What's the story with Renoir's Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando?

• Truth about his real acrobat models
• What oranges represent
• Darkness lurking nearby

Find out with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog -

https://www.ladykflo.com/acrobats-at-the-cirque-fernando-by-renoir/

What makes Whistler's portrait Harmony in Gray and Green Miss Cicely Alexander special? Many things… including:

• Butterflies and muted tones as siblings
• Disappearing into the woodwork
• Whose jacket brings the green to Harmony in Gray and Green?

For all this and more click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/harmony-in-gray-and-green-miss-cicely-alexander-by-james-whistler/

What's the story behind this Count's smug mug?

• Son of a revolutionary lady
• The challenge of Amédée David the Comte de Pastoret
• Bad reputation and Legion of Honor
• Symbols vs. substance

Introducing Amédée David the Comte de Pastoret. The painter Jean Auguste Dominiqué Ingres was a student of Jacques Louis David. It's funny because thirty five years before this portrait, David did one with Amédée in it. He was the baby in Madame de Pastoret and Her Son. There were no signs of the man he'd become from his tiny presence in that painting. In contrast, this portrait shows us the man – Amédée David the Compte de Pastoret.

Learn more about this and other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/amedee-david-the-comte-de-pastoret/

Table of Contents for art blog on Madame de Pastoret and Her Son:

• Aristocrats vs. revolutionaries
• Symbols in Madame de Pastoret and Her Son
• Working mothers of the French Revolution
• Prison, exile, and a missing needle

Timing wasn't on the side of Madame de Pastoret and Her Son. In fact, she married Count Pastoret on Bastille Day. That was the climactic end of the French Revolution. As a noble aristocrat, this wasn't an ideal anniversary day. It also meant revolutionaries, like David, started to see her in a different way. When he agreed to paint Adelaide Anne Pastoret, she was running her own revolution.

Learn more about it with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/madame-de-pastoret-and-her-son-jacques-louis-david/

Why is Stag at Sharkey's much more than a boxing painting? Here are a few reasons:

• Stag night & wild stags
• A thrilled, expectant arena
• George Wesley Bellows – Ashcan art star

Boxing may seem brutish. But it makes a masterpiece of Stag at Sharkey's. George Wesley Bellows uses realistic representation and abstract blurring here. This heightens the excitement around the action. It gives viewers the immediate feeling of recognition. Oh! I know what this is about. There's so much happening at the center. Boxers and a referee draw us into the contest. But there's more to the story. It's not a mere popcorn moment. Sure, boxers fight in the painting. In fact, Bellows often portrayed boxing. It was one of his favorite subjects.

Dive a bit deeper into this and more masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/stag-at-sharkeys-by-george-wesley-bellows/

Fascinating insights about the Gray and Gold Painting lie ahead, including:

• John Rogers Cox: Bank Teller-Painter-Soldier-Painter
• Fences and distance in Gray and Gold
• Magic mixed with Realism
• A meticulous method

Paintings like Gray and Gold by Cox aren't what one might think of as art about war. It lacks literal soldiers and arms. But that's because this painting portrays war through analogy. This natural landscape might not contain any people. But human emotion permeates the picture. Cox wields fury and frustration in a controlled chaos of weather. The clouds loom with foreboding grey peaks and an ominous black sky behind. This represents human nature's shadow side. That's why we go to war.

Learn more about this masterpiece with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog:

https://www.ladykflo.com/gray-and-gold-by-john-rogers-cox/

This podcast on Rousseau's The Fight of a Tiger and a Buffalo includes:

• Bottoms up bananas – reality is overrated
• Fight? What Fight?
• Rousseau's self esteem
• Flowers and animals paired in The Fight of a Tiger and a Buffalo
• Jungle mystery

Henri Rousseau creates a sense of play – not battle – in The Fight of a Tiger and a Buffalo. His singular style suits this particular fancy. That's because Rousseau brings us into his world without much regard for the "real" one. He paints fantasy. But one that only he could imagine. There's nobody quite like Rousseau. His vision includes upside down banana bunches. So, we know it's unlikely he ever saw a banana tree in person. In fact, Rousseau claimed to have visited the jungle. But we now know he'd only ever been to zoos and botanical gardens. Given his bananas, he likely went to the farmer's market as well.

Learn more about this and other masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/the-fight-of-a-tiger-and-a-buffalo-by-henri-rousseau/

Contents for The Parasol painting by Goya include:

• Trapped lady and free servant • Greenery versus greys • Color and the duty in the Spanish royal court • Six tiny, hopeful, leaves

Learn more about this and other masterpieces with a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/the-fight-of-a-tiger-and-a-buffalo-by-henri-rousseau/

My blog piece about the painting Portrait of a Young Man in his Study explores:

• Details as personae in the Young Man in his Study painting.
• Lorenzo Lotto's secretive, telling lizard.
• This Young Man's dating profile.

Portrait of a Young Man in his Study tips a hat to complicated gentlemen. A sense of story pervades this masterpiece. But Lorenzo Lotto lays out only the raw materials for us. We must construct the narrative ourselves. That's the most powerful part of this piece. The painter gives us a confluence of detail. So, viewers drown in bits of information about this gentleman. He's a hunter, intellectual, musician, and most of all – mysterious.

Learn more about this and many other masterpieces with a click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/portrait-of-a-young-man-in-his-study-by-lorenzo-lotto/

In this evaluation of the painting Primavera by Botticelli I cover the following concepts:

• Why Primavera is such a popular painting
• Mythical characters featured in Primavera
• Love stories in the Primavera painting
• My Primavera YouTube video
• Frequently Asked Questions including, "Why is Sandro Botticelli's painting Primavera important?"

Botticelli's ​Primavera (Spring) exalts. It's one of the most popular and well known paintings of all time. But this masterpiece deserves all that attention. Some times notoriety sprouts from vapid glitterati. This is time, though, it's packed with meaning. No matter that this masterpiece graces tote bags and tees. Its popularity springs from genius – not marketing. There's true mastery in this piece. The deep meaning's only one of many reasons why. Nobody paints like Botticelli. He employs distinctive style. But Botticelli's best at characterization. It's easy to pinpoint his subjects. Learn more with a Primavera blog and video after a click to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/primavera-spring-by-sandro-botticelli/