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Tag Archives: baroque

Still Life paintings

12 Thursday May 2022

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

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baroque, Dutch masters, Fish, London, paintings

Dutch painting of the Baroque age, by

Willem Claesz Heda in 1635, our friend Reg Porter who is an award winning historian living in PEI loves books and paintings and I am borrowing this image from his page. regporter.com

This painting is in the RIJKS Museum in Amsterdam, a place that is splendid and newly renovated. The Dutch a protestant merchant nation, truly revolutionized painting with the Protestant Reformation, abandoning the strict school of painting dictated by the Vatican. They had no reasons to follow such narrow confines and invented their own style based on the life in the Netherlands. I always loved those paintings, the detail alone is magnificent, look at the artistry of painting a tablecloth so real you believe you can touch it. The same can be said of the food, the glassware, pewter. The light also in such paintings is always very natural you can almost if you look carefully tell what time of the day it is. In this painting I would guess it is around 1pm.

You can also see a lot of Dutch painters in London, the political alliance between House Of Orange, King William III and Queen Mary, the trade links between the Low countries and England saw lots of exchanges at many levels.

The Fishmonger Hall in London a Georgian Style building next to London Bridge has many paintings by Arnold Von Hacken, here are some of his still life of fish and seafood. He like other painters of the 17th century worked for bankers, merchants, corporations like the Fishmongers who would hire painters to decorate their Halls or Mansions.

The paintings are entitled Wonders of the deep, depicting fish from the rivers of England, the North Sea or Channel. Each painting is a large canvas and is rich in detail, the fish look freshly caught

There are many more better known painters of this era, Vermeer, Van Ruisdael, Rembrandt, Steen, Hals, but they all were in the business of teaching or painting for patrons who gave them commissions. Maybe by looking at such paintings you may think of a fish dish to enjoy. It was Samuel Pepys in his famous diaries describes the barrel of oysters he would eat at lunch in a pub in London near Whitehall where he worked. All was very fresh since the boats came up the river each day and deliver their catch, somewhat like they do here in PEI.

Music for a sunny day

18 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by larrymuffin in Music

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Architecture, baroque, Georg Bahr, life, Reformation

In the mid-1990 I became interested in Dresden in the province of Saxony, formerly East Germany. We visited Bach’s city Leipzieg also in Saxony, which is a worth a visit for the music and the art. However Dresden is a miracle or re-birth and to see it today you can only be glad that the people of Dresden had the vision to resurrect their city from the ashes of the Second World War and the utter mismanagement of the East German Communists.

We followed for many years the reconstruction which has been on-going for 30 years and one spectacular example is the Frauenkirche in old Dresden. A Lutheran Church built originally with donations by the Lutheran community of Dresden in response to the King August the Strong who wanted to become King of Poland but had to convert to Catholicism to do so and built a Catholic Cathedral next to his palace.  Saxony is a very protestant state and Martin Luther had a strong influence at the time of the Reformation.

The Frauenkirche now has on a weekly basis on YouTube short concerts from this magnificent baroque church built by Georg Bähr the great master architect of the Baroque era in Germany.  The video shows the interior of the church and you can hear the great organ. Think that after February 1945 this church was nothing but a pile of rubble.

If you ever have a chance to visit Saxony and Dresden, it is well worth it. For those who love fine porcelain the city of Meissen, which is minutes away is the historical centre of porcelain making for Royalty all over Europe.

 

On this 1 March

01 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by larrymuffin in Music

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baroque, France, Louis XV, Rameau, Versailles

Sunday 1 March 2020, listening to this on Radio-Canada with Francis Reddy. Les Saisons de Francis has the best Sunday morning music always pleasant to set a good mood.

Rameau: Les fêtes d’Hébé / Act 2 / Scène 5 – La Victoire · Orchestre Les Arts florissants · William Christie Ombre de mon amant – French Baroque Arias with Anne Sofie Von Otter ℗ 2010 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin

A view

19 Saturday Oct 2019

Posted by larrymuffin in Travel

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

baroque, Berlin, City Palace, Frederick II, Humboldt Forum

One of the great avenues of the world, Unter den Linden (under the linden tree), love walking down this avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the Island where all the museums and City Palace is located. The avenue is lined with palaces, a University, Opera house, Embassies and 5 star Hotels.

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A lot of work has been done since 1989 on the avenue. Including re-installing the old street light designed in the late 19th century at a cost of 60,000 Euros per . Here we see the equestrian statue of Frederick II The Great riding down the avenue. Originally this avenue was the ceremonial street starting at the Gate and ending at the Palace. It was also used to ride into the hunting grounds of the King of Prussia just beyond the Gate in the Tiergarten (520 acres) the best loved park of the city. The pink building in the photo was built by Frederick II it’s the StaatsOpern Berlin built in 1741 and completely restored in the last 5 years. Baroque building of the era usually have soft colors of pink or yellow. Interiors are painted in the favourite colours of Frederick II and used during his reign, green and gold, white and gold or black and gold. Those same colours found their way into his regimental flags. Frederick II is ever present in the centre of the City, he build and designed the whole area during his reign from 1740-1786.

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the re-construction of the City Palace will be finished by the end of the year. It will house a museum, library, meetings rooms, conference halls, a restaurant and is now called the Humboldt Forum. A new subway station is also in the final stages behind those barricades.

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One of the portals on the North Side of the Palace. Re-built with all of its baroque details.

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the dome of the chapel with men working at preparing the footings to receive the Lantern decorated with angels which will be installed shortly once the dome’s covering in copper is completed.

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Sketch of the Lantern atop the dome,

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Interior portal in one of the interior court. The cartouche F R is for Fredericus Rex.

All the details and figurines you seen are giant and sculpted in sandstone as were the originals.

I hope to return to Berlin for a visit in 2021.

 

 

 

 

For Advent

05 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

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Tags

Advent, baroque, painting, Paris, Zurbaran

Advent comes from the Latin word meaning “coming.” Jesus is coming, and Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. While we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period of preparation, much like Lent. Prayer, penance and fasting are appropriate during this season. In Rome the Pope comes from the Vatican in procession escorted by cavalry to Piazza di Spagna in central Rome to put flowers at the top of the column (original from the temple of Venus) where a statue of the Virgin Mary is placed. The statue itself is reworked from an original being Minerva, goddess of Wisdom. All the religious congregations in the City come for this event each year. In recent years given the age of the Pontiff and the height of the column the Fire brigade take up the wreath of flowers.

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The Immaculate Conception, baroque painting by Spanish Francisco de Zurbaran (1598-1664) in the Church of Saint-Gervais, Le Marais, Paris.

The Feast is celebrated on 8 December.

laurent spanish steps.jpg

Here I am in Rome at Piazza di Spagna in front of the famous fountain of della Barcaccia a Baroque-style fountain found at the foot of the Spanish Steps by sculptor Pietro Bernini. The Column to the Immaculate Conception is behind me surrounded by a large crowd on 8 December 2009. At the foot of the column sit 4 Jewish Patriarchs and Prophets Moses, Ezekiel, David and Isaiah.

The Marian monument was designed in 1857 by the architect Luigi Poletti, the actual figure atop was sculpted by Giuseppe Obici and commissioned by Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies.

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The Pope as a visiting Head of State to the territory of the Italian Republic is greeted upon arrival by the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi and several other Italian dignitaries.

School year tours completed until the Fall

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

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Tags

art culture, art., baroque, classical studies, museum, painting, Renaissance, sculpture

The Canadian School year is winding down, today I gave my last two guided tours of the Wonders of our National Gallery. There is a wide choice on where to start and what to present. I usually like to start with the Italian Renaissance and early Church paintings dating from 1350 and then move on to the 19th century.

Question that come back all the time, how much is it worth, how much is the whole collection worth, usually meaning in dollars. I am very careful to explain that a work of art is unique, the value is in the eye of the beholder. I also tell them not to be fooled by stories in the newspapers about this or that work fetching an astronomical amount at some auction house. This is a very false value since values can go up and down depending on fashion, buyers taste, an artist being in demand or not. I try to get the kids to understand that art is about imagination, ideas, fantasy and emotions it is not about how much is it worth. I ask them do you like this Monet or this painting by Titian, how about the Rembrandt ? Some will say they don’t like it, ok no problem I say, find one you do like and then look at it carefully.  I want them to have confidence in their own choices.

Questions on the MonaLisa are also common, it is one painting that has been over presented in the media and unfortunately I do not find it that interesting. It appears to be the measure by which to judge all other art. I have to explain it is only one painting in a specific period of time and does not represent much really.

SchoolGroup3

Another question I got recently was why are there so many nudes in painting. Paintings from various artists on classical themes often show naked figures of gods, heroes, putti, in a bucolic decor. Coming from a young audience, you have to think carefully how to present your answer. With the late Renaissance and the Baroque, Bacchus or Apollo, Paris, Diana, Venus etc. make constant appearances. Their nudity is not sexual but that of immortals, other wordily. I also refer to the themes of Antiquity, how figures tell a story based on ancient Myth which has nothing to do with our world but a reference to Classical studies.

Asking children today to imagine a world long gone is somewhat difficult, they seem unaware of anything outside their own frame of reference in their surrounding immediate world. Often looking at the paintings as something weird. It is not always the response I get but it comes often enough to make me wonder if imagination still plays a part in our modern technological world.

The best experience is when I get boys who are far more interested in sports and see art as a girl thing. Boys even if they are only 7 or 13 have these specific likes and dislikes, where does it come from? Maybe their family or society at large who dictates taste and what is in or not. Yesterday I had this little jock hockey type who told me I made it really interesting for him and he really enjoyed looking at pictures. The teacher was so happy, she told me afterwards that this was great given he never showed interest before.

If the group ask a lot of questions and make lots of observations even if it is not spot on it really does not matter, the point is to encourage them to speak up and give something. I always give strong positive reinforcement which I think is helpful to them.

On the other hand I do get groups who are less than interested, and simply refuse to participate, I always wonder what is going on here. I discover often that the teacher got the kids to agree to the museum visit by promising a shopping trip or a swim in the pool at the hotel or fast food. That has got to be the worst form of bribe, the kids just want to get the visit done quickly and get the hell out. It is very discouraging for me because you cannot get through to them.  I also know that it is very unlikely for mom or dad to bring them to the museum, so this is the one chance.

danseuse canova

Danseuse by Canova

Children and impressions

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

appreciation, art., baroque, boys, Bronzino, Canaletto, Florence, girls, Italy, Medici, museum, painting, Renaissance

nielsen_carl

Carl Nielsen, Danish Musician, Violinist, Composer and writer (1865-1931) wrote, this is a quote from his book My Childhood;

It has often surprised me how little we realize that the moment a child receives a strong impression, one strong enough to remain permanently in the memory, then that child is really a poet, with his own distinctive gift of receiving the impression and reproducing or merely retaining it. Poetic talent, I imagine, is fundamentally the faculty, the gift, of distinctive observation and perception. Thus we have all at one time been poets and artists, each after his manner. The rough way in which life and adults summon the child from its beautiful world of poetry and art to harsh, matter-of-fact reality must, I think, be blamed for the fact that most of us forfeit these talents, with the result that the divine gift of imagination, innate in the child, becomes mere day-dreaming, or is quite lost.

The great poets, philosophers, scientists and artists are only exceptions that prove the rule.

I have been looking for just such a citation to express what I wish to achieve with classes who visit our National Gallery in Ottawa. I always make a point of explaining to the group, they are usually children between 8 to 12 years of age, that the NGC is their’s, it is not a closed off institution belonging to some governmental entity. What they look at is our national heritage, something to be cherished and not rooms full of paintings and sculptures with a big price tag.

Yesterday I had a group and I started with the Italian Renaissance around 1300 with paintings done for a private chapel in a Church in Florence. The painting is full of beautiful colours, lots of people, angels, flowers and an active scene. I briefly explained the context of the painting and what they were looking at. Explaining that this painting was done at a time when 99% of people could not read nor write. How paintings were images conveying a story and an illiterate person could understand a story by simply looking at the painting. I also spoke about how the painter had to make his own paint, how you could not buy it in a store. Same with the frame, all of it is hand made from scratch. An important point with children who are raised and socialized in our society to be perfect little consumers.

We also looked at the portrait of Mary Fiennes, née Nevill, Lady Dacre (1524-1576) by Hans Eworth, a famous story and person from the time of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. I point to the book she holds and her quill and ink pot. The picture of her husband Thomas on the wall and other details. This painting has lots of texture to it. I always like to make a little point about hygiene in those days. She is portrayed covered in jewels and looking regal with a great fur on her shoulder. I tell the kids that the fur served a practical purpose, that of attracting lice since people did not bath often. The fur could be shaken off and you got rid of your body lice that way. The expression on their faces is priceless.

(c) National Trust, The Vyne; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

We then went on to the next room, at this point I explain to them that we are travelling in time, more than one hundred years, the next painting was the period of the 30 years war in Europe between Catholics and Protestants (1618-1648). The Old Church in Delft by Emanuel de Witte. I showed them two paintings one done by an Italian painter for the Pope on the next wall comparing it to de Witte’s painting in the City of Delft, both are church scenes but with stark differences so you can see the effect of the Reformation on painting.

We then went on to look at other paintings by Bronzino the Court Painter of Cosimo Medici in Florence and scenes of Venice by Canaletto, the point being that I wish to impress on the kids that painters are practicing a trade and have clients and work in a social environment which dictates how they will paint and what will be the subject of their paintings. Something that does not exist today.

I also ask them to look carefully at paintings a bit like you look at a puzzle and try to solve the riddle, what is the painter trying to tell you? What do you see in the painting? Texture, colour, light, etc.

With this group I had good participation, lots of remarks, lots of questions. I always get more questions from girls than boys. Boys often are baffled by their surroundings in the museum and appear to question if this is important to know or not. They may be only 8 to 12 years old but already concepts of masculinity and manliness is ingrained in their minds. Whereas girls are much more open to the whole experience and are ready to be charmed by what they are looking at. With boys they often cannot tell me what they are looking at, they do not want to look foolish in front of others. Girls do not have such reservations.

I am just happy if I was able to impress upon a few of them, the beauty of what they are looking at and come away with a new understanding or appreciation of art.

canaletto-piazza-san-marco

Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, Piazza San Marco

New blog banner a painting, Ancient Ruins of Rome

30 Saturday May 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

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Tags

baroque, Italy, painting, Panini, Popes, romantic, Rome, urban plan

Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765) is a painter of the Baroque age who specialized in romantic paintings illustrating the grandeur that was Rome. He painted several paintings in different settings of Roman ruins. His style is to bring together many famous building and creating the illusion that you can see them all by just being in one spot. In reality these monuments and building are spread out in a large area. However he lived in an era when Popes used artists and architects like Bernini to create a theatrical setting for the urban planning of Rome. To this day no matter where you are in Rome just look around and you will be seduced by the view. This is what makes the beauty of the City. I will always remember our arrival in Rome in July 2007 when the driver taking us to our new home took the Appian Way towards the Arc of Constantine and around the Colosseum down Via dei Fori Imperiali, that was impressive and gave us right away a feel for the eternal beauty of Rome. In many ways had the Popes not hired all the numerous artists/architects/sculptors during the Renaissance to design a grand new capital by using the glorious past as a backdrop,what a missed opportunity that would have been. The point of it all was and is to impress any visitor to the City, we can only be thankful they did. The Papacy for all its flaws, did create artistic excellence.

In this painting we see the Hercule of the Farnese which was located in the Palazzo Farnese (now the French Embassy in Rome) until it was moved to the Museum of Archeology in Naples. It never stood in the Roman Forum. The Colosseum or Amphitheatre of the Flavians, as it was known since it was built under the Flavian Dynasty. On the hill the ruins of the Temple of Venus and Rome where the Temple of the Divine Claudius should stand. In the background the Basilica of Constantine and on the left the temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina, none in their actual place. All of it misplaced but so romantic with the great big fragments of other buildings thrown here and there for good measure. Panini’s style will be copied by other painters of the period, it was all the rage of the time to have such grand paintings in one’s humble palace or grand home.

At the same time in England painters like Richard Wilson, the father of English landscape painting and co-founder of the Royal Academy, who had studied in Italy was painting English country landscapes. Reproducing often from memory, on canvas the soft Sun light and sky colour with drifting clouds giving the ensemble a dream like quality. Think of his painting ”A distant view of Rome from Monte Mario” painted in London years after he had left Rome. An amazing tableau and very faithful to that view of Rome.

You do need the room to go with such paintings, you just can’t hang it over the couch in your finished basement or you can visit Rome and see it for yourself.

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