Artemisia Gentileschi

Today I learned about the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Her work is quite stunning... and very haunting (think Caravaggio!).

Highlights from Wikipedia: 

• Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. She was also known as Artemisia Lomi.
• In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.
• Many of Gentileschi's paintings feature women from myths, allegories, and the Bible, including victims, suicides, and warriors. 
• Gentileschi was known for being able to depict the female figure with great naturalism and for her skill in handling colour to express dimension and drama.
• Her achievements as an artist were long overshadowed by a trauma as a young woman. I'll let you read about it in Wikipedia. 

Gustave Caillebotte's Floor Scrapers

Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Scrapers 1875
Musée d'Orsay, Paris (wikicommons)

This is one of my favourite paintings. 

Named in French as Les raboteurs de parquet, The Floor Scrapers was painted painting by French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte in 1875. It was painted in oil on canvas and measures 102 by 146.5 centimetres (40.2 in × 57.7 in).

In the scene, the observer stands above three workers on hands and knees, scraping a wooden floor in a bourgeois apartment—now believed to be Caillebotte's own studio at 77, rue de Miromesnil, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

This is one of the first paintings of the time to feature the urban working class. Instead of the heroes of antiquity, here are the heroes of modern life—sinewy and strong—in stooped poses that would appear demeaning if they did not convey a sense of masculine strength and honest labor.

Sadly, Caillebotte's magnificent work was rejected by France's most prestigious art exhibition, the Salon, when he first showed it, but this was common of the times, when anything nearing nudity was considered vulgar. The painting received praise from many critics, though.

I first saw this painting at the Musée d'Orsay during my first visit to the city. I was entirely captivated and enthralled, and kept returning to it to look again. The quality of the light and the reflections were stunning. More recently, when I re-discovered the painting (I had lost the name of the artist and artwork for many yars!), I have come to appreciate the artist's use of perspective. 

More about the work on Wikipedia

Musée d'Orsay's write-up on the work

Great description of the work on TheHistoryOfArt.org

Bio of the artist on Brittanica.com featuring the work

 

When Picasso met Lump

 

Lump didn't start out as Picasso's dog, Lump was David Duncan's dog. David Duncan was Picasso's photographer and wrote several books about Picasso (highly recommended). David brought his dachshund by when he visited Picasso in the south of France, and the two fell in love (Picasso and Lump, that is).

Read the full article below, but here is my favourite quote:

Lump and Picasso remained friends for the rest of their lives.  Lump lived to 1973 reaching the ripe old age of 17. Picasso died ten days later.

Duncan’s Dog meets Picasso - Lewis Art Café (lewisartcafe.com)

Lump (dog) - Wikipedia

Krakow virtual tour

Today I attended a great virtual tour of Krakow Poland with Olga from World Virtual Tours (supported entirely by donations). 

With roots back to the Stone Age, today the city's Old Town has been lovingly restored. The city's Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status. 

After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, Krakow became the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into a walled zone (the Kraków Ghetto) from where many were sent to the nearby Auschwitz extermination camp. If there was any good from this time it is that the city was spared from destruction and major bombing.

These are all high quality Creative Commons images from Wikipedia, so click to enlarge them for exceptional detail.

Wawel Castle (left) and Wawel Cathedral (right)

Kanonicza Street, at the foot of the Wawel Castle

Depiction of Krakow in the 16th century

Paradise Bliss (Jan de Kempeneer's workshop, ca. 1550), one of the Jagiellonian tapestries

The Jagiellonian tapestries, woven in the Netherlands and Flanders, originally consisted of 365 pieces assembled by the Jagiellons to decorate the interiors of Wawel Castle. 

The citizens of Krakow saved the Jagiellonian tapestries during World War II by sending them to Canada

Resources:

Krakow map - a great detailed map that you can zoom in and out of

Evacuation of Polish National Treasures during World War II 

Woodcut of Krakow - from the Nuremberg Chronicle

The Shakespeare riots

 This was new to me!

The Shakespeare Riot, also known as The Astor Place Riot occurred on May 10, 1849, at the now-demolished Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City.

Its ostensible genesis was a dispute between Edwin Forrest, one of the best-known American actors of that time, and William Charles Macready, a similarly notable English actor, which largely revolved around which of them was better than the other at acting the major roles of Shakespeare.

The riot left 22-31 rioters dead (accounts differ), and more than 120 people injured. 

Interestingly, theatre riots were not a rare occurrence in New York at the time. In the early 19th century, theatre as entertainment was a mass phenomenon, and theatres were the main gathering places in most towns and cities. At the time, audiences treated theatres as places to make their feelings known, not just towards the actors, but towards their fellow theatergoers of different classes or political persuasions. 

As can be imagined, star actors amassed an immensely loyal following, comparable to modern celebrities or sports stars. 

At the time, American theatre was dominated by British actors and managers. The rise of Edwin Forrest as the first American star and the fierce partisanship of his supporters was an early sign of a home-grown American entertainment business. 

It has been said that the riot had been brewing for more than 80 years, since the Stamp Act riots of 1765, when an entire theatre was torn apart while British actors were performing on stage. 

I wish they would record Nigel Cliff's The Shakespeare Riots as an audiobook!

Recently discovered Roman basilica in Ashkelon

This morning I thought I was attending a live walking tour of Ashdod from World Virtual Tours, but had a very pleasant surprise: due to construction, the tour guide took us instead to Tel Ashkelon National Park. 

The tour started next to an old well from Ottoman times. 

From there, our guide (Anna), walked the site of the recently discovered Roman basilica. While restoration has only just begun (the discovery was just announced in 2021), it was truly fascinating. 

Jorge Novominsky credit

This last photo captures my favourite part, which was the neat restoration they are doing of the statues: they are placing them on pillars, with metal cutouts of the missing parts, so you can visualize how they appeared in ancient times.

All of these articles have excellent pictures (including from the time of discovery):

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Magnificent Roman Basilica - SciNews

2,000-year-old basilica unearthed in Ashkelon - Jerusalem Post

King Herod’s 2,000-Year-Old Roman Basilica Uncovered in Ashkelon - ArtNews

Ashkelon park renovation to unveil Israel’s largest Roman basilica to public - The Times of Israel

Enormous Roman Basilica Dated to King Herod’s Reign Revealed in Israel - Smithsonian Magazine

Also interesting:

Ashkelon National Park – Visitors Guide 

Ashkelon National Park - Wikipedia

Ashkelon - Wikipedia 

Tel Ashkelon - Wikipedia (this is what I will be exploring more, so fascinated by archaeology!)

For the love of throw pillows

Cliff Schorer* recently located a missing painting by Dutch master Hendrick Avercamp after finding an image of it online on an $18 throw pillow. Last year, Schorer used a reverse image search engine to find an image of Winter Landscape with Skater and Other Figures, stolen in 1978 and now worth around $10 million, on the print-on-demand website Pixels.com. By looking at the metadata of the Pixels.com image, Schorer was able to determine that it was taken years after the famous theft. Schorer traced the painting to a sale at a European art fair in 1995 under the name of Barent Avercamp, the artist’s nephew and student. The painting was sold to a Dutch couple, who have since died... [continue reading on Art News].

*Cliff Schorer is the Worcester Museum of Art's former board president, the museum where it was originally supposed to have been donated to. 

A Former Museum President Tracked Down a Stolen Painting Using an Image Printed on a Decorative Throw Pillow - Art Net

Art Collector Cliff Schorer Locates Stolen $10 M. Hendrick Avercamp Painting with the Help of an $18 Throw Pillow - Art News