Featured Painting - A Young Frenchman

Painting human faces and figures, not as means to document, rather, as means to probe and investigate, is hugely challenging and exciting, and thankfully, such is also a the validity of portraiture painting in selfie age. One of my successful attempts was a portrait of a young man, whom I saw near Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and I was intrigued by his serious and even severe countenance, and his chiseled features, intelligent, graceful, vulnerable yet vigorous, an enthralling concoction led to my 2001 painting, A Young Frenchman, which managed to capture many of these engaging characteristics.



A Young Frenchman
Oil on Canvas
24" x 20"
Completed in 2001

Someone once wondered about the “Frenchman” in the title; I was fairly confident that the young man was a french national, because not only I saw him in France, also to me, he was the epitome of Gaullic attributes and attraction.

Originally posted on matthewfelixsun.com

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My Favorite Paintings at the Wallace Collection, London

The Wallace Collection in London was a marvelous museum boasting many superb old master and impressive French 18th century paintings, plus decorative art and a world class armory.  Comparing to the British Museum or the National Gallery, both huge institutions in London, it was much smaller but the reward was just as great.

There were so many paintings to like there and I name these two as my favorites there: 1) The Laughing Cavalier by the Dutch painter Frans Hals (1582-1666) and 2) Voulez-vous triompher des Belles? by French artist Antoine Watteau (probably 1684 - 1721).


The Laughing Cavalier, Frans Hals, The Netherlands, 1624, Oil on canvas, Image size 83 x 67.3 cm,  Object size: 112.5 x 98 x 9 cm

This flamboyant portrait by Hals was remarkable for its candid depiction of a not wholly flattering character and the amazing ways the painter depicted the endless varieties of fabrics and laces this cavalier carried in his bulk.  It was in-your-face direct and you could not avoid his presence.  You could hear his roaring laughter, you could smell the tobacco in his finery, and the smell of beer in his breath.  You could not avoid a minor confrontation from him, if after his assessing of you as a worthy adversary or someone he could trample upon without repercussion.  His humorous mustache could not disguise his hot temper and his readiness to pounce.  A cavalier through and through.  A roguish and less-than-refined kind.

For refinement, one only need to move on to the paintings by the French Antoine Watteau, who ushered in the ornate, the less severe, more naturalistic, less formally classical Rococo style of paintings.  He was also credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes: scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with an air of theatricality.

His characters, always refined, always occupied an Arcadian landscape, otherworldly, elegant, including those actors and actresses in the costumes of Commedia dell'arte, whom, could be crude and crass if painted by other less quintessential French painter.  Watteau's world was often misty and mythical.  His characters, however real and naturalistically rendered, always occupied a world beyond our reach, and in our longing to join them, his works cast the spell over us and made us melancholic.  Thus, Watteau's works made great complement and contrast to those by Hals. 


Voulez-vous triompher des Belles?, Antoine Watteau, France, c. 1714-1717, Oil on oak panel, Image size 35.9 x 27 x 1.4 cm,  Object size: 35.9 x 25.9 x 0.4 cm, preserved parts of the original panel



My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 46: My Favorite Paintings in the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 44: My Favorite Portraits at National Portrait Gallery, London

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

My Favorite Paintings at Cincinnati Art Museum

The first American city I lived after graduation from an American university was Cincinnati and its art museum, Cincinnati Art Museum, became my first home museum I have explored multiple times.  This happened after I'd visited some wonderful museums in the US, including Metropolitan Museum in New York City, and National Gallery in Washington, D.C., but a home museum is a home museum and the easy access made it special.

The Cincinnati Art Museum features an unparalleled art collection of more than 60,000 works spanning 6,000 years and boasts of works by Andrea Mantegna, Sandro Botticelli, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Thomas Gainsborough, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Childe Hassam, William Merritt Chase and Paul Cezanne, etc. Amongst works by these renowned masters and other worthy artists, I chose two paintings as my favorites from that museum.

The first choice is a painting by Tiziano Vecellio (Titian) - Portrait of Philip II.  It is a quite disturbing painting.  We see the king of Spain sat uneasily in his armchair, in wonderful slashed gown and chain of knight order, and a crown on head.  But he was hardly regal.  His weasel like feature and his furtive side glance made one wince and cowed.  This is a sickly monarch tormented by some inner conflict.  Only after some mental adjustment, one could move away from gazing into his penetrating eyes and wander about to see the surroundings of this king, and realized the wonderful touches Titian had.  This painting is the manifestation of wonders of those venetian masterpieces - buoyant color palette and lively brushstroke, etc.  It also had the hallmark of the psychological insight of Titian.  It is a marvelous piece.


Portrait Of Philip II, Tiziano Vecellio (Titian) (Italian, b.Circa 1488-Circa 1490, d.1576), Circa 1550-Circa 1551
42 3/16 x 36 1/2 in. (107.2 x 92.7 cm), framed 60 1/4 x 54 1/4 x 5 1/4 in. (153 x 137.8 x 13.3 cm), oil on canvas

The second favorite of mine is a unfinished piece by the French painter Honoré Daumier - the equivalent of a social-realist writers like Émile Zola or Theodore Dreiser.  Even in the unfinished stage, this painting had great beauty to recommend it.  The delicate profile of the character on the forefront, the flowing lines and the moody atmosphere gave me an impression that any extra paint would be unnecessary.  For a painter, it is often hard to judge when to stop.  Sometimes, the inability to complete did result in a wonderfully complete piece as this.  It also revealed, at least partially, the process of Daumier and that always holds special interest for me, therefore, I chose this my second favorite, despite many other more polished pieces.

 
Orchestra Stalls, Honoré Daumier (French, b.1808, d.1879), Circa 1865
23 1/2 x 33 1/4 in. (59.8 x 84.3 cm), oil on canvas


My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 5: My Favorite Paintings at Metropolitan Museum, New York
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 3: My Favorite Paintings at Museum of Legion of Honor, San Francisco

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

My Favorite Paintings at Museum of Legion of Honor, San Francisco

In San Francisco Bay Area, if one wants to see some substantial European painting collection, one has to go to the Museum of Legion of Honor (Legion), though its collection is still small and rather disappointing, even comparing to my previous resident city, Cincinnati, arguably somewhat more provincial.

Even so, I cannot deny that there were some exceptionally beautiful works at the Legion.  My favorite piece in that Museum is an extremely atmospheric piece by French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau.  It was not big and not flashy.  It was luminous and sublime.  There was a hushed spell emanating from the depth of the canvas.  The figures - a group of performer in respite by the moon light, at a most private and intimate moment, oblivious of the intrusive viewers.  I often felt that I should have averted my eyes to be decent but I couldn't.  The slightly resigned postures of the two male characters, the composed yet relaxed of the female characters tell incredibly rich stories about them - not sure what but rich.  Enigmatic.  Engaging.  Above all, it was the enchanting beauty lingers with me the most.  The contrast of light and dark, the finely defined figures, the fairly-tale atmosphere, the wonderful sheen of the silk dresses, all left indelible impressions on viewers.  A quiet rapture it is.


The Foursome (La Partie Quarrée), ca. 1713,
Oil on Canvas, 19 1/2 x 24 3/4 (49.5 x 62.9 cm),
Jean-Antoine Watteau, French 1684-1721

The other favorite of mine in this museum is Marie Claire de Croy, Duchess d'Havre and Child, by the Flemish master, Anthony van Dyck.  It is a mother and child portrait, rather official one.  Regal and formal.  But the spirits of the two figures were so well presented that their humanity penetrated from their stiff armor of clothes.  The duchess gazed upon viewers casually, knowing that being a public figure, she would be gazed upon and she willingly submitted to such rule of game.  She did her best to perform her public duty, yet maintained her status as a mother and the pillar of support to her young child, who looked like a miniature adult, yet without the self-consciousness and the confidence the mother had.  Their relationship was formal but not without love.  Their love was expressed by their utter trust, thus moving.

As one of the best draftsmen in the art history, van Dyck demonstrated why such regard amply.  He was also a wonderful colorist and the richness of the colors balanced perfectly - never called attention to themselves yet essential.  It would be hard to substitute with other tones to the colors he picked.  Blue, green, red, silver and above all, black, created a harmonious visual feast.


Marie Claire de Croy, Duchess d'Havre and Child, 1634
Oil on canvas
81 1/2 x 48 1/2 (207 x 123.2 cm)
Anthony van Dyck, Flemish, 1599–1641


My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 4: My Favorite Paintings at Cincinnati Art Museum
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 2: My Favorite De Young Museum Collections

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Gustave Courbet and John Constable's Anniversaries

Today is the birthday of French painter Gustave Courbet (10 June 1819) and tomorrow that of British painter John Constable (11 June 1776). They achieved the very height of representational landscape painting, and being revolutionary, ushered in a new era, which culminated in the Impressionism movement some decades later.

I saw a few canvases of of Constable in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and National Gallery, London. I really admired his country scenes - they provided mood and set the scene and they told stories.

But I admired Courbet even higher. Constable pacifies me while Courbet excites me. Of course there will be exceptions. Some Turner-like paintings by Constable give me shiver as well.

For Constable, figures were more decorative though with their stories to tell but Courbet saw them as objects of interests. Could anyone forget Bonjour, Monsieur after just a glimpse? Would one not be crushed by his massive waves?

Constable:

Wivenhoe Park, Essex (1816)

The Hay Wain (1821)

Seascape Study with Rain Cloud (c. 1824)


Courbet:

Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet (1854)

Plage de Normandie (c. 1872/1875)
















Wave (1860s)