Monday, January 26, 2009

Ruby Tuesday

This week's Ruby Tuesday features several photos of paintings I saw on a recent visit to the Clark Art Institute. For this Ruby Tuesday post they were, of course, chosen for their use of red.

I've been posting to Ruby Tuesday from my photo blog The Pagan's Eye but because this post has an art theme, I thought I'd place it here instead. I hope you enjoy it. And come by "the eye" sometime. Once in a while I get lucky and post a half-way decent picture. ;-) You can always just say hi if you don't have time to leave a comment.

An hour west of us in The Berkshires, this smaller museum has a lot to offer: samples of American painters such as Remington and Homer and a pretty good sized collection art by Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Cassatt and Manet, among others. Add to that furniture, glass, silver and sculptures and you have a very eclectic mix of works amassed by the William and Francine Clark, the art collectors who established the museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Here is a bit about them taken from the website:

In 1910, after a distinguished career in the United States Army, Sterling Clark settled in Paris and began collecting works of art, an interest he inherited from his parents. When he married Francine Clary in 1919, she joined him in what quickly became a shared passion. Together they created a remarkable collection of paintings, silver, sculpture, porcelain, drawings, and prints with complete reliance on their own judgments and tastes. In 1950 the Clarks founded the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute as a permanent home for their collection, and the museum first opened to the public in 1955. Since its conception, the Institute has had a dual mission as both a museum and a center for research and higher education. It is in this spirit that the Clark has expanded over the last five decades to become the influential institution it is today.

The museaum allowed photography without flash, so I was allowed to go shutter-happy. I was pounced upon by a guard only once when I accidentally let the flash go off. I demonstrated the requisite profuse apologies but he still kept a strict eye on me after that.

The light there is quite dim, so many of these have been balanced and enhanced. I also cropped most of them to some extent.

They are much better in person, firstly. Secondly, they may be better images of these on the net but having taken my own pictures helps me to recall better what my appreciation was in person. If that makes any sense.

Coming up on Friday, is a set for The Friday Evening Nudes, of photos I took at the Clarke. I hope you'll join me then.
Love and peace,
Pagan


Renoir, above and below


Sleeping Girl with Cat

A Young Woman Reading Lucio Rossi 1875
The Guitar Player Boldini


Offering the Pinale to the Bullfighter Mary Cassatt 1873
Musical Group
Francois Joseph Navez
1821

Apples and Grapes in a Basket
Sisley
1876



Thanks to Mary for hosting Ruby Tuesday. That gal is red-hot! ;-)

20 comments:

  1. Visiting art galleries is so much fun! Thanks for taking us with you. ;-)

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  2. Very beautiful! Most moast favourite, "A Young Woman Reading Lucio Rossi 187"... love that red sofa :-)

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  3. I love to walk slowly among beauty.
    Renoir is a favorite.
    He has this ability of expressing outer and inner sensuality.
    From Felisol

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  4. All are stunning artworks, but it's "A Young Woman Reading" I like the most.

    My Ruby Tuesday entries are posted here and here. Happy Tuesday!

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  5. Any impressionistic paintings are quite enjoyable to me. The colors seem far more vivid, and the subjects dreamier. i can't explain it all, but all of this art here just makes me want to keep looking...

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  6. These are lovely. I love the rich colors. Perfectly fitting for Ruby Tuesday!

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  7. Beautiful stuff, Gina. I miss these, and need to get back there, especially knowing they allow photography. What fun!!

    I also missed Ruby Tuesday tonight, had a phew photos picked out, but they'll have to wait.

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  8. I love Renoir for his softness, but there's no one like Cassat for beautifully rendered textiles.

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  9. Those paintings are beautiful!

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  10. Marvelous paintings! Thanks for sharing these.

    I like the combination of colors and shadows in you SSS post too.

    Thanks for visiting, commenting, and following my JAGAT FOTOGRAFI blog.

    Eki

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  11. what a great post for ruby tuesday. thanks for your visit.

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  12. I really love the Boldini.
    I always found the smaller museums and galleries more to my liking. I used to spend my lunch hours in one or another when I worked in Phila. Good Lord! 50 years ago!

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  13. i like them all. the girl with the long hair in the first painting reminds me of my daughter.

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  14. Hi!
    They are all beautiful! Thanks for the tour of the museum and their paintings. Have a great day!!

    Sherrie

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  15. I love 'A young woman reading' !!!!

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  16. The Clarkes had very respectable taste in art and an eye for beauty. There is nothing extravagant or flashy in the permanent collection; nothing controversial, except perhaps in its own day and certainly nothing "offensive"...with that said

    I like the collection none-the-less! :-D

    Thank you all for stopping by. I'm thrilled to see comments from so such a variety of blogs. I appreciate each and every one.

    Namaste.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fabulous selection! Of these, my favorite has to be The Guitar Player...
    Thanks for visiting me, I'm so glad I followed you back to find such a wonderful little corner of the blogosphere! I'll be back for more.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Fortune: I'm glad you followed the link back here! I look forward to being a regular reader of your blog, too.

    :-) Welcome!

    ReplyDelete

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