The Culture Enthusiast

detail - info below Oedipus and the Sphinx (1808 - 25) by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres  via the Louvre  "Listen to me and learn some peace of mind: no skill in the world, nothing human can penetrate the future." Oedipus and the Sphinx by François-Xavier Fabre via A Classic a Day  "If you are the man he says you are, believe me, you were born for pain." ...

Above the Narrows - Andrew Wyeth (1960) Andrew Wyeth was a contemporary American realist painter. Even though Wikipedia calls him one of the best known artists of the 20th century, I first heard about him last month. I was at the National Gallery in D.C. and saw this painting: Wind from the Sea - Andrew Wyeth (1947)  I was blown away (the reproduction...

(Hi, there. I'm back again. Please forgive my lack of posts. Once again it's part because of life and part because I can be a total slacker who doesn't want to read anything but shampoo bottles. But let's get serious.) The Dead Christ supported by an Angel by Antonello da Messina Source A little bit of history Date: 1475 – 76 Location: Museo...

Alba Madonna by Raphael  A little bit of history Date: 1510 Located in the National Gallery, Washington D.C. This painting depicts one of Raphael's favorite subjects, that of Our Lady with the Infant Jesus. However, unlike his famous Madonnas, this one presents another figure, Saint John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin and precursor, as a child. All three figures look directly at the reed...

I love going to museums and while I was visiting the National Gallery in Washington the other day I realized how important it is to have a light bag filled with everything you need to enjoy your museum trip. Here what I usually take with me: 1) Small notepad and pen.  Once I had to ask the security guard for a pen and...

A little bit of history Date: 1602 Located in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Caravaggio’s painting is a vivid portrait of one of the first scenes of Christ’s Passion. It depicts the moment when Judas betrays Jesus by pointing Him out to the Pharisees’ soldiers with a kiss.   Saint John (the figure on the left) runs away from the scene in...

Assault on Gimry by Franz Roubaud, 1904. (source) Did you know I almost studied History in college? Here’s why I didn't: The other day I was on Wikipedia researching about the Crimean War. The minute the page opened my eyes were drawn to the painting that was illustrating the article. After half an hour, I knew a lot about that painting and nothing about...

 I went to an art exhibit the other day and when I arrived at the end of it, a girl next to me turned to her group with a puzzled expression and said: “Is this it?” Granted, it wasn’t that great of an exhibit, but this feeling of bafflement is quite common. ll never forget when a friend of mine told me the thing...

Summer Day by Georgina de Albuquerque A little bit of history Date: 1926 Location: National Museum of Fines Arts, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Georgina de Albuquerque is a Brazilian painter from the 20th century. After marrying the painter Lucílio Albuquerque, she went to Paris where she studied...

The Parthenon is a temple inside the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena. It is  considered the most important surviving building of Classical Greece.  I've recently finished reading about it in an art book and was fascinated by these facts: 1) Pericles built the temple with the funds provided by Athen's allies to build a new fleet to fight the Persians. The...

The Calumny of Appelles by Botticelli (click on the image to enlarge) A little bit of history Date: 1494 Located in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy In Ancient Greece, there was a famous painter called Apelles. You might never heard of him because none of his paintings or even copies of his paintings survived. Apparently, before he died he was working on a...

"Amish Barn" by Jack Jeffers, 1980 The more I think about it, the more I realize photography is a complicated business – philosophically speaking. The other day I went to an exhibition called "End of an Era: The Photography of Jack Jeffers" where the picture above called my attention.  Its title is “An Amish Barn” and, apparently, the people who owned the barn in the...

 A young hare by Albert Düurer, 1502 Albrecht Dürer was a German painter and printmaker from the 16th century. He is considered to be the most important artist of the Northern Renaissance  He produced several altarpieces, religious works, portraits and cooper engraving. He also wrote theoretical works on Art in German, rather than in Latin which was the norm. Here's some interesting information about...