Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family, approx 1470, Swabian artist
According to the National Gallery UK: The woman’s large white headdress, its calligraphic shape made up of stiff, angular folds, is striking against the dark background. Shading around the folds reinforces the sense of their depth, and the artist seems to want us to think that a fly, deceived by his illusion, has attempted to land on the headdress. The fly is, of course, also part of the deception and perhaps intended to reinforce the artist’s mastery.
As flies could spread disease and were sometimes seen as a symbol of sinfulness, its presence might be intended to ward against evil and illness. National Gallery UK
Nearly 100 works show how an American post-war painter used a French master’s work as inspiration. BMA Exhibit Curated by Katy Rothkopf. Post edited from original post by Gabriella Souza on Baltimore Arts & Culture. Posted on October 20, 2016 They were painters separated by decades, continents, and artistic movements, but their love of color and passion for painting …
Helen Rae (1938-2020)“Her drawings, in colored pencil and graphite, are immediately striking for their vivid imagery, resonant use of color and innovative reworking of source material. Using fashion advertisements as a point of departure for otherworldly journeys into the subconscious, Helen transforms the original images into something uniquely expressive, which possess a strange beauty and …
Painting above by Fredericka Foster. More by Foster at the end of this post. What makes painted water look like water? Is it the tone of blue, or by the reflective color of the sky? Is it optic magic from glazes and transparent pigments? Or is it indicated by perfect color mixes, sequences of color matches? What about …
The Hofer Woman and the Fly
According to the National Gallery UK: The woman’s large white headdress, its calligraphic shape made up of stiff, angular folds, is striking against the dark background. Shading around the folds reinforces the sense of their depth, and the artist seems to want us to think that a fly, deceived by his illusion, has attempted to land on the headdress. The fly is, of course, also part of the deception and perhaps intended to reinforce the artist’s mastery.
As flies could spread disease and were sometimes seen as a symbol of sinfulness, its presence might be intended to ward against evil and illness. National Gallery UK
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