A coffee with Art

Sit down with me, just for the time of a good black espresso. Let's have a quick chat about Art.

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Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin - Still life with the attributes of Art (1766)

on May 29, 2020

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Peter BLAKE - On the balcony (1955-1957)

On the balcony 1955-1957 Oil painting on canvas (121x91 cm) Tate Gallery, London ******* The figures sitting on a park bench are surrounded by four paintings by some of Blake's companions and various commercial objects, including packets of cigarettes, newspapers and food packages. The structure of the painting is very simple and the attention to perspective is somewhat lacking; the real interest is to be found in the attention to the representation of the objects, which are the most important elements of the composition. At the time of its creation it was considered Blake's masterpiece for its strong visual impact and now communicates the full sense of cultural growth in the 1950s, putting the observer in front of a messy crowd of popular images. This representation of commercial objects paved the way for another great artistic movement: Pop Art. In the 1970s, Blake moved towards a more naturalistic style and by 1975 he also became a founding member of the Brotherhood of Rur...

Nicolas Poussin - Landscape with Polyphemus (1649)

An apparent, banal landscape. Art History is full of it. But nobody has the mythical, historical and mythological charm of this. Nicolas Poussin's painting is mythological. Mythical figures hidden in the bushes. A Polyphemus who seems an integral part of the mountain. Without a doubt we are faced with a vision and an invitation. We live in a world that is formed on the myth, let's see it in everyday life. They are not simple stories, it is the explanation of our being.

Anton Raphael Mengs - Perseus and Andromeda (1774-1777)

The inspiration perhaps came from a cameo of Mengs' wife, now preserved in the egrmitage. Apotheosis of the Roman collections. Andromeda is the reproduction of a relief from the Doria Panphili collection in Rome. Perseus is inspired by the Apollo of the Belvedere of Villa Albani. Fiero indicates the sea monster killed to free the beautiful Andromeda. Cupid with his torch leaves the stage, already aware of having done his duty.

Michelangelo Buonarroti - Crouching Boy (1530-1534)

Perhaps it was to be added to the Medici Funeral Chapel, perhaps it was a separate work. A certainty: Michelangelo transmits all his strength to the works and this (like others of the author) seems ready to move. An unfinished still not very incisive and cheeky but present. Marble comes to life, not only form, when it is modeled by Michelangelo.

William BLAKE - Pietà (1795 circa)

Pietà about 1795 Watercolor and ink on paper (42x54 cm) Tate Gallery, London ******* A woman who apparently seems to have recently become muddy (given the color still present on the vaults and arms) lies lifeless on the ground; above her we can see two female figures on horseback and with the wind in their hair. One of the two women looks down and holds a newborn in her arms. This work represents one of the most important scenes of the Shakespearean tragedy in which Macbeth meditates to assassinate Duncan: "Mercy, like a naked baby, riding the hurricane, or the celent cherubs, on horseback ...". These figures so precisely delineated by Blake, rejecting the ideal tradition of perspective composition, evoke enigmatic images of other worlds. His style reflects with great precision his personal mystical vision, in which image and reality are one. William Blake began his activity as an artist as an engraver but he was also able to express himself through poetry and painting, in ...

Jean-Baptiste Greuze - The spoiled child (1765)

An Enlightenment painter who conveyed through his brush all the ideas of the century, so loved as to become one of the best known painters in France. Appreciated by Diderot who paved the way for him in Russia by making him known to Catherine II, a great collector who created the heart of the Hermitage. A portrait painter of great skill, as we can see. That it is a training framework, with a teaching content is easy to understand.

George Caleb BINGHAM - Fur traders on Missouri (1845)

Fur traders on Missouri 1845 Oil painting on canvas (74x92 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ******* We find ourselves catapulted into a foggy and peaceful atmosphere, where two hunters in the company of their cat glide over the calm waters of Missouri. The image is pervaded by an unreal light that creates a dreamlike and timeless sensation. In his early works, Bingham was very careful to balance horizontal and diagonal lines, inserting figures at right angles to create a pleasantly solid structure. George Caleb Bingham was one of the most important painters of the early movement of the North American Frontier Painter, and in his art he represented the landscapes and settlers of the American West with great skill. The camera, in those days, was not yet widespread and it remained the artist's task to tell the rest of the world the beauties of this strange and new land. Gradually Bingham shifted his fondness for river scenes inland and held back his production for politics (...