Charles Wilson Peale – The Artist in His Museum - 182
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Towards the end of his career, Peale painted seven self-portraits. This may seem like a bit of self-adoration, but he really did have a lot to brag about. First his creative and successful progeny named: Rembrandt, Raphaelle, Rubens and Titian Peale (REALLY). As well as many other accomplishments, like the first Art School in the US (The Pennsylvania Academy) and the first Museum in the United States, which he set up on the second floor of Independence Hall. In this painting he (Santa, ergo self-portrait in a self-portrait) is welcoming us to his newest adventure. To see the original: The Artist in His Museum
Bouguereau - Nymphs and Satyr
William-Adolphe Bouguereau- Nymphs and Satyr - 1873
Clark Art Institut
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was one of the greatest Academic painters in late 19th century France. His paintings were bought by rich Americans because of the beauty of his female figures. This painting was hung in a NYC bar until 1900 when it was sold to a buyer, who stored in in a warehouse to keep its lewd content away from the public eye. Eventually purchased by the Clark family, it now hangs in the Clark Art Institute. To see the original: Nymphs and Satyr
Jean-Léon Gérôme – A Roman Slave Market
Jean-Léon Gérôme – A Roman Slave Market - 1884
Walters Art Museum
Gérôme painted six slave-market scenes set in either ancient Rome or 19th-century Istanbul. He painted another view of the same event--Slave Market in Rome (St. Petersburg, Hermitage Museum)--in which the viewer looks over the heads of the spectators towards the slave. What made this painting unique was the view angle. This approach allowed him with an opportunity to depict facial expressions and to undertake figurative studies of sensual beauty. Here we are as interested in the leering crowd as we are the nude figure. This was controversial because it went against the notion that the nude form should be viewed with a pure and disinterested gaze. To see the original: A Roman Slave Market