Inadvertently Sharing the Harvest - 1600s Food for hungry dogs, cats, monkeys, squirrels, & a random parrot

Adriaen van Utrecht (Flemish Baroque Era Painter, 1599-1652) Still Life with Dog and Monkey (and parott) 1644

Unknown Dutch artist, The Cat's Meal. 1625-50

Frans Snyders (Dutch artist, 1579-1657) Monkeys Stealing Fruit

Adriaen van Utrecht (Flemish Baroque Era Painter, 1599-1652) Still Life with Dog and Cat (and squirrel)

Frans Snyders (Dutch artist, 1579-1657) Still Life with Lobster, Poultry, & Fruit (and cat!)

Giuseppe Recco (Italian, Neapolitan, 1634–1695) Cat Stealing Fish

Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch Baroque painter, 1593-94–1657) Still Life with Macaws 1622

The sad, wealthy Victorian women of English artist George Frederic Watts (1817-1904)

George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Alice Ellen Terry


George Frederick Watts created both portraits & symbolist paintings. He intended that his symbolist paintings would form part of an epic symbolic cycle called the "House of Life," in which the emotions & aspirations of life would all be represented in a universal symbolic language. He also painted portraits, such as these, of the most powerful & wealthy English men & women of the era, intended to form a "House of Fame." In his portraits Watts sought to create a tension between disciplined stability & the power of action. He was known for emphasising the signs of strain & wear on his privileged sitter's faces. Oh, the oppressive burden of power & wealth...


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Julia Margaret Cameron


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Dorothy Tennant Later Lady Stanley


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Choosing


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Lilian MacIntosh


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Eveleen Tennant (Mrs F W H Myers)


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Mrs Arthur Sassoon


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Portrait of a Lady


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Josephine Elizabeth Gray Butler

George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Violet Lindsay


George Frederic Watts (English artist, 1817-1904) Self Portrait 1834

Order, pattern, & William Morris 1834-1896

The most famous 19C English pattern & craft devotee was William Morris (1834-1896), who believed that art & society are inextricably linked.

1876 Pimpernel

Art for Morris meant not only the fine arts of painting & sculpture but "that great body of art by means of which men have at all times ... striven to beautify the familiar matter of everyday life."

1885 Fritillary

He believed that such art arose from a basic human instinct to create, & was "a joy to the maker & user alike" which satisfied personal creative talent & enriched society as a whole.

1873 Acanthus Wallpaper

But the traditions upon which such art rested - the skills of the artist-craftsman, which Morris saw exemplified in medieval workshop practice & the guild system - had been eroded.

1874 Larkspur Wallpaper, polychrome version

Since the Renaissance, the concept of the artist as a unique & special genius had led to a diminution in status of the craftsman & an inevitable division between the fine & decorative arts.

1881 St. James

This distinction had a particularly adverse effect on applied art, especially during the 18th-century, when the rise of an affluent middle class led to an increased demand for furniture & furnishings. In 1861, William Morris founded the decorative arts firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co to undertake carving, stained glass, metal-work, paper-hangings, chintzes (printed fabrics), & carpets.

1876 Chrysanthemum Wallpaper

Morris revived old crafts & traditions, often immersing himself in historical texts or seeking out craftsmen from whom he could learn dying arts. The company's offerings soon extended to include, besides painted windows and mural decoration; furniture; metal & glass wares; cloth & paper wall-hangings; embroideries; jewelery; woven & knotted carpets; silk damasks; & tapestries.

English painter John Everett Millais 1829-1896 & my granddaughters...

John Everett Millais (English painter, 1829-1896) Raking Leaves 1856

This painting so reminds me of our 5 grandaughters who love to rake leaves up here in the woods in the fall. They gather the noisy leaves into enormous piles and then run and jump into them, scattering them back across the ground.

The bold women of Polish painter Franciszek Żmurko 1859–1910

Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)

Polish painter Franciszek Zmurko (1859-1910) was born in Lvov, Poland, & received his first lessons in drawing from painter Franciszek Tepa there. He followed with lessons from Jan Matejko at the Fine Arts School in Krakow. In 1877, Zmurko moved to Vienna to enter the Academy there & traveled to Munich for lessons from Aleksander Wagner. In 1880, he returned to Krakow, & finally settled in Warsaw in 1882. Zmurko made several trips to Milan (1894); Paris (1884-85 & 1889); & St. Petersburg (1883-84). He died in Warsaw, Poland, in 1910.
 
Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)


Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)


Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)


Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)


Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)


Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)

Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910) Portret kobiety z wachlarzem i papierosem 1891


Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910)

Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910) Girl with Red Ribbons

Franciszek Żmurko (Polish painter, 1859–1910) Self-Portrait with Palette

The extremely colorful neighbors of Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin 1848-1903

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Breton Woman in Prayer

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of Paul and Jean Schuffenecker

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of Fritz Schekuld

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of Madame Roulin

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of a Little Boy

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of a Woman

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of a Man Wearing A Lavallier

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of M. Loulou

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of a Pont Aven Woman

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of a Young Woman

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of Aline Gaugin

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of Madame Alexander Kholer

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of William Molard

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Portrait of Young Breton Woman

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Breton Girls by the sea, 1889

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Clovis, 1886

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Madelaine Bernard, 1888

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Meyer de Haan by Lamplight, 1889

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Night café, Arles, 1888

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Portrait of woman against the Cezanne's still life with apples, 1890

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) The Child 1895

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) The Boss' Daughter 1886

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Young Breton by the sea, 1889

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Young woman at the window, 1888

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). Self Portrait Les Miserables