A Scholarly Skater
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A Still Life by Johanna Helena Looisen (December 20th)
Today’s painting, Still Life with Christmas Pudding, Holly and Wine, is my first Advent Calendar work by a female artist. I wasn’t specifically looking for a work by a female painter today, just as I wasn’t intentionally avoiding female artists for the first nineteen days. I’m featuring the painting because I love it; it’s compelling for…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Tower of London
This weirdly-misshapen face is one of several gargoyles or grotesques located on the infamous Tower of London. Considering the many horrifying things that have happened inside that castle-turned-prison, I would say that his somewhat-twisted appearance is appropriate, though I’m sure this wasn’t intentional. Interestingly, the other Tower of London gargoyles I found, though all still disembodied…
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Christmas-Time, the Blodgett Family (December 19th)
Eastman Johnson, Christmas-Time, The Blodgett Family, 1864. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It’s very difficult to find genre paintings (scenes of everyday life) with Christmas settings. I assume that’s because the Christmas traditions we are familiar with today have only come into being relatively recently when compared with the entire the history of art. I had…
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Madonna d’Orleans by Raphael (December 18th)
For the 18th day of a fine art Advent calendar, one of Raphael’s famous Madonna and Child paintings – the Orleans Madonna of 1506.
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New Year’s Night by Julius Kronberg (December 17th)
A mysterious painting of a figure in the midnight snow on New Year’s Eve, by Swedish Symbolist Julius Johann Ferdinand Kronberg. For a fine art Advent Calendar.
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Winter by Alphonse Mucha (December 16th)
A personification of winter by Alphonse Mucha. Mucha’s elegant female figures are synonymous with Art Nouveau even today.
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The Nutcracker scenery by Konstantin Ivanov (December 15th)
Two sketches by Konstantin Ivanov showing his scenic designs for the famous Nutcracker ballet’s first-ever production, which took place in Russia in 1892.
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A Winter’s Walk by Jacques-Joseph Tissot (December 14th)
A fashionable portrait of a woman taking a walk on a winter’s day, by French realism Jacques-joseph Tissot. Part of a fine art Advent calendar.
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Ball at the Russian Imperial Court (December 13th)
If you are seeing this (and I set the timer correctly), it means I am currently at a holiday ball. I figured the Advent Calendar should get in on the action, too. Interestingly, it is far easier to get a ticket to a glamorous and elegant holiday party than an artistic representation of one. It took me…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Tullgarns Slott, Södermanland, Sweden
Tullgarns Slott (Tullgarn Palace, in English) is an elegant summer palace of Swedish monarchy, built in the 1720s. Tullgarn is a mixture of several architectural styles and has beautiful wrought iron work, including these unusual-yet-functional gargoyles. The cream and peace Neo-Classical palace exterior (image below) hardly looks like someplace where one might find gargoyles, but here they are! I love…
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Santa with Elves by Norman Rockwell (December 12th)
Painter and The Saturday Evening Post illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is beloved in the United States for his images of American life during and after World War Two – soldiers, Boy Scouts, school children, mid-twentieth century family life, and, of course, Santa Claus. My family owns an entire set of Christmas ornaments featuring his Santas in a variety of scenes at rest, work, and…
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The Magi by Joseph Binder (December 11th)
I looked at a lot of Magi/Three Wise Men paintings today, but something about this one particularly stood out for me. It is by Austrian artist Joseph Binder (1798–1864). I think it’s a combination of things – the clarity of the image, the colors (particularly the blues in the sky), the varying reactions of the…
