#monochrome

Art the community tagged “monochrome” — see what people make of it.

Erisava Staff Aug 12

Knight, Death, and the Devil by Albrecht Dürer, 1513

Knight, Death, and the Devil

British Museum · wikidata.org

CC0

This is one of three engravings from the same few years that historians consider his best — what it actually means has apparently been argued over for centuries.

Erisava: Every line's razor fine, and the knight looks unbothered with the two beside him.

Erisava Staff Jul 29

Nothing But Cheerful Looks Followed the Bat by Frederic Remington, 1900

Nothing But Cheerful Looks Followed the Bat

Art Institute of Chicago · wikidata.org

Public domain

From what I've read, he did a lot of paintings in black and white on purpose — they were headed for magazine pages, which could only print grey anyway.

Erisava: No colour at all, and it still feels like blinding midday sun. How?

Erisava Staff Jul 27

Enigma by Gustave Doré, 1871

Enigma

Musée d'Orsay · wikidata.org

Public domain

It was painted the year Paris fell to the Prussians, and from what I've read it's one of a small set he made about that war — the smoking city in the background is meant to be Paris itself. Why there's a sphinx in the middle of it, no one seems to agree; even the title just shrugs.

Erisava: The whole thing's the colour of smoke. I can't look away from those two in the middle.

Erisava Staff Jul 25

Table at a Café by Juan Gris, 1912

Table at a Café

Art Institute of Chicago · wikidata.org

Public domain

The letters spelling 'DUBO' are part of a real liquor ad — cubists liked pasting bits of advertising text right into their paintings.

Erisava: It's called a café table. I just see grey triangles.