3 Kings Day THATLou!
Today is the eve of Epiphany, 6 January! A day of merrymaking, the 12th Day of Christmas has more than 12 drummers drumming (which apparently refers to the 12 points of doctrine in the Apostle’s creed, within the… Read More
THE American Expat Painter
Yes, I guess that title and caps-lock implies just how very much I like John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). He’s probably my favorite American painter*, expat or otherwise. I’m happy to say a second THATd’Or is imminently descending upon… Read More
THATLou Christmas Countdown
This Annunciation is by Carlo Braccesco, a Renaissance painter from Liguria active from 1478 to 1501. Doesn’t it look like Mary’s dodging a pigeon? The Annunciation is one of the most popular subjects in religious art. The story comes… Read More
Food in Art!
A TABLE OF DESSERTS Jan Davidsz de HEEM (Utrecht 1606 – Antwerp 1684) 17th Century, Flemish JD de Heem was one of the rare Dutch Vanitas masters to capture some of the exuberance of the Flemish baroque. No… Read More
Crazy Louvre Stats (+ Others)
As promised in the last post regarding The Art Newspaper (with a slight interruption discussing the distracting former director of the Met, Philippe de Montebello), below are the top 15 of a list of 100 museums that comprise… Read More
Leonardo’s Lover
So who painted this now famous Prado-owned La Gioconda? Fueled with personalities and possibly sordid details, it’s a fun question to examine. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) is too large a topic to address for one post…. Read More
SheMan Beauty
It’s really not so easy to follow a post concerning Pauline la Pute (or as she was known in history Pauline Borghese, Napoleon’s sister & Prince Camillo Borghese’s wife). I love the drafty old halls of the Louvre…. Read More
Wild Things
When you think of the Wild Things of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are you might as well think of Gorgons. As any American who grew up since it was published in 1963 will remember Max was sent to… Read More
500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art
For those of you with a minute to both watch and listen to the below, I thoroughly recommend it. The music, played by Yo Yo Ma, is Bach’s Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello #1 in G Major…. Read More
Pitting the Beauty against the Beast
What more appropriate to the Beauty & Bestiary theme (or the Ladies au Louvre theme) than to linger on Three Graces (of which the Louvre has many – from Lucas Cranach’s to the Borghese 3 Graces) Bestiaries are… Read More
Next Icon of the Louvre
In November 2010 the Louvre was made aware of a Lucas Cranach’s The Three Graces, which had been in private collections since it was painted in 1531. There’s another lesser Three Graces by Cranach at the Nelson Atkins… Read More
Cranach’s Three Graces
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 – 1553) was friends with all of the big hitters of his Renaissance Germany: painter Albrecht Dürer, reformist Martin Luther, and the various Electors and Emperors for whom he painted. Apart from being… Read More
