Friday, July 31, 2009

The Friday Evening Nudes

Picasso


Rene Magritte

George Tooker
Joan Miró

George Grosz

J.Alden Weir

Federico Castellon
Desire
1939

11 comments:

  1. Another nice collection and I'm glad to see you're back and keeping up a worthy tradition.

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  2. Lovely set. Without captions, I was left to recognize the artists, which was fun - but I could only get three, and one of those I got wrong... The first is a Picasso - I know this painting (one of the few nudes of his that I feel is sympathetic, or captures some of the inherent beauty of the female form. I dislike most Picasso nudes - I honestly feel he did not appreciate the form, for all his genius in other areas).

    The second is a Magritte. I like his work, but it doesn't usually stir up anything passionate for me. Too cerebral for that?

    The last I thought was a Dali - but then I noticed that the jpg names contain the artist's name, and I see that this is not his... Like the Magritte, I'm fascinated, but not moved.

    I love the George Tooker, partly for the luminous color, partly for the unusual composition with the reflections (and the way it fills up the space!), and partly for the story that seems to be present, though I'm not sure what the story is. Something to do with aging???

    I don't like the Miro so much. But I'm not a Miro fan, anyway, and (again) the cubist approach seems to miss much of the beauty of the human figure, in my view. I prefer Miro's later, more calligraphic works.

    I like the way the Grosz is painted - and what a delicious green. Veronese green, I think (after reading some of Vincent Van Gogh's letters yesterday, and seeing him call this color by that name). This looks like an excerpt to me - not the whole image? While the Tooker seems to be deliberately crowded onto the canvas, the Grosz seems cropped.

    The Weir is lovely. But I can't help but feel the subject was painted in the studio and the scene painted around her. That keeps me from losing myself in it. But I like the way he (she?) captured the model's expression, with her eyes and mind gazing on past the world she's in, into the thoughts raised by the reading.

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  3. That Magritte seems to be a commentary on what is happening to my body! (Getting larger and larger....lol)

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  4. Iiiiit's....... Monty Python's Flying Circus! (cue music)

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  5. This is quite a selection. Surprisingly (to myself) I like the first two the best.

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  6. Steve: I love realism and surrealism; maybe because it is cerebral and I, believe it or not, have those kinds of moods. Magritte is no Dali, however. I can't believe I went to Barcelona and didn't get over to the town where Dali's museum is. Just not enough time.

    Regarding the Stosz painting. It does look cropped. I just got finished searching and searching for the site from which I plucked that image and couldn't find it. In fact, I couldn't find it all, anywhere. It remains a mystery until such a time as I stumble upon it one day. I hope. I've just discovered Stosz - really interesting stuff - as he was painting in Germany during the time of the Nazis.

    Kenju: ha! Yeah! I'm just happy to be alive. The weight we can lose! :-)

    Susan: a blog tradition. I kinda like that. :-)

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  7. That was the first Magritte painting I ever saw. Since then, I have fallen in love with his work, and he is one of my favorite artists. The other surrealist who is among my favorites is Max Ernst.

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  8. Libhom: so much art, so little time. I like Max Ersnt, also.

    And a thanks to Priest for the memory blast of Monty Python

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  9. My photographer brain is probably the reason, bu my favorite of the lot is probably the Weir. There's a certain innocence in it, or serenity, or at least a complete lack of self consciousness. I think I'd like to sit with her a while, listen to her thoughts. (Yes, "seriously" dammit. Grow up people.)

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  10. Oh, c'mon Mojo! You know you want to sit with the Picasso! :=D.

    Interesting, I don't often think about how I would interact with a painting. Let's not go there...

    ha

    ReplyDelete

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