Sunday, September 09, 2012

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Friday, August 17, 2012

Sapphic Squamates

These lizards don't need any stupid male to reproduce!  Sisters are doing it for themselves!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Poor Polar Bears

Man, the polar bears can't catch a break!  Not only is their natural habitat melting out from underneath their paws, but the zoos are out to get them, too!  T

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

And we come to the end of Bourgeois Art Gallery for the time being.  Thank you for visiting, and please feel free to explore the museums at your leisure now that the tour is over.

Rolling Pin

It's too pretty to roll dough or hit someone!

Shawabti of the Lady of the House Sati

Just beautifully colored figure.

Giraffe Head

Giraffe!

King Before an Ichneumon

"Why is that Egyptian guy standing in front of a giant, fat beaver?"  That's what I thought on first sight, anyway.  But, no, it's not a beaver (which are native to North America anyway), it's a mongoose.  Apparently, it's a form of the sun god that battles with the serpent of evil.

Mariners Bowl

Fantastic glass cutting. 

Hedgehog

Hedgehog!

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Daedalus and Icarus

Icarus is giving us Tilda Swinton realness here, and I love it!

Portrait of the Malla King Bhupatindra and Malla Queen

It's the queen that I really like here, with the serenely good-humored face and the slightly cocked head, along with the great hairdo.  The king just looks boring next to her.

Seated Buddha

Not a terribly remarkable Buddha figure.  There are millions, probably, roughly similar.  But the way the gilding has rubbed off makes for an interesting look.

Barry Humphries in the Character of Mrs. Everage

Dame Edna!

Narodakini

This piece is probably astounding in person.  Even in pictures it's arresting.  Just the use of gilding as highlight against that dark bronze (with a great patina, BTW).  This was made by a true master.

The Three Sisters of Phaeton

I love sunsets, and this picture and the light it portrays is precisely why.

Centaur Mosaic

Mosaic is an artform that absolutely astounds me.  High-quality mosaic, like this piece, makes me gasp in wonder.  All those little pieces of glass or marble or whatever that the artist somehow makes a picture out of. 

The Isle of the Dead

This is a rather famous image, which you may have noticed I've avoided in this series, but I just really like it.  It's moody and mysterious.

The Interior of the Palm House

I'd love a house with this as a room. 

Reclining Dog

This poor dog doesn't look terribly happy to be sketched.  The artist probably woke him from a nice nap to get the right angles or something.

View from the Artist's Studio

There is, at least to my eyes, a meta character to this picture.  It's a painting of paintings: the one on the wall on the right, the one we can't see on the canvas in the foreground, and the "painting" of the view "framed" by the window.

Monkey

Monkey!

Dogs from Europe

Doggies!   

Cat and Plum Blossoms

Kitteh!

Guilin

Sublimity in painting.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Friday, July 27, 2012

Speaker Hath Spoken

And the verdict is everyone gets to be a geek!  As long-time readers will be aware, I heartily concur and endorse this judgment.

Update: More.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Head of a Hound

I've seen the exact same look on my dogs' face. Not sure what's going on with the ears.

A Bull

This bull looks very alarmed.

Princess Victoria Aged Four

Poor little princess.  Talk about overdressed!

Fox and Poultry

These chickens ain't going out without a fight!

Sculpture

Raise the roof, Monkey (?) Hindu Man! 

Figure

A very dignified cow.

Jaguar Pendant

Awww!  Look at the wittle jaguar!  Who's a cute jungle apex predator?  Who's a cute jungle apex predator?  You are!  (Also, a great color of jade.)

Jar

Cthulu!!!  Ia!  Ia!

The Pleasures of Rest

People being lazy!  Now that is art I can relate to!

Tui over Kauri, Te Henga

Color!

Golden Cloud

Yummy.

Polychrome Jar

Usually, Southwestern pottery has a very spare color palette, but this one is exuberant with color.  The bird figure is adorable.

Cow Suckling a Calf

D'awwwwww!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

The Cemetary

Spoooooooooooky!

Railway Bridge on Loebtauer Strasse in Dresden

Color.  Color, color, color.

The Violinist Costa

It's a strange way to describe a very wonderful, very Cycladic sculpture, but the word that really springs to mind: cute.  He's just the most adorable little violinist!

Portrait of Agustin Otermin

His look of concentration and perhaps uncertainty seems to me the epitome of what an artist at work is.

Panneau (Panel)

A painting of pleasing symmetry, but also mystery. Why does one woman look away, while the other looks towards us?  What is that strange vase?  Is there meaning in the fact that the farther into the background one goes, the less symmetry there is?  Questions, but no answers, which is, of course, one thing art often does.

Ibiza Dry Dock

A reminder that all it takes is shape and color to create beauty.

Basin

Even the mundane can be beautiful when it is lovingly and masterfully crafted.

Sheep and Goat

What a pudgy, fluffy pair! 

Figure of a Cat

Fat cat is fat.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Monday, July 16, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Portrait of Isidor Gewitsch

Even across a century of time and the medium of painting, Mr. Gewitsch's stare is arresting.  He must have been a very intense man.  Impressive facial hair, too.  

Model Sukkah

Just darling. 

Two Etrogs

Etrogs are a citron fruit traditionally eaten by Jewish people celebrating Sukkot.  Masterpieces of silversmithing.   

Starry Night

Not the one you're thinking of, but great in its own way.  The blues are wonderful.

Venus Reclining on a Sea Monster

Beautiful stone.  

New York, New Haven, and Hartford 

Is this Hopper landscape redolent of loneliness and alienation because it is, or because of my preconception of the artist's work?

Komainu

I'd want that guarding me!

Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen)

The oxens' look of supreme good nature and kindliness is what draws me.  

Waterway

The tiny bits of color make the whole thing pop.  

Two Swallows

Spare.  Simple.  Clean.  Beautiful.  

Three Ostriches

Stunning metalwork.  The ostriches have real personality.

Hare in the Snow

Bunneh!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Ocelotl Cuauhxicalli


I just want to run my hands on the stone.

Serpiente Emplumada

Just beautifully intricate carving.

Chapulin

Grasshoppers kinda freak me out, but the color and artistry of this carving makes it appealing anyway.

The River Isole

The color and the light of this painting are pretty.

Sculptural Bottle of a Feline at Rest

Kitteh!

Stirrup-Spout Vessel with Sculptural Representation of an Owl

This supremely dignified owl looks carved more than sculpted.  And the buffed red finish characteristic of Moche pottery is especially appealing.

Wrestlers 

Hello, boys!

Shinto Sculpture in the Shape of a Seated Fox

Just look at this fox.  So sly, so graceful, so mischievous. 

Pair of Guardian Animals

I wouldn't mess with a building guarded by these fellows.  

Grimani Relief

Kittehs!

Mesolite 

The shape is amorphous, yet mesmerizing.  

Good Luck-Pomegranates on the Table

Color, color, color.

Sunday, July 08, 2012

Friday, July 06, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Perseus Slaying Medusa

Truthfully, it's the violence of the statue that draws me to it.  Medusa's roar of pain and anger and fear, ironically frozen in stone for all time, is chilling, especially contrasted by Perseus's supreme indifference. 

Micaceous Pottery Jar

Even in a static photo, the sparkly, yet also matte, finish of the pot is arresting.

A Wet Night, Columbus Circle

Moody and misty, it's like a scene from a noir movie 40 years before they existed.

January Full Moon

One of my favorite things in winter is to go out on moonlit nights when there's snow on the ground and the sky is so clear the stars are like needles of light spearing down at your eyes to look at the world gone white, blue, and black.  Your breath steams up into the sky, like smoke from an incense burner pluming up in worship of the celestial spheres. 

Head of a Ram Pendant

Such intricate metalwork.  

Cong Tube

The design of this seems so modern, yet it's over three thousand years old.  The mottling of the jade is especially beautiful.

Figurine of a Rooster 

This rooster just makes me smile.  

Jembar Negarane, Cupet Pikirane 

I don't know what is going on, but I like it.


Artist and Model

I get a kick out of how she looks like she's going, "Are we done yet?  I have things to do."

Portrait of a Young Man

That fur looks so soft and pettable.

The Tailor

It's his face.  You can tell he works, and always has worked.  I also like the relative simplicity of his dress.  It's well-made, but not as peacocky as the noblemen in other portraits of his time, some of whom were his clients, no doubt.

Max After Surfing 

Hello there, Mr. Noir Abs!

Meeting at the Staircase

I can't help but envision intrigue and skullduggery between the two women.  Another painting that seems to cry out for a novel.  

Dog in the Bush 

Puppeh!

Hot Wind 

A very mysterious painting.  I'm not sure what to make of it, but it certainly keeps one's attention.  The washed-out colors speak to me of heat and sand.  

Emus

Emus!

Self-Portrait

Just look at those cheekbones!  That patrician hauteur!  Here was a man who didn't doubt his artistic abilities, I suspect.

Cow with Body Paint

This cow looks so sad.  Probably because they've been painted.  

Mary of Guise

The mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a rather ruthless regent, I think her personality shines through perfectly in this portrait.

The Parting

A whole novel could be written based on this picture, all based on a few black lines and splotches of red.

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Arearea

I sometimes have trouble with Gauguin because I know what a fuckstick he was (and, yes, I know we're supposed to separate art from artist, but of course that doesn't always work), especially in Tahiti, but this particular painting struck me for A) it's title (I just like the word); B) the dog; C) the face of the woman on the right.  She has such a great, direct look.

Wardrobe: Die Zeit

I want this in my bedroom.  Just clean lines and structured geometry that soothes my OCD.

Polar Bear

I'd love to see this in person.  It's just big and monochrome and cute.  The bear looks like he or she is about to laugh at the onlookers.  

Bathers

Look on the calves on these fellas!

Le Silence

This painting is just so mysterious.  The glories of the blue night, but the sadness of her face.  And what she doing with her hand?  It looks like she's making a very vulgar gesture, but that can't be it, can it? 

Nocturn in the Parc Royal, Brussels

As you may have noticed by now, I have a thing for night scenes.  

Laughing Kookaburra

"Millipede?  I told you to get a centipede!"

Great Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo

A happy bird.

Little Bittern

Someone looks grouchy.

Carved Emerald

The intricacy and delicacy of the carving is astounding.  

Miniature Qur'an

Such an unusual shape.  

Female Shaman Pendant

Sword Handle (Bird and Snake)

"I'm a bird!  Fear my sword!"  

Sea Lion Feast Bowl

The Wrestlers

Abs!  

The Black Pigs

Another Tahitian Gauguin.  It's a little different from the others I've seen.  It's more "pulled back" and realistic.

Untitled/Itamaraty

Right angles, straight lines, shapes: another OCD-calmer.  And it's a beautiful blue color, too.

Beach Triptych No. 25

Hello, boys!

The Dream

Those horses are not impressed by that lion.  

God Bless America!


Happy 4th of July!

Monday, July 02, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

Portrait of a Young Man with Open Collar

He's hot.  Looks like the painting could do with a good conservation cleaning, though.

Male Nude, Kneeling, From the Back

You don't hear this much, but: that's a beautiful back! 

Camels

An almost cartoony sketch, the camels are very expressive.

Water Spaniel

Look at the curly hair!  My friend's dog looks just like that.

The Lincolnshire Ox

As impressive as the ox is, I like this painting mostly due to the rooster.  Such attitude!  

Table d'Hote at a Dogs' Home

Just the ultimate dog-lovers painting.  I love all the little vignettes contained within the painting, like the little spaniel at the very left doing a trick for the bigger dog next to it, hoping to get some food via adorableness.


Stele of Zezen-nakht

It always amazes me when paint survives from millenia ago.  The raised relief and the pigment really make the hieroglyphs pop.

Kuduo

This is one you really have to zoom in on to appreciate all the carving.  It has a lovely patina to it, too.

Shabti of Henut-wedjebu

Just beautifully carved.  Another piece of wood with a beautiful patina.

Still Live with Oranges

The vividness of the orange is astounding.  You can taste the juice dripping off the canvas. 

A Dutch Road

It's gloomy and depressing, at first glance.  But there's a break in the clouds ahead. And sometimes a cloudy, gloomy, gray day is more comforting than unrelenting sunshine.

Destruction of Tyre

Sheer melodrama on canvas.  It's like a still shot of one of those 1950s Biblical epics.

Sunlight on the Coast

No one did coastal scenes like Winslow Homer.  The inky blues of the wave are wonderful.


Syndics of the Amsterdam Goldsmiths Guild

Some might impressive facial hair going on here!  But what I like is how individual each man is.  They're projecting real personality.  The crouching fellow second from the right was a character, you can tell.

Narasimha

The statue's face is fearsome, even grotesque, but somehow beautiful as well.  And I just think the little female figure gazing up at him in adoration is darling.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Bourgeois Art Gallery

The Google Art Project is a beautiful thing.  It lets you explore the collections of some of the world's finest museums, as well as a lot of obscure ones, all in high-definition.  I thought I'd start a new series sharing some of the stuff I've come across.  Here's the first one.  (My only complaint: they don't let you save the images, so I have to link directly to the artworks.)

Statuettes of High Priest Amenhotep and Priestess Renai

Two Pups

The Threatened Swan

Padmasambhava


Manuscript Page of Vajrapani and Manjushri


Vaishravana, Guardian King of the North


Saber and Scabbard

Indigo-Blue Sake Ewer

Rye

The Rape of Europa


Snow Fields


Washington Sea Eagle

Fall in the Foothills

Evening Tones

Tugra

Levha

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Fellow Travelers

It's amazing how much we depend on other organisms for the continued functioning of our bodies. 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Triumph

Thumbs up and laurel wreaths to Adrian Murdoch for completing the Emperors of Rome series!  An awesome undertaking, but one he did with both erudition and concision.  Plowing through all those Barracks Emperors alone is worthy of ovation, not to mention hacking through the thickets of usurpers.  And, yes, one could cry foul that he's contained himself to the Western Empire, or that each usurper didn't get their own episode, but we'd be here all decade, and one has to draw lines somewhere. 

If you haven't followed along, go back and watch all the episodes.  Even committed Romanophiles will learn something, especially about all those obscure emperors.

Makin' It Through The Day

I'm not sure what I'd do without a daily dose of Cute Overload