Monday, April 17, 2017

Artistic Beauty

River Landscape was painted at some point between 1645-55. It is an oil painting by the Dutch artist Salomon van Ruysdael.


One of the things I was mindful of during my visit to the Gallery was to use the spaces and doorways to frame shots. Such is the case with this particular painting, shown first at a distance.


Venus dates circa 1518, done by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The Roman goddess of love stands out strongly against the dark background.


This is A Sermon In The Old Church In Delft, an oil painting by Dutch artist Emanuel de Witte, dating circa 1650-51. It depicts the Old Church of the city of Delft.


Peter Paul Rubens painted Stormy Landscape late in his life, around 1635-36, when he was seriously undertaking landscape art. The oil painting here is a small one, densely packed, but dramatic in its use of light and the terrain.


Jacob van Ruisdael came from a family of Dutch artists. His uncle Saloman, who used a different variant of the family name, painted the first canvas in today's post. Van Ruisdael was well known for his landscapes. A Waterfall was painted at some point between 1660-70, and depicts a Scandinavian landscape, emphasizing nature over people.


Venice features prominently in these two oil paintings by the same Italian artist. Bernardo Bellotto painted The Arsenal, Venice around 1743. It depicts the gate that was a symbol of Venice's naval glory days.


The Piazzetta, Venice is Bellotto's companion work to the above, painted around the same time, giving us a view from the so called Little Square towards Saint Mark's Square.

28 comments:

  1. I love the first, and the three last paintings.

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  2. An amazing collection William, thank you for sharing them.

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  3. Very nice to see these paintings, William.

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  4. The blue skies in the last two, Italian paintings are a nice contrast to the darker mood in the paintings above.

    Janis
    GDP

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  5. it was so cool the shot within the hallway .... i love shots like that ... give your a neat view. happy week to ya, William. take care. ( :

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  6. @Linda: thanks!

    @Denise: you're welcome.

    @Francisco: thank you.

    @Marleen: it is.

    @Janis: I agree.

    @Beth: I did so on other occasions this time.

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  7. All this artistry blows my mind. And done so long ago without our modern technology...not a computer in sight!

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  8. They are beautiful oil paintings.

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  9. I like the way you framed that second photo.

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  10. beautiful works of art...i love how you framed the 2nd shot...the boys and i were going to wander through our museum when we were dowtown last week but i made the mistake of buying them "bayou snowballs" which is similar to an italian ice i guess...right before our plan to go into the museum which of course they wouldn't have been allowed to take them in...so we went home...next time! and i'll plan it better :)

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  11. These artists definitely had a unique style. It's also amazing what they did when you think of the materials they used. They didn't just run to the art shop for some paint.

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  12. Treasures! I love the Dutch painting at top most

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  13. Wonderful series of paintings here and last posts William, very clever framing! I hope you had a super Easter and didn't eat too much chocolate like Moi 😀😀

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  14. I love the sky in first painting! Thank you for sharing.

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  15. @Lowell: technology isn't always advantageous.

    @Nancy: they are!

    @Sharon: it just presented itself to me.

    @Tanya: leave the treats to afterwards!

    @Red: they did experiment, as I will show in a post tomorrow.

    @Cloudia: it's a good one.

    @Eve: thanks!

    @Grace: I have disciplined myself regarding chocolate.

    @Klara: thanks!

    @RedPat: it's a pleasure.

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  16. Wonderful paintings, very impressive. Thanks for sharing William

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  17. I especially like how you framed Venus through the doorways. Very nice!

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  18. Wonderful works! Thanks for sharing.

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  19. Such wonderful paintings, especially the first one.

    All the best Jan

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  20. The first one is my favorite.

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  21. I always wonder about their models for pieces, like Venus.

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  22. @Bill: you're welcome.

    @Kay: I liked that too.

    @Mari: a pleasure to do so.

    @MB: yes they are.

    @Catalyst: definitely.

    @Linda: they are.

    @Jan: thank you.

    @Norma: it's a good one.

    @Jennifer: lots of young women willing to take off their clothes.

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