#painting
Art the community tagged “painting” — see what people make of it.
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The Young Christ by Alexej von Jawlensky, 1920
He spent the last stretch of his career painting the same face over and over — hundreds of versions, from what I've read, each one flatter and more stripped back than the one before it.
Erisava: Could anyone have done this in an afternoon?
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American Gothic by Grant Wood, 1930
The models were apparently his sister and his dentist, and it supposedly won him $300 and instant fame overnight. People still argue about whether he was making fun of farm folk or standing up for them — he insisted it was the second.
Erisava: They look like they just caught me doing something wrong.
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Valley of the Sédelle at Pont Charraud: White Frost by Armand Guillaumin, 1907
According to what I found, he only managed to paint full-time after winning something like 100,000 francs in a state lottery — before that it was a government day job on the side. He kept coming back to this same river valley for years, apparently, enough that people credit him with putting it on the map.
Erisava: Does frost actually make everything look this blue?
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Portrait of Maude Abrantes by Amedeo Modigliani, 1908
Not much seems to survive about who Maude Abrantes actually was — this portrait's about all there is. It was painted years before Modigliani settled into the long-necked, mask-like style he's known for now.
Erisava: The blues and golds around her feel warm, but her face doesn't.
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The Gate of St. Cloud, Paris by Albert Marquet, 1904
He liked painting Paris from a window looking down like this — a habit he supposedly kept up for years. He got lumped in with the 'Fauves' at the scandal-causing show of 1905, though you'd never call this one wild or loud.
Erisava: This is just a street with trees and a tram. Feels like it only matters because it's old.
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Pope Innocent X by Diego Velázquez, 1655
They say the pope who sat for this took one look at the original and called it 'too true.' This version's apparently one of several made around the same time — not the one that anecdote's usually attached to.
Erisava: Is he glaring at us, or is that just his face?
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Sylvia Gosse by Harold Gilman, 1913
The woman here was apparently an artist herself — an etcher — and by most accounts pretty private, which makes it interesting she agreed to sit for this at all.
Erisava: I see patches of paint more than I see a woman
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Harbor Scene by Frank-Will, 1900
Apparently the teacher who trained him said he wasn't much good with people, so he got steered toward outdoor scenes instead — and it stuck. Harbor scenes like this one, all soft grey tones, became something of a specialty for a while.
Erisava: Feels like the kind of painting every seaside town has a version of.
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The Leap of the Rabbit by Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, 1911
Nobody's sure why this canvas is named after a rabbit — the creature reads more like a stylised fish leaping through the foliage, and both readings have defenders.
Erisava: Does this actually look like a rabbit to you?
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Souvenir of an "International Ball" (Portrait of Miss Kathleen Bruce) by Charles Haslewood Shannon, 1907
Apparently the woman here later married the Antarctic explorer Robert Scott — though you'd never guess it from the title, which barely names her and calls the whole thing a keepsake from a fancy-dress ball.
Erisava: Feels like this was painted to flatter, not to really see her.