Pictures meme (tagged by Hope_24)

[mary_j_59]

Hope did this a while ago; it's a fascinating meme, but I found it a bit difficult. Asked to name five books or pieces of music that influenced me/speak to me/express my beliefs, I could do it very easily - the problem would be stopping at five! To name five influential paintings was a bit more difficult for me. Anyway, the challenge was to pick and post five pictures/paintings and explain why they are meaningful to you, and then pick five people to do the same.

I'm tagging Anne Arthur, professor mum, sander123, sigune (if you haven't done it already) and sydpad (if you have time, because you're also a graphic artist). And anyone else who wants to is free to grab this! Now the pictures, under a cut for length:



the Laundry at Branchville by J. Alden Weir, an image of the Weir farm. There is also a lovely view of the farm by Childe Hassam, in the Wadsworth Athenaeum, I believe, and every time we see it, Dad says, "Your grandfather worked for Mr. Weir" Weir was one of the leading American impressionists, and I love the impressionists; also, there is the family connection and the fact that this is right near where I lived when I was small - and I love the landscapes of Southern New England.






Cezanne's portrait of his father reading the Newspaper. We saw this in the Met, I think, and I loved it because of the story behind it - it seems Cezanne's dad really wanted his son to be a lawyer, so there was some conflict about that. But then Cezanne became a successful painter, and did this very accurate, affectionate portrait of his father. I love the feeling and humanity of this piece.




self portrait with pencil by Kaethe Kollwitz. I like the expressionists, too, and my whole family loves Kollwitz, who was a passionate and humane artist as well as a superb technician. She did this one towards the end of her life, and I think my sister and I saw it in Cologne when we were there three years ago.



Portrait of Fray Felix Hortensio Paravicino by El Greco.
When I showed my sister this one just now, she began singing, "Snape! Snape! Severus Snape!" Seriously, there are some similarities - and this young man is simply beautiful*. This is another one we saw in an exhibit, many years ago, and I never forgot it. What struck me most is that this portrait is so alive - the image has such intense eyes, as though he can actually see you and finds you intensely interesting, and you almost feel that he will get up out of his chair and start talking to you. The painting also gave you a strong feeling of warmth and friendship between the subject and the painter. At least, it did me!




Kollwitz again. Seed corn must not be ground; an anti-war poster done in the midst of WWII. Because it's true. We must protect the children, and war is an evil that devours them. The artist lost her own son in WWI, and, I believe, a grandson in WWII. It is amazing that she was not jailed for this piece. And it makes me very sad that it is still so relevant.

So those are mine. I hope you enjoyed them!

Comments

[darkthirty.livejournal.com]

Kaethe Kollwitz is amazing - I had to leave 2 big books of her work back in Ontario 20 years ago when I moved to Vancouver.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Gosh, that's sad! She is amazing, and should be better known, IMHO.

[professor-mum.livejournal.com]

Well, I thought about this quite a bit today, and I do have some strong infuleunces in the art/photography world:

1. Georges Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte". I saw it in Chicago and spent much time viewing it close up and far away

2. Dali's "Persistance of Memory" which I saw as a teenager

3. LA Painter George Romero's "Whittier Blvd". I visited his studio and purchased a litho

4. A beautiful portrait of RFK looking skyward and hopeful, by Albert Eisenstadt (I think)

5. Annie Leibowitz' portrait of Bush, Cheney, Rice, etc. I saw it very recently and was just mesmerized by this up close picture of the evil cabal

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the responses - I don't know all of those, but will look them up. Those two photographs sound fascinating.

[hope-24.livejournal.com]

Nice choices!

It is an oddly tough MeMe, isn't it? I really had to sit down and think, because 5 favourite paintings, and five meaningful painting are not, I think, necessarily the same thing.

The El Greco is fabulous. The subject has such intelligence in his eyes.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly! It's one of those portraits which captures more of the quality of the sitter than a photo would do, I think.

[anne-arthur.livejournal.com]

I've just come across this - I've had a couple of visitors and have been very busy. I can think of a couple of dozen pictures already (including, sadly, one or two where I can only think 'that one where . . .') - but no doubt with a bit of thought I'll come up with five completely different ones! I'll try to get back to you later this week. I love the picture of the farm - how wonderful to have a picture you have a family connection with! And the El Greco is beautiful (and yes, definitely a Snape). I love his hands - especially the awkward way he is trying to balance the big book and keep his place in the little book, as though the artist has interrupted him in his reading.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Anne! And you're right about the brother's hands in the El Greco; that's a detail that helps bring the picture to life, and it does have a great liveliness about it, doesn't it?

Looking forward to your choices, when you have time-

[anne-arthur.livejournal.com]

The choices are now up! And I realise now that I HAVE seen this El Greco - it was in London with an exhibition of his work a couple of years ago. I thought it was familiar!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

AARGH! I really should do this meme... Er - is there a deadline to it? I'm sorry, I hardly have time to be on the Net anymore ;_;. But I don't want to lose touch!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

No, of course there's no deadline! And only do it if you find it fun and interesting, and when you have time. I found it a difficult meme to do, but rewarding, and I'd hope it would be rewarding or fun for anyone who picked it up.

BTW, both Deirdre and I love your watercolors for "War in Gaul".