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This was done prior to the French Revolution. I remember this artist from his many portraits in the Munich Neue Pinakothek art gallery. This certainly deals with the "what do I do with my hands" problem - no hands! I thought the eye was particularly intriguing.
The four large canvases by Hubert Robert in this gallery were commissioned by a wealthy financier. They decorated a salon in his chateau at Mereville. Installed on all sides of the room, they would have suggested that the walls had dissolved, revealing fantasies of classical architecture animated by scenes of everyday life. For ruins, there are certainly a lot of figures around ...
War, personified by the god Mars is restrained by the personification of peace bearing an olive branch. Or, more crudely, war is mollified by a "piece"? There is nothing like the topless female likeness. I prefer to think of this as a young married woman or girlfriend who is trying to prevent her significant other from rushing off on some military campaign. Her "argument" (the topless part, forget the olive branch), in my opinion, could definitely convince him ... "First we could take a little 'nap', then I can make your dinner, and -hey!- isn't the football game on later tonight?".
Among the leaders of Madrid society were the Duchess of Alba and her husband, Jose Alvarci de Tuledo, Marquess of Villafranca, who is depicted in this elegant, straightforward, and sympathetic portrait. Male middle names in my family are Eugene, supposedly first in honor of a great Aunt named Eugenie after the French Empress Eugenie. This is her father.
It's always the hands! Is she holding a cap? Maybe, her hair might have become tousled as she removed it. I also thought she might be sewing, since her hand is in such a strange pose. Maybe that thing she holds is part of her nursing bodice? We don't even get to really see the son. I find the attitude of this woman very alluring, as I am sure at the time of this painting her husband did also.
What drew me to this was the way he painted the swell of the ocean.
In this colorful scene inspired by a poem from Lord Byron's Oriental Tales, the artist employed jewel-like colors to describe the shimmering, gold-braided vest and billowy clothing of the central figures. These details contrast with the violent action of the Christian giaour (a Turkish term for infidel), who avenges himself against a Muslim Hassan.
Several families, unable to pay rent, move their household belongings through the streets of Paris in search of new shelter. There is something about the finish or the texture of this painting that I find very appealing. Check out the dog cart. I assume this could be a historically accurate street scene from the time just after Napoleon I. I just drink in the people, the street traffic, and even the window curtains from the houses.
Frith lived a curious domestic life - married to Isabelle with twelve children, whilst a mile down the road maintaining a mistress (Mary Alford, formerly his ward) and seven more children - all a marked contrast to the upright family scenes depicted in paintings like Many Happy Returns of the Day. Frith married Mary on the death of Isabelle in 1880. In his later years he painted many copies of his famous paintings, as well as more sexually uninhibited works, such as the nude After the Bath. A well-known raconteur, his writings, most notably his chatty autobiography, were very popular.
Maybe I read too much into the body language of this couple. The landscape seems to assure they are alone, away from prying eyes. The woman appears very chaste. She has removed her gloves. He has apparently given her an impromptu bouquet of flowers, which she is disassembling. Look how close her shoe tips are to one another. Her knees must point at him. Her head and shoulders are covered. The gentleman leans forward and is undoubtedly making his case to her. He holds his hat, and one leg is bent and rests very near her. He rests the other elbow on one knee, and (perhaps nervously?) has his hand alongside his face. His head is lower than hers, he gazes at her, she shyly is not looking at him, but is attentive none the less. There seems nothing threatening about him. Her body language seems open to him, in return his respectful focus is on her. Good luck, old sport!
I find the well-worn building seems to match the attitude of the troops, both are bored of sitting out in the sun.