Portrait Colors by Angelica Kauffman 1780

Portrait Colors by Angelica Kauffman, 1780

The Swiss painter Angelica Kauffman created her self portrait Colors as part of a series for the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Kauffman was one of two women who founded the Academy. Her four part series on crucial elements of painting still graces that art institution today. This one sets the best example of her allegorical personification for teaching purposes. These four oval paintings grace the Academy’s lecture room ceiling. Kauffman’s quartet serve as reminders of fundamental principles but aren’t too academic. They’re accessible without seeming wholly […]

Self Portrait 1 by Joan Miró

Self Portrait 1 by Joan Miró (1937-1938)

Podcast Version of this Post A Constellation of Imagery A pastel confection, Self Portrait 1 by Joan Miró gives us a glimpse into the master’s psyche. Miró created a semblance of himself with pencil, pastel, and a bit of oil paint. But it stands out among other self portraits thanks to Miró’s constellation imagery, symbolism, and exaggeration. A Catalan artist native to Barcelona, Miró found himself exiled in Paris when he made this masterpiece in 1937. Struggling with displacement, he declared a desire to go in a completely

Stationary Figure by Philip GustonStationary-Figure by Philip Guston

Stationary Figure (1973) by Philip Guston

What makes Philip Guston’s painting Stationary Figure a masterpiece?

– Passage of time and imminent death
– A child’s drawing… of pooling blood
– Preposterous solidity in a puff of smoke

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