Author: A Scholarly Skater
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The Cathedrals of Broadway by Florine Stettheimer
The Cathedrals of Broadway, from a series of four paintings by American artist Florine Stettmheimer about life in 1920s-40s New York.
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More Gargoyles and Grotesques of Reims Cathedral
This gargoyle on Reims Cathedral seems to have had a head transplant some time since the Middle Ages! The concept is actually not that unusual, since centuries of running water often erode functioning gargoyles over time. It’s difficult to tell from this photo if the replacement was done in metal or a differently-colored stone. Either way, the end result…
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May Night by Willard Metcalf
I thought that the title of this painting made it appropriate for today. Willard Metcalf (1858-1925) was an influential American artist from New England. He painted this work in Old Lyme, Connecticut when he was associated with the art colony there.* I love the mystery and beauty of this painting. Who is the girl? What…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Pohjola Building, Helsinki
The 1901 Pohjola building in Helsinki, Finland is decorated with many grotesques representing figures from Finland’s mythology. The word “Pohjola” itself refers to a place in the myth Kalevala,which is Finland’s national epic, and the people and animals on the building are presumably from that epic. Pohjola may also refer to the name of the insurance company…
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Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is a lovely, dreamlike painting by John Singer Sargent. It depicts two little girls with Japanese lanterns in a setting of pale flowers.
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Etretat by Henry A. Bacon
Right now, the weather is pretty crummy where I live, so I definitely picked this painting for reasons of escapism. I also thought it was a watercolor until I read the description. I’m always amazed by oil paintings that manage to convey something of watercolor’s characteristic lightness. Henry A. Bacon (1839-1912) was an American painter…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Chartres Cathedral
This grotesque is on the west portal of Chartres Cathedral – among the grandest and most famous of all French Gothic churches. While its close cousin in Paris is famous for its gargoyles, Chartres is celebrated for its beautiful stained glass and profuse sculptural decoration. Much of this sculptural work is clustered around its nine arched doors (portals);…
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Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun at the Met
My experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s major 2016 exhibition of works by Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun. Vigée Le Brun French Neoclassical and Rococo portrait painter and one of the first women to succeed as a professional portrait painter on a grand scale.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Bethlehem Chapel, Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, France
The Bethlehem Chapel is a little medieval French church that was restored in a very unusual manner. In the 1990s, a movement began to repair the decaying chapel, which had once played host to a series of now-lost grotesques on the building’s four pinnacles. The architect and stone carver, supported by the town’s youth, decided to…
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World’s Columbian Exposition by Theodore Robinson
Theodore Robinson (1852-1896) was one of the first American impressionist painters, and he painted at the Giverny, France artists’ colony alongside Claude Monet.* This particular painting, one of his late works, is perhaps not as characteristic of his usual style as his earlier rural landscapes. However, I chose it because of its subject matter – the…
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More Gargoyle and Grotesques of Notre Dame de Paris
Today’s grotesque is a true classic. The gargoyles of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris are neither the oldest nor the most interesting of their kind, but they have certainly become the most famous. The interior and exterior of this church, which was a major milestone in the history of Gothic architecture, were both rather creatively restored by Gothic Revival proponent…
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Girl with Japanese Lanterns by Everett Shinn
There’s something so beautifully mysterious about this painting by Ashcan School artist Everett Shinn (1876-1953). I think it’s the contrast between the dark background and bright lights from the lanterns, combined with the loose, painterly brushwork making up the main shapes. You get just enough sense of the scene to be draw in by it, but details of…
