Monday, July 25, 2016

Portraits And Landscapes

Carrying on with our tour of the National Gallery, this is View Of Hamilton, by Robert Whale, painted in 1853 shortly after his immigration from Britain. It depicts high ground on the Niagara Escarpment and the view down towards the growing town of Hamilton.


This is At The Rogers Pass, Summit Of The Selkirk Range, B.C., an 1886 oil painting by John A. Fraser.


These two paintings are by the same artist, Frederic M. Bell-Smith, the first being a portrait, Queen Victoria, and the second titled The Artist Painting Queen Victoria. Both paintings date to 1895. Bell-Smith was the son of artist John Bell-Smith, whose portrait of Amelia Boddy I showed you yesterday.


I glanced into the other large interior courtyard here in the Gallery, which has this water feature that can be taken in from here, the upper floor, and even from below.


This is a rather vivid oil painting from 1916, titled De Profundis. It is by Horatio Walker, and I like the contrast between the crucified Christ and the contemporary rural scene.


This bronze sculpture has caught my eye before. It is Inspiration, by Louis-Philippe Hebert, and dates to 1904. It is something of a self portrait (or self carving) of the artist himself, receiving the titular notion from a winged figure.


Mortgaging The Homestead is another vivid oil painting from 1890, by the artist George Reid.


Moving forward in time, this colourful acrylic painting from 1980 is by the First Nations artist Norval Morrisseau. It is titled Artist And Shaman Between Two Worlds.

27 comments:

  1. i enjoy the mtns or the last one with that bird and amazing bright awesome colors. that appears to be so happy & uplifting!! ( :

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  2. that second one... wow! and i love the last, too.

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  3. @Linda: indeed.

    @Bill: I think so.

    @Marianne: I agree.

    @Beth: the mountains draw me in.

    @Tex: I do too.

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  4. Well that was quite a contrast you hit us with at the end William 😃 as a 'would be' artist I'm always in awe of such talent!

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  5. wonderful artwork and i really like the water feature!

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  6. I do love that courtyard water feature! Looks like a nice quiet spot.

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  7. Roger's pass has always impressed me. I stop at the top every time a go over the pass. the painting has nailed the atmosphere perfectly. 1886 is about the time the railroad went over the pass.

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  8. @Grace: his work is further ahead in time than what I have for tomorrow, but I figured it didn't hurt to put it here.

    @Tanya: so do I.

    @Sharon: it is.

    @Red: it's a beautiful place, in art and reality.

    @Halcyon: this place certainly is worth doing that.

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  9. Wonder if the water feature helps with humidity. Nothing beats a good art museum to nurture creativity!

    Janis
    GDP

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  10. Some beautiful paintings for sure. And you country is stunning. I, too, like the contrast between the crucified Christ and a contemporary scene. It's interesting that in this country, people who consider themselves "special" Christians - i.e. evangelicals, do most everything the opposite of what Christ taught and in fact, openly deny his commands. The essence of much of Jesus' teachings has to do with the fact that whatever else happens, God will accept people into his kingdom only if they have fed the hungry, comforted the sick, visited those in prison, etc. There's nothing there about belief, or church, or capitalism...

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  11. A great variety of selections, William.

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  12. I really like that painting with those impressive mountains.

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  13. Thanks for posting, but one really needs to see that type of work up close.

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  14. @Janis: humidity would be an issue- these spaces are open to the art, so the air would have to stay dry. I imagine whatever's in the other courtyard have to be plants that do well under relatively dry conditions.

    @RedPat: it is.

    @Lowell: I think that painting is very appropriate for what the era was- the artist was painting it in a time when there was the horror of the First World War.

    @Linda: thank you!

    @Jan: me too.

    @Mari: true, but as many people might never get out this way, this is one way to show these works.

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  15. The paintings are great as are the courtyards.

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  16. A beautiful, varied selection of art - and I like the indoor courtyard, too. The First Nations piece at the end is a real eye-popper after the more realistic and staid pieces you've shown.

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  17. I'm surprised at how much I like art. That Crucifiction was beautifully done, but unsettling.

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