My Favorite Paintings at Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

The complex of the Belvedere Palaces in Vienna contained the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Austrian Gallery Belvedere), showcasing Austrian artists, such as Gustave Klimt (1862-1918) and Egon Schiele (1890-1918), two giants of the late 19th to early 20th century and their works were indeed my favorites in this museum.

Of many works by these two artists, I'll call Braut (Bride) by Klimt as my first favorite.  It was less iconic than the more renown Kuss (Kiss), but the images of this piece were richer and the messages more layered.  I particularly loved the interplays of the patterns and the juxtaposition of those overtly sensual, to the point of near indecent fleshy figures, permeating a hedonistic and even sinister atmosphere. It was the unabashed abandon carried the day.


Braut, Gustav Klimt, 1918, Oberes Belvedere, Wien

My second favorite painting there was Fensterwand (Hauswand) (Window Wall (House Wall), which contrasted most violently with the Braut by Klimt.


Fensterwand (Hauswand), Egon Schiele, 1914, Oberes Belvedere, Wien

This Schiele piece, somber though not stern, was orderly and becalming, with dashes of colors accenting the overall gray scheme.  It had a purifying effect, yet it was also playful in the details.  This piece, completed just four short years before both his wife and he succumbed to the Spanish flu pandemic, represented the world to be smashed by the Great War (World War I).  A very beautiful and poignant piece.

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 82: My Favorite Paintings at Leopold Museum, Vienna
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 80: My Favorite Paintings at Albertina Museum, Vienna

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


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My Favorite Paintings at Albertina Museum, Vienna

The renown Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria was mostly valued for its graphic art collections, such as works by the incomparable Albrecht Dürer, whose ultra-realistic drawings and watercolors were so delicate that the museum only put reproductions on display, therefore, I refrain from citing his works as my favorite there.

Albertina Museum also had some really impressive oil paintings, amongst which, I was particularly enthralled by paintings by Max Beckmann and Paul Delvaux.

The Frau mit Katze (Woman with Cat) by German artist Max Beckmann was a stylish, understated yet highly erotically charged woman portrait, typical of his pre-Third-Reich oeuvre, without the unsettling sinister atmosphere permeated in his later works.

I was particularly enchanted by the sitters' self-satisfying langour, the marvelously subtle and bold interplays of orange, yellow, pale purple, green and black shades, and the sitter's slightly monumental bulk, which didn't take away any of her sensuality or her femininity.


Frau mit Katze (Woman and Cat), Max Beckmann, 1942, Öl auf Leinwand (Oil on Canvas)

My second favorite works was Belgian painter Paul Delvaux's Landschaft mit Lanternen (Landscape with Lanterns) - a mysterious cityscape which extended to landscape under cool moonshine, almost symmetrical, with a noble-looking woman stood at the foreground, looking into the goings-on on the receding away from the viewers, including two small figures in white, carrying a stretcher with a person enshrouded in white sheet, against the gently lit hills dotted with unfinished architectures, or strange gate-shaped structures, corresponding to the seemingly unfinished city structures in the foreground.


Landschaft mit Lanternen (Landscape with Lanterns), 1958, Paul Delvaux (1897-1994)

The cool atmosphere and the classical symmetry recalled The Ideal City by Piero della Francesca (?) though the mood of Delvaux's painting was much darker and more mysterious, even quite sinister, and the story was much harder to decode, thus even more fatally attractive.


The Ideal City, Piero della Francesca, public domain work of art

During my visit, I shot the picture with a viewer looking inside the frames, and her presence added another layer to this haunting piece.

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 81: My Favorite Paintings at Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 79: My Favorite Sculptures in Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

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


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My Favorite Sculptures in Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

Whenever Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris was mentioned, one often thinks of the fantastic gargoyles on the rooftop and the rose windows above the portals, justifiably so.  Yet, despite all those famous objects, and the holy artifacts in the treasury, I would cite the below two sculptures as my favorite from the cathedral.

My first favorite was a bronze equestrian statue of Charlemagne, weather beaten, hollow looking yet undeniably grand, dominating the side plaza.  The green patina interwove with dark sooty patches, adding senses of history to this marvelous sculpture.


Equestrian Statue of Charlemagne

My second favorite was one of the many figures by one of the portals to the cathedral, centering on the patron saint Denis of Paris, who was the third century Bishop of Paris and was martyred shortly after 250 AD. According to legend, after his beheading, he picked up his head and walked ten kilometres (six miles) and preached a sermon during his final voyage.

Saint Denis, along with other figures, including two winged angels, stood on pedestals supported by strange beasts and figures, looked quite serene, with their flowing draperies, in their simplistic lines, like the creations of master draftsman, formed a memorable but not ungainly sight for this ghastly story.


Saint Denis and Angels

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 80: My Favorite Paintings at Albertina Museum, Vienna
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 78: My Favorite Sculptures in Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés

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


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2002 Recapitulation - Video Presentation of Paintings Completed in 2002

2002 was a year in which I mostly concentrated in painting portraits, plus a couple of landscape/cityscape commissions - W. Park and Via Italia.

Working on commissions were quite challenging, a bit terrifying and also strangely satisfying.  Ego massaging?  Perhaps.  But the most satisfying part was the joy and happiness the commissioners demonstrated upon the deliveries of the works.  I would love to do some commissioned portraits.  My dear readers, your selfies can never compete with a timeless oil portrait for classiness. 

The most satisfying work from 2002 was a group portrait, Interaction, which captured the spirit of the then Chinese collage students, who were facing very uncertain futures, in the age of political corruption and crackdown around the time of 1989 Tian’anmen (Tiananmen) Massacre and a very harsh economic reality.

Below is the video presentation of oil paintings I completed in 2002:



Music excerpt TimeSphere by Steven Yi
Completed: 2013.07.27
Duration: 7:03
Ensemble: Electronic (blue, Csound)

www.flickr.com Matthew Felix Sun's Paintings Completed in 2002 by Matthew Felix Sun on Flickr photoset

>> Video presentations of paintings and drawings, Part XXXVI: To be continued
<< Video presentations of paintings and drawings, Part XXXIV: 2009 Recapitulation - Video Presentation of Paintings Completed in 2009

List of Video Presentation of My Artworks

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My Favorite Sculptures in Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The ancient abbey, Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, founded in the 6th century, was one of the most revered institutions in Paris, both as religious site and a cultural landmark in the Latin Quarter.

I was lucky enough to have stayed in its vicinity in my two trips to Paris, and have visited and walked by its imposing structure many times.  If the building itself was more eye-catching, many sculptures in the dimly-lit interior and in the modesty garden were more enchanting - seemingly neglected, abandoned, even damaged, which however, perversely created a certain authentic gloomy charm, which far preferable than a restoration à la Las Vegas. 

My favorite sculpture there was an outdoor high relief in a semi-deserted garden, depicting a shepherd on the left, leaning against a rock, long staff in hand, in a casual pose, facing a rather rigid looking maiden or matron, standing at the far right.  If there were three women in the group, I'd say that it was the Judgement of Paris.  With only one woman or goddess present, therefore, I couldn't determine what the story was.  Looking closer, it seemed to me that the woman was judging the shepherd.  Perhaps, the story ought to be from the Bible, instead of my bible, the Greek mythology? 



My second favorite sculpture was doubtless about Virgin Mary and the Child, in a small niche altar inside the dark interior.  I loved its simplicity and purity, which practically shone in the midst of the semi-darkness.



In addition, there was a giant cartoon maiden, in pink blue dress and silver shoes, standing in front of the moss-covered ancient building during my second trip to Paris in 2008, and the clashing contrast left an indelible impression. If it was not permanent, then it was quite a delight.

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 79: To be continued
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 77: My Favorite Artworks in Panthéon, Paris

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


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My Featured Work: Oil Painting “Interaction” – A Group Portraits

Painting portraits can be very challenging and rewarding – how to capture the spirits of the sitters, how to render the physiognomies and the postures faithfully yet with artists's personal touches, how to connect the sitters to the viewers, and most importantly, to ensure the relevancy of painted portraits in the era of digital cameras and smartphones.

One of my best portraits was a group of young men, me in the middle and two college friends at the two sides of the canvas. We sat on stone benches, looking serious and somewhat despondent, and aimed our eyes away from another, into different directions.  It was a moment of uncertainty, a private consultation in a group setting, a dialogue with oneself, and a congregation without exchanges.  I titled it “Interaction”. My relatively broad brushstrokes rendered the bushes in the background a hallucinatory backdrop, and the deliberately bland facial features were economically outlined – a kind of abstraction.


Interaction, Oil on Canvas, 30″ x 48″, Completed in 2002

I am quite proud of this work, as it captured the spirit of then Chinese collage students, who were facing very uncertain futures, in the age of political corruption and crackdown around the time of 1989 Tian’anmen (Tiananmen) Massacre and a very harsh economic future.  I just posted a blog on my trip to Beijing during the time the martial law was about to be declared in Beijing and the ordeals my fellow students and I endured during the sit-in on Tian’anmen Square, which will explain more of the background story to this painting, a souvenir of my youth: 25 Years Later, Smell of Exhausted Tian’anmen “Warriors” Lingered.

This painting was selected for 23rd Annual National Juried Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, July 23 – August 26, 2006.

Originally published on my website: Featured works: Oil Painting “Interaction” – A Group Portraits

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