Monday, May 23, 2011

Inside The Getty


IMG_6993 John Singer Sargent
Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

I wrote about the architecture of The Getty Center in my last post and the stunning Rembrandts a couple of posts before that. Today I will feature a few more of my personal favorites from The Getty Museum.


Stepping backwards in time, I begin with the John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Thérése, countess Clary Aldringen. Sargent's life-sized portrait stands tall and proud in the gallery.

Source: The Getty

His quick brushstrokes express the compelling presence of his statuesque subject.

IMG_6994 John Singer Sargent
Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.


According to a Getty article the countess is portrayed here after she's had three children. I'm consoling myself by believing that she paid Sargent handsomely to shrink her waistline into an impossibly small hourglass.


IMG_6995 John Singer Sargent
Portrait of Thérèse, countess Clary AldringenJohn Singer Sargent, 1896.
Oil on canvas, 90 x 48 in. (228.6 x 121.9 cm).
Renée and Lloyd Greif, Los Angeles, California
Article here.

Since my love affair with Paul Cézanne started last fall, I continue to be inspired to see his work. In stark contrast to the regal presence of the Sargent portrait, Cézanne's melancholy pose for this young Italian woman does not convey an ounce of vanity. 

IMG_7010 Paul Cezanne - Young Italian Woman at a Table
Young Italian Woman at a Table
Paul Cézanne, French, about 1895 - 1900
Oil on canvas,  36 1/8 x 28 7/8 in.
Description here.

I am in awe of Cézanne's commitment to understand the use of space on the canvas using the same familiar props over and over again. Above all, I was thrilled to see the budding spark of cubism in the background.

IMG_7012 Paul Cezanne -Still Life with Apples

Still Life with ApplesPaul Cézanne  (1893 - 1894), French
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in.
Description here.


While Cézanne used his props as a constant to explore the use of space, Claude Monet studied the effects of light on the same landscape. He painted these haystacks at least thirty times as the seasons changed . The light  in this example is wondrous.


IMG_7006 Claude Monet - Wheatstacks, Snow Effects, Morning
Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning, Claude Monet
French, Giverny, 1891
Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 39 1/4 in.
Description here.

A mere 75 kilometers away from Cézanne's Aix-en-Provence, Vincent Van Gogh painted Irises in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Each iris is captured as a portrait. One by one, each is expressed with its individual attitude, height, and angle. The strength of the explosive blues are given by the orange flowers in the background and the rust earth in the foreground. Can you imagine this painting without these essential reds? Of all the works of art I saw this day, the movement in this dynamic painting was the crescendo of the day.

 
IMG_7008 Irises by Vincent van Gogh

IrisesVincent van Gogh
Dutch, Saint-Rémy, France, 1889
Oil on canvas, 28 x 36 5/8 in.
Description here.

Stepping back more than one hundred years, I found Augustin Pajou's bust of an ideal female head. She is beautiful and demure with every hair in place.  She was designed as a model to ornament a balcony in Versaille. To see the companion sculpture, click here.

IMG_7005 terra cotta bust
Ideal Female Head, Augustin Pajou (1769 - 1770 ) French
Terracotta on white marble socle
Description here.




Albert Cuyp paintings always get my attention because he is a household name in Amsterdam with a street, outdoor market, and even a supermarket chain named after him. His paintings always convey the essence of the Dutch low countries.

IMG_6967 Aelbert Cuyp
A View of the Maas at Dordrecht, Aelbert Cuyp
Dutch, Dordrecht, about 1645 - 1646
Oil on panel, 19 3/4 x 42 1/4 in.
Description here.

I can understand why Frans Hals is my mother's favorite Dutch portrait artist. The Getty Center and the Rijksmuseum jointly conserved these 400-year-old paintings with beautiful results.

IMG_6969 Frans Hals
Lucas de Clercq and Feyna van Steenkiste
Frans Hals, the Elder (c. 1580 – 26 August 1666), after conservation
Description here.

The oldest piece I include here is the soft pink glass and gold-leaf Pilgrim Flask from Murano.

IMG_6942 glass bottle
Unknown
Italian, Murano, late 1400s or early 1500s
Free-blown colorless (slightly pink) glass with gold leaf, enamel, and applied decoration
14 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.
Description here.


I'm hoping, by posting this, that I will return to that extraordinary island before long. 


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