Wordless Wednesday - A painting for you to enjoy

Symphony in White, No. 1 - James Abbott McNeill Whistler, 1861 - 2, National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C

Hello everyone,

Normally on wordless wednesday I post one of my own photographs for you to enjoy with no words explaining it but today I thought I would do something different and post a painting with no explanation for you to enjoy and to interpret however you choose.

Enjoy!

Would love to hear what you thought of the painting and how you interpreted it below.

The Dorothy Days X

Quote of the Week - Pablo Picasso

Hello everyone,

Happy Monday! Today my quote of the week is by artist Pablo Picasso. I hope you all have a great week.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Tate After Dark - Tate Britain London

Hello everyone,

Haven't written an art related blog post in such a long time and I know lots of you said that you enjoy them so I thought I would tell you today about a fantastic project run by Tate called After Dark. Late at night for 5 nights the general public can watch live as other members of the public drive 4 robots around the Tate Britain gallery while listening to a live commentary by artists, lecturers, educators and critics. The commentary talks about the paintings the public are viewing through the robots and covers 500 years of British art.

It is fascinating to see these art works in a different light and rather novel way! I have seen art works I know and love and seen and learnt a little about lots of works I am unfamiliar with. You can apply to drive a robot and unfortunately I was unsuccessful but it was still fun watching others drive them around while the live commentary was running. 

Here are some screen shots from After Dark 

As you can see from these screen shots, people from all around the world requested to drive a robot around the Tate.

Robot 4 showing Francis Bacon's Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, even more haunting in this lighting and this time at night.

Some of the 'drivers' wanted to look at the building itself, some seemed to 'wander' around the Tate looking at lots of different art works until they stumbled upon something which interested them and others seemed to know which works they wanted to see and headed straight for them.

Navigating through the Tate with artworks emerging through the darkness was a unique experience. 

One robot capturing another robot! They were staring each other for a while in some kind of robot lust until one decided to block the other one in for some time!

Verdict - Yes it is a gimmick, the microphones are sometimes a bit muffled and you can't always see the works too clearly. But, it is fun and will hopefully bring British art to a wider audience, engage new audiences outside the typical gallery-goer and perhaps spark an interest in art with someone who might not have visited a gallery otherwise so I think it is fantastic! The commentary was very informative and you get to learn a little about a huge range of artworks in a short period of time. It is a wonderful experience to feel as if you have snuck into the Tate after dark and was at times eery and at other times rather magical.

Happy Birthday Rodin

Happy 173rd Birthday Rodin! 

Photo Credit - Dalbera

The Wilton Diptych - National Gallery, London

Hello everyone,

A while back I wrote a post on art to cheer you up on a gloomy day click here to see it I posted a photograph of the Wilton Diptych and said that I would write more about it in a future blog post. Today is another gloomy day. It is cold and I am sat in my room watching the rain trickle down my window so what better day to write you a post on what I think is one of the most beautiful works of art.

This painting is called the Wilton Diptych it was painted in c 1395-9 and is the National Gallery in London. It is one of my favourite pieces in their collection and one which I always go and see when I visit the gallery. It is also one of the first works of art which I went to see when I started studying art history and I remember being totally blown away by it.

I will try to write this blog post without going into too much but feel free to ask questions if you have any in the comments section below.

The Wilton Diptych - Whats in the name?

Wilton because it came from Wilton House in Wiltshire (England) which is a beautiful English country house which has been lived in by the same family for over 460 years

Wilton House - Photo Credit: John Goodall

Diptych 
A diptych is a painting or carving which has two panels which are hinged together in the middle so it can be opened and closed like a book. They are small scale so they can be transported easily and are often used as altarpieces. (If there are 3 panels it is called a triptych.) The Wilton Diptych is a diptych which was used as an altarpiece and would have been used for private devotion.

Who did The Wilton Diptych belong to?

With this type of work (altarpieces for private devotion) the patron or owner of the piece often appears in the painting itself. This is the case with the Wilton Diptych and on the left hand side kneeling is the patron of this painting, King Richard II who was king of England between 1377 to 1399.

Who are the other figures in the painting?

Saint Edmund who was born in 841 and was King of East Anglia. He was taken prisoner by the vikings and when he refused to give up Christianity, he was executed. He can be identified by his arrow, which is reportedly how he was killed.

Edward the Confessor (1003- 1066) who was the last Anglo- Saxon King. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London. A confessor is a male saint who has been blessed by not martyred. He can be identified by the ring he holds.

Always wearing ragged clothes and disheveled hair, this is Saint John the Baptist holding the lamb of God.

The 3 saints on the left panel, St John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor and Saint Edmund are presenting King Richard II to the figures on the right panel. The figures on the panel on the right hand side are the Virgin Mary who holds baby Jesus and eleven angels. The infant Jesus has has arms outstretched ready to bless King Richard II.

King Richard II is therefore shown as being very pious and devoted to his faith by kneeling down before the Virgin, Jesus and the angels. He also makes associations between himself and the past Kings of England (both of whom were considered to be very pious) and also shows his importance in that he is being acknowledged by the holy family. 

Above shows the reverse of the diptych. The white stag and the crest are both symbols of King Richard II. If you look closely on the opposite side of the painting with the figures you will find many more stags (for example in Richard's clothing)

I hope this has given you a little insight into one of my favourite paintings. I have tried to keep this post from not being too long (I could go on for pages about this painting!) but please feel free to ask questions in the comment box below and I will try to answer them.

Hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Quote of the Week- Vincent Van Gogh

“I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.” ― Vincent van Gogh

The Dorothy Days Xx

Little update!

Hello everyone :) 

Can't believe it is March already.....time has just flown by! So excited about Spring. The flowers are blooming and there are days where the weather is much milder and the sun shines! Rather exciting. I have been visiting London quite regularly which has been wonderful, I love being over there for a few days and have been visiting lots of exhibitions and art galleries. I went to the V&A last week and to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery all of which were fantastic. This weekend I also went to the Makers Boutique in Brighton which was a craft fair for local sellers with lots of lovely jewellery, handmade cards, ceramics, art etc. If you haven't been already and live in the Brighton area it is really worth going to. There were some beautiful stalls and lots of very talented people. They even have a little tea room at the back which I stopped at with my friends and had some tea and cake! 

My shop has been doing well and I have had quite a lot of orders recently (thanks so much to everyone who has ordered from me) so have been busy making new items for my shop, packaging up orders and taking lots of trips to the post office!! I am also planning on doing some craft fairs during the summer months. I managed to hit my target of getting 100 items listed which gave me a huge sense of achievement. My next goal is to reach 100 sales :). I am currently on 92 sales so am nearly there, going to be a enormous milestone for me and my shop so I am really excited. Thank you everyone who has been buying for me and supporting my little business.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Painting of the week- Portrait of Andrea Odoni by Lorenzo Lotto

Hi everyone,

Hope you have had a great week so far and had a wonderful Valentine's day. The painting of the week for this week is this beautiful painting by Lorenzo Lotto, a Venetian artist from the 16th century. 

Portrait of Andrea Odoni by Lorenzo Lotto 1527 Oil on Canvas. Royal Collection Hampton Court

Lorenzo Lotto

Lorenzo Lotto was an Italian painter and draughtsman born in Venice. He was from the same generation as other great artists who were working in Venice such as Titian and Giorgione.

Lotto was quite a traditional artist especially when compared to artists such as Titian and Giorgione. His main output was devotional pieces, altarpieces and portraits such this portrait of Andrea Odoni.

He never received the fame and fortune of artists such as Titian and the Bellini brothers and his style was unique from them. It is only in modern times that his innovations and unique style has been recognised as examples of how Venetian artists were often in dialogue with artists from northern Europe such as Durer who was known for his realism.

Lorenzo's Portraits

Painted a large amount of portraits that were unique in style to that of his contemporaries but also followed on from the refashioning of portraiture during this period with artists such as Titian and Giorgione who worked in Venice as well as Leonardo and Raphael who were working in Florence. His work was different because it focused more on the subject matter and the figure rather than the colours in the painting. Venetian painters were particularly known for their use of colour so Lotto was going against the norm. As with this portrait, his sitters usually look straight out at the viewer as if to confront them and their gaze.Through his portraits, Lorenzo tried to tell the viewer as much about the sitter as possible. He did this through clothing and jewellery, the setting and also a person's physiognomy which is when the a person's character and personality is judged by the way they look and their outward appearance. There was a believe that the outwards appearance of someone reflected their inner personality. 

Andrea Odoni

This portrait is of Andrea Odoni who was a Milanese merchant who came to Venice and spent most of his life living in the city. He was a collector of artistic treasures including sculptures from antiquity and modern bronzes. Some of the sculptures from antiquity which were collected by Odoni can be seen in this portrait showing how Lorenzo used material objects to inform the viewer about Odoni as a person. He has a large beard and soft features which were meant to show his sensitivity which is one way in which an outwards appearance of a person was meant to reflect their inner personality.

Odoni holds a statuette of Diana of Ephesus. This shows the influence of the East on Venetian artists such as Lotto because she was an Eastern deity. Diana has a multitude of breasts so is a figure that has often been associated with fertility and the earth. 

Odoni wears furs and a large coat with puffed satin arms which illustrate his wealth. The sculpture collection is meant to show that Odoni is wealthy, educated and knowledgeable on antiquity (something that was prized in the Renaissance when this painting was painted) 

Hope that you enjoyed the painting of the week for this week.

The Dorothy Days 

Sources:

Grove Art Online and this article by Johnathan Jones

The Dorothy Days' painting of the week

Hi everyone,

My painting of the week for this week is

Girls Running, Walberswick Pier by Philip Wilson Steer 1888- 94

Philip Wilson Steer was a member of the New English Art Club (discussed in my previous blog post) and this painting was in the 1892 NEAC exhibition. Steer was born in Merseyside, England. He studied Art at the Gloucester school of art and also the South Kensington Drawing School but was rejected by the Royal Academy and went to Paris. The painting was revolutionary at the time and Avant Garde. This work has similarities with the work of the French Impressionist but places equal importance on the figures as it does the landscape.

The painting has similarities with the work of Seurat, a French Post-Impressionist painter who developed a style known as Pointillism. Pointillism is a technique which involves placing lots of small dots of pure, unmixed colour on the canvas. The idea is that from a distance the small dots mix together to form lots of different tones and form a complete picture.

This painting is A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat where you can see the pointillist style. The painting is made up of tiny little dots of pure colour wbich blend together when looking at it from a distance. Up close you can see all the small dots of pure colour, below is an up close detail from another of Seurat's paintings when you can see the different dots of colour.

Detail from one of Seurat's paintings where you can see the pure dots of colour.

When viewed from a distance this painting would look similar to the La Grande Jatte as the different colours would blend together. 

The painting is of Walberswick Pier in Suffolk, England. Walberwick is a village and is known as a place with attracts residents from the arts, film and media. It was a place visited frequently by the English Impressionists from the NEAC. The painting shows two girls running towards to viewer on the pier. They were originally holding hands but this has been altered. However, if you look in their shadows Steer has left them holding hands with one another. Unlike many of the French Impressionist works this painting was not painted en plein air (outside on the spot) but instead was painted from memory in the studio. Steer captures the pier on a sunny afternoon.

I think the painting is beautiful, it was a wonderful sense of movement and I love the afternoon light as well.

The Dorothy Days 

The New English Art Club- London Impressionists.

Hello everyone,

Thanks so much for taking time to read my blog and thank you for all the lovely comments which I have been left recently, they are really making me smile!!!

Today I thought I would do another one of my art blog posts and tell you about The New English Art Club 

The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in 1885 by young English artists, many of whom had returned from Paris where they had been studying art. Some of the founding members include John Singer Sargent, Phillip Wilson Steer and Stanhope Forbes. It was founded around a time of rapid social change and with the approach of World War I the NEAC became more diverse. The NEAC was revolutionary in that women's work was shown in equal numbers to men and Avant Garde art such as Impressionism was well represented in the group. It was to be an alternative to the Royal Academy, England and the academic style which was favoured by them. The Royal Academy was seen as restrictive and full of traditionalists who rejected the impressionist style. Many of the artists in the NEAC could not exhibit in the Royal Academy as they were not accepting of their style of artwork so the NEAC was founded as an exhibiting society alternative to the Royal Academy. They had their first exhibition in 1886. By the turn of the century the NEAC was no longer revolutionary or representing the Avant Garde English artists.

There were three groups associated with the NEAC:

• London Impressionists
• Newlyn School
• Glasgow Boys

Today I will discuss the London Impressionists

London Impressionists
The London Impressionist painted urban London which was constantly evolving and changing during this period due to industrialisation. They often painted the new places and spaces in the city such as concert halls, theatres and cafes.

Little Dot Hetherington at the Old Bedford 1894 - Walter Sicket

Walter Sicket, a member of the London Impressionists believed that it was a moral obligation of the artist to depict modern city life. He was heavily influenced by the French artist Degas (associated with French Impressionism) and following his approach, moved away from Aesthetic art towards scenes of urban environment and the atmosphere in these new space. Degas was fascinated by the stage and preparations for performance. He is particularly well known for his depiction of ballet dancers both on stage and practicing. Below is one of Degas' paintings of a ballet scene in which can be viewed in comparison to the Sicket in terms of the subject matter, the unusual angle of the image which was influenced by photography and how the viewer attention is being drawn to the figure/ figures on stage due to the use of spotlighting.

Ballet scene from Robert le diable 1876

Degas

Sickert was criticised  for mimicking the French Impressionists as the London Impressionist wanted to have a uniquely English style of Impressionism. The London Impressionists depicted the same subject matters as the French Impressionists, music halls, streets, outdoor space, pubs and cafes, but in London so this is what set them apart. They would travel around London on bus, a new mode of transport, and visit these place and observe and draw what they saw. This was different to what they were doing at the Royal Academy. In the RA they were classically trained so were producing their paintings in the studio as opposed to going out into the city. They were also using models and props rather than painting real people who they saw on the streets or in these new places.The scenes although similar in subject matter to the French Impressionists were still unique to London.

Hope that this has given you a little introduction to the London Impressionists and the work of Walter Sicket.

The Dorothy Days

Jacopo Tintoretto - Venetian art in the 16th Century

Hi everyone,

I really enjoyed writing the Titian blog piece so today I thought I would tell you about another of my favourite artists. I have a particular interest in 16th century Venice so I thought today I would tell you about Tintoretto who was another artist who was working in Venice at the time, Tintoretto. Tintoretto's approach is the direct opposite to Titian so I thought it would be a good comparison. In todays post I thought I would tell you a bit about Tintoretto as an artist and then later this week I will talk about some of his paintings.

Jacopo Tintoretto was born and also died in Venice, unlike Titian who was born outside of Venice but moved there aged 10. Tintoretto stayed in his native city nearly all of his life and there is only one record of him going away from Venice which was in 1580 for a commission in Mantua. He painting religious and mythological works as well as portraits of prominent Venetians. Early on in his career he struggled to gain recognition and was never wholly accepted by the leading aristocratic families in Venice. His recognition as a painter came with his comission by the Sculola Grande di S. Marco and later in is career he also worked in the Doge's palace (a Doge is the leader of Venice).

This is a self portrait of Tintoretto 1518-1594

He was said to have ....'the draughtsmanship of Michelangelo and the colouring of Titian'.

He set himself up in opposition to Titian. Tintoretto and Titians work both have an unfinished quality to them. Although both artists have this same quality in their work the reason for this is very different.Titian deliberately creates this unfinished look as an artistic effect. He built up his paint surface layer after layer to create a loose, rough effect which appears unfinished when examined closely but finished when looking from a distance. Tintoretto  was known for his 'prestezza' which means his speed of execution and the quickness of his actual brushstrokes. However, this is not an artistic effect but rather due to the speed of execution and economy of effort. His work can be described as 'non finito', not finished. Tintoretto instead provides us with the idea, the outline but does not fill in the smaller details. It is not highly finished. In his work we will know what a detail is meant to be but it is not an accurate representation of that object but rather the impression of it.

The Miracle of St Mark freeing the Slave- Tintoretto 1548.

He was clever in the way he gained commissions but also engaged in ethically dubious practices  He often under cut competitors to win prized commissions  At first his deals seemed like extraordinary acts of generosity because of their low cost but in the long run it meant he won lots of major commissions and was commissioned to do things that he might not have been commissioned to do if he hadn't have charged. This helped him build a reputation as an artist and increased his status therefore helping him to become successful. His technique of rapid painting allowed him to take on many commissions as it took him a lot less time to complete a painting than his rivals such as Titian.

The lack of opulence in Tintoretto's work is demonstrated in works like The Last Supper.

While Titian often painted rich fabrics and opulence as this challenged him as a painter to recreate them realistically, Tintoretto moved away from this style and created work which was devotional and more humble in subject matter. This was important as during the time there was the Catholic and counter reformation. There was a move away from opulence and luxury and a more towards a more humble way of expressing devotional aspects in a visual form.

There are also differences between Titan and Tintoretto in commissions. Tintoretto was a native Venetian and very loyal to his city. Titian (who was dominating Venetian art at the time) started to look beyond Venice and had international commissions while Tintoretto had nearly all of his commissions in Venice. Two very different ways of working and of gaining commissions.

Vasari who wrote biographies on the artists at the time and was extremely influential in his writings treated Tintoretto's art as a joke which had a negative impact on his work.

Hope you have enjoyed this introduction to Tintoretto and be sure to check back on my blog later on in the week for discussions of some of his key paintings.

The Dorothy Days

Ophelia by Millias from the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood

Hello everyone,

I have been thinking about my blog quite a bit recently and have decided that along with my regular features I want to do some more personal blog posts. I really want to start blogging about things I really love and I am passionate about so you can get to know a little bit more about me :). So far you probably know that I am rather obssessed with vintage and I am more than a little addicted to tea!  Something that you might not know about me is that I am an Art Historian! I studied the History of Art/ Art History at degree level and art is one of my biggest passions. I often post art based links on my Facebook page but it is not something I speak that much about on my blog. I spend lots of my time going to galleries and exhibitions and seeing works of art up close in the flesh so I thought I would share with you all some of my passion for art and some of my favourite artworks by writing a short piece about each. I hope that you shall enjoy these posts and also learn a little bit too :). Would love to hear what some of your favourite art works are :).

To kick things off I thought I would start with Ophelia (1851- 52) which is a work by Sir John Everett Millais who was part of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood. The brotherhood was founded by Millais, Rosetti and Hunt and rejected the popular Renaissance style of painting in favour of work Pre Raphael hence the name of the group, The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood. There is a big exhibition on the Pre Raphaelites at the moment in England at the TATE gallery so I thought this would be a good place to start. I am really excited to be visiting the exhibition in a few weeks time. Has anyone been to see it yet?

This painting is one of extreme beauty but also sadness. Ophelia is a character taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet who drowns herself in the stream. This painting is one of the most prized in TATE Britain and was given to the nation by Sir Henry Tate who made his fortune from sugar. The painting has been beautifully painted with an incredible amount of detail. Millias believed that every element of the painting should be painted with the same importance so the flowers in the background are as beautifully and delicately executed as Ophelias face and body. The river in the painting is in Surrey, England and was painted on site by Millais so that he could get all the details correct. Ophelia was then painted in his studio. The colours in this painting are so beautiful and luminous due to the new colours which were avaliable around this period because of the advances in technology particually in the production of chemicals needed to make these brighter more vibrant colours.

Hope you enjoyed this small intro to this work :) . Please let me know if you would like more infomation on the paintings in my future posts or if that was the right amount :)

The Dorothy Days