Late Afternoon, Julian Onderdonk

The link is to the image page on WikiArt, which unfortunately doesn’t have much information about the size or location of the original. If you click on “View all sizes” under the image on their page, you can access a reasonably high res version of the image. Presumably, this is oil on canvas.

Texas painter Robert Julian Onderdonk, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is considered an “American Impressionist”, and in known in particular for his landscapes featuring fields of Texas Bluebonnet flowers.

Here, his subject is less colorful and more prosaic, but, even though I’ve only see it in reproduction, I just love this painting. Onderdonk’s seemingly casual brush work is so delightfully brushy and textural, the usual adjective of “painterly” seems insufficient.

The Dead Goldfinch (“All that was left to love”), George Elgar Hicks; oil on canvas; roughly 24 x 30 inches (62 x 75 cm). Link is to zoomable image on Google Art Project; downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons, original is in the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Genre painting, which became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, focused on scenes of everyday life and of people who were not particular known individuals, as opposed to portrait or history painting.

It was not uncommon for genre paintings to feature scenes meant to elicit emotions that might appeal to potential patrons, sadness or grief among them.

This scene by 19th century English painter George Elgar Hicks portrays a despondent young peasant girl, her hands gently cradling her dead pet (it’s an ex-goldfinch, to paraphrase Monty Python).

What strikes me about the painting — as in much of Hicks’ work — is his painterly, textural brush work and his use of soft edges. Look in particular at the edges that define the girl’s arms, and how they turn softly into the dark areas of the cloth and wall behind them.

I like the textural application of paint throughout — even in the softest areas of the girl’s face — and the chunky splashes of paint in the highlights of the hair.

Still Life with Peach, Apricot, Grapes and Hazelnuts on a Tablecloth, Emelie Preyer

19th century German still life painter Emelie Preyer shows her characteristic touch with the textural surface and beautifully balanced color of these simple fruits and nuts.

Her composition is thoughtfully conceived, and the value and color relationships lead your eye inexorably around and through the painting.

Emelie Prier’s primary teacher was likely her father, Johann Wilhelm Preyer, who was also a superb still life painter.