Titian’s Secret Revealed
“He was simply better than anyone else.”
Entries by tja
“Painter’s Palettes from Historical Writings”
A just-discovered great new resource by Patricia Railing.
A Poem from 1762
—The diſtinguish’d part of Men With Compaſs, Pencil, sword, or Pen, Shou’d in Life’s viſit leave their Name In Characters, which may proclaim, That they with Ardour ſtrove to raiſe At once their Art’s and Country’s Praiſe. Prior. —from Anecdotes of Painting in England by Mr. Horace Walpole
A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings Online
For those familiar with Ernst van de Wetering’s Rembrandt – The Painter at Work and the Rembrandt Research Project, you may also be aware of the six-part series of Rembrandt books entitled A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. If you’re not interested in paying the going rate for an actual volume (Volume I is currently selling […]
Caravaggio’s Contarrelli Chapel in High-Res and Head-On
If you visit the Contarelli Chapel in Rome’s San Luigi dei Francesi, you can see the paintings that made Caravaggio a superstar. The only down side is having to appreciate The Calling of St. Matthew and The Martyrdom of St. Matthew at oblique angles. Thanks to Factum Arte’s extraordinary images you can now see the […]
“Aesthetics Have Nothing to Do with It.”
Nowadays the charlatans say it straight to your face.
From Odd Nerdrum to Igor Stravinsky and a Favorite Quote on the Creative Process
I have a recent habit of saving a variety of essays, forums posts and articles I find on the internet as PDFs then assembling them into one bundle, which I print as a bound book and carry around with me for a month or so to read and contemplate. In the latest collection I included an article […]
“The Four Techniques for Illusion and Volume”
For those out there like myself interested in technical art history, you can download an excellent free document in PDF presented by the Getty Conservation Institute called Historical Painting Techniques, Materials and Studio Practice. This was called to my attention by Prof. Celeste Brusati at the University of Michigan, and I thank her again for doing […]
Rubens: How to Price a Painting
For one evaluates pictures differently from tapestries. The latter are purchased by measure, while the former are valued according to their excellence, their subject, and number of figures. —Letter of June 1, 1618, to Sir Dudley Carleton.
Seeing is Believing: Caravaggio’s Conversion of Saul, Formal Analysis and Critical Thinking
I teach a 100 level on-site Art History class for The American University of Rome called Art of Rome.¹ I began teaching it in the Spring of 2007 and, as of this writing, have taught it every semester since. It is, in essence, a hybrid of historical fact—names, dates, places and vocabulary—combined with a methodology designed […]
Is Burnt Umber Evil?
Some time back in 2012 I read Virgil Elliot’s Traditional Oil Painting. He refers to Burnt Umber as a Problematic Pigment: The author [Virgil Elliott] has all but dropped burnt umber from his palette, owing to its high degree of absorbency when dry, which causes varnish to sink in, leaving chalky-appearing “dry spots.” It can […]
pLog Pith XIV
Dogma is the illusion of power. Craft is the power to create illusion. —TJA
Illustration vs. Painting
Decades ago this would often come up in discussion with Maestro: what is the difference between “Illustration” and “Painting”? Here’s a thought I had tonight on the way home from Tuesday’s figure drawing lesson: Illustration is execution; Painting is performance. Illustration is the end of the journey; Painting is the means of the journey. Your […]
Exhibit A in the Decline and Fall of the “Art Elite”
When Craft and Quality are smothered by Dogma: Kate Middleton’s Portrait.
pLog Pith XIII
Religion requires the suspension of Reason. Little Good is unreasonable. —TJA
Further Notes on “Netherland”
While speaking with the Maestro earlier tonight on Skype we spent some of the time discussing some of the finer points I made during the presentation I gave of Netherland from a few weeks back, and it occurred to me that I had failed to write any of it down. It now occurs to me that […]
Notes on Copying Velázquez in the National Gallery
Notes on the notes: this post is long overdue! My glorious trip to the National Gallery occurred almost one year ago and the following notes I took on my iPad before, during and after my time in the National Gallery. I had put off publication mainly because I was going to accompany these notes with […]
Enthrone Reason
The title says it all.
Modes of Vision and Hybrid Images
Fascinating insights into “human visual recognition systems” passed on to me by a friend about a month ago: http://cvcl.mit.edu/Aude.htm http://cvcl.mit.edu/hybridimage.htm http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-05/st_alphageek Many thanks, Sean!
pLog Pith XII
Where there is Dogma, there is a Devil. —TJA
The Anthropologically Possible
500 pages in 3 days is possible (when on vacation). To me, an absolute revelation. A must read before the movie comes out.
Notes on The Practice of Oil Painting by Solomon J. Solomon
Annotation Summary for: Practice of Oil painting by Solomon J. Solomon Page 11: Title Page 13: Preface Page 15: TOC Page 41: “spaces left” = negative space Page 41: The trickyness of foreshortening. Page 42: Drawing a means ro a definite end… Painting! Knowledge and accuracy! Page 45: Study the skull. Skin is of of […]
Satire: A Charlatan-Killing Silver Bullet
The best look at Modern Art I’ve seen since Tom Wolfe’s The Painted Word. The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
pLog Pith XI
Dogma empowers the Charlatans. Craft empowers the Sincere. —TJA
The Obfuscation of Lazarus… and Subsequent Illuminations
This past Sunday, July 8th, I went to see the newly restored “Raising of Lazarus” by Caravaggio on display through the 15th in Rome’s Palazzo Braschi. This was a “must see” for me, as the painting’s actual home is in Sicily. Having just visited Malta, this would also allow me to follow another chronological step […]
One of My Top Ten Greatest Paintings of All Time
Worth the journey ten times over. The Beheading of John the Baptist by Caravaggio n Malta, June, 2012.
Notes on R.A.M. Stevenson’s Velázquez
Annotation Summary for: velasquez-RAM-stevenson Page 11: Cover Page 15: TOC Page 17: List of illustrations Page 21: Bibliography Page 25: Introduction Page 26: The true effect of art is slow. Page 26: The energy and eloquence of a Ruskin and the sympathetic comprehension of a whistler or Carolus-Duran are needed for Madrid. Page 27: Delacroix; […]
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