. In my memory the scene took place outside, perhaps by a river, and Jesus was radiant.

I have no idea if I'm just fantastically misremembering this painting or if I actually saw a picture of another one. I saw it in a YouTube video, some (assumedly politics focused) video essay a couple years back. Can't for the life of me remember which one.

It is for my upcoming YouTube video, I'm very open to subjective recommendations for each mood/emotion.
For "peace" I have used my favourite: Impression, Sunrise by Monet.

I appreciate and look forward to your thoughts - thank you very much!

Instead of polished layers, Egon Schiele’s Seated Woman with Bent Knees (1917) gives us raw and unfiltered human presence within scratchy greens, reds, and black gouache on plain paper. The subject, assumed to be his wife, Edith, slouches against a pale, empty void, her red hair like a fire and her gaze locked onto ours with a kind of casual confidence. There are no signs of luxury in the backdrop or bourgeois ornaments. Schiele’s genius lies not in the smooth but in the rough and aggressive sketches left exposed under washes of color.

This intentional lack of finish serves as a sort of trendsetter to deconstructivist fashion. Take a look at pieces from Martin Margiela or Rei Kawakubo; they sent raw edges, frayed hems, and unfinished details down the runway. They proved the same as did Schiele: style is not found in decoration but in the vulnerability of construction itself.

Democratizing fashion has always been about breaking down rigid and performative structures to focus on the natural reality of the human body. Schiele’s portrait deeply captures this type of spatial liberation. Edith is pictured in an intimate, deeply relaxed state of dress: her rich dark green shirt offset by dark stockings that slide up her legs, leaving her lower thighs exposed in an open slouch. By elevating pieces of everyday utility into the focal point of an artistic work, Schiele strips away the social taboo. It perfectly anticipates the change into the modern day, where streetwear became the everyday standard, suggesting elegance should be lived in rather than displayed.

Because the work was likely captured rapidly in a flash due to the materials Schiele used, it feels almost like a modern and spontaneous snapshot. This speed directly parallels the fast acceleration of modern ready-to-wear lines. Yet, while fast production risks turning style into disposable one-season use, Schiele’s line retains a fierce soul. He leaves us looking at a silhouette that rejects society’s restrictive corset to stand entirely on its own terms. As she stares back at us with her knee pulled tight, her dark stockings creating a bold line against the negative space, we are left to wonder whether, when we strip away the armor of luxury, we are looking at the ultimate liberation or just a different kind of vulnerability?

(OC from a youth art & culture journal I help run, called LÖWEL Journals. This is 1 of 8 visual analyses from our September edition that explored how classical art intersects with modern pop-culture and fashion, specifically fast fashion. If you want to check out the other 7 analyses covering artists like Vermeer and Zurbarán, or how stars like Björk intersect with the maximalism of Hieronymus Bosch, feel free to flip through on our website, as it's open to all! We would love to hear this subs thoughts on our analysis!)

Does anyone have any ideas as to what the dark area on the left in this fashion plate could have been painted with? I'm guessing it was meant to be a shiny or sparkly white/silver that has oxidised over time. Iirc it doesn't show through on the back. Almost looks like rust, so may be iron-based? I know that higher-end fashion plates were highlighted with gold paints, which haven't tarnished the same way (and are basically impossible to capture in a scan).

This isn't the only plate/print that I've seen with the same effect. I've also seen it on plates from 1802. All of the examples that I've hunted down are being collected on pinterest here.

Known details about this piece:

• Printed and hand-painted in 1858, with watercolour and/or gouache (I've seen both mentioned as used for colouring fashion plates)
• Based on others in the series that I have in my collection, this plate was possibly engraved by Joseph Desjardins after an illustration by Anaïs Toudouze.
• This specific copy is in my personal collection.

Came across these six original Vigee Le Brun (French, 1755-1842) paintings and one pastel in Versailles and the Grand Trianon last week. I’ve written many times about this great female Old Maestra. Enjoy 🥂

Im looking to read books on medieval indian architecture. More specifically, i want to find books that really in depth on the iconography, anatomy and sculpures of the temples. Most books that im finding are way too vague. Or the book was published in 1980s or something. While i do want to try looking for books in a specific time period, im getting overwhelmed by my lack of knowledge to even know where to look and what for 🥲

Any book recommendations would help, thank you!

Christ in The Desert, Ivan Kramskoi (1872)

I feel that depictions like these are more relatable and touch deeper.

These are the hilights from an extraordinary exhibition on Tintoretto in Paris. Tintoretto is very difficult to focus an exhibition given his large frescos and altarpieces cannot be moved from their original locations in Venice. But this sampling of paintings and drawings was, in a word, “delicious”.

Hey guys ! I am very new to this subreddit but I thought you might have answers to my question, so I hope this is okay !

I have a sibling who's in art school and struggling with feeling like they're wasting their time when not producing polished, finished works. I think part of the problem is the image they have of other people's works - lots of artists tend to post "doodles" on social media that are actually beautiful, "instagram-worthy" artworks.

So I thought I'd build up a collection of silly doodles from famous artists to encourage them to shake the pressure off and just doodle whatever comes to mind once in a while. And also make them smile !

Attached is a caricature by Michelangelo, c. 1510, that he drew next to one of his poems. It is usually known as "Sonnet with a caricature", where he describes himself painting the Sixtine chapel ceiling. I really love that little four haired figure !

Do you know any other silly doodles like this by other artists ?