The dancing examination by Degas

Wednesday with Edgar Degas!

Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, USA, 1880

Happy 109th birthday Pop!

Everything I am today or hope to become I owe to you. Wherever you are, I'll love you always, dad!

Young woman sewing in a garden by Morisot

Tuesday with Berthe Morisot!

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Pau, France, 1881

Place de la Execution

OK, so it was never called that -- but that was a more realistic name than Place de la Revolution since so many lost their heads on this spot. Today it's the Place de la Concorde.

Note the gap between the buildings in the background: that's Rue Royale which leads to the Madeleine Catholic Church.

Oh, and in the second print the large pedestal to the right of the guillotine and near the entrance to the Tuileries Gardens, once held the statue of Louis XV, which was torn down during the revolution.

during more peaceful days, c. 1900

2018

Anyway, today it's the Place de la Concorde and you definitely put your head on the chopping block when trying to cross it.

Ellen Andree by Manet, Degas and Renoir

Art surprise Saturday!

The well-known actress Ellen Andrée would occasionally provide modeling services for a number of impressionist artists.

First off, Manet's "La Parisienne: A Study of Ellen Andrée"; you can see her in his "Plum Brandy" as well.

She would also figure prominently as Degas' model in "The Absinthe Drinker" (1876):

Musée d'Orsay, 1876

She can also be seen in the center of Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party", Ellen is in the center background with a glass in her right hand:

Ellen is center rear

detail

La Pâtisserie Gloppe by Jean Béraud

Art surprise Friday!

Long gone today, La Pâtisserie Gloppe was located at 6 Avenue des Champs-Elysees, in the 8th arr.

by Jean Béraud, 1889, Musée Carnavalet, Paris

Self portraits by Giovanni Boldini

Thursday with Boldini!

Three self-portraits by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931). Known as the "king of swish" because of his flowing brushstroke technique, I'll be posting more of his work in coming weeks.

To learn more, visit the Wikipedia article, which also has a large collection of his artwork.

1865, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

at Montorsoli, in the Vasari Corridor, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy, 1892

1911

The entrance of the masked dancers by Degas

Wednesday with Edgar Degas!

Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, USA, 1879-82

Woman wearing gloves by Morisot

Tuesday with Berthe Morisot!

Also known as la Parisienne.

private collection, 1885

Woman fastening her garter by Manet

Monday with Edouard Manet!

Manet rarely hinted at eroticism in work. Typically, and perhaps this was common for the male painter of the day, he would simply paint a woman nude (for example, "Olympia" and "Luncheon on the grass") or bare-chested ("The blonde with bare breasts," "Brunette with bare breasts"). Controversy swirled around Manet not because of nudity per se but the implications that his nudes or partially clothed women seemed to manifest in their pose, their stare at the viewer, or their simple matter-of-factness in going about their everyday activities.

Ordrupgaardsamlingen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1878

The Great Lakes in 1754

When much of the present United States was in fact part of Nouvelle France, the names of the "great lakes" used today were used back then, except one. . . Go Illinois!

The John Ten Have Memorial Forest

Surrounded by an incredible forest is Clear Lake, also known as Clear Bottom Lake, the names are pretty much synonymous.

Anyway, this peaceful space of trees and winding paths, a space where one could clear the head, lighten the heart and forget the turmoil of life, was tended, maintained and watched over by John Ten Have, my uncle by marriage and a longtime friend. He didn't just own the woods he understood the trees, the plants and the world of this forest. Thank you Uncle John for sharing, your knowledge and yourself. His spirit is there now, in the place he loved most. . .

daughter Jennifer and Uncle John

A very brief artist's tour in Père-Lachaise

There's so much French culture to discover in the incredible 107 acres of Père-Lachaise Cemetery: sculpture, history, and of course the graves of some of the greatest cultural and artistic icons of the 19th and 20th centuries. So, if you're interested in 19th century French art and literary history two small divisions in particular should be at the top of your list.

Located near the top of the hill overlooking the city of Paris and just to the south and east of the chapel, bounded by the Avenue Saint-Morys, Avenue Transversale No. 1,  Chemin Adanson, Chemin Laplace and Chemin de la Citerne, divisions 23 and 24 are the final resting places of no less than six of the greatest 19th century French artists and one pioneer of French education.

We begin with two painters buried side-by-side, Camille Corot and Charles Daubigny:

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875). French painter. Chemin Laplace, line 6, next to Charles Daubigny.

Bust of Jean by Michel Béguine

Ville d'Avray, 1865, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Woman with a pearl, 1868-70, Louvre, Paris

Charles-François Daubigny (1817–1878). French painter. Chemin Laplace, line 5, next to Jean Corot.

Bust (1879) of Charles by Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume

The Ponds of Gylieu, 1853, Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA

Boats on the seacoast at Étaples, 1871, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY, USA

Jacques “James” Pradier (1794–1852). French sculptor. Chemin Molière et La Fontaine, junctions of Chemin de la Citerne, and Chemin du Dragon.

Note that on the monument itself are a bust of Pradier by former student Eugene-Louis Lequesne and reliefs of several of Pradier’s most notable works, also by former students: Phryne, by Antoine Étex; Psyche, by Claude-Eugène Guillaume; Niobide, by Jacques-Léonard Maillet; Sappho, by Pierre-Charles Simart.

Other reliefs of Pradier’s works located on the monument are: Cyparisse and his stag, by Hippolyte Ferrat; Nyssia, by Augustin Courtet; La Poésie légère, by François-Félix Roubaud; Pelion or Phydias, by François-Clément Moreau.

Odalisque, 1841, Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon, France

Louise Colet, 1837, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY, USA

Honoré Daumier (1808–1879). French caricaturist, painter, sculptor, and one of the most gifted and prolific draftsmen of his time. Chemin Laplace, line 2, a few steps from Corot and Daubigny.

Second class carriage, Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, USA

Legislative belly, 1834, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY, USA

Just a few steps away across Chemin Adanson in D23 are:

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867). French painter. Second row in from Avenue Saint-Morys and close to Chemin Adanson.

Bust (1868) by Jean Bonnassieux; architect: Victor Baltard.

Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière,  1806, Louvre, Paris

La baigneuse Valpinçon, 1808, Louvre, Paris

Jean-François Raffaëlli (1850–1924). French painter. Chemin Adanson.

Bust (1910) of Jean by Teresa Feoderovna Ries.

Boulevard Saint-Michel, 1890, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

The Boulevard, Corcoran Galley, Washington, DC

Raffaëlli in his studio

Finally, there is Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de Saint-Aubin comtesse de Genlis (1746-1831), French writer and pioneer in education. Chemin Laplace, line 8. Originally buried in Mont-Valerien Cemetery, her remains were transferred to Père-Lachaise in 1842.

Portrait medallion (1843) of Stéphanie by Edme-Jean-Louis Sornet.

portrait by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard