Category: Eye Candy for Today

Lago Avernus, William Trost Richards In the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Watercolor and gouache on blue paper, 4 1/2 x 9 1/9 inches (11 x 24 cm). Lago Avernus (“Lake Avernus”) is a lake in a volcanic crater in the Campania region of southern Italy. Once believed to be the mythical entrance to the Underworld,…

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose; John Singer Sargent Link is to a zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable, high-resolution file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Tate, Britain. One of my favorite paintings by Sargent (which is to say, one of my favorite paintings by anyone), this is something of an elaborately constructed fantasy…

Portrait of Rosalba Peale, Rembrandt Peale The link is to a zoomable version on the Google Art Project; there is a downloadable file on Wikipedia; the original is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which also has a zoomable version. As his father, Charles Wilson Peale, had done for him, Rembrandt Peale tutored his daughters…

The Balcony Room (Das Balkonzimmer), Adolph Menzel Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project, downloadable file on Wikipedia, original is in the Staatliche Museum, Berlin. In addition to Menzel’s wonderfully casual, painterly brushwork, this piece is noted for its interesting composition, in which a large portion of the image is “empty”. To me,…

Portrait of a Married Couple in the Park, Gonzales Coques (attributed to) Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Staatliche Museum, Berlin. The portrait of the man has considerably more force and presence than that of the woman, leading me to think that it…