In spring 1905, painter Hubert Vos received a letter at his Manhattan residence from the Dutch Legation in Peking inquiring if he would be able and willing to travel to China and paint the portrait of a prominent official. The invitation was vague, but too tempting to refuse for a painter who had made the portraiture of racial types his specialty. [Read more…] about Painter Hubert Vos’s ‘Exotic People’: Maastricht to Manhattan and Beyond
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Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture
At least since Roman times oysters were associated with sex. The most obvious reason for this association is the oyster’s resemblance to the pudendum. Raw oyster was praised as an aphrodisiac. Giacomo Casanova boasted to have eaten fifty at breakfast together with a lady of his fancy.
European painters used oyster as a symbol of fertility and sexual pleasure. Aphrodite (Venus), the Goddess of love and lust, was blown over sea on an oyster shell landing at either Cythera of Cyprus (both islands were regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus). In “The Birth of Venus” Botticelli painted her approaching the shore on a giant oyster (clam) shell. By then, the associations with female beauty and physical love were well established. [Read more…] about Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture
War Artists’ Tragedy & Farce: The Americanized ‘Temple of War’
On April 13, 1927, the Thomas Jefferson Association sponsored a reception aboard the SS Paris before the departure of a massive painting from Le Havre to New York’s Pier 57 with the crate containing the art work resting on its deck.
The panoramic “Panthéon de la Guerre” (Temple of War) was heading for Madison Square Garden where it was to be exhibited in aid of the Association (the day of leaving coincided with Jefferson’s birth date).
A spectacular opening night in New York on May 19 was attended by 25,000 people and the show attracted a million visitors in eight weeks. The “Temple” created enormous curiosity. [Read more…] about War Artists’ Tragedy & Farce: The Americanized ‘Temple of War’
Paint Tubes, Plein Air and Protest
Living in London in 1841, American portrait painter John Goffe Rand patented his invention of the zinc collapsible paint tube with a stopper cap. He revolutionized the artist’s palette by offering a range of pre-mixed colors in a portable medium.
Young painters packed up their foldable easels and boxed sets of factory-made brushes and set out to explore the great outdoors. [Read more…] about Paint Tubes, Plein Air and Protest
Conservation of Livingston Family Portraits Underway
The Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has been awarded a matching Historic Preservation Grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, which will fund the restoration of two historically significant portraits in the CCHS Permanent Collection.
The portraits, which date to the early and mid 19th century, feature members of one of Columbia County’s most important and influential families: the Livingstons. [Read more…] about Conservation of Livingston Family Portraits Underway
Myth and Migration: The Old West As Urban Invention
The idea of utopia as a place of peace and plenty away from the hardships of ordinary life, is a recurring theme in literature. The term entered popular usage after publication of Thomas More’s Utopia in 1516. His Eden is an idyllic island society wholly removed from the corruption of sixteenth century England. [Read more…] about Myth and Migration: The Old West As Urban Invention
The Colonial Virginia Portraits Digital Project (Podcast)
In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Janine Yorimoto Boldt, the researcher behind the digital project Colonial Virginia Portraits, leads us on an exploration of portraiture and what it can reveal about the early American past. [Read more…] about The Colonial Virginia Portraits Digital Project (Podcast)
Annual Plein Air ‘Paint Out’ Goes Anywhere, Online
View’s 11th Annual Plein Air Paint Out is set to be held virtually, from Saturday, August 29th through September 10th.
Over 40 artists are set to donate a painting for the benefit auction, as well as providing one or two paintings for the consignment sale. [Read more…] about Annual Plein Air ‘Paint Out’ Goes Anywhere, Online
NorthWind Fine Arts Paint & Pixels Show
NorthWind Fine Arts has announced “Paint & Pixels,” a dual show of new works by award-winning area artists painter Catherine Hartung and photographer Russ Hartung. [Read more…] about NorthWind Fine Arts Paint & Pixels Show
Adirondack Plein Air Festival Online and Outdoors
The 2020 Adirondack Plein Air Festival is still on schedule, but the viewing and purchasing part of the event will be held online. [Read more…] about Adirondack Plein Air Festival Online and Outdoors