I adore this painting; in fact, it is my favourite by Manet. A beautifully framed copy hangs in my dining room.
Why post it today?
The cold, the cold!
It’s far below zero–the chilliest temperature of the season. Since this painting makes me feel happy, content, and warm, I thought you might enjoy it, too.
Young Lady in 1866 by Édouard Manet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers by Paul Gauguin, 1888. His beard is splendiferous by virtue of its vibrant hue.
*Vincent van Gogh was an exceptionally talented letter writer, at a time when correspondence was an art form. His letters are vivid, intelligent, and beautiful word paintings.
Girl Reading by Frederick Carl Frieseke, circa 1903-1904. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
At the First Touch of Winter, Summer Fades Away by Valentine Cameron Prinsep, circa 1897
Schokko with a Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky is my favourite painting. She lives at the Columbus Museum of Art: I like to visit her when I go home.
Schokko with a Red Hat by Alexej Jawlensky, 1909. Columbus Museum of Art.
Schokko was an artist’s model. She adored drinking hot chocolate so much that it inspired her quirky nickname. I wonder if it kept her warm during long hours of working in drafty ateliers?
Her gaze in this painting is simultaneously direct and circumspect, which nicely mirrors her unnaturally presented yet magnetic appearance. She’s a woman with something to say, but what?
Did Schokko like or care how she was presented to the world, through other people’s eyes? Was she a fan of modern art? Was drinking cup after cup of hot chocolate, between poses, the highlight of her day?
What did she look forward to, go home to, do in her spare time? Did she even like the colour red?
*****
A MODERN GUIDE TO DRESSING LIKE SCHOKKO:
There’s more to style than what they tell you about in the pages of Vogue. Inspiration is everywhere. In this case, it shines at us from inside a picture frame.
What does it say?
Colour is expression. Hats are relentlessly chic. Boldness is armour.
Building an unusual colour palette, deliberate and nuanced, isn’t just for paintings. Continue reading
Austrian artist Gustav Klimt died on 6 February 1918. He was fifty-five.
A few of his paintings:
Der Park by Gustav Klimt, 1909-1910.
Marie Hennenberg by Gustav Klimt.
Nixen (Silberfische) by Gustav Klimt, circa 1899.
The artist:
Gustav Klimt.
“True relaxation, which would do me the world of good, does not exist for me.”-Gustav Klimt
I’m feeling frosty! Can you tell?
Red Kimono on the Roof, 1912, by John French Sloan (born 2 August 1871).
“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.”-James Baldwin (born 2 August 1924)
Egon Schiele, Self-portrait, 1912 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
To learn more about the artist, and to see great examples of his work, head on over to the Egon Schiele Artsy page.
I would spend every waking moment doing this…
Winslow Homer, The New Novel (1877).
if only I could.
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