#jaques-louis david

[gleichschenklig]

The Coronation of Napoleon, 1808 by Jacques-Louis David.

[iceblz]

[vonlipvig]

i was telling my parents about we. the revolution and they were like "so all the characters are actual historical figures?" and i go well i think so cause i'm not really familiar with every name but you've got the really well known names like robespierre, danton, and marat, which then reminded us of that really famous painting of marat, so i go google that because we didn't really know who painted it, and then i see this and go

"I KNOW HIM THAT'S MY FRIEND DAVID!!!!"

[lollobarcollomanonmollo]

women artists that you should know about!!

-Judith Leyster (Dutch, 1609-1660)

During her life her works were highly recognized, but she got forgotten after her death and rediscovered in the 19th century. In her paintings could be identified the acronym "JL", asually followed by a star, she was the first woman to be inserted in the Guild of St. Luke, the guild Haarlem's artists.

-Artemisia Gentileschi (Italian, 1593-1656)

"... Si è talmente appraticata che posso osar de dire che hoggi non ci sia pare a lei, havendo fatto opere che forse i principali maestri di questa professione non arrivano al suo sapere". This is how the father Orazio talked about his nineteen year old daughter to the Medici's court in Florence.

In 1611, Artemisia got raped, and she had to Undergo a humiliating trial, just to marry so that she could "Restore one's reputation" , according to the morality of the time. Only after a few years Artemisia managed to regain her value, in Florence, in Rome, in Naples and even in England, her oldest surviving work is "Susanna and the elders".

-Elisabeth Louise Vigèe Le Brun (French, 1755-1842)

She was a potrait artists who created herself a name during the Ancien Règime, serving as the potrait painting of the Queen of France Marie Antoinette, she painted 600 portraits and 200 landscapes in the course of her life.

-Augusta Savage (Afro-American, 1892-1962)

Augusta started making figures when she was a child, which most of them were small animals made out of red clay of her hometown, she kept model claying, and during 1919, at the Palm Beach County Fair, she won $25 prize and ribbon for most original exhibit. After completing her studies, Savage worked in Manhattan steam laundries to support her family along with herself. After a violent stalking made by Joe Gould that lasted for two decades, the stalker died in 1957 after getting lobotomized. In 2004, a public high school, Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, in Baltimore, opened.

-Marie Ellenrieder (German,1791-1863)

She was known for her portraits and religious paintings. During a two years long stay in Rome, she met some Nazarenes (group of early 19th century German romantic painters who wanted to revive spirituality in art),after becoming a student of Friedrich Overbeck and after being heavily influenced by a friend, she began painting religious image, getting heavily inspired by the Italian renaissance, more specifically by the artist Raphael. In 1829, she became a court painter to Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden.

-Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (French,1841-1893)

Morisot studied at the Louvre, where she met Edouard Manet, which became her friend and professor. During 1874 she participated at her first Impressionist exhibition, and in 1892 sets up her own solo exhibition.

-Edmonia Lewis or also called "wildfire" (mixed African-American and Native American 1844-1907)

Edmonia was born in Upstate New York but she worked for most of her career in Rome, Italy. She was the first ever African American and Native American sculptor to achieve national and international fame, she began to gain prominence in the USA during the Civil Ware. She was the first black woman artist who has participated and has been recognized to any extent by the American artistic mainstream. She Also in on Molefi Kete Asante's list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

-Marie Gulliemine Benoist (French, 1768-1826)

Daughter of a civil servant, Marie was A pupil of Jaques-Louis David, whose she shared the revolutionary ideas with, painting innovative works that have caused whose revolutionary ideals he shared, painting innovative works that caused discussion. She opened a school for young girl artists, but the marriage with the banker Benoist and the political career Of the husband had slowly had effect on her artistic career, forcing her to stop painting. Her most famous work is Potrait of Madeline, which six years before slavery was abolished, so that painting became a simbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights.

-Lavinia Fontana (Italian, 1552-1614)

She is remembered for being the first woman artist to paint an altarpiece and for painting the first female nude by a woman (Minerva in the act of dressing), commissioned by Scipione Borghese.

-Elisabetta Sirani. (Italian, 1698-1665)

Her admirable artistic skills, that would vary from painting, drawing and engraving, permitted her, in 1660, to enter in the National Academy of S. Luca, making her work as s professor. After two years she replaced her father in his work of his Artistic workshop, turning it into an art schools for girls, becoming the first woman in Europe to have a girls' school of painting, like Artemisia Gentileschi, she represent female characters as strong and proud, mainly drawn from Greek and Roman stories. (ex. Timoclea Kills The Captain of Alexander the Great, 1659).

[minutestildawn]

When you stand in front of me and look at me, what do you know of the griefs that are in me and what do I know of yours?

Redraw of the Death of Marat by Jaques-Louis David but as good omens

[clarette-arsenault]

Here are some inspirations for Clarette Arsenault! There is a blank template below the cut, given to my by @evrensadwrn. Image sources are linked in the names.

Pygmalion - A mythological sculptor who created a statue and fell in love with it. He wished for it to come to life, and it did. Clarette creates new vampires in an attempt to do the same.

The Witch from Howl's Moving Castle - The witch desires Howl's heart in order to use it along with a body and brain from different men to cobble together the perfect person. She also does everything with a sense of style and a heap of madness, which is very Clarette.

Jaques-Louis David - One of the founders of neoclassicism, and widely considered its greatest artist. Neoclassisim arose after the Renaissance in response to Greek and Roman art, and focuses on creating the ideal image through visual harmony and universal themes. David's place in this movement made him extremely important within French politics. For example, he worked directly with Napoleon and switched sides expertly as the tides of war shifted. Clarette survived through the ages in a similar way and has similar views on art.

Anna Kerenina - Unsatisfied with the life she has, Anna throws it away through infidelity. After realizing that she is still not satisfied, she swings between mania and depression and self-sabotages all of her relationships until she meets a tragic end. Similarly, Clarette is never satisfied and struggles with the same wild changes in mood.

Victor Frankenstein - Frankenstein creates a custom creature, and then abandons his creation in horror. Clarette has done this...too many times to count.

Cosimo de'Medici - The Lord of Florence was a patron of the arts and the reason that much of the best Italian art of the 1400s exists. His wealth and influence also made him crucial to know in political circles. Clarette does the same for actors in Hollywood, and gains similar prestige from doing so.

[saturni-idae]

☁️☀️Link conquering the skies ☁️☀️

(Don't ask how He got the horse up there,,,, ok?)

After watching the last trailer I wanted to paint Link, he looks soooo good with the new outfit :D

This is also a study of "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" by Jaques-Louis David

[lovelypearls]

30 Days of Aphrodite

Day 13: Share your favorite piece of art that depicts Aphrodite or reminds you of Aphrodite.

I already shared 2 on one of the other posts for this challenge so I'll share a few more!

Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan - Alexandre Charles Guillemot

Mars Being Disarmed by Venus - Jaques-Louis David

this painting - flightlessartist on tumblr

Venus Crossing the Sea in a Shell - Giuseppe Bezzuoli

Love and Empathy - Tuco Amalfi

The Birth of Venus - John Bulloch Souter (I marked this one with the wrong artist originally)

[crazy-so-na-sega]

στρατός (esercito)

Jaques Louis David -Leonida alle Termopili

La parola "στρατός" che vuol dire esercito, ha anche nei tempi più antichi (e in poesia spesso anche nel V sec.) il significato di "gente" "popolo", e in tal modo mantiene una traccia apprezzabile dell'origine di quel che noi chiamiamo "le libere istituzioni": i diritti politici dei cittadini di un'antica polis originariamente derivavano dalla loro attività nella difesa della loro patria.

-Werner Jaeger (Paideia La formazione dell'uomo greco)

[nancydrewwouldnever]

Jaques Louis David, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and Marie Anne Lavoisier, 1788, oil/canvas (Met Museum, NYC)

Lavoisier was a pioneering chemist credited with the discovery of oxygen and the chemical composition of water through experiments in which his wife collaborated. However, he was also involved in studies of gunpowder and a misunderstanding about his removal of this precious commodity from the Bastille in the summer of 1789 threw his alliances into question. This mishap and his status as a tax collector (the more prosaic means by which he funded his scientific research) led him to be guillotined in 1794.

[vnynv]

i'd hate to be a red oil paint when i saw jaques louis david coming my way

[achterberg123]

Jaques-Louis David. The Death of Marat, 1793

[jordan-of-dawn-and-storms]

Alright, so. Small rant incoming.

The dude in the painting is Jean-Paul Marat, one of the important actors of the french revolution. So far, so good, right? I mean, the french revolution brought freedom and so on and that's a great thing? However, one historic period that gets swept under the rug pretty often is the period of terror immediately after the revolution. Most ppl know about the guillotine but ignore the full scope of murder that happened then.

While this is obviously a complex situation where there's more than one person at fault, we can single out Marat as being one of the people pushing the hardest for more violence, constantly calling for more heads for the revolution, claiming that the people are in a 'grand ebulition' (best translated as boiling with rage). He calls for the death of not only royals and royalists, but often also their families, friends, children and other such 'co-conspirators'. At some point, after a lot of death already, ce calls for the death of 270 000 people to restablish public tranquility. (Fun fact: the 1801 census proclaims paris to have 547 756 inhabitants)

Enter Charlotte Corday, who after inventing a fake conspiracy is granted an audience with Marat (who is taking a sulfur bath for health reasons). She briefly argues with him, then stabs him. She justifies herself by claiming that Marat is a tyrant and causing far more death than the monarchy ever did. She is executed shortly after.

Now, enter Jaques-Louis David, a fellow revolutionary and artist, who paints 'la mort de marat', the painting in question. He paints and proclaims him as some sort of martyr of freedom and peace. The painting basically compares him to Jesus, if we look at posture, lighting and mood (compare with 'la mise au tombeau').

Basically, the painting shows Marat, a controversial historical figure and partially responsible for the murder of thousands (estimates are about 40 000), as some sort of heroic martyr.

speaking of glass onion and classical painting parallels,

[alexlacquemanne]

Décembre MMXXIII

Films

Chef (2014) de Jon Favreau avec Scarlett Johansson, Jon Favreau, Sofía Vergara, Emjay Anthony, John Leguizamo, Robert Downey Jr. et Dustin Hoffman

Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver Hollywood ? (The Naked gun 33⅓: The Final Insult) (1994) de Peter Segal avec Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, Fred Ward, O. J. Simpson, Anna Nicole Smith, Kathleen Freeman, Ellen Greene et Ed Williams

Quai des Orfèvres (1947) de Henri-Georges Clouzot avec Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier, Suzy Delair, Pierre Larquey, Claudine Dupuis, Henri Arius, Charles Blavette, René Blancard et Robert Dalban

Maintenant, on l'appelle Plata (…più forte ragazzi!) (1972) de Giuseppe Colizzi avec Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Cyril Cusack, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Riccardo Pizzuti, Ferdinando Murolo et Marcello Verziera

Moi, Michel G., milliardaire, maître du monde (2011) de Stéphane Kazandjian avec François-Xavier Demaison, Laurent Lafitte, Laurence Arné, Xavier de Guillebon, Guy Bedos, Patrick Bouchitey e Alain Doutey

Noël blanc (White Christmas) (1954) de Michael Curtiz avec Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes et John Bascia

Rendez-vous avec la mort (Appointment with Death) (1988) de Michael Winner avec Peter Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, John Gielgud, Piper Laurie, Hayley Mills, Jenny Seagrove et David Soul

Bridget Jones : L’Âge de raison (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) (2004) de Beeban Kidron avec Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, Jacinda Barrett, Shirley Henderson et Sally Phillips

Les Trois Mousquetaires : Milady (2023) de Martin Bourboulon avec François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, Eva Green, Lyna Khoudri et Louis Garrel

Y a-t-il un flic pour sauver le président ? (1991) (The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear) de David Zucker avec Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O. J. Simpson, Robert Goulet, Richard Griffiths, Anthony James et Jacqueline Brookes

Wallace et Gromit : Le Mystère du lapin-garou (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) (2005) de Nick Park et Steve Box avec Jean-Loup Horwitz, Jeanne Savary, Philippe Catoire, Frédérique Cantrel, Patrick Messe et Mireille Delcroix

Rivière sans retour (River of No Return) (1954) de Otto Preminger avec Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe, Rory Calhoun, Tommy Rettig, Murvyn Vye et Douglas Spencer

L'Ange de Noël (Christmas Magic) (2011) de John Bradshaw avec Lindy Booth, Paul McGillion, Derek McGrath, Kiara Glasco, Teresa Pavlinek et Tricia Braun

Joyeux Noël (2005) de Christian Carion avec Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Diane Kruger, Gary Lewis, Daniel Brühl, Dany Boon, Lucas Belvaux, Bernard Le Coq et Alex Ferns

L'Assassinat du père Noël (1941) de Christian-Jaque avec Harry Baur, Raymond Rouleau, Renée Faure, Marie-Hélène Dasté, Robert Le Vigan, Fernand Ledoux et Jean Brochard

Danse avec les loups (Dances with Wolves) (1990) de et avec Kevin Costner ainsi que Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd Westerman, Jimmy Herman, Nathan Lee, Tantoo Cardinal et Wes Studi

Noël en trois actes (Christmas Encore) (2017) de Bradley Walsh avec Maggie Lawson, Brennan Elliott, Art Hindle, Tracey Hoyt, Mercedes de la Zerda, Mika Amonsen, Sherry Miller, Sabryn Rock, David Tompa et Erin Agostino

La Souffleuse de verre (Die Glasbläserin) (2016) de Christiane Balthasar avec Luise Heyer, Maria Ehrich, Franz Dinda, Dirk Borchardt, Robert Gwisdek, Max Hopp et Ute Willing

Le père Noël est une ordure (1982) de Jean-Marie Poiré avec Anémone, Thierry Lhermitte, Gérard Jugnot, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier, Josiane Balasko et Bruno Moynot

Le Lion en hiver (The Lion in Winter) (1968) de Anthony Harvey avec Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Nigel Terry, Timothy Dalton, Jane Merrow et Nigel Stock

Les Mystères de Paris (1962) d'André Hunebelle avec Jean Marais, Raymond Pellegrin, Jill Haworth, Dany Robin, Pierre Mondy, Georges Chamarat, Noël Roquevert et Jean Le Poulain

Derrick contre Superman (1992) de Michel Hazanavicius et Dominique Mézerette avec Patrick Burgel et Évelyne Grandjean

La Classe américaine : Le Grand Détournement (1993) de Michel Hazanavicius et Dominique Mézerette avec Christine Delaroche, Evelyne Grandjean, Marc Cassot, Patrick Guillemin, Raymond Loyer, Joël Martineau, Jean-Claude Montalban, Roger Rudel et Gérard Rouzier

La Grande Course autour du monde (The Great Race) (1965) de Blake Edwards avec Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn, Arthur O'Connell, Vivian Vance et Dorothy Provine

Séries

Life on Mars Saison 1, 2

Bienvenue en 73 - La Loi selon mon boss - Le Pari - Corruption - Rouge un jour, rouge toujours - Compte à rebours - Cas de conscience - Mon père - Meurtrier en puissance - La Chasse aux ripoux - Peur sur la ville - Pièges pour jeunes femmes - Kidnapping - Héroïne - Recherche du coupable - La Promesse

Doctor Who

La Créature Stellaire - Wild Blue Yonder - Aux confins de l'univers - Le Fabricant de Jouets - The Snowmen - A Christmas Carol - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe - The Return of Doctor Mysterio - The Church on Ruby Road - Eve of the Daleks

Les Enquêtes de Vera Saison 12

À contre-courant - Un homme d'honneur - Au nom de la loi - Une soirée funeste - Marée montante

Coffre à Catch

#144 : La Draft 2009 : Les bonnes affaires du mercato ! - #145 : La ECW débarque à Londres et l'Undertaker à Strasbourg! (avec Carole) - #146 : Christian enfin champion de la ECW ! - #147 : Un coffret à Noël, ça c'est une idée !

Kaamelott Livre III

Le Jour d’Alexandre - La Cassette II - La Ronde II - Mission - La Baliste - La Baraka - La Veillée - Le Tourment III - La Potion de fécondité II - L’Attaque nocturne - La Restriction II - Les Défis de Merlin II - Saponides et Détergents - Le Justicier - La Crypte maléfique - Arthur in Love II - La Grande Bataille - La Fête de l’hiver II - Sous les verrous II - Le Vulgarisateur - Witness - Le Tribut - Le Culte secret - Le Mangonneau - La Chevalerie - Le Mauvais Augure - Raison d’argent II - Les Auditeurs libres - Le Baiser romain - L’Espion - Alone in the Dark - Le Législateur - L’Insomniaque - L’Étudiant - Le Médiateur - Le Trophée - Hollow Man - La Dispute première partie - La Dispute deuxième partie

Affaires sensibles

Gérald Thomassin : l'étrange disparition d'un coupable idéal

Top Gear

Spécial Nativité

La Voie Jackson

Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3

Meurtres au paradis

L'étrange Noël de Debbie

Spectacles

Le Muguet de Noël (2021) de Sébastien Blanc et Nicolas Poiret avec Lionnel Astier, Frédéric Bouraly, Jean-Luc Porraz et Alexie Ribes

Sinatra (1969) avec Frank Sinatra, Don Costa & son Orchestre

Le Professeur Rollin a encore quelque chose à dire (2003) de François Rollin

Alain Souchon : J'veux du live au Casino de Paris (2002)

La Bonne Planque (1964) de Michel André avec Bourvil, Pierrette Bruno, Robert Rollis, Roland Bailly, Alix Mahieux, Albert Michel et Max Desrau

André Rieu : White Christmas (2023)

Michael Bublé: Home for Christmas (2011) avec Michael Bublé, Gary Barlow, Gino D'Acampo, Dawn French et Kelly Rowland

Michael Buble's Christmas in the City (2021) avec Michael Bublé, Leon Bridges, Camila Cabello, Jimmy Fallon, Kermit the Frog, Hannah Waddingham, Dallas Grant, Jarrett Johnson, Julianna Layne et Loren Smith

Michael Bublé's 3rd Annual Christmas Special (2013) avec Michael Bublé, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Red Robinson, Jumaane Smith, Patrick Gilmore et Cookie Monster

Un fil à la patte (2005) de Georges Feydeau avec Thierry Beccaro, Marie-Ange Nardi, Valérie Maurice, Églantine Éméyé, Ève Ruggiéri, Tex, David Martin et Patrice Laffont

Vintage Getz (1983) The Stan Getz Quartet live at the Robert Mondavi Winery, Napa Valley, California avec Stan Getz, Victor Lewis, Marc Johnson et Jim McNeely

James Brown : Live at Montreux (1981)

Livres

Le seigneur des anneaux, Tome 3 : Le retour du roi de J.R.R. Tolkien

Détective Conan, Tome 18 de Gôshô Aoyama

Lucky Luke, Tome 27 : L'Alibi de Morris et Claude Guylouïs

Détective Conan, Tome 19 de Gôshô Aoyama

[cinocefalo]

FLUSH

[selección]

Francisco José Casado Pérez

Estás bien.

Te sientes bien

pero de veras ocupas un cambio:

colorear las mejillas,

broncearte.

Aún así

yo sí te daba.

¿Cierto?

Refuta el espejo.

¡Está bien!

¡Está bien!

Si la rebelión del vello no cede:

                    depílenlos.

Depílenlos a todos.

Cucaracha cucarachita

relámpago fugaz de coladera

¿qué mano o luz proyectaría

tu figura al escenario cavernoso?

¿En qué perfil o sobrenombre

escondes el ardor de tu sonrisa?

¿Cuántos seguidores tienes?

¿Cuántas menciones?

¿Qué software craqueado

puede trocear los músculos de tu alma?

Y cuando llegan los likes

¿Qué temen los ojos?

¿Qué teme la boca?

¿Cuál fue la culpa?

¿Cuál su condena?

¿Qué depravación tienes en mente?

¿Cuál fue el baño?

¿Qué perfil se atrevió a responder un emoji de vómito?

Cuando los cometas arrastraron tu vestido

y limpiaron de sarro los azulejos

¿Sonreíste por compromiso?

¿Zuckerberg?

Cucaracha cucarachita

relámpago fugaz de coladera

¿Qué mano o luz proyectaría

tu figura al escenario cavernoso?

Aquí dentro

todo puede colgarse

          toallas / papel higiénico

          extensiones / llamadas

          ropa mojada.

Aquí dentro el peso de los vellos deja ver cómo cuelgan

          pechos / vientres

          testículos / papadas

          brazos / lóbulos.

Todo puede colgarse aquí dentro

          hay espacio suficiente

                    incluso para los suicidas.

fffllluuussshhh

          los ideales revolucionarios

                    se fueron por el agu-jeee-rooo

fffllluuussshhh

          el romanticismo

                    se fue por el agu-jeee-rooo

fffllluuussshhh

          la política liberal moderada

                    se fue por el agu-jeee-rooo

fffllluuussshhh

          los sistemas sociopolíticos

                    se fueron por el agu-jeee-rooo

fffllluuussshhh

          Slavoj Žižek

                    no pudo irse por el agu-jeee-rooo

                                                                       (hacía capitalismo).

En el baño

          Agamenón recibió tres golpes vengativos

                    y su muerte se volvió tragedia.

En el baño

          Aon mató a Eglón con una puñalada zurda

                    y desencadenó una masacre.

En el baño

          Jorge II de Gran Bretaña sufrió un desgarro de aorta

                   y su muerte cambió la historia de la medicina moderna.

En el baño

          Jean-Paul Marat fue apuñalado en la tina

                    y su muerte inició la Revolución Francesa

                    y se volvió un de los cuadros más reconocidos de Jaques-Luis David

En el baño

          aprendieron al Tigre de Santa Julia

                   y se hizo leyenda

                    y lo hicieron película

En el baño

          de la estación Penn (NY), Louis I. Kahn murió de un infarto

                    y su hijo hizo un documental

                   y viajó por el mundo

                    y descubrió la maestría arquitectónica de su padre

                   y su segunda familia.

En el baño

          Rubem Fonseca escribió sobre la copromancia en un cuento

                    y por suerte nunca se volvió tendencia.

En el baño

          encontraron (respectivamente) los cuerpos de Elvis y Jim Morrison

                    y solo a uno se le ha parodiado por ello.

En el baño

          Junichiro Tanizaki

                    elogió que la penumbra es el sitio perfecto donde meditar

                    y está en lo cierto.

El límite de todo placer comienza

en su capacidad de hacer daño.

Del estar sentado en el inodoro

del bañarse

del lavarse los dientes

del rutinario cuidado de la piel

del desmaquillarse

del intento de suicidio

comienza pasados los quince minutos.

___

Los poemas que se presentan, forman parte de la plaquette Flush (2023), de la colección TOMA TODO ★ TODOS PONEN, editada por Canciones Tristes. Book & Printing.

___

Francisco José Casado Pérez (1990, Ciudad de México) Arquitecto y escritor. Ha publicado en revistas digitales como Página Salmón, Irradiación, Mentekupa, Vallejo & Co., Carcaj, entre otras. Mención honorífica del Premio Bruno Corona Petit, Venezuela, 2020 y 2022. Su poemario Para mirar los pasos (2021), editado por Escrúpulos Editorial, recibió el Premio “Don’t Read” 2021.

[ashleytrainor]

Post #1: On Experiencing Art Museums

In the time we have been in Paris thus far, we have been able to see artwork at both the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay. Overall my experiences at both museums were incredible as I was able to see pieces of art that I had viewed for my whole life on a computer screen or in a book. I was also able to experience new artworks that were equally as influential and beautiful including several works by Jaques Louis David that I had not seen before. In the Louvre, seeing The Great Odalisque and learning about its history was very interesting.

In the Musee d'Orsay, I found Luncheon on the Grass by Edouard Manet, created in 1863, to be a particularly fascinating painting. Being able to listen to Dr. Kraus explain the painting and further researching the elements of design in this artwork has helped me to understand the meaning of this painting. This oil on canvas painting in the realism style depicts four people, two men and two women in a forest with water near them. Three of the individuals appear to be having a picnic while one is seen walking towards them from the other. The people in this painting fill most of it with their belongings and fruit filling the space near them. There is negative space in the painting that is filled with the green space of nature, grass, and trees. The women are shown being cast in bright light with shadows being seen under parts of their bodies, giving a more three-dimensional appearance. The proportions are off in this painting, indicating that the perspective is also off as the man’s thumb is larger than normal and the woman in the back appears to be too large for the distance she is at. The people are arranged in a triangular perspective with the woman in white being at the top of the triangle. The main colors shown in this painting are the blue of the woman’s clothes, the green of the surrounding nature, the beige of the people’s skin, as well as the brown and black of the men’s clothing. The painting shows heavier brushstrokes which is indicative of the Realism style and show that it has moved past the neoclassical style of smooth paintings. It is of particular interest that the two men are completely clothed while the woman sitting with them is fully naked and the other woman is dressed more provocatively for the time. The naked woman sitting with clothed men makes this piece provocative and suggests an absence of classical context. At the time of this painting, this was very problematic as the naked woman was a modern female rather than the goddesses who were celebrated when nude. This painting was Manet’s refusal to conform to academic art as he painted a scene of everday life with a naked modern woman. 

Prior to this program, I had an appreciation for art that was very surface level as I was only able to look at it and appreciate its beauty without knowledge of the elements of design that are so crucial to art. Learning these things in class and applying this newfound knowledge to the art pieces I have been able to see in person has strengthened my appreciation for the art itself. I have found that I understand the perspective of the artist better and can determine the meaning that the artist intended when creating the artwork. I grew up with a parent who wanted to instill an appreciation for art in me from a young age and this was something that I have developed over time but being able to understand the art on a deeper level has strengthened my appreciation for it significantly. (636 Words)