Renoir: Dance at Bougival

I can’t look at this familiar painting without feeling happy. Renoir was a master in every way. The open-air cafés of suburban Bougival, on the Seine outside Paris, were popular recreation spots for city dwellers, including the Impressionist painters. Renoir, who was primarily a figure painter, uses intense color and lush brushwork to heighten the…

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“Se potessero i sospir miei” (Imeneo), art by Ivan Aivazovsky

“Se potessero i sospir miei” from Handel’s Imeneo Jeffrey Stivers produced this excellent video pairing of “Se potessero i sospir miei” sung by Ann Hallenberg, conducted by Andreas Spering, and accompanied by Capella Augustina on period instruments. The song is from Handel’s opera Imeneo, (HWV 41). Fortunately for those like me who need a bit of remedial…

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Dame Laura Knight: The Fairgrounds, Penzance

Who Was Dame Laura Knight? Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition who embraced English Impressionism. As a teenager, she initially started painting to help support her financially struggling family in her home town of Nottingham,…

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Firdawsi: Gayumarth from the Shahnameh, mid 16th century Iran

 What is the Shahnameh? The seminal work of Persian literature is the Shahnameh, an epic poem that recounts the history of pre-Islamic Persia or Iranshahr (Greater Iran). The Shahnameh contains 62 stories, told in 990 chapters with 50,000 rhyming couplets. It is divided into three parts—the mythical, heroic, and historical ages. Written in modern Persian,…

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Firdawsi: From Shahnama, Rustam Rescues Bijan From the Pit (d.1020)

What is the Shahnama? The Shahnama is Iran’s national epic and one of the world’s great literary masterpieces completed in ca. 1010 by the poet Firdawsi.  …the Shahnama recounts the myths, legends and “history” of Iran from the beginning of time to the Arab conquest in the 7th century. Quote from Shahnama: 1000 Years of…

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Laura Bassi (1711-1778): First Female Professor — The History & Art Girl

Who Is Laura Bassi? Note from Sunnyside: This fascinating post by The History and Art Girl introduces the 18th Century Italian, Laura Bassi – experimental physicist, professor, wife, and mother –  and the second woman in recorded history to earn a PhD.  Bravo! The last couple of weeks I’ve been doing some reading about women…

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Rudolf Koller: Outing on the Forest’s Edge (1895)

Who Is Rudolf Koller? Rudolf Koller (1828 – 1905) was a Swiss painter  associated with a realist and classicist style, and also with  Düsseldorf school of painting.[2] Koller’s style is similar to that of the realist painters Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Rudolf Koller is considered one of Switzerland’s finest animal painters.   Click for…

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PTSD and Medical Trauma — Mast Attack

Note from Sunnyside: The following is a post from Lisa Klimas, whose blog, Mast Attack, is both a valued resource for other patients and an eloquent record of one patient’s personal daily battle against disease, including the long term trauma which results. She writes truth. In Ruthless, Klimas writes: There is a ruthless truth to…

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Thomas Wilmer Dewing: Summer (1890)

  Click for enlarged image detail: (best viewed At Sunnyside – Where Truth and Beauty Meet)   Thomas Wilmer Dewing_Summer (1890) Yale University, source: The Athenaeum Owner/Location: Yale University Art Gallery  (United States – New Haven, Connecticut) Dates: 1890 Artist age: Approximately 39 years old. Dimensions Height: 52.07 cm (20.5 in.), Width: 91.44 cm (36 in.)…

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Edouard Vuillard: The Pot of Flowers (1900)

Edouard Vuillard: The Pot of Flowers (1900) I love everything about this painting by Edouard Vuillard — color, composition, and especially the texture. If it is, indeed, a snapshot of his studio, then it must have been a lovely place to paint.Vuillard selected much of his subject matter;;;

Odilon Redon: La Voile Jaune (c1905)

Odilon Redon was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist.

Known for his unique blend of artistic naturalism and symbolic subject matter, Odilon Redon was highly influential among the late 19th century French avant-garde circle. Working in charcoal, pastel, oil, and lithography, Redon created …

Édouard Vuillard: Flowers on Mantel at Les Clayes (1935)

Édouard Vuillard: Flowers on a Mantelpiece at Les Clayes (1935)
“Magnificent peonies, at the point of wilting, have been arranged on a mantelpiece in front of a mirror. Depicted vividly in a matt paint, their deep red hue …

Emily Carr: Untitled forest scene (c1932)

From the collection of Royal BC Museum PERIOD / STYLE: Modernism and Late Totems (1927-1932) INSCRIPTIONS RECTO (FRONT): Signature: EMILY CARR Details Title:Untitled (forest scene) Creator:Emily Carr Date:circa 1932 Physical Dimensions:w48.2 x h52.1 cm Artist’s biography:Emily Carr, (1871 – 1945), is a renowned Canadian artist and writer. Though she lived and died in Victoria, British Columbia,…

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Bal du moulin de la Galette (1876)

This painting is doubtless Renoir‘s most important work of the mid 1870’s and was shown at the Impressionist exhibition in 1877. Though some of his friends appear in the picture, Renoir’s main aim was to convey the vivacious and joyful atmosphere of this popular dance garden on the Butte Montmartre. The study of the moving…

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Edgar Degas: Dancers in Blue (1895)

Dancers in Blue (1895). Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917). Oil on canvas. Musée d’Orsay. “Whereas previously in his “dance classes” Degas focused on isolated figures and large spaces, here he groups together four figures making adjustments to their hair and costumes, almost forming one single creature with several heads, several arms and several feet. The shapes…

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Van Gogh & Japan: Part 2

‘Japonaiserie’ Begins The Convention of Kanagawa put an end to the 200-year-old Japanese foreign policy of Seclusion. and opened trade between Japan and the West. Artists like Manet, Degas and Monet, followed by Van Gogh, began to collect the cheap colour wood-block prints called ukiyo-e prints. Vincent and his brother Theo dealt in these prints,…

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John Everett Millais – Mariana (1851)

Who is John Everett Millais? John Millais (1829–1896) was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of English artists who united in 1848 hoping to renew British painting. They idealized the sincerity of purpose and clarity of form of the early Italian Renaissance artists—before Raphael—finding art that they sought to emulate.[2] The Pre-Raphaelite…

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Van Gogh & Japan: Part 1

Van Gogh created “Flowering Plum Orchard” after a Japanese print by Hiroshige from the extensive collection he shared with his brother Theo. Vincent closely followed the composition of Hiroshige, but not the exact colours of the original. The Oriental characters he painted on the frame were derived from a Japanese example, but the text is…

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Rupert Bunny and Ola Gjeilo: Angels and Northern Lights

Video: Ola Gjeilo (Norwegian composer b.1978) Northern Lights Ola Gjeilo (Norwegian composer b.1978) – Northern Lights Via: jacquesbonhomme (Source: https://www.youtube.com/) Angels Descending by Rupert Bunny c.1897 Click for enlarged detail:   Angels Descending by Rupert Bunny c.1897 Details Title: Angels Descending Creator:Rupert BUNNY Date Created: c.1897 Location: Paris Physical Dimensions: w98.4 x h157.5 cm Type:…

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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: At the Moulin Rouge -The Dance (1890)

At the Moulin Rouge, the Dance is an oil-on-canvas painted by French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It was painted in 1890, and is the second of a number of graphic paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec depicting the Moulin Rouge cabaret built in Paris in 1889. It portrays two dancers dancing the can-can in the middle of the…

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Vincent van Gogh: A Tale of Two Paintings

Preface See previous posts for detailed images of The Olive Trees and The Starry Night. Note that Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background is also called The Olive Trees Vincent van Gogh painted at least 18 paintings of olive trees, but only one –The Olive Trees — was a complement to The Starry…

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Albert Aublet: L’heure de Bain au Tréport

Albert Aublet 1851 – 1938 FRENCH L’HEURE DU BAIN AU TRÉPORT Signed Albert Aublet and dated 1885 (lower left) Oil on canvas 39 3/4 by 63 3/8 in. 101 by 161 cm Click –  image detail enlarged: Image Credit: Sotheby’s

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek: River landscape with crayfish catchers

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek. 1803-1862 La Haye. Paysage de rivière avec des pêcheurs d’écrevisses. River landscape with crayfish catchers. Dordrecht Museum Le paysage romantique néerlandais The Dutch romantic landscape by jean louis mazieres Click for enlarged image:   Original Image Via Flickr: Barend Cornelis Koekkoek. 1803-1862 La Haye. Paysage de rivière avec des pêcheurs d’écrevisses. River…

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Emily Dickinson: Truth and Beauty

The Duties of the Wind are Few The duties of the Wind are few- To cast the Ships at sea, Establish March, The Floods escort, And usher Liberty.    Hope Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest…

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Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night (1889) in detail

Title: The Starry Night Creator: Vincent van Gogh Date Created: 1889 Style: Post-Impressionism Provenance: Acquired through the Lillie P.Bliss Bequest Original Title: La nuit étoilée More Info: View more works by Vincent van Gogh on MoMA.org External Link: View MoMA’s collection online Medium: Oil on canvas Image credit: Google Arts and Culture Click for enlarged…

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Santiago Rusiñol: A Romance (1894)

A Romance by Santiago Rusiñol, 1894 Details Title: A Romance Creator: Santiago Rusiñol Date Created: Paris, 1894 Location Created: Paris External Link: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya Medium: Oil on canvas Click for enlarged image:   Image from Google Arts and Culture

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Harvesters (1565)

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 642 This panel belongs to a series, commissioned by the Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jongelinck for his suburban home. The cycle originally included six paintings showing the times of the year. Apart from The Harvesters, which is usually identified as representing July–August, or late summer, four other…

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Who Am I?

The Story: Sunnyside was born many years ago, the name of my fictional home for orphaned children and animals in a story for Mrs. Watson’s eighth grade writing class.  A medical degree and six biologic homeschooled children later, Sunnyside became the name of my classical education website, Sunnyside Classical Christian School.   Now entering a new…

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Truth: The Power of Introverts

So far, my brief experience with blogging At Sunnyside has been centered on learning the nuts, bolts, and unwritten rules of this brave new world. (I still cannot accept that two spaces are no longer required after the period, but let us move on…) Now that I have more comfort, if not mastery, with this…

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Klimt’s Kiss and Haydn’s Cello Concerto

Music Credit: Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, 3. Allegro molto Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Steven Isserlis, cello Anthony Marwood, leader Click below for enlarged detail view:   Image Credit:  Gustav Klimt, The Kiss [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Jan van Kessel: Butterflies, Moths and More… (1654)

Cabinet of Curiosities in Paint Often produced as pendants, Jan van Kessel’s detailed depictions of insects, flowers and plants were sought after by collectors. They should be seen in the context of cabinets of curiosities. Van Kessel belonged to a famous dynasty of painters and is indebted in style and technique to his grandfather, Jan Brueghel…

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