Forgotten Masters

[Nufocus]

I have no idea if these two Danish guys are “forgotten”. I’m quite sure that most children (and adults....) in Denmark know their names well.....
Nevertheless, here they are: Hammershoi and Holsoe.
I believe that Vermeer’s influence on both of them is clearly evident. Even though they lived and worked some 200 years or so after Vermeer.
The first image here is by Hammershoi, the second by Holsoe.

 

[Nufocus]

And if we take a look at early Munch works, we see a clear “Scandinavian” common denominator here. Although of course the works of these Danish guys don’t pack any of Munch’s incredible expressive punch.

 

[Artyczar]

Was Hundetwasser forgotten? I always felt he's never received the credit he deserved. Maybe he's not a "Master," but I love him.

 

[Nufocus]

Arty, it’s so funny that you brought up Hundertwasser now!....
There was a time ( in the late 70’s) when his work was the current craze!!
My dad bought pocket size repro books (high quality, printed in Switzerland) of his work. We cut the pages one by one, framed them and sold them like hot cakes!! Ahh... those were the days. He was NOT forgotten....

 

[Artyczar]

He was probably a lot more known in Europe than here. Glad to know!

 

[stlukesguild]

Hammershoi is not so much forgotten now. He has made something of a resurgence along with Anders Zorn over the last decade or more. Marvelous painter. Hundertwasser was not forgotten in my studio. One of my studio partners paints images that are something of an homage to the combination of old masters, modern masters, and figures from popular culture... all rolled into one. One of the paintings he struggled with for quite some time made homage to Hundertwasser.

 

[stlukesguild]

Robert Burns- 1869-1941 (not the poet) was a Scottish artist and designer and part of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th/early 20th centuries. After studying in London and Paris he traveled through North Africa where he was influenced by Islamic design. His most famous work was a mural painted for Crawford’s Tea Room in Edinburgh (1926). This spectacular image in paint and gold leaf of “Diana and Her Nymphs” on the hunt currently resides in the National Gallery of Scottland.

 

[stlukesguild]

Automaton with Diana on a Stag- Workshop of Joachim Fries (circa 1620-1635 Gilt on silver) Walters Art Museum

Clever displays of inventiveness with no other purpose than to amuse were valued interludes at the long, lavish, and sometimes tedious banquets that were part of court life. This automaton is a motorized wine decanter. Remove the head of the stag, fill the body with wine, wind up the motor (the keyhole is in the base) and send lovely Diana down the table to your guests. This type of table toy was a specialty of goldsmiths in Augsburg, and the Walters’ piece is close to a version (now in New York) marked by the Augsburg goldsmith Joachim Fries.

 

[Roni]

He was probably a lot more known in Europe than here.

That's what I was about to say after your initial question on him being forgotten. I think he's still well known in Germany, even thought the "hype" has gone.

 

[stlukesguild]

François Lemoyne (1688 – 4 June 1737)

At the height of Impressionism, Pierre Renoir was the target of negative comments concerning his paintings of voluptuous nudes. Monet famously quipped (to an effect): “You must forgive our dear Renoir, for he’s been seen again in the company of Parisian women.”

Monet’s comment had a double-meaning. “Parisian Women” could certainly refer to attractive women of less-than-upstanding moral character… even prostitutes. At the same time, it undoubtedly was intended as a slightly disproving witticism aimed at Renoir’s known admiration for the salacious nudes paintings by Rococo masters such as Fragonard and Boucher to be found in the Louvre.

Like Renoir, I’m not ashamed of having been seen with “Parisian ladies”… I don’t dislike the Rococo.

I first stumbled upon François Lemoyne through his marvelous painting of Venus & Adonis:

In many ways I find this painting to be a brilliant heir to the works of Rubens. The off-balance compositional thrust of the painting is especially dramatic and reinforces the narrative as Venus desperately struggles to hold Adonis back from his fatal hunt. The sweeping curve of Venus’ body is especially delicious. For all the voluptuous sensuality there is nothing “vulgar” about this erotic mythological scene. Lemoyne’s painting has an elegant lightness suggestive of Tiepolo… and a sensuous innocence that suggests the underrated Renaissance master, Correggio:

Lemoyne made a number of other marvelous paintings, of which I find the Bather...

Adam and Eve…

... and Hercules and Omphale...

...
to be the most endearing. Hercules and Omphale immediately reminds me of Théophile Gautier’s erotic rococo tale, Omphale, in which a young romantic lad is seduced by the goddess who comes forth to life like Pygmalion… from a tapestry hung in his bedroom.

Lemoyne is clearly not the most original artist… and many of his compositions and figures seem to be heavily indebted to the works of predecessors whose work he must have known: Tiepolo, Veronese, Correggio, and certainly Rubens.

His latter paintings… with overly-polished elements that verge on Neo-Classicism leave me rather cold, nevertheless, at his finest Lemoyne produced a number of truly delicious Rococo bon-bons.

 

[Artyczar]

Camille-Rosalie Claudel, born in December of 1864, Villeneuve-sur-Fère, France, and died in October of 1943, Montdevergues asylum, Montfavet, near Avignon, was a French sculptor of whose work little remains. Unfortunately, for most years, she was best known as the mistress and muse of Auguste Rodin.

Her mother did not feel her aims towards becoming an artist was very lady like, but her father was very supportive and took examples of her artwork to their artist neighbor Alfred Boucher to assess her abilities. Boucher confirmed that Claudel was a capable, talented artist and encouraged her family to support her study of sculpture and mentored her for some years. Claudel then attended the Académie Colarossi, as the École des Beaux-Arts did not allow women to train there.

Boucher continued to be a mentor to the young Claudel and later introduced her to Auguste Rodin in 1883. The young girl and the much older Rodin embarked on a physical and mentally stimulating relationship that resulted in some of the most incredible sculptures from the hands of Claudel, but sadly, it was also the cause of her unstable mental status when the affair ended after Rodin refused to leave his long-term partner, Rose Beuret.

During the ten year relationship, Claudel worked on some of Rodin’s most important pieces, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell being amongst them. Claudel also stood out in Rodin’s workshop for her own works. Rodin’s influence and her own natural love of form and her passionate nature were obvious early on.

Here are a few of her works:

 

[stlukesguild]

Claudel had a sad life, unfortunately. Her mother not only disapproved of her becoming an artist, but she was adamantly against this career choice because she felt it would bring shame to the family... especially her brother, Paul Claudel. Paul was a talented poet who was entering into service as a diplomat where no hint of impropriety was allowed. When Claudel and Rodin separated, she developed a certain obsession with him to the point of an unstable fixation. She made continual claims that Rodin had stolen all of her work. and could not bear any mention of his name. Her mother, after her father's death, used her obsession to have her committed, yet from what I've read, the only time she became unstable was when the subject of Rodin arose. Her brother Paul later signed papers for her permanent involuntary commitment protecting his diplomatic career. He later used his skills as a writer and his political connections to repeatedly lay the blame for "poor Camille" wholly upon Rodin in an attempt to assuage his own and his mother's guilt. The accusations made by Paul Claudel formed a good deal of the basis for the negative portrayal of Rodin in the film on Camille Claudel. Not that Rodin was an angel. He carried on the affair with Claudel while living with his common-law wife, Rose who he had no intention of leaving... and who he only married officially shortly before her death. Camille's story strikes me as a tragedy not unlike that of Frances Farmer, whose mother also had her involuntary commitment to psychiatric hospitals where she underwent repeated therapy including insulin injections and electroshock therapy.

 

[Artyczar]

Her story reminded me of Frances Farmer as well.

 

[stlukesguild]

Robert Burns- 1869-1941 (not the poet) was a Scottish artist and designer and part of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th/early 20th centuries. After studying in London and Paris he traveled through North Africa where he was influenced by Islamic design. His most famous work was a mural painted for Crawford’s Tea Room in Edinburgh (1926). This spectacular image in paint and gold leaf of “Diana and Her Nymphs” on the hunt currently resides in the National Gallery of Scottland.

 

[stlukesguild]

I just came upon this marvelous portrait of a Dutch officer by Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck... showing just how skilled the less-well-known painters of Baroque-era Holland were at the time of Hals, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. I quite admire the broad, sweeping brushwork and the pastel colors that love incredibly fresh... as if it were just painted.

 

[Artyczar]

Those colors are stunning, to be sure.

 

[joe1It]

thanks for this new episode.

with the second painting you reminded me that some time ago, I had taken this, it is a small brochure of an exhibition, there are photos of 6 paintings by Matthias Stomer (what he painted is amazing, wow), David de Haen (there is one of his paintings and it's incredible), Cornelis, Hendrick Van SOmer (exceptional too), I didn't know any of them, I find what they did incredible and I like some of them very much

this is the first I've seen, maybe my favorite but I think if you play it with many others then it's hard to choo
of stomer

wonderful Stomer,

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT2_W2nY_FK2huARa4el0wmSLJr9WF1aiv3rQ&usqp=CAU

 

[joe1It]

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

this booklet I was saying

Masters of Holland and Flanders in the South Seas. Dutch and Flemish painting in the collections of Giuseppe Bellanti, Giovanni Messina and Camillo

 

[stlukesguild]

There are more than a few masters from the past who are little known because they lived in the shadows of an even greater master.

I've long admired the Belgian, Jacob Jordaens:

-Temptation (Adam and Eve)

-Homage to Pomona

-Allegory of Fertility

-As the Old Sing So the Young Pipe

-The Four Evangelists

-King Candaules Showing His Wife to Gyges

Unfortunately, Jordaens worked for much of his career in the shadow of Rubens. Even today, the quality of the photographs of Jordaen's paintings available on the internet are not up to the level of those of Rubens' work. The somber... almost Rembrandtesque color is not what I have seen in person... which is closer to the brilliant colors of Rubens.

 

[joe1It]

stlukesguild, thank you very much, this actually explains why little is known about some masters,

the paintings you posted are wonderful,
fantastic,
wonderful the work of Jacob Jordaens, another name I did not know, thank you very much, they are wonderful, As the Old Sing So the Young Pipe seems to have colors that seem to come out of the monitor too, that shine, but they are all gorgeous, The Four Evangelists, Adm and eve etc ...