Girl and City

I have never studied art. I took two years of art in school, was no good at anything, and learned zero. But for some reason, I love art museums, and most of all, oil paintings. I love learning about artists and watching them grow from naive youngsters to seasoned artists through their works. But I have never been deeply moved by a piece of art before, until Van Gogh. In the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, I found myself standing in front of a landscape painting of a harvest and crying. I wasn’t even a huge fan of Van Gogh before coming to this museum, but after going through a lifetime of his works, I couldn’t help it. I just stood there and cried. (more…)

Part of 30 Days of Me.

Since I just returned from Europe, I have plenty of “favourites” from each museum that I went to. You all know I love Impressionist paintings, so here’s something a little lot different.

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)

It is one of the most memorable paintings from French Romanticism, and depicts “a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today’s Mauritania on July 5, 1816. At least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation, dehydration, cannibalism and madness. The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain acting under the authority of the recently restored French monarchy.” (Source: The Raft of the Medusa)

There is so much to say about this work, but the first thing I noticed about this work was how it reminded me of Caravaggio, who had died almost two hundred years earlier. The lighting in this painting was stunning, as was its size. And when I learned that this was an un-commissioned work, it became all the more impressive. It was one of the first paintings of its time to depict real people as opposed to mythological Gods. In addition to being based on a real piece of history, it was also considered to be a criticism of the French monarchy at the time. If you have time, the story being depicted in the painting is quite interesting to read.

What is an interesting art piece you’ve encountered recently?

Part of 30 Days of Me. I’m skipping Days 10 and 11 because I’d rather not post photos of myself on this blog if I can help it.

I saw Impressionist paintings for the first time at the Boston Fine Arts Museum, and I immediately fell in love with “Danse à Bougival” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

I have an art print of this painting hanging in my room, and I love it more each time I look at it. I think it’s because of the way the woman is independent of the man even though she is dancing with him. She is not looking at him, but lost in her own thoughts, while his eyes are trained on her, captivated. The vague sense of distance and – almost discomfort – in the woman is how I feel about relationships. Yet if you look at the overall picture, it is one of happiness and frivolity.

I saw a lot of Renoir in Paris, and even saw similar dancing couple-paintings such as “Danse à la campagne“, but nothing enthralled me the way “Danse à Bougival” does. For one, it was the piece that made me love Renoir, and I can pick his style out from a meter away. For another, it was also one of my first large art print purchases. If I become rich one day, I’d love to buy original oil paintings (although I probably wouldn’t be able to purchase my favourites from the ones on display in museums today).

What is your favourite piece of art that you own? Why do you love it? Do you feel differently about it now than you did when you purchased/received it?