Best painting ever: that you’ve seen

@kmax87 said
I’ve always liked “Napoleon Crossing The Alps” by Jacques Louis David.

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/562353661/napoleon-crossing-the-alps-painting-by?ref=reviews

Very melo-dramatic.
Not quite my taste. If I’m going “that way” I’d go for Liberty Leading the People.

But I have never seen Napoleon Crossing the Alps in real life. So, I’m certainly open to being impressed by it!

@averagejoe1 said
Suzi is back. Gaslighting cannot be far behind.

Gaslighting is environmental here, apparently.

Don't blame the messenger. Don't shoot the piano player, either.

@mott-the-hoople said
never been gone…using multiple UserIDs

Is that what the herd says now?

Moooooooo.

Or is it "baaaaaaaa"?

@shavixmir said
Time for a different, non-political debate.
Get to know each other on a spectrum of… colour… instead of politics.

What’s the most gorgeous painting you’ve ever seen in real life?

Huh? Well, 28 Vermeer paintings are on display at the Rijks museum in Amsterdam, so that triggered me to see what you all like.

I’ll start.

Girl with the Pearl Earring.
My absolute f ...[text shortened]... ’s smiling. Uncover her eyes and the smile fades. Very cool.

So, I’m wondering what you all like!

It's not possible for me to choose one painting, or one artist.
I like all the artists mentioned and paintings.
There are two who spring to my mind that have inspired me, Filippo Lippi (or Lippi Lippi). His paintings have one character looking directly at the viewer, I really like this way of drawing the eye of the viewer in. I saw some of his work in Florence on an art trip (almost 30 years ago now, but they'll still be there, he was from the early 14 hundreds). There's another painter who uses red to focus the eye of the beholder, I like that idea too but not as much.

Another painter I love to look at the work of is Marc Chagall. For Marc blue was the colour of love, he painted his wife in a sea of blue- I love that concept too.

@yo-its-me said
It's not possible for me to choose one painting, or one artist.
I like all the artists mentioned and paintings.
There are two who spring to my mind that have inspired me, Filippo Lippi (or Lippi Lippi). His paintings have one character looking directly at the viewer, I really like this way of drawing the eye of the viewer in. I saw some of his work in Florence on an art t ...[text shortened]... For Marc blue was the colour of love, he painted his wife in a sea of blue- I love that concept too.

Funnily enough, we have a painting above the dining table, painted by a very talented, but little known, English artist.

I don't know if it has a name or not...

@shavixmir said
Very melo-dramatic.
Not quite my taste. If I’m going “that way” I’d go for Liberty Leading the People.

But I have never seen Napoleon Crossing the Alps in real life. So, I’m certainly open to being impressed by it!

I think its an age of first viewing thing, the first time you see a painting. My first time seeing it was in an Art book. I was in my teens and fascinated by the French Revolution and stuff and it made a big impression. I saw it about ten years ago in an Australian exhibition and it looked even better than my memory of it. Melodramatic, for sure, but there was the essence of something great. A force to be reckoned with...

@kmax87 said
I think its an age of first viewing thing, the first time you see a painting. My first time seeing it was in an Art book. I was in my teens and fascinated by the French Revolution and stuff and it made a big impression. I saw it about ten years ago in an Australian exhibition and it looked even better than my memory of it. Melodramatic, for sure, but there was the essence of something great. A force to be reckoned with...

That could be part of it, but I think it's more than first art. I think it's also something about who we are- what appeals to us, what we take notice of. The art book you had looked at would have had other art. Maybe impressionist art, completely different styles and movements and one in particular caught your eye.
There's art I really loved before I saw Lippi's work in my teens. There had been a book that had all the letters of the alphabet drawn as animals in the covers which really appealed to me.

@shavixmir said
Funnily enough, we have a painting above the dining table, painted by a very talented, but little known, English artist.

I don't know if it has a name or not...

This is quite interesting, there are two pictures hanging on the wall here, but I'm pretty sure they weren't painted by an English artist because they're photographs.

@wajoma said
This is quite interesting, there are two pictures hanging on the wall here, but I'm pretty sure they weren't painted by an English artist because they're photographs.

I think you may have snuck into the wrong living room Wajoma!

@yo-its-me said
It's not possible for me to choose one painting, or one artist.
I like all the artists mentioned and paintings.
There are two who spring to my mind that have inspired me, Filippo Lippi (or Lippi Lippi). His paintings have one character looking directly at the viewer, I really like this way of drawing the eye of the viewer in. I saw some of his work in Florence on an art t ...[text shortened]... For Marc blue was the colour of love, he painted his wife in a sea of blue- I love that concept too.

Chagall, yes, wonderful symbolism and somber colors. There is a church in Mainz (Germany) with Chagall windows, which I have seen. Very fine indeed.

@kmax87 said
I’ve always liked “Napoleon Crossing The Alps” by Jacques Louis David.

https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/562353661/napoleon-crossing-the-alps-painting-by?ref=reviews

Anything by JLD requires an exercise in restrained wonder. That particular painting is as glorious as the "Death of Marat" is morbid. Both paintings have interesting origins and are aesthetic masterpieces of propaganda.

I'm inclined to admire master works of the Italian Renaissance. Art students of all disciplines are encouraged to visit Florence at least once. But, of course, it would take more than a lifetime to see it all. Venice and Rome also claim a fair share of its birthright.

I cannot select a particular painting as favorite. I can only say that looking up at Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel in Roma is a quasi-religious experience.

@phranny said
@shavixmir thanks for a great thread. It is difficult for me to select A Favorite. All my favorites are from the Impressionist Period.
I will be spending October wandering around Italy and would greatly appreciate suggestions, advice.

Lucky you, I wish I could remember where we were taken. We had an excellent art lecture who took us to the most fascinating places and he had such vast knowledge. I remember we were in an underground tunnel at one point where Michelangelo had hidden from the Medici family and he had drawn on the walls. I don't know if you can get to see that? We went to Venice and Tuscany to see an artist our lecture knew. Really was an amazing trip.
Tell us where you go when you've been.

@yo-its-me said
Lucky you, I wish I could remember where we were taken. We had an excellent art lecture who took us to the most fascinating places and he had such vast knowledge. I remember we were in an underground tunnel at one point where Michelangelo had hidden from the Medici family and he had drawn on the walls. I don't know if you can get to see that? We went to Venice and Tuscany t ...[text shortened]... see an artist our lecture knew. Really was an amazing trip.
Tell us where you go when you've been.

I've muddle remembered! That happens after a few decades.

It's Medici Chapel of the Basilica di San Lorenzo and he was hiding from the Pope!

@yo-its-me said
I've muddle remembered! That happens after a few decades.

It's Medici Chapel of the Basilica di San Lorenzo and he was hiding from the Pope!

Are we playing Clue: Vatican Edition?