Young Woman and Ibis, 1857… or 1860–62? Oil on canvas, 40×30″
Thanks to Jennifer Small for sending this in response to yesterday’s post about Degas’ failed historical paintings. This one was painted some time between 1857 and 1862 (dates differ), which was around the same time as he was working on the other historical paintings.
Paintings and dates:
The Daughter of Jephtha 1860
The Daughter of Jephtha study 1860
Young Spartans Exercising 1860
Young Spartan Girls Challenging Boys 1860
Young Woman with Ibis 1861
Bucephalus 1861
At the Stables, Horse and Dog 1861
Semiramis Building Babylon 1861
Portrait of Madame Edmondo Morbilli 1865
Scene of War in the Middle Ages 1865
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Young Woman and Ibis seems unresolved, the landscape separate, the birds and flowers stuck on after everything else had already been half painted. He was trapped. Haven’t we all tried to save a scene by putting a bird on it? And the red-orange birds are a color complementary to the blue-green cloth. Clearly he knew the additions weren’t solving his problems. He was reaching for the easy tricks, and he knew it. He made a quick rough pass of thick desperate “fuck it” paint taken right off the palette, and stopped. I imagine he was thinking about other paintings, and how this or that move could work somewhere else, but not here. Young Woman with Ibis is a weird (yet lovely) painting. It’s nice to see that even the best painters have their puzzles they couldn’t solve.
“Degas made sketches of this composition in a notebook he used during his second stay in Rome in 1857–58. Originally conceived as a depiction of a pensive woman, the picture assumed a mysterious air when Degas added the imaginary Middle Eastern cityscape, the pink flowers, and the two red ibises around 1860–62. About the same time he also considered adding the brilliant birds to his large historical painting Semiramis Building Babylon.” – MetMuseum
Semiramis Building Babylon
The Paint like Degas 2 day workshop starts this Saturday. Artists are welcome to make studies in charcoal, pastel, monotype, or if they’re very very brave: paint. We’ll have a model on the first day, and we’ll work from photographs on the second, like Degas did. What would you enjoy?
Sign up for Draw, Sketch, Print, Paint like Degas.
Exercise your creativity This SAL Challenge is a vocabulary based creative challenge every day for January. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, sew, collage, sculpt your food, anything you want. See below for today’s creative challenge. Set the timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. ANTHROPORMORPHIC suggesting human features for animals or …
I know the rain is dreary, especially when our moods are pulled by pandemic, isolation, news. But the rain has rinsed the pollen from the air, and for that I am thankful. In class on Tuesday, Fran O’Neill shared a few of her favorite landscape paintings. She showed the Van Gogh above, one I haven’t …
JR is a pseudonym of a French artist who flyposts* large black-and-white photographs on the street, often challenging advertising and media by the use of portraiture and community involvement. In 2010, JR won the TED Prize for 2011. He used the $100,000 award money to start the Inside Out Project. *Flyposting (sometimes known as wild posting or bill posting) …
Victorians combined images from multiple negatives to create portraits known as “Headless Photographs.” (19th century) Not one cracked a smile. If Victorians had Facebook, would they have posted this? Happy Halloween!
Degas put an Ibis on it
Thanks to Jennifer Small for sending this in response to yesterday’s post about Degas’ failed historical paintings. This one was painted some time between 1857 and 1862 (dates differ), which was around the same time as he was working on the other historical paintings.
Paintings and dates:
Young Woman and Ibis seems unresolved, the landscape separate, the birds and flowers stuck on after everything else had already been half painted. He was trapped. Haven’t we all tried to save a scene by putting a bird on it? And the red-orange birds are a color complementary to the blue-green cloth. Clearly he knew the additions weren’t solving his problems. He was reaching for the easy tricks, and he knew it. He made a quick rough pass of thick desperate “fuck it” paint taken right off the palette, and stopped. I imagine he was thinking about other paintings, and how this or that move could work somewhere else, but not here. Young Woman with Ibis is a weird (yet lovely) painting. It’s nice to see that even the best painters have their puzzles they couldn’t solve.
“Degas made sketches of this composition in a notebook he used during his second stay in Rome in 1857–58. Originally conceived as a depiction of a pensive woman, the picture assumed a mysterious air when Degas added the imaginary Middle Eastern cityscape, the pink flowers, and the two red ibises around 1860–62. About the same time he also considered adding the brilliant birds to his large historical painting Semiramis Building Babylon.” – MetMuseum
The Paint like Degas 2 day workshop starts this Saturday. Artists are welcome to make studies in charcoal, pastel, monotype, or if they’re very very brave: paint. We’ll have a model on the first day, and we’ll work from photographs on the second, like Degas did. What would you enjoy?
Sign up for Draw, Sketch, Print, Paint like Degas.
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I know the rain is dreary, especially when our moods are pulled by pandemic, isolation, news. But the rain has rinsed the pollen from the air, and for that I am thankful. In class on Tuesday, Fran O’Neill shared a few of her favorite landscape paintings. She showed the Van Gogh above, one I haven’t …
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Headless Portraits
Victorians combined images from multiple negatives to create portraits known as “Headless Photographs.” (19th century) Not one cracked a smile. If Victorians had Facebook, would they have posted this? Happy Halloween!