Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist didn’t make Guido Reni famous. His 17th century Italian frescos made him the artistic darling of Bologne. This painting captures a Bible story with a singular image. Salome’s story revolves around beauty, obligation, and cold loathing.
Acid colors and electricity quiver through objects in Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles. With our comfortable distance, it’s a pleasure to bask in Van Gogh’s sickly greens and odd figures. After all, we aren’t stuck in his mind.
The plan was for this to be part of a series about the seasons. We can get a sense of summer in the work. But once complete, it was clear this painting’s all about The Mountain.