Friday, April 21, 2017

Masterpiece

The Waterfalls is an oil painting by the French artist Gustave Courbet, done around 1872. It was one of his last landscapes in France before seeking asylum in Switzerland.


Here we have another example of using the Gallery spaces to frame shots.


The painting at the left in the above is this one. Hay Harvest At Eragny was done in 1901 by the French artist Camille Pissarro. The oil painting depicts life along the Epte River in France.


This is a new acquisition for the Gallery. Sunshine In The Drawing Room is a 1910 oil painting by the Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershoi. It is the last of four paintings the artist did set in his living room in Copenhagen where he lived with his wife. Hammershoi was inspired by the work of Vermeer, and tended to depict the room in a spare way. By having the woman sit with her back to the artist, we're left to wonder at her identity and what story might be at play here.


Vase With Zinnias And Geraniums is the title of this 1886 painting by Vincent van Gogh.


Hope I is an oil painting done in 1903 by the great Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, leader of the Vienna Secession movement. He held this back from the movement's first exhibition, as he felt the painting, depicting a naked pregnant woman, would distract from the work of his colleagues. Klimt strongly contrasts the idea of new life with what else is on the moody canvas- the destructive forces of death and disease above and around her. The painting is influenced somewhat by the death of his infant son the previous year. I chatted with a docent about this one and some nearby paintings; given the history of other Klimt paintings and the Austrian government, the Gallery has been very careful about the provenance of this one.


Marsh Meadows, Cookham caught my eye. It's a 1943 oil painting by the British artist Stanley Spencer, depicting a country scene near Cookham, with the Cliveden Woods in the background. Spencer tended to limit the number of his landscapes, preferring figure composition, so this was the only landscape he painted that year.


Sappers At Work: A Canadian Tunnelling Company is a 1919 oil painting by the British artist David Bomberg, depicting the digging of tunnels during the First World War as a means to advance on the enemy.


The Welsh artist Augustus John painted this portrait of T.E. Lawrence in 1935. Lawrence is known to history of course as Lawrence of Arabia.

36 comments:

  1. Beautiful paintings. The waterfall painting is beautiful. Have a great day, William!

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  2. I enjoyed seeing these. Love the Pisarro.

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  3. Another lovely series of paintings.

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  4. Thanks for showing these masterpieces, William !

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  5. Beautiful paintings. I like the landscape in the first one.

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  6. I have thoroughly enjoyed your full series here on the National Art Gallery. A nice variety of paintings in this post, and your commentary has been very interesting. I just read through your entire collection this morning and it really makes me want to revisit the gallery again soon. I'm sorry I couldn't have seen the Javier collection in person, but maybe one day. How interesting that there is a Klimt painting there. After watching Woman in Gold it really grabbed my attention. Thanks for sharing your visit!
    Wendy

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  7. love the flowers or the officer best ... neat designs. ( :

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  8. @Nancy: thank you.

    @Linda: I do too.

    @Linda: they are!

    @Karl: you're welcome.

    @Francisco: thanks!

    @Marleen: me too.

    @Wendy: The Rape Of Europa is the documentary that really brought Klimt to the forefront for me.

    @Tom: indeed!

    @Beth: they are!

    @Revrunner: it is an unusual painting.

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  9. There are several provocative and interesting works here. I remember watching the movie about T E Lawrence many years ago ... my father-in-law didn't like it and made fun of it for years. I thought it was rather long but enjoyed it.

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  10. Thanks for not just showing but unlocking some of the aspects, William

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  11. So much to see and think about

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  12. I liked the Spencer painting with the blossom.

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  13. That Klimt painting is amazing. I've never seen it before or even in a photo. I'm so glad to learn about it.

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  14. @Lowell: it's a good movie!

    @Cloudia: you're welcome.

    @Red: quite so, yes.

    @William: it really stood out to me, and made me want to see the place for itself. It might well be impossible to find the location Spencer painted, but even so...

    @Sharon: it really does evoke his style. I'm glad this gallery has a Klimt.

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  15. Another fine selection William.. the frantic energy of 'The Sappers at Work' was the one that stood out for me.

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  16. Thanks for all of the info, William!

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  17. You have a lot of great art posts here in the past. All looks very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Thank you for showing these beautiful masterpieces, William.

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  19. Interesting to read about the painting by Gustav Klimt who I first learned about through the Woman in Gold film and that painting has been renamed as Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. After doing some further reading on Klimt and seeing a feature on The Art of the Heist, it seems he was quite the character.

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  20. @Grace: there is a lot of energy to it.

    @RedPat: you're welcome!

    @Orvokki: thank you.

    @Bill: it's a pleasure.

    @Beatrice: the Adele story is such a compelling one.

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  21. Intriguing variety of paintings. Particularly liked the 1910 painting of a drawing room, with the distant woman. The painting invites thoughts and questions beautifully.

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  22. I would love to visit that Gallery!

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  23. That's an amazing collection, William.

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  24. The changing styles and scenes are fascinating, but I'll still take the Van Gogh.

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  25. Some of the old masters. I would love wandering in that gallery. Thanks for a peak.

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  26. Interesting selection of paintings. I generally prefer this era to earlier classics.

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  27. The history of Klimpt painting and the theft of art by the Nazis are fascinating stories. Klimpt himself was quite colourful. I am currently reading "The Lady in Gold" about the theft, recovery and restoration of the painting --interesting stuff. Truth is strange than fiction.

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  28. Waterfall and Meadows are the best for me ! :-)

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  29. The pregnant woman isn't just pregnant, she looks ready to pop!

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  30. I've seen the Klimpt piece.
    I love your artistic door framed photo! Well shot!

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  31. My favourite is the 'Hay Harvest At Eragny'

    All the best Jan

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  32. @Gemma: having had seen other of his works as part of a special exhibit, his style appeals to me.

    @Birgitta: you'd enjoy it.

    @Catalyst: that it is.

    @Mari: it's a good one.

    @Tammie: you're welcome.

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  33. @Kay: thank you.

    @Kate: a documentary called the Rape of Europa fascinated me.

    @Klara: thanks.

    @Norma: definitely.

    @Jennifer: there are a couple of other of his works there at the moment.

    @Jan: thank you.

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