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painting

Painter Hubert Vos’s ‘Exotic People’: Maastricht to Manhattan and Beyond

February 23, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Fernand Cormon painting at the easel surrounded by students, 1886In 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

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Cultural History, Dutch History, Manhattan, New York City, painting, womens history

Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture

January 22, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

satirical print after Robert Dighton, Molly Milton, the Pretty Oyster Woman, 1788At 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

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Art History, Culinary History, Cultural History, Food, Literature, Musical History, Oysters, painting, Poetry, Vice

War Artists’ Tragedy & Farce: The Americanized ‘Temple of War’

November 21, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Pantheon de la Guerre Mural detail (National World War I Museum).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’

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Cultural History, fair, French History, German-American History, Military History, New York City, painting, World War One

Paint Tubes, Plein Air and Protest

November 2, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

John Rand Goffes patent drawingsLiving 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

Filed Under: Arts, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: art, Art History, Cultural History, Hudson River School, Impressionism, New York City, painting, plein air painting

Conservation of Livingston Family Portraits Underway

May 26, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Portrait of Mrs LivingstonThe 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

Filed Under: Arts, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Columbia County, Columbia County Historical Society, Cultural History, Genealogy, Historic Preservation, Material Culture, painting

Myth and Migration: The Old West As Urban Invention

April 25, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

The Island of UtopiaThe 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

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: art, Art History, Cultural History, German-American History, Immigration, Literature, Manhattan, Ned Buntline, New York City, painting, Theatre

The Colonial Virginia Portraits Digital Project (Podcast)

April 14, 2021 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

ben_franklins_worldIn 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)

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Art History, Cultural History, painting, Podcasts

Annual Plein Air ‘Paint Out’ Goes Anywhere, Online

August 28, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Diane Davis (left) and Donna Stoner (right) show off their Plein Air skills in ForestportView’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

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Events Tagged With: art, Old Forge, painting, plein air painting, View

NorthWind Fine Arts Paint & Pixels Show

August 9, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Hurricane Reflections by Russ HartungNorthWind 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

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts Tagged With: art, Art Exhibit, nature, NorthWind Fine Arts, painting

Adirondack Plein Air Festival Online and Outdoors

June 5, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Baker Mountain in the Spring by Sandra HildrethThe 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

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Nature Tagged With: art, nature, painting, plein air painting, Saranac Lake, Saranac Lake ArtWorks

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