Edward Burne-Jones (August 28, 1833 – June 17, 1898)

                                                                                                                 

Pan and Psyche

1872-1874

It is perhaps a wrongheaded approach to evaluating Pre-Raphaelites, but I always seem to judge the artists by how they represent women in their works. Obviously these paintings are for more than just their female characters, but those characters are so representational to me of the romantic concept of England that I cannot divorce myself from this approach. And Burne-Jones was able to translate that sort of beautiful English  romanticism into subjects not only Arthurian, but Greco-Roman, more beautifully,  I would wager, than most of his contemporaries. 

Lancelot at the Chapel of the Holy Grail

1896

The Annunciation

1876-1879

The Baleful Head

1886-1887

King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid

1883

The Birth of Pegasus and Chrysaor from the Blood of Medusa

1876-1885

The Wheel of Fortune

1888

The Perseus Series: The Doom Fulfilled

1884-1885

Pablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) II

                                                                                                               

Portrait of the Artist's Father

1896

Following in the wake of my last Picasso post (only his Rose Period), I've decided to continue onto his Blue Period. The period began, according to Picasso, with the death of his friend in 1901; "I started painting in blue when I learned of Casagemas's death." But I think that was a retroactive romanticization. Picasso's periods bled into each other as did his paints. The two works at the top and bottom of this post illustrate a pre-1901 proclivity towards blueness. And several of the paintings here presage his Rose Period. For me, there's something so inhuman about the lot of them, but especially his self-portrait. 

Self-Portrait

1901

Woman on the Stage

1901

The Gourmet

1901

Madonna with Garland

1904

Child with a Dove

1901

Still-Life with Flowers

1901

Pierrot and Dancer

1900 

Mark Tobey (December 11, 1890 – April 24, 1976)

                                                                                                               

Orange Leaves

1965 

Tobey may not be the first person you think of when you muse on Abstraction (it's probably Pollock), but, in my view, Tobey enthused a great deal more spirituality into his works than his contemporaries. In fact, Pollock was somewhat influenced, and not surprisingly when you view his works, by Tobey. Of course, Tobey was one of the eldest Abstractionists about, having been born in the 19th century (thinking about Tobey, I'm a bit reminded of Pissarro, who was the old man of the Impressionist clique, or, if you prefer the Beat Generation writer William Burroughs). I think there's something extremely interesting about those long-lived elder artists that form artistic circles around themselves, because they always tend to have a deep amount of reflection in their works, while working in very modern styles; certainly Tobey seems, to me, to be such an artist. 

Untitled

1957 

Untitled

Edge of August

1953

Untitled

1966

Composition with Yellow Spots

1965

Head

1952

Untitled

1968

Henri Martin (August 5, 1860 - November 12, 1943)

                                                                                                                     

Olive Trees by the Sea

The posts a bit late today, but better late than never. Anyway: Martin: Martin was never one to create a revolution in the art world, but he was a painter that consistently created wonderful pieces. It seems almost condescending to say of Martin that he was a capable artist, because capability isn't enough to make art, but, among greats such as Gauguin and van Gogh, he doesn't quite stand out. Yet there is a wonderful beauty to a great many of his works; a beauty, which was recognized among his fellow artists, but never quite in an uproar. 

Ducks on the Vert

Laborers Prepare the Vines in Quercy

Vase of Flowers

c. 1910

Silence

1894-1897

Self-Portrait

1912

Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400 – June 18, 1464)

Portrait of a Lady

c. 1455 

Weyden was a tremendous force in the art world during his lifetime. He was so famous that he was even able to eclipse his contemporary van Eyck, an eclipse that has lasted into modern times. (Personally, I don't quite agree with the common assessment, as van Eyck's style always seemed the sharpest and most spiritual out of all the Northern Renaissance painters.) Weyden often imbued a great mystery into his paintings, as in a Portrait of a Lady, which carries obvious parallels in the softness of the character's impression to da Vinci's Mona Lisa. And Weyden is an excellent illustration of the wonderfulness of the Northern Renaissance, which I think has been rather unfairly seen as secondary relative to the advancements of the Italian masters. 

Deposition

c. 1435 

                                                                                                                   

Annunciation Triptych

c. 1440

Portrait of a Woman

c. 1464

Miraflores Altarpiece

c. 1440

Lady Wearing a Gauze Headdress

1435

Bladelin Triptych

1445-1450

Mario Sironi (May 12, 1885 – August 13, 1961)

                                                                                             

Futurist Head

1913 

Sironi was a grand follower of Futurism, who produced some of the most somber works of the movement, echoing his own human condition, which from his early years often dipped into deep depressions. During the rise of Mussolini, Sironi was a strong supporter of the dictator and Fascism, so, with little surprise, following the end of World War II, Sironi's reputation was mostly destroyed, sending him into obscurity for the rest of his life. In his later years, he produced wonderful Expressionist pieces, whose reputations are smaller than what is due to them. 

Portrait of Brother Ettore

1910

Composition (San Martino)

1930

The Truck

1914-1915

Model

1958 

Cyclist

1916-1920 

The Family

1933-1934

Ballerina

1918-1919

Self-Portrait

1910-1911

Melchior Broederlam (c. 1355 – 1411)

                                                                                                       

The Dijon Altarpiece

1393-1399

Broederlam was an extremely influential artist from the Gothic Art period, but, unfortunately, only one extant work can be cleanly attributed to him. His influence though has been long surviving, including the influence he had on the fabulous van Eyck. As for the piece, the panels are full of wonderful details, especially the crimson seraphim swarming around a blowing figure that I'm not sure the identity of. Does anyone know who it is?

The Dijon Altarpiece [Detail]

1393-1399

The Dijon Altarpiece [Detail 2]

1393-1399

The Dijon Altarpiece [Detail 3]

1393-1399

The Dijon Altarpiece [Detail 4]

1393-1399

The Dijon Altarpiece [Detail 5]

1393-1399