Author: A Scholarly Skater
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Wonderland Circus, Sideshow Coney Island by Reginald Marsh
Reginald Marsh, Wonderland Circus, Sideshow Coney Island, 1930.Tempera on canvas stretched on Masonite. Today’s painting is not yet in the public domain, so click here to view it. I try so hard never to do post about works I can’t actually show you, but this artist is too wonderful to overlook simply because he died…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a railway station in Mumbai, India. Formerly called the Victoria Terminus, it was designed by Frederick William Stevens and constructed between 1878 and 1888, during British colonial rule of India.(1) The building is Victorian Gothic in style but also clearly reflects some characteristics of native Indian architectural traditions. According to UNESCO’s website…
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The Milkmaid by Winslow Homer
I think we’ve established my great love of the American Impressionists in recent weeks, so it’s time for something different. Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was a nineteenth-century American painter who worked in a more naturalistic style. He painted many New England landscapes, seascapes, and scenes of rural life.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Casa della Vittoria, Turin
This dragon grotesque and his twin live on the Casa della Vittoria in Turin, Italy. The building is also sometimes called Casa dei Draghi, presumably because of decorations like this one. (“Drago” is the Italian work for “dragon”.) I’m having trouble finding out more about the building, on account of the fact that my Italian is currently a bit rusty,…
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Church at Old Lyme by Childe Hassam
Childe Hassam (1859-1935) is one of my most favorite American artists. He is also has the rare distinction of having one of his paintings hang in the Oval Office.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Today’s grotesque came to my attention via Atlas Obscura, a fantastic place to find fun, quirky facts and interesting locations to visit. This little bull figure lives on one side of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. The church is heavily-laden with sculptural decorations of many styles and subjects, but this bull has a story separate…
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Edith Perry at the Window by Lilla Cabot Perry
American Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry’s beautiful painting of her daughter sitting by the window.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Saint Louis
I don’t come across either gargoyles or grotesques on commercial buildings very often in my research, which is why I so greatly appreciate them on the rare occasions that they do come along. You don’t typically think of history and important architecture when someone mentions the word “Budweiser”, but the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and headquarters in Saint Louis, Missouri is…
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Edwin Booth by John Singer Sargent
This week’s artist, like last week’s, is among the most famous artists in American history. John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) made many of his best-known works, including the scandalous Portrait of Madame X, during the many years in which he lived in Europe, but he was an American-born artist who painted many American subjects throughout his…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Chateau de Pierrefonds, France
A crocodile gargoyle on the Chateau de Pierrefonds in France.
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View from Mount Holyoke (The Oxbow) by Thomas Cole
Romanticist and landscape painter Thomas Cole was born in England but came to success in New York in the 1820s. He was a founder of the so-called Hudson River School. View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, is among Cole’s best-known works.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Duomo, Milan
In 2012, Milan’s Duomo came up with a pretty cool fundraising idea. In order to come up with the necessary funds to support restorations efforts, this massive Gothic cathedral decided to put its 135 gargoyles up for adoption. Donors could pick a gargoyle to contribute to, receiving a little name plaque underneath “their” gargoyle. This article on swide.com…
