Fifty Paintings

 The paintings and drawings here are among the most intimate paintings I have loved over the years. They have taught me how to see, understand, and feel the spirit of life with all its variety and wealth. Art gives us unique and profound insight. 

“Any great work of art revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world.”

-- Leonard Bernstein

Pablo Picasso.

Gertrude Stein

Picasso was influenced by Stein as a critic, a collector, and an intellectual. Her salons and introductions were vital to his development as an artist. It was only natural he would allow his proto-Cubism and his fascination with African masks to instill such power in the detail here of his portrait of her.

When I was working on my doctorate in Philosophy of Art, the curator at the Metropolitan Museum allowed me private access to the room of Picasso paintings where she held forth. For me it was an honor and an aesthetic experience to have that time alone with her.

Van Gogh has shaped my life with his paintings. My strongest experience of his work came when, on my first long stay in Europe, I went to the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands. Since then, I have admired every one of his works in color. His passion and feeling radiate from his paintings. He conjures empathy for an artistic genius who was never fully appreciated in his lifetime. 

 

Vincent Van Gogh. Self

Albert Bierstadt:

Among the Sierra Nevada, California

Bierstadt, Church, Cole (Hudson River School), all lured me to travel to such luscious landscapes. I traveled to Niagara Falls as a teen, then around New England, then to Mexico, then to the National Parks in the West. These paintings enhanced my experience of Nature's grandeur. 

 

 

Dancer, Tomb of the Augurs, 6th century BC, Tarquinia

D.H. Lawrence first alerted me to the beauty and the energy of Etruscan Art. His writings on Italy are themselves beautiful and filled with a vision of Etruscan life. This is a detail from the Tomb of the Augurs which embodies the spirit of the Etruscans Lawrence loved.  

 

Matisse, Red Room

Matisse was a master of color. Along with fellow Fauves (Wild Beasts to use the critic's terms) Matisse changed the way color was used from copying to creative color balance with its own values, independent of subject matter. Color adds its own dimension of feeling and passion.

 

 

Albert Gleizes,  l'Homme au Balcon, 1912

Braque and Picasso created Cubism out of the revelations of Cezanne. Yet a few artists developed Cubism in remarkable ways. Friends have told me I resemble the figure in this work by Gleizes. It is enjoyable to speculate upon what is the balcony and what is the view. 

August Renoir's Boat Party

One of the best displays of the color, light, exuberance, and composition of the Impressionists. 

Frida Kahlo. Self

An ever present spirit of Kahlo inhabits Mexico.

Her life, her marriage with Diego Rivera, her travels, her friendship with Leon Trotsky, her visit to Paris, and her powerful art, despite her health, are astonishing.

El Greco. Toledo.

El Greco's paintings, with his elongated figures as in Laocoön, and his depiction here of the city of Toledo, contain an emotional sense of sadness or nostalgia. 

Darryl and I took the train from Madrid to Toledo, passing through the countryside of Aranjuez. The city still appears much as it did in 1596-1600 when El Greco painted it.

Botticelli: Birth of Venus

The paintings of Botticelli brought painting to a new appreciation of classical themes.  After so many paintings of the Virgin in either the annunciation or with a strange looking baby Jesus in her lap, these works were a revelation and a joy to behold.

Caravaggio: Musicians

This is a favorite of mine for obvious reasons. The center figures are Caravaggio and his lover, Mario Minniti,  who is tuning his instrument. Like so many great painters, Caravaggio establishes a connection between the visual arts and music. 1595. 

Fragonard, The Swing.

Learned about this painting as I was teaching Art History. The seductive woman, being swung by her husband (no doubt), is showing her under beauty to a lover hiding in the bush in the foreground on the left. There are so many erotic details: The slipper tossed in the air, the statue of Cupid signaling silence with his finger to his lips, the dolphin and putti. A fabulous, humorous decadence. 

Hiroshige: Sudden Rain Shower

The woodcuts of Hokusai and Hiroshige are an enchanting look at the life and  world of Japan in all its variety and richness. This woodcut is a part of the Hundred views of Edo on which Hiroshige walked and recorded in his brilliant compositions. Both artists also offered astonishing views of Mt. Fuji, which I had the privilege of seeing myself in 2013. 

Gustav Klimt: Woman in Gold

This painting was the subject of a film by the same name in which my friend, Joseph Mydell, appeared as one of the Supreme Court Justices who returned this painting to a member of the family from whom it was stolen by Nazis. It is one of many such paintings with brilliant gold leaf Klimt completed. 

 

Egon Schiele: Self

Schiele was Klimt's student. He created a wonderful portrait of Klimt. Darryl and I visited his hometown in the Czech Republic and the small museum dedicated to him. His portraits of himself, naked or masturbating, or with his wife, are sensuous and were once shocking. His studies of his wife, children, and others are astonishing.

Henri Rousseau: Sleeping Gypsy

The fascination with dreams, from Freud and Jung to painters who explore the dark side of dreams. Henry Fuseli's Nightmare (Night Mare) comes to mind. 

Edgar Degas: Glass of Absinthe.There is no judgment from me on this curious drink which I have enjoyed many times, and which can be seen in countless paintings. Is it linked to addiction and depression? It appears so here. 

Berthe Morisot. Summer's Day. 

Constable. Rain. 

The portrayal of rain and storms has always fascinated me. Think of Hiroshige, Turner, Van Gogh.

Jacques Louis David. Death of Socrates.

David. Oath of the Horatii.

David was the chronicler of France from he Revolution through the reign of Napoleon. He is probably best known for his majestic paintings of the latter. Nonetheless, his work on Socrates and Classical subjects shows not only his mastery of difficult historical subjects, but also a revolutionary focus on form and composition. 

David. Death of Marat

To this day, I still recall the song, "Poor Old Marat..." from friend Yvonne T's performance of Marat/Sade in Atlanta. 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marat/Sade 

Picasso: Guernica

One of the most powerful anti-war paintings ever painted. 

Hokusai. The Great Wave.

Note the relative size of the wave and Mt. Fuji. The storm appears to swallow the mountain as surely as it swallows the boats.

Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street, Rainy Day.

Another study of rain. Nothing more lovely than the streets of Paris.

Courbet. Desperation.

Henri Fantin-Latour: Verlaine and Rimbaud.

Hockney: Pool Figures.

The eroticism of the pool and swimming. 

David. Patroclus.

Great lover of Achilles.

David's skill in rendering the human body and portraying a fascinating subject.

Juan Gris. Café.Another Cubist with his own vision who drinks Absinthe.  L

Cezanne, Card Players.

Cezanne. 

Kandinsky. Composition.

Barbara Kruger.

Miro. Dutch Interior.

Miro's wit and humor in transforming Hendrick Sorgh's The lute player, 1661

O'Keeffe. Canna. 

Etruscan Art. Tomb of the Leopards.

Picasso. Musicians.

Painting and music so often linked in painting.

 

Gaugin. Woman with Flower.

Man Ray. Tears.

 
Rembrandt. Self.

By the Master of self-portraits.

Etruscan Art

Tomb of the Diver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Diver

Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Icarus

 Enlarge to see Icarus.

Turner. Sunset on Rouen . Watercolor

Van Gogh: Starry Night.

Every Van Gogh painting in color is a masterpiece. I first encountered and loved Van Gogh at the Kroller-Muller Museum in 1971. 

Monet. Sunrise.

Cezanne. Pierrot and Harlequin (Mardi Gras).

Both familiar archetypes, these two figures symbolize lovelorn sadness and arrogant jest.

They became important in he work of Picasso who was an admirer of Cezanne, if not a disciple. 

Munch: The Scream.

Saw this painting in Oslo in 1971 and admired Munch ever since. 

William Blake. Ancient of Days.

Although Blake's attacks on conventional religion were shocking in his own day, his rejection of religiosity was not a rejection of religion per se. His view of orthodoxy is evident in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Therein, Blake lists several Proverbs of Hell, among which are the following:

• Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion.
• As the catterpillar [sic] chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys. (8.21, 9.55, E36)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake
• 
  

Raphael. School of Athens.

Since philosophy is my life, the intellectual endeavor I love the most, what better painting, centering on Plato and Aristotle, is here that relates to my psyche. I've loved identifying other philosophers in the painting and admired the form, the arch of learning and wisdom the composition conveys. 

 

Crossing Delaware

Cape Henlopen State Park,  Delaware

Our trip began in Washington, D.C. We met our good friends, Wolfgang and Sebastian, at the swank AKA Whitehouse, a short walk from The White House.  We shared a comfortable suite and enjoyed the great location, including walks to the Mall, and great dinners at such restaurants as the Founding Farmers. We also made trips to the zoo and to Georgetown, dining at such historic places as Martin's. 

For me Washington meant Art, the National Gallery and the surreal performance of Laurie Anderson and others at the Hirschhorn. Washington was an aesthetic experience.

Founding Fathers

Hermes, National Gallery

Laurie Anderson

From Washington we drove in the rented car Wolfgang arranged, a Nissan Maxima. It was roomy and comfortable. It took us around 3 hours to get out of DC and into the rural and lovely, farming countryside that took us to Lewes, Delaware.

Lewes is a beautiful, historic town filled with attractive houses and gardens. Its Dutch heritage is displayed in a building that is a replica of one in Holland from the 1600s (the British destroyed the original when they seized the town, burned it, and killed most, If not all, the people).

Lewes also has a beach and a State Park, Cape Henlopen, which we visited twice, the second time by bicycle, riding the 8 miles to Gordon Pond (and 8 miles back), seeing vistas, countless birds, marshes, and deer. What a joy and inspiration the bike ride was.

We found out later that it is a favorite of First Lady Jill Biden and the President. They ride there every June around her birthday.

Biking Henlopen

 

Savannah Beach

Darryl and I also took the ferry to Cape May, another beachfront, historic town. The ferry crosses where the bay opens up to the Atlantic Ocean. Sea birds followed us.

Cape May  

 

 Annapolis

One of the surprises of our visit to Annapolis was the encounter with the paintings and life of Charles Peale. His work was featured in the gorgeous Hammond-Harwood House: https://hammondharwoodhouse.org/

The story revealed is his relationship with his slave, Moses Williams. 

Peale taught Williams how to make the silhouettes. Williams became so skilled in doing so that he made a fortune. Peale granted Wilson his freedom and supported his art by displaying it in his own gallery. Wilson went on to marry Peale’s white cook, build a respectable home and have a decent life. We wondered if he was not in fact Peale’s son. I also loved finding an article that traced Kara Walker’s brilliant, provocative art back to Williams.

https://daily.jstor.org/the-former-slave-who-became-a-master-silhouette-artist/?fbclid=IwAR2jjE1f50zyS6noDCSx1AifnFJgSJwiTIvCrFGqZjpRdMZTHJ1qkBZb27o

Annapolis of course is a beautiful and historic small city. We walked the town, took in the houses and state house, and strolled the lovely, shaded campus of St. John’s College, making me nostalgic for my stay there so many years ago. 

Sebastian, Darryl, and Wolfgang, Mike's Seafood

On our last night of the trip, we walked around downtown and the waterfront, dining at the popular, packed, Boatyard Grill. Best fried oysters and Ahi Tuna we have had.

 

 

 

Springtime 2022

 

Chacmool

The Vernal Equinox has come and gone. Days warm, cold, wet and sunny leapfrog over one another. 

War has arrived as well, with atrocities and war crimes, and genocide, as Russia under Putin has invaded Ukraine and massacred citizens while destroying cities.

The U.S. and NATO have sent arms and equipment and offered refugees passage. It is not enough, though the Ukrainian soldiers have helped fight off Russians, with remarkable victories, for over a month. 

The climate too has gotten significantly worse,  with floods and fires and rising seas. Way too few people care, it seems. No one, not one, of my social media friends ever respond to news of worsening climate.

Actually, social media make me aware of how little I have in common with even life-long friends. We all eat; we all love gardens; we travel a bit; we post photos of ourselves.  Most of my friends are engulfed with family, religion, and the desperate will to be happy, no matter what. "just look! See how happy we are..."

The pretense makes me sad. What people actually live lives without even a hint of problems, unhappiness, or even empathy for the suffering people in the world, especially in Ukraine today?

Of course atrocities, crimes, brutality, and horror are deep, intricate keys to the history of humanity. The Chacmool above, which held the ripped out, beating hearts of Mayan citizens in sacrifices is witness. 

Darryl and I live our intimate lives. Darryl cooks fabulous meals and desserts. We see the seasons' kaleidoscope from our windows and our screen porch. We go repeatedly to Cloudland Canyon and Rabun Gap for nature, exercise, and meditation. We listen to music and watch films. I teach Art History, Astronomy, and Philosophy to eager minds at BFA. My students know the fabulous people I know, from Plato to Frida Kahlo, from James Baldwin to Ezra Miller. We spent this week studying Japanese Art and zoomed in on Hokusai's "Great Wave."

"Hokusai was one of the most famous wood-block artists in Japan. He accomplished the transition in wood-block printing to landscapes. His most famous work of art is “The Great Wave”, a print from his series 36 views of Mount Fuji. It represents Japan’s uncertain fear that the ocean would be its downfall, by bringing foreigners who would destroy its culture." 

 One of my students wrote.

In Astronomy, Leo and I talk of the potential for the newly launched and fabulous Webb Infrared Telescope which, from a million miles away, will send us photographs of a supposedly early universe some 13 billion light years away and 13 billion years into the past.  

Meanwhile, I put my newly socked feet

 (Thank you, Starr) 

up for the fire to warm both my meditation and my old bones. 

Jack