#contemporary painting contemporary artist

[leahgardner-art]

send this to someone you love 💌🐦

[awakeningthevioletswithin]

Available for $550 with Tumblr discount. DM to claim.

A Violet Melee Ensued

Watercolor On Birch Panel

2024, 12"x 16"

Viola odorata, Sweet Violets

[constanzarte]

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Les Oréades

[bebs-art-gallery]

Art by Essi Välimäki

[lesbianarthistory]

Helena Janecic – "City Gals" series (2011-2012)

[degenezijde]

From the (modern) artist's website:

"Kathleen Gilje reveals the work to be an art of ideas at the same time that is a tour de force of technical bravura; or rather, idea and materiality coincide so neatly in Gilje's work that at times we do not know we are being fooled, both visually and conceptually, until the spell wears off. But we are being deceived to some end: the subtle and not-so-subtle alterations Gilje wreaks on the time-honored icons of Western painting make us think and see differently. These new incarnations of Old Masterpieces, “contemporary restorations”, as Gilje calls them, seem to reveal the hidden implications of the works themselves, implications that, for the most part, only a present-day feminist would be privy to.” Linda Nochlin, art historian (Seeing Beneath the Surface, Art in America, March 2002, Issue no. 3)

Susanna and the Elders, Restored (Left)

Susanna and the Elders, Restored with X-ray (Right)

Kathleen Gilje, 1998

[lichtberg]

AAAA/The Useful Idiot

2024

INSTAGRAM

[mcpirita]

Works by Ozy Worldy 

[marejadilla]

Mike Worrall, “Sculling the Forest” 1991-1996, oil on panel. B. 1942, Matlock Derbyshire, UK.

[quarter0master]

but i'm going to nerd out about this for a bit to the void, mainly because of the discussions/comments in the notes.

people seem amused by what they might think is an accidental depiction of lesbian erotica in a christian work, or a clever trick played on a clueless (straight) audience, but i'm pretty sure the artist (and his buyers) are well aware of that for the most part. history paintings like this one are one acceptable way of depicting nudity, even quite erotic nudity, and artists used this fact to paint otherwise taboo subjects for a very hungry market (not saying that they weren't called out for that, contemporaries definitely had their suspicions).

on the other hand, in my personal onion, this is far from what i would call a 'queer win' or anything like that. it's fetishistic, definitely painted for the tastes of a certain audience (men). the women are asleep, which is a very common trope (think giorgione's venus) to give a voyeuristic feeling into an intimate moment. that they don't know they're being watched is part of the thrill. they are also posed in a way that is angled towards the viewer and quite unnatural. the fact that their skin tones are so contrasted against each other might have some additional fetish elements, idk, artists liked to use darker skinned women to make their fair beauties stand out more, and play up their exoticism in turn.

obviously, artist intent and what we as viewers make of the work don't have to be related, but i would also hesitate to give more credit than is due in regards to representation. additionally, i wouldn't call anyone naive for not viewing this as a queer painting. the lesbian undertones are undoubtedly there and are probably intended, but only to make it more thrilling for a male audience

The Victory of Faith  (1891) Saint George Hare 

[vaxolang]

" Survival "

Acrylic on Canvas

Size 18 x 24 cm.

[leahgardner-art]

Elderflower tea and orange blossom honey 🍯 🌼

[constanzarte]

Death of Sappho, by Miguel Carbonell Selva

[awakeningthevioletswithin]

Available for $900 with Tumblr discount. DM to claim.

The Flax Are Wild

Watercolor on Black Cotton Paper

2023, 22"x 30"

Blue Flax Flowers

[namedvesta]

Roberto Ferri, “The Labyrinth” (𝟤𝟢𝟣𝟫).

[bebs-art-gallery]

Krampus V.S. Santa by Mr. Werewolf

Krampus Compilation