François Gérard, Psyche and Amor

François Gérard, Psyche and Amor, 1798

François Pascal Simon, Baron Gérard (1770-1837) was a successful French painter who studied under Neoclassical master Jacques-Louis David.  Born in Rome, where his father was French ambassador, Gérard achieved early successes but had many setbacks that precluded him from the acclaim he sought. Eventually, Gérard found great favor with the First French Empire and later the Bourbon Restoration as a portrait painter, painting all the leading figures of the Empire, including Napoleon.  Gérard also became a member of the high society of the Empire and was granted a barony.  

Psyche and Amor or Psyche Receiving Cupid's First Kiss is one of Gérard's history paintings and is a compelling representation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.  We see Cupid lovingly kiss his wife, holding her gently.  Both figures are depicted with physical perfection, exquisite Classical nudes,  and a beautiful landscape stretches behind them, an exemplary piece of Neoclassical painting.  The feathers of Cupid's wings are rendered with remarkable detail and Psyche's fine garment drapes over her legs with beautiful folds, the light shining through perfectly.  Despite the physical perfection of these lovers and the tenderness that Cupid expresses, there is something missing in their interaction.  Psyche's hands enfold her torso; she appears guarded and somewhat fearful.  Even more significantly, she does not look at him.  Cupid has forbidden Psyche from looking upon him, and she does not know the face or identity of this man she has fallen in love with who comes to her every night.  Psyche's gaze away from Cupid, toward the viewer, becomes the central feature of the painting.  The painting comes alive in the beauty of her face.  We feel the alienation between the figures and lack of fulfillment that Psyche feels as she cannot fully be with Cupid.  Even in the embrace of her loving husband, Psyche's longing and fear are powerfully expressed.  Gérard has frozen the myth before the resolution Apuleius described.  Psyche remains in perpetual sadness and longing, unable to turn her gaze toward Cupid.

Mark Rothko, Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Mark Rothko, Sacrifice of Iphigenia, 1942

Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was one of the most prominent American artists of the postwar period.  Considered an Abstract Expressionist, Rothko is best known for his color field paintings, where large masses of one or two colors fill the entire canvas.  Before he began using that style Rothko explored many other forms of art and Sacrifice of Iphigenia exemplifies the artist's interest in Classical myth.  Iphigenia was the eldest daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.  Agamemnon gathered the Greek fleet in Aulis but no wind rose to sail them to Troy.  Artemis prevented their departure in punishment for killing a sacred deer and to appease her Agamemnon had to sacrifice Iphigenia, if wished to sail on to Troy for his war that is.  Of course Agamemnon chose to sacrifice his daughter, a decision that would later lead to his death at the hands of Clytemnestra who was told to send Iphigenia so that she could marry Achilles.  It is certainly possible to identify figurative referents in Rothko's piece; the black cone with white stripes would be Iphigenia's garment, and her moon-like face recoils from menacing hands that reach out toward her.  Some have seen the figure on the right representing Clytemnestra, who is ripped open at the loss of her child.  However, what was always important to Rothko was the spirit of the myth.  While the story of Iphigenia has many implications, at its core it presents the willful death of a beloved innocent to perpetuate more killing.  In the midst of World War II, Rothko was certainly thinking along these lines.  Therefore he gives us a painting of deep pain and alienation.  There is a harshness to these shapes, such as those hell-red jaws that Iphigenia seems to stand in front of.  She wears a funerary shroud and her head is barely present, as her life fades away.  The entire scene is backgrounded by this deep yellow color, that is perhaps warm, but definitely sickly.  The extreme loss of life in these cataclysmic wars, such as the Trojan War and both World Wars, pervades this painting and tormented Rothko throughout his life.

Pierre Bonnard, Montmartre in the Rain

Pierre Bonnard, Montmartre in the Rain, 1897

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was a major French Post-Impressionist painter and printmaker and a founding member of the avant-garde group known as Les Nabis, who were committed including symbols and spirituality in their work.  In this piece, Bonnard depicts Montmartre, the hill in Paris that had long been a center of the artistic community.  What particularly stands out in this work is the texture that Bonnard created; rain isn't explicitly discernible, but the viewer can feel its affects when looking at these buildings and rooftops.  The brown palette seems to glow with warm light and we feel invited to take shelter in these homes with their yellow lit windows.  Bonnard's painting conveys the romance of Montmartre, as well as a sense of community.  His shapes are unusual and somewhat distorted but that only adds to the beauty, and perhaps slight mystery, of the scene.

Alfred Stieglitz, Equivalent

Alfred Stieglitz, Equivalent, 1930

Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was an American photographer and champion of modern art who was instrumental in the evolution of photography from a mere documentary tool into an art form.  Over his long career Stieglitz explored many styles and subjects, and he is perhaps most famous for his urban scenes.  He was also an avid landscape photographer but the Equivalents photographs that Stieglitz took from about 1925-34 are something quite different.  In this series, Stieglitz took at least 220 photographs of clouds and the sky.  The piece I have chosen is actually unusual in the inclusion of a tree at the bottom, as most of the pictures have no visible horizon or objects.  These photographs are intended to be free of literal interpretation, the first completely abstract photographic artworks.  The idea of the "equivalents" is that they were analogous to Stieglitz's own emotional experiences, and he was very influenced by Kandinsky's ideas–that with shapes, lines, and color, abstraction can reflect greater emotive truths than figurative art.  This particular photograph almost looks like a painting, the clouds are so unusual.  There is a great intensity here that Stieglitz manages to convey.  We see the size of the clouds and the cope of their power against the dark sky.

Marc Chagall, Bride with Blue Face

Marc Chagall, Bride with Blue Face, 1932

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a celebrated Russian-Jewish artist whose work crosses the boundaries between styles, employing elements of Expressionism, Impressionism, and Primitivism, among others.  Born in Vitebsk, now in Belarus, and having lived in Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York, and Paris (where he spent most of his life), the artist had a unique perspective on the changing nature of Jewish and European life in the twentieth century.  Chagall used vivid colors and fantastical folk imagery, raising serious questions about the nature of home, time, memory and longing.  Bride with Blue Face is exemplary of Chagall’s unique style, with vivid colors, disjointed space, personal themes, and unusual animals.  Here we see a bridal couple, one of the artist’s favorite subjects, towering over a village.  The groom's head is quite puzzling; it seems to be floating, supported only by the bride's veil, as though the groom's presence is not entirely realized and he is unable to join his bride.  The groom seems to dwell in the past, represented by the village in the lower right, and the burning village at the top.  The bride keeps him rooted to her present with her veil.

Today is my birthday!  So I decided to post one of my photographs, presented without comment.  I invite you to post your analysis in the comments!

José Bedia, Estrella Fugaz and Señal del Cielo

José Bedia, Señal del Cielo       José Bedia, Estrella Fugaz

José Bedia Valdés (b.1959) is a celebrated Cuban painter who draws on African, Latin American, and Native American traditions in his work.  Bedia is interested in many different themes and styles, but often portrays cosmic motifs and explores humanity's relationship to the universe and spirituality.  These themes are quite present in this pair of paintings.  Señal del Cielo and Estrella Fugaz (Sign from Heaven and Shooting Star) are based largely on Egyptian imagery.  These figures recall the posture of Egyptian statuary where Pharaohs are seen sitting straight and stoic, hands resting on their knees.  The figures in these paintings are in the same pose and are clearly referencing this iconography, an association underlined by the male and female pair (for the Egyptian statues are often in pairs of Pharaoh and Wife).  However the impression here is very different.  Rather than sitting on thrones, they are on simple chairs, and they do not sit stoically, but instead they receive and emit the energies of the universe.  The connection to cosmic spirituality is further illustrated by the trees growing from their knees and the animals climbing their arms, a horse for the man and a giraffe for the woman.  The blue coloring of the pieces (and the silhouette of the trees and animals) gives the sense of a nighttime scene with the white dots that outline the figures looking like stars; therefore, the figures take on the appearance of constellations.  Each painting is marked with the outline of a head, surrounded in white and blowing wind.  This aspect seems to be the message from heaven and the shooting star that that the paintings are named after, again placing the paintings in the spiritual realm.  These pieces also have a sense of magical realism about them, a recurring feeling in Bedia's work.  Ultimately these beautiful paintings explore our connection to our world and depict the interconnectedness of the universe.