Eye Candy for Today: Rousseau’s Sleeping Gypsy

The Sleeping Gypsy, Henri Rousseau
The Sleeping Gypsy, Henri Rousseau

On Google Art Project. Hi-res downloadble file on Wikimedia Commons. Original is in the Museum of Modern Art, NY.

This was at one time (and probably still is) one of the most widely reproduced images in all of art. In most of those reproductions, however, you will find the colors “pushed”, so that the Gypsy’s multi-colored robe is a bright, eye-catching rainbow, belying the fact that this is intended to be a night scene. While Rousseau is considered a “naive” (untrained) artist, he was perfectly capable of distinguishing day from night.

But, hey — accuracy doesn’t sell posters.

I even have a bad (but at least dark) reproduction of it in my 2006 post on Henri Rousseau.

The MoMA website, on the other hand, has it too dark and desaturated, as are most of the website’s reproductions of work in their collections. (I haven’t yet figured out if this is the result of incompetence, lack of caring, or a deliberate attempt to discourage image use; but it’s a poor decision on their part, regardless, because it makes the images — and by extension the museum itself — look less appealing.)

I think the Google Art Project reproduction is as close as you will get to an accurate representation of this painting on the web.

 
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Duet, Glen Keane

Duet, Glen Keane
Renowned animator Glen Keane, best known for his character animation for Disney feature films like Aladdin, Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Tangled, has been working with the Google Advanced Technology and Projects Group on one of their new series of interactive animations.

In the process, he has created preliminary hand-drawn animation (not interactive) called Duet, that is available on YouTube.

I’ve taken the liberty in the images above of cropping in on some of the frames, but these screen grabs don’t begin to do Keane’s beautiful drawings and fluid animation justice.

Watch it in full screen.

There is Duet making of video that goes into the project and process in more detail. Also see the article on Cartoon Brew, which is where I learned of the film.

 
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Eye Candy for Today: Cuyp’s Maas at Dordrecht

The Maas at Dordrecht, Aelbert Cuyp
The Maas at Dordrecht, Aelbert Cuyp

On Google Art Project. Hi-res downloadable on Wikimedia Commons. Original is in the National Gallery of Art, DC.

Cuyp’s 1650 portrayal of the Maas River at his hometown of Dordrecht, during a historic gathering of a military force in 1646.

See my post on Aelbert Cuyp.

 
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Vladimir Orlovsky

Vladimir Donatovitch Orlovsky
Vladimir Donatovitch Orlovsky (alternately: Volodymyr Orlovsky) was a Ukrainian landscape painter active at the turn of the 20th century. He is considered one of the major proponents of Ukrainian landscape painting.

Orlovsky studied at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts and painted in France, Germany and Italy, as well as in Russia and his native Ukraine.

Some of his paintings are panoramic in scope, and have an astonishing dimension of depth — from a foreground at the viewer’s feet to a horizon miles away.

I haven’t found many sources for Orlovsky, but WikiArt has a reasonably good selection. Though most are of modest size, a few are relatively high resolution. There is also a zoomable image on Bonham’s.

 
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Father and Daughter

Father and Daughter, Michael Dudok de Wit
Beautiful and subtle, Father and Daughter is a 2000 Dutch animated short (8 minutes) about a daughter remembering her father.

Directed, drawn and animated Michael Dudok de Wit, with assistance by Arjan Wilschut and Lisa Flather. There is an interview with Michael Dudok de Wit here.

The film uses minimalist design, softly rendered with touches of monochromatic watercolor, to set a mood perfectly in keeping with its wordless story.

[Via MetaFilter]

 
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Eye Candy for Today: Gainsborough chalk study

Study of a Lady, Thomas Gainsborough
Study of a Lady, Thomas Gainsborough

In the Morgan Library and Museum. Image is also available on Google Art Project and Wikimedia Commons.

A beautifully economical and gestural chalk drawing by Gainsborough; in white and black chalk on colored, prepared paper.

 
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