Dancing at the ball. Illustration by Anna and Elena Balbusso. Introduction by Sebastian Faulks. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen. Folio Society, London, 2013. The eldest daughter, Jane, dances twice with Bingley. Within Elizabeth’s hearing, Bingley exclaims to Darcy that Jane is “the most beautiful creature” he has ever beheld. Bingley suggests that Darcy dance with Elizabeth, but Darcy refuses, saying, “she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” He proceeds to declare that he has no interest in women who are “slighted by other men”
Young Ladies Fishing (1890). Henri van Wyk (Dutch, b.1833). Oil on canvas. One young lady has put aside the book that she had been reading to witness what appears to be a catch. Perhaps the ladies will catch and release as the only carrier for caught fish seems to be the lady’s white hat
Portrait of Mlle Fiocre in the Ballet “La Source” (c.1867-1868). Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917). Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum. Degas depicts the ballerina Eugénie Fiocre, in pale blue, in La Source, an elaborate production, with exotic costumes and sets, that also included bodies of water onstage and live horses. Painting the dancers at a pause in their rehearsal—note the cast-off ballet slippers—Degas captures them at a transitional moment between the imagined place and time of the ballet and the private reveries of the present
A Legal Point. Margaret Dovaston (British, 1884-1955). Oil on canvas. Dovaston received her artistic training under Thomas William Cole, the still-life artist and headmaster of the Ealing Art School, and Arthur S. Cope, the portrait artist. A Legal Point, in which solicitors review a legal document, is typical of her work
At the Opera (1866). Thomas Francis Dicksee (English, 1819-1895). Oil on canvas. New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, Leicester Arts and Museums Service. A refined lady with an open smile enjoys a box seat at the opera, perhaps viewing a performance at the Royal Opera House, opera glasses in hand. Dicksee was skilled in the handling of the fabrics, particularly in the stripes of the dress and the effect of light on them
A painter at his easel shows a painting of a girl (1852). Florent Willems (Belgian, 1823-1905). Oil on panel. Amsterdam Museum. Willems attended lectures at the Mechlin School of Art. He was inspired by the technique of the Dutch Masters: Gerard Terborch, Gabriel Metsu and Frans van Mieris and came under the influence of Alfred Stevens. Especially Terborch’s skills in painting silk dresses and other expensive fabrics became a trademark of Willems’ paintings
The Final Rehearsal. Cesare Auguste Detti (Italian, 1847-1914). Oil on canvas. Many of Detti’s paintings were inspired in part by 18th century rococo paintings; however, Detti incorporated new elements reflecting the Realist movement of the 1850s and 60s in both subject matter and style. The Final Rehearsal depicts a musician playing for the singer, an elaborately gowned woman, but the setting and clothing looks more like an rococo scene than an elegant 19th century interior.
Madame Boude (possibly exh.1881). Georges de Saint Cyr, XIX century. The work was possibly exhibited at the Salon de Lyon, 1881, no. 485 (as Le Spleen). The scene depicted by Saint Cyr may relate to Le Spleen de Paris, a collection of 51 short prose poems by Charles Baudelaire published posthumously in 1869. Baudelaire’s prose poems were based on Parisian contemporary life
A Young Lady Writing in a Hymnal. Giacomo Pacchiarotto (Italian, 1474-1539/40 ?). Oil on panel. This charming panel is a youthful work by Giacomo Pacchiarotto when he was working in Bernardo Pintoricchio’s studio in Rome. The present panel is dateable to this period and blends Pacchiarotto’s native Sienese style with Pintoricchio’s Umbrian idiom
Van de Velde the Younger at Work (c.1665). Michiel van Musscher (Dutch, 1645-1705). Oil on panel. Vienna, Liechtenstein Museum. Willem Van de Velde received a number of commissions for English and later Dutch sea battles. He had little first-hand experience with battles or sailing. Many of his battle scenes were painted from sketches made by his father. In this work, the style of the drawings scattered at the artist’s feet corresponds to that of his father, Willem the Elder
The Poor Man who Saved the City (1901). Evelyn De Morgan (English, 1855-1919). Oil on canvas. De Morgan Centre. The text in the open book shows a passage from Ecclesiastes: “There was a little city and few men within it, and there came a great king against it and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found a poor wise man; and he by his wisdom delivered the city; but not one remembers the same poor man. So I said: Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded”
The Letter (1851). Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen (German, 1813-1886). Oil on canvas. Meyer von Bremen is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. In 1841, he opened a studio of his own, but moved to Berlin as his fame increased (1853). While scenes from the Bible were first the subjects of his brush, he later turned his attention to incidents from popular life, especially among the Hessian peasantry, and finally to the portrayal of family life
Portrait of a lady with a white scarf (c.1918). Jan Sluijters (Dutch, 1881-1957). Oil on canvas. In 1906 Sluijters first saw the Fauvist works of André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck, which made a great impression on him. Unlike Mondrian, the influences of Fauvism and cubism were temporary and eventually he chose a more realistic style, where color continued to play an important role
Portrait of Angelica Catalani (1806). Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755-1842). Oil on canvas. Kimbell Art Museum. Angelica Catalani (1779-1849) was the leading Italian soprano of her day. She is shown in the present picture presumably singing an aria from the music sheets on the pianoforte. The bound score is inscribed Semiramis, the title of operas by Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Caldara, Baldassare Galuppi, Christoph Willibald Gluck and many others
The Garden of Heart’s Delight; A Fairy Tale. Ida M Huntington. Illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright. Rand McNally & Company, Chicago/New York, 1911. “A long, long time ago, in an old-fashioned house which stood in the midst of an old-fashioned garden, a dear little baby girl was born. No queen born in a royal palace in the midst of splendid surroundings could have been more eagerly welcomed or more royally treated.”
Mademoiselle de Rohan-Guemenee, Marquise de Crevecoeur (1717-1744); dite autrefois Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle, Marquise de La Tournelle, Duchesse de Chateauroux (1737). Jean-Marc Nattier (French, 1685-1766). Oil on canvas. Versailles. Depicted as Hēbē, the goddess of youth. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hēbē was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles
Dolce Far Niente (c.1907). John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925). Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum. The Italian phrase that serves as the title can be translated as “It is sweet doing nothing,” reflecting the serene indolence depicted here, with only books, chess, and a nap as entertainment. Here his compression of the composition (several figures seem almost to merge with the water) further enhanced the intimacy of the gathering. Sargent’s Alpine figure subjects show a bright palette and lively brushwork
St Marina (c.1640-1650. Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish,1598-1664). Oil on canvas. Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga. Using fairly tight, compact brushwork, Zurbarán lends brilliance to the colours and sharpens the contours by silhouetting the body against a dark background with an intense source of light that emphasises the flesh tones. St Marina wears a wide-brimmed hat and an white chemise with a frilled collar, bodice, skirt and overskirt. She holds a long rod, possibly an allusion to her martyrdom, and a prayer book, a symbol of learning and loyalty to the Gospel.
Dance of Salome (c.1910). Leopold Schmutzler (German, 1864-1940). Oil on cardboard. Around the turn of the century Schmutzler was one of the most sought portraitists in Munich. He received important commissions, including the Bavarian royal family, but also often painted dancers and actresses. He gained fame with his display of Lili Marberg (1878-1962) in the role of Salome. Marberg played the role in the Deutsches Volkstheater 1906 production
Reading in fashion. Robe de gabardine á volants brodés á la main (Gabardine dress with hand embroidered ruffles), pl. 162: from Journal des dames et des modes, no. 71, 1914. Gerda Wegener. Pochoir. The Journal was designed to appeal to the elite of Paris. It incorporated high fashion plates, an expensive layout, society columns, poetic texts, colourful annotations and fashion reports, using high quality paper and artwork
La fête de Montrouge (exhibited 1885). Gabriel Boutet (French, 1848-1900). Oil on canvas. The work with its well painted figures and confident use of light and shadow reveals Boutet’s study under William Bouguereau, while his subject of a traveling street circus or fair is similar to the work of Fernand Pelez and Georges Seurat
Elizabeth Searle as Miranda. John Opie (English, 1761-1807). Oil on canvas. Tabley House. In The Tempest, Shakespeare also gives Miranda one of the more hopeful lines when she spots the shipwreck victims at the end of the play: O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t! (5.1.3)
The Love Letter (1808). Willem Bartel van der Kooi (Dutch, 1768-1836). Oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum. Dutch artists of the 19th century drew inspiration from the 17th century, the Golden Age of Dutch art. In this picture, Van der Kooi reprised a typically 17th-century theme, the delivery of a love letter. The tension between the lady and the young messenger is almost palpable. Yet The Love Letter is also highly contemporary, for the interior, hairstyles and clothing are entirely in keeping with the fashions of 1808
Portrait de Gabrielle Cot (1890). William Bouguereau (French,1825-1905). Oil on canvas. Cot’s father, the artist Pierre Auguste Cot, was both Bouguereau’s contemporary and an important artist in his own right. A letter from Bouguereau’s mother, dated 1890, confirms that the artist was invited to dine with the Cot family on the occasion of Gabrielle’s marriage to an architect named Zilin. The present work was a gift from Bouguereau in celebration of this happy event
Portrait of Alexander J. Cassatt and His Son, Robert Kelso Cassatt (1884). Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American, 1844-1926). Oil on canvas. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Cassatt’s brother and nephew posed for this double portrait during a visit to the artist in Paris. She not only painted several portraits of her brother, a prominent Philadelphia businessman, but also advised his art collecting. As a result, he was one of the first in Philadelphia to own works by the French Impressionists
A Bolero Dancer (1842). Antonio Cabral Bejarano (Spanish, 1788-1861). Oil on canvas. Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga. On the banks of the river Guadalquivir, in Seville’s riverside district of Triana opposite the Arenal and the Torre del Oro, which are clearly visible in the background, a girl dances and plays the castanets. Dressed in the typical costume of bolero dancers, identified by the cut, pointed hem and ruffles of the dress and by the demi-pointe shoes, she performs a typical dance step with castanets
Ba-rah, Persian Dancer (c.1910-1912). Kees van Dongen (Dutch, 1877-1968). Oil on canvas. Van Dongen remained dedicated to Fauvism until 1912, developing his characteristic style of sensuous curved lines, warm tones and violent brushwork. Women were his favourite subjects, sometimes shown nude and almost invariably presented in an erotic manner in endlessly varied poses, set inside a circus, theatre or music-hall
Portrait of a Midinette (1940). Sir Herbert James Gunn, RA, PRP (British, 1893-1964). Oil on canvas. A mdinette is a female seamstress, salesperson, or shopgirl, especially in Paris; also, a vacuous but fashionable young woman or a young single and frivolous girl, with naive sentimentality
The Letter. Edwin A. Georgi (American, 1896-1964). Illustration, mixed media on board. A leader in the second wave of “pretty-girl” artists. Largely self-taught, learning his way up in ad and art agencies. A pilot in WWI. Style ranged from simple, posteresque lines and colors to his more famous pointillist pieces with boldly directed light, a unique use of warm shadows, and sparkling colors
Meditazione (1925). Mario Tozzi (Italian, 1895-1979). Oil on canvas. Tozzi painted in a style originally close to Impressionism that evolved in a more classical direction, defined as “natural metaphysics,” eventually tending towards abstraction. His compositions are characterized by strong geometric volumes and mythical implications
Angiolina from The Gallery of Byron Beauties. Portraits of the Principal Female Characters in Lord Byron’s Poems. London, D. Bogue, 1800. “Angiolina. I love all noble qualities which merit Love, and I loved my father, who first taught me To single out what we should love in others, And to subdue all tendency to lend The best and purest feelings of our nature To baser passions”
Nonsense Drolleries. Edward Lear. Front cover and illustrations by William Foster. London, New York: Frederick Warne and Co., 1889. THE Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, “O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
Illustration by G. J. Pinwell, engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. From Dalziel’s Illustrated Goldsmith. London: Ward, Lock and Co, 1865. “We desired to have something in a brighter style, and, after many debates, at length came to an unanimous resolution of being drawn together in one large historical family-piece. This would be cheaper, since one frame would serve for all, and it would be infinitely more genteel; for all families of any taste were now drawn in the same manner. As we did not immediately recollect an historical subject to hit us, we were contented each with being drawn as independent historical figures…”
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Cesare Dandini, Saint Agnes, 17th century
Carlo Crivelli, Saint Francis Collecting the Blood of Christ, c. 1490-1500
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Egon Schiele
Marconi, Mary L. Macomber
1917 Egon Schiele - The sister of the artist in a dress ray - Albertina - Vienna
Simon de Myle, The Ark of Noah on Mount Ararat, 1570
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