Van Gogh & Japan: Part 1

“All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art…” Vincent to his brother Theo from Arles, 15 July 1888 What did Van Gogh learn from Japanese prints? Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo had an extensive collection of Japanese prints. I want to understand how Japanese art changed van Gogh’s painting. Van…

A Kiss and a Concerto

I never tire of the pure joy surrounding this whole group of talented musicians. Isserlis is a masterful performer – a treat! Do you see the magnificent mural on the wall behind the orchestra?  Read more about the mural in Edvard Munch and The Suns  🙂 Gustav Klimt and ‘The Kiss’   “Truth is like…

Lilla Cabot Perry: The Blue Kimono (1915)

Who Is Lilla Cabot Perry? Lilla Cabot Perry (1848 – 1933), an American artist and writer, is best known as an Impressionist painter, but she also published four volumes of original poetry and a translation of classical Greek verse.  According to National Museum of Women in the Arts, “Although she had no formal art training until age 36,…

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,…

Maurice Denis: September Evening (1891)

  Who Is Maurice Denis? Maurice Denis (November 1870 – 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist and writer who was an important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art. He was associated with Les Nabis then the Symbolist movement, and then with a return to neo-classicism. His theories contributed to the…

Clement Massier: Art Nouveau Enameled Ceramic Plate (c. 1900)

ENAMELED CERAMIC PLATE REPRESENTING MONT FUJI, CIRCA 1900 CLEMENT MASSIER (1844-1917), Height: 42 cm. (16 ½ in.); Length: 30.5 cm. (11 ¾ in.)Origin: House of Art Nouveau Samuel Bing, Paris., Source: Christie’s Bing Who? Samuel Siegfried Bing (1838 – 1905), who usually gave his name as S. Bing (not to be confused with his brother,…