LadyKflo

The young Raphael, a notorious ladies man, painted this fresh sprite of a portrait. They were likely close in age. But viewers also sense that there was nothing between painter and subject in Lady With a Unicorn. She's a remote beauty. Her loveliness resonates more chilly than sensual. The battered looking unicorn she cradles brings a tenderness to her, though. This isn't a typical unicorn. Most sparkle with bright and magical elegance. The Lady's unicorn appears fragile as a brown baby bird. This gives her the essence of motherhood. The tiny mythical creature leans into a velvety soft crook of her arm. Turns out this wasn't Raphael's original take on Lady With a Unicorn. One of the painting's owners later paid an artist to cover the unicorn. They wanted a portrait of St. Catherine. So, no mythical creatures allowed. This over paint was later removed to again reveal our delicate unicorn. That's why the tiny animal seems a bit smudged beside the clear luminosity of our Lady. It brings even more meaning to this masterpiece. Unicorns represent innocence and virginity. The painting's tribulations through time run parallel to this Lady. A woman of this time, the late 1400s, struggled to maintain an immaculate reputation.

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

https://www.ladykflo.com/lady-with-a-unicorn-by-raphael-raffaello/

Caravaggio’s deft handling of light grounds Calling of St. Matthew with a sense of reality. That’s why we’re able to look at this scene from a gospel story through secular eyes. The painter presents an extraordinary event through an everyday lens. This familiar but implausible story thus seems real. Caravaggio brings an angelic visitation down to earth. He painted St. Peter summoning St. Matthew to follow Jesus Christ in a casual setting.


We get the same biblical information about the story. But placing the situation in our familiar world helps us relate to it. Caravaggio includes a thick, solid table. He grants the forefront boy raw, muscular legs and even spotlights one. This gives the painting earthiness. It’s a real world scene. Yet, we also know from the title, Calling of St. Matthew, that it’s a gospel story. The only other hint of religiosity floods through the window at right. It’s the light of Matthew’s Lord Jesus. But we don’t see the source here – only that streaming, soulful, light.

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

https://www.ladykflo.com/calling-of-st-matthew-by-caravaggio/

Does Correggio’s Portrait of a Lady portray his poet friend Ginerva Rangone or his other poet friend Veronica Gambera?

Correggio’s Portrait of a Lady beckons with a silver bowl. This meaningful detail might get missed at first. That’s because this classic portrait features a striking lady. Her wry expression seems natural and self-possessed. The painter imbues her face with expressive strength. She’s sure of herself. Antonio Allegri da Correggio also fills this painting with prescient details.

Her silver bowl, held out to us, presents an obvious clue about this lady. It’s engraved with a phrase from Homer’s Odyssey. This bit refers to demi-goddess Helen. She concocts a potion to help people escape their earthbound troubles. With art, music, and poetry Helen lifts them out of everyday life. Fine arts transport them into joyful wonder and awe.

Find out more with a click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/correggios-portrait-of-a-lady-by-antonio-allegri/

Black Sea presents an audacious absurdity in oil. Obsessed with the lowly boot heel, painter Philip Guston dwells in a crude and even cruel reality. He creates a vivid, disconcerting portrait. The bare bottom of the boot heel atop dark waters. The plebeian symbol seems to rise like a Roman arch in the canvas center. But with its slanted sides, raw wood, and wonky nails, this heel’s not fooling anyone. No matter where Guston places it, a boot heel bottom holds no majesty.

This one doesn’t even have a sole to cover its shabby wooden innards. Instead of elevating the heel, Philip Guston raises questions about it. Given the title, Black Sea, viewers must check out the setting. That valiant, choppy sky’s intriguing compared to the bruteish boot bottom. Canadian American painter, Guston varies his sky brushwork. He mobilizes many hues into an active atmosphere. The sky dances around the banal boot heel. It mocks the stodgy brown stick-in-the-mud. Winds blow and toss. They change with the weather. A boot heel stays what it is – forever. There’s not much to see on the boot’s bottom. We see this crude object from the point of view of a bug. Turns out, that’s the point.

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

https://www.ladykflo.com/black-sea-by-philip-guston/

Wayne Thiebaud championed unappreciated pastries. For instance, the 1963 Display Cakes sits at the center of the Pop Art movement. It’s tempting to thus label this masterpiece as such. After all, Pop Art elevates popular mainstream subject matter. This spotlights our desires, and even obsessions. Thiebaud’s pastry portrayals point to America’s sugar fixation. He’s got a point there. But there’s much more to these immaculate sweets. Their impact transcends Pop Art. That’s because they’re as philosophical as they are delectable.

Check out all the goods on this and more masterpieces at LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/display-cakes-by-wayne-thiebaud/

Gustave Courbet believed in two types of people. There were artists, like himself, and bores. He didn’t keep such opinions to himself. So, it’s no surprise that the painting Bonjour Monsieur Courbet created a ruckus. This masterpiece, also called The Meeting – La Rencontre in French, teems with binaries.

For instance, Courbet’s critics gave this piece a different name. They liked to call it Fortune Bowing before Genius. After all, Courbet painted this threefold portrait against his will. His patron, Alfred Bruyas, wanted a piece to show himself with his favorite artist. So, the miffed Courbet painted Bruyas in a humble stance. He also stuck an uptight valet between them. Service thus separates the money from the art.

Check out this and more masterpieces at LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/bonjour-monsieur-courbet-by-gustave-courbet/

It’s hard to believe Thomas Eakin’s painting The Biglin Brothers Racing dates back to 1873. Point and click cameras weren’t yet invented. So, this action’s a straight shot from Eakins. He had to be there to capture a split second. That’s only one of the wonders at work in this piece. A striking clear portrait of a moving moment in oil paint. It’s a marvel of action and atmosphere. Thomas Eakins planned this race day portrait ahead of time. Then Philadelphia weather brought challenges. It would have been hard enough to capture this race on a sunny morning. Turns out rain held off the scheduled contest until early evening.


This urgent situation may account for some of the painting’s palpable tension. Thanks to that, a thrill runs through The Biglin Brothers Racing. Careful composition gives the painting this competitive charge. For instance, the brothers’ boat edges out both sides of the canvas frame. An opponent boat peeks into the bottom corner halfway. That’s how Thomas Eakins creates suspense. We’re mid-race. The brothers row – paddles in the air. At the moment, they’re in the lead. But this could change any second. So, the painting holds us spellbound in anticipation.

Click through to LadyKflo's Art Blog for the rest of this and many more masterpieces.

https://www.ladykflo.com/the-biglin-brothers-racing-by-thomas-eakins/

Edward Hicks paints neat and tidy artworks. It’s easy to recognize his trademark style in The Cornell Farm. Hicks obsessed over creating order in his paintings. Many art historians attribute this to a yearning within to quell his inner demons. But it may have been quite the opposite. Completely self-taught, Hicks could have adopted this perfectionism to prove his artistic merit. Thus, it wasn’t his animalistic urges Hicks wanted to quash – but his amateurism. Turns out, he accomplished exactly this. He created more than one masterpiece. American painter Edward Hicks achieved this with a meticulous attention to detail. He also charms viewers with his bewildered and tame beast depictions.

Click through for more on this and many other masterpieces on LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/the-cornell-farm-by-edward-hicks/

Wife of a rich New York merchant, the Mrs. Richard Yates portrait judges. Her expression evokes wisdom and confidence, though. So, it’s not unwarranted judgement. Once considered, the question Who do you think you are? may help us find our true selves. But Catherine Brass Yates has already reflected on her personal truth. She knows who she is. It’s also clear that this woman cares little about the judgement of others. After all, this portrait shows her flaws as well as perfect eyebrows and luxurious silks. She’s a woman of means. So, Mrs. Richard Yates could have had this painted in a more flattering way. But she left the mustache on her lip.

Check out more about this and other masterpieces at LadyKflo's Art Blog.

https://www.ladykflo.com/catherine-brass-yates-mrs-richard-yates-by-gilbert-stuart/

Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art painting M-Maybe reflects childhood comics. It commands our attention with nostalgic dots. They evoke the newsprint of yesteryear’s comics. Still, Lichtenstein uses this technique in only two facets of the painting. He differentiates aspects within the portrait. Lichtenstein uses dots to color the woman’s face and skin as well as reflective surfaces.


The Pop Art painter thus emphasizes her most human traits with this choice. He also reflects that back to us, the viewer. Mirrors are the only other polka dotted parts of the painting. That’s how the artist communicates the painting’s theme – being human. It’s an ironic painting. But there’s no mocking here. He elevates the art of comics rather than dismissing it. We see that in the careful reworking of comic representation here.

Click here to visit this and more masterpieces at LadyKflo's Art Blog. 

https://www.ladykflo.com/m-maybe-a-girls-picture-by-roy-lichtenstein/