Gustave Caillebotte - Paris Street; Rainy Day

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Inspired by: Gustave Caillebotte - Paris Street; Rainy Day

This painting depicts the aftermath of Baron Haussmann’s controversial plan to renovate Paris. His wide boulevards replaced many of the beloved buildings of the city. Caillebotte was in the camp of those who hated his plan, and what it would do to the Parisians. The scene is a grey rainy day, the colors almost monochromatic, which instills a glum feeling in his figures. The canvas is monumental, almost eight feet across, which allows you to study the individual characters. and some are quite whimsical. Two legs of a man appear under an umbrella, there is a man carrying a ladder through the streets, and a woman who is opening an umbrella which seems to be shoved it into the head of the main character. Caillebotte was very wealthy. His father made a fortune supplying Napoleon's army with uniforms, and Gustave inherited that fortune at age 26. He was a close friend of many of the Impressionists, and funded and curated their exhibitions. He loaned them money (in fact, he paid the rent on Monet's studio for a while.) Most importantly, he bought their paintings for top dollar, amassing a collection of more than seventy works of Impressionist friends. His death at the young age of forty-five brought an abrupt end to an evolving career. He donated his Impressionist paintings as well as many of his own to the French State. The bequest specified that all the works should be displayed in the Louvre Museum. This was somewhat problematic, as his art was still not accepted widely by the mainstream artistic establishment.

To see original: https://bit.ly/4bw3KlE

Sandro Botticelli - The Birth of Venus

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Inspired by: Sandro Botticelli - The Birth of Venus

This painting is all about Venus, and how Botticelli wanted to immortalize her. Not because of the goddess of love she represents, but because he was madly in love with the model, Simonetta Vespucci. Simonetta was born in 1453. At the age of 15, she arrived in Florence with her husband Marco. Marco’s family was connected to the Medici, so they were invited to court. It was there that Simonetta’s beauty became legendary. She didn’t just look like Venus, but totally embodied her grace and charisma.She modelled for Botticelli, di Cosimo and other painters who attempted to capture her remarkable features. She became Botticelli’s muse and is found in a number of his paintings. Her presents filled his masterpiece “Primavera”, where many, if not all, of the women are modelled after her. She died at the age of 22 from tuberculosis. This painting was created posthumously, almost ten years later. After those many years Botticelli still had a clear vision of her face and body. At the time of Botticelli’s death in 1510 he was penniless. His work had gone out of favor after Michelagelo and Raphael hit town. On his death bed, he asked to be buried at Simonetts’s feet, and that is where he lies today.

To see original: https://bit.ly/3y4qxTd

Jan van Eyck - The Arnolfini Portrait

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Inspired by - Jan van Eyck - The Arnolfini Portrait

The verdict is still out concerning the interpretation of this painting. It is littered with iconography, which has kept researchers teetering between wedding celebration or memorial to a lost love.
The painting portrays a Bruges draper, Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife Trenta. She died in 1433 during childbirth, which was a year prior to the date signed on the painting. For this reason many people think Mrs Arnolfini is seen here in the family way. Although others think she has bunched up the dress material in her hand to show off her husband’s wears. Giovanni’s black clothing signifies a period of mourning, since black was not fashionable at this time, and definitely not for a wedding. Many of the icons found in the canvas symbolize her passing. Saint Margaret, the patron saint of the child-bearing woman, is carved on a chair in the background. The gargoyle seen next to her hand signifies her doom. The mirror, at the back of the room, is decorated with scenes from the Passion of Christ. On the woman’s side are scenes of death and resurrection, while on the man’s side are images of Christ’s life. A dog sits at their feet. In ancient Rome, dogs were carved on female tombstones, believed to guide them to the afterlife. Also, this dog is missing from the mirror, which adds to its status of a mythical character. A little spooky is the candelabra above them. The candles have all burned out except the one over the man’s head.

To see original: https://bit.ly/3JQDPKk

Inspired by: Edgar Degas - The Absinthe Drinker

Absinthe (also known as La Fée Verte or ‘the green fairy’) was a green colored, highly alcoholic spirit. Poured over ice and served with water and a cube of sugar to soften the bitter taste. It was highly addictive and known to cause hallucinations. Its growing popularity and its negative social effects led to absinthe being banned in much of Europe and America.This cafe has been identified. It is "La Nouvelle Athènes", in Place Pigalle near Sacre-Coeur, at the foot of the Montmartre hill. At the time it was a meeting place for modern artists and a hotbed of intellectual bohemians. Degas asked people he knew to pose for the figures. Ellen André was an actress, and an artist's model, who posed for a number of other impressionists. Marcellin Desboutin was an engraver and artist. When criticism of the painting cast a slur on their reputations, Degas had to state publicly that they were not alcoholics. 'L'Absinthe' sparked controversy more than once. The painting was first shown, along with 25 of his paintings, in the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877. The critics found it ugly and disgusting. It was then put into storage. It was shown again 16 years later, in England. The English critics viewed it as a warning lesson against absintheand the French in general. In May 1893, the work was bought for the amazing sum of 21,000 francs ($275,000 today) by Count Isaac de Camondo, who bequeathed it to the Louvre in 1908 and from there to the Musée d'Orsay. Its original title was Dans un Café, a name often used today. Other early titles were A sketch of a French Café and Figures at Café. It was changed to L'Absinthe when it was exhibited in England in 1893.

To see original: https://bit.ly/3GgFkho