Thomas Eakins - The Agnew Clinic

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Inspired by: Thomas Eakins - The Agnew Clinic

This painting was commissioned in 1889, to honor anatomist and surgeon David Hayes Agnew, on his retirement from teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. His students put up the $750 (equivalent to $21,600 today) to pay for the depiction. Each student came to Eakins studio to be sketched for placement in the final painting. Eakins placed himself in the painting on the far right behind the nurse – although the actual painting of him is attributed to his wife, Susan Macdowell Eakins.

It depicts a mastectomy, which was a novel procedure. Despite the lack of expectation of cure, it was an attempt to lengthen the life of the patient. The portrayal of a procedure in which a partially nude woman is observed by a roomful of men (even though they were doctors) was controversial. It was denied a spot in 1891's Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and 1892's New York's Society of American Artists. One art critic warned that “delicate women or children suddenly confronted by the portrayal of these clinical horrors might receive a shock from which they would never recover.” Agnew asked not to have as much blood as seen in the Gross clinic (one cause for its rejection). His hands are covered in liquid, which would have been used for sterilization, rather than blood.

To see original: bit.ly/4c9bCJQ

Hieronymus Bosch and workshop - The Conjurer

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Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch and workshop - The Conjurer

There are five known versions of this painting and one engraving, but most experts believe this one is the most reliable copy. It is kept locked in a safe and loaned out on a limited basis for special exhibitions. It’s been under lock and key, since it was stolen in 1978, but luckily returned a few months later.

Like many Flemish paintings it conveys a moral message. The owl in the basket at the conjurer's waist signifies the dark arts. The frog jumping from the mouth of the dupe represents reason having given in to bestial impulses. The child, watching the victim being robbed of his money purse exemplifies the Flemish proverb: "He who lets himself be fooled by conjuring tricks loses his money and becomes the laughing stock of children."

The conjurer enthralls his audience with a game of “cups and balls”, an ancient gambling game. It is based on deception and sleight of hand, thus the conjurer. The routine includes many of the fundamental effects of magic: the balls vanish, appear, transpose and reappear. An illustration of this game can be found on the 2500BC wall of an Egyptian burial chamber.

To see original: bit.ly/3MYwqtD

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

Howard Pyle - Marooned

Pyle was considered the dean of American illustration. In 1894, he began teaching illus-tration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry (now Drexel University). He left there to open his own school, the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art This was in Wilmington, Delaware where he had spent most of his life. Artists came from all over to be part of this studio. NC Wyeth was from Massachusetts, but gravitated to Pyle in Delaware. He sent Pyle a portfolio and was accepted. Pyle did not charge his students, but he only accepted the ones he felt were truly talented.He influenced so many artists, and told them "Throw your heart into the picture and then jump in after it."
Historians at that time were not sure what pirates actually looked like. In his many pirate books, he created their clothes straight from his imagination, giving them a style akin to gypsies. His works became so well known, that what Pyle painted is now what the general public thinks pirates looked like. The creators of “Pirates of the Caribbean” with Johnny Depp, acquired a number of his pirate illustrations and modeled the characters in the movie after them. Many of his pirates wore a big red sash and bandana, a style that was not from history, but manufactured by Pyle. In this painting the hat and the coat at the pirate’s feet are those of a naval officer. Probably garnered from a high seas skirmish.In his stories, there was a pirate’s code, which if broken brought on punishment. One possible punishment was, marooning. The pirate would be left on a desert island and given a knife or pistol with which to commit suicide. This poor sole hangs his head and contemplates his end. To see original: https://bit.ly/3Yduocp

Caspar David Friederich - Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

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Inspired by Caspar David Friederich - Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

If you Google Romantcism this painting is one of the first that will appear in the images. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe, and was in its peak in the early 1800’s. Standing on a high dark rock, while foggy mist swarms over the distant valleys and mountains beyond, a lone figure contemplates his place in the universe,

At the age of 13 Kasper was skating on the Baltic with his brother. He fell through the ice, and hisis brother came to his rescue. Caspar lived but his brother died. This emotional experience haunted him for most of life. He attempted suicide in his adulthood. It may be the reason for the somber feeling in his early paintings. He painted the Wanderer at the age 34. That was also the year he married Caroline Baumar. After his marriage, his paintings became lighter, adding more color and people. Although his people were usually looking away from the painter.

To see original - https://bit.ly/3Q5qn4u

Jean-François Millet - The Gleaners

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Inspired by - Jean-François Millet - The Gleaners

Jean-François Millet
The Gleaners - 1857 - Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Santa Classics - 2015
Millet once said, ’’The human side of art is what touches me most." In The Gleaners, he depicts poor women collecting grain from the fields after the harvest. Millet first hung The Gleaners at the Salon in 1857. It immediately drew negative criticism from the upper classes. Having recently gone through the revolution of 1848, it was viewed with trepidation. Critics said this Image glorified the working class. To them it was a reminder that French society was built on the shoulders of the working masses. They associated the representation with the growing movement of socialism. Also, this large size was usually reserved for religious or mythological subjects. But here was used to represent the plight of the poor. Because of this criticism, after the exhibition the painting was sold for 3,000 francs well below Millet’s asking price of 4,000 francs. Twenty years later, when Millet’s popularity was on the rise, it was sold for 300,000 francs.
Gleaning was the collecting of edible leftover’s, after the crop had been harvested. In France, this had been permitted by law since 1554 and remains on the books today. The reasoning for this stems from the Old Testament. “When you’re harvesting your field, if you forget a sheaf, don’t go back into the field to get it. Let the foreigners, orphans and widows take it. If you do this, the Eternal your God will bless everything you do.” Maybe this was not generosity, but the farmer’s hope for continued good harvests. To see original: https://bit.ly/3uYf19u