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May 25: an artist’s reputation
Even the esteemed pre-Impressionist painter, Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883), could do a dud from time to time. Every artist does, though it’s hard to imagine that the creator of “Le Dejeuner” (right) could have been guilty of something as inept as “Baudelaire’s Mistress” (below). The clunky face, the huge hand, the far, far feet…
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May 18: defining the subject
Effective expression requires clarity about what you are expressing. For example, this photo by the great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. The interesting thing is how the apparent awkwardness of the shot, with one leg awkwardly cut, is key to its subject, which is a boy in the street, not just the boy. C-B was making…
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May 4: a favorite: the ingenious Hokusai
Horses are a common subject in art, usually presented in graceful and noble poses like the Stubbs racehorse or Keisai warrior here. Then we have the piece below by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Hokusai has contorted his beast into an almost abstract shape, and incorporated it…