women in green
I was intending to continue with the ‘paintings I would hang on my wall’ theme but, as you see, I changed my mind. I spent yesterday putting up the Christmas decorations and watching ‘Singing in the rain’, the original movie. I had to stop several times to sit and watch the dance routines. I never realized how far ahead of its time this film was. The only dance routine many people remember is the ‘singing in the rain’ song, but there are so many more, there are really good song and dance routines all the way through. Several of them mesmerized me, but this one had me transfixed, and from this one old movie clip, came this idea for this weeks Art Sunday; Ladies who wear green. Have you ever noticed how the colour green is not a favourite with portrait painters? portraits are usually either red, white, blue or black………and like the dance routine, those that are in green……….have a very special quality.
1 The Arnolfini Marriage, 1434, by Van Eyck
It is possibly the most famous green dress painting of all time. Every one already knows this painting. It’s been used as inspiration for other paintings, copied and adapted many times over, and when a painting is used as the basis of another painting by another artist, it’s a sure sign the original is a pretty special piece of art.
Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his paintings on their frames. At the time the frames were considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together). However, in the celebrated Arnolfini Portrait (London, National Gallery) van Eyck inscribed on the (pictorial) back wall above the mirror "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434" (Jan van Eyck was here, 1434). The painting is one of the most frequently analyzed by art historians, the most popular theory was that it represented a pictorial marriage certificate, which was a common practice at the time, although that theory is now doubted by some. The woman looks to be pregnant but this could be a way of emphasizing the child-bearing potential of women. Records indicating that Giovanni Arnolfini's wife died before 1434, together with details in the picture, suggest that the portrayed woman was deceased (perhaps in childbirth) before or during the picture's making.
2. Hans Holbein the younger, the Meyer Madonna , 1526
Despite the fact many reproductions of this work seem to show the Madonna in traditional blue rather than green; I’ve included it because it’s an important piece from the period, Holbein was THE up and coming artist of the time and this is one of his most famous pieces. It was painted in stages. The first stage of this work was for Jakob Meyer, one of his most important patrons and former mayor of Basel. In 1526 Holbein stopped work on the painting and left for England. He resumed work on the painting when he returned in 1528 and added details such as the headdress of Meyer's daughter, Anna, bottom right, representing her betrothal. This little corner of the painting is a beautiful and sensitive portrait of the daughter. This Madonna was painted at a crucial time in the reformation, by the time this work was actually finished , the staunchly Catholic Meyer was no longer influential or powerful and Basel was increasingly influenced by the Reformation. Holbein seemed unconcerned with the reformation surrounding him and carried on with his work regardless of changing religious. But this work was destined to become his last orthodox Marian image. It is believed that the three figures on the right are Meyer's first wife, Magdalena Baer, second wife, Dorothea Kannengiesser; and daughter Anna. In the view of art historian Jochen Sander ‘’this painting belongs among the undisputed masterworks of sixteenth-century European painting", and I think he could be right. Whole books could be devoted to this one painting and space here is limited.
3. Portrait of a Lady in Green, c 1530; Agnolo Bronzino
This is a bit of a mystery painting, generally thought to be by Agnolo Branzino, an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence, but that’s not universally accepted. Some believe it is from an artist the north of Italy, (possibly Emilia or Lombardy). This argument seems to be based on the costume, which is typical of Northern Italian fashion not Florentine fashion. If the portrait is by Bronzino, it must be early, ( prior to Medici patronage in 1539,) possibly somewhere between 1525 and 1535. In about 1530 Bronzino worked in Pesaro for the court of Urbino and it’s possible he s[spent some time travelling to different areas in Northern Italy. It sounds very odd to us that fashion could be so defining but in Italy at that time, the different courts all had their own dynasties, fashions, customs and traditions and they remained quite separate from each other. Although; due to dynastic connections between some of the courts, it was possible for these unusual northern fashions to be seen occasionally in Florence. Whoever actually painted it, and whoever the sitter was, and where ever the fashion originated, I love it. What an unusual vivid shade of green.
William Hazlitt, writing in 1823, described the colors of the costume as resembling 'the leaves and flower of the water-lily, and so clear'. attention has been given to the costume with its slashed sleeves, puff shoulders, embroidered chemise and elegant headgear.
4. François Bouche, Madame de Pompadour no 2, 1756
François Boucher (29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French Rococo painter. He painted several portraits of his illustrious patroness, Madame de Pompadour. This is no 2 in quite a long line of portraits of the famous Madam Pompadour. Rococo is not my favourite style or period, but of the Rococo paintings and artists I know, this is one of my favourites. It somehow portrays a sense of power and success despite the frivolity and unnecessary detail typical of the Rococo style. She was one of the most famous and some say powerful women of her time and for Boucher to be able to portray this in a style intended to promote the frilly fussy feminine side of women………….that’s quite an achievement. She is shown with all the trappings of a sixteenth century woman, she has frills and flowers galore, but in her hand is a book not a fan or lace handkerchief, on her bedside table is writing equipment and a pen, not some piece of useless ornamentation and the look of serious determination on her face is equal to any modern political portrait.
5. Ammi Philips; Woman with Books c 1850
Ammi Philip was an American painter known for his portraits of women. By the mid-1820s, Phillips' sitters, in keeping with the period, are portrayed as very Romantic, gentile figures. They are strong women with a delicate beauty clothed in the shimmering, pearly colors typical of the Romantic age. During the 1830s his seated women became more realistic, reflecting the ideal Republican mother. They tend to be seated, with long slender necks, determined faces and usually lean slightly forward toward the viewer. To me this one looks like an educated but not overly wealthy woman, the sort of person who knows the value of hard work but also of education, a very ‘no-nonsense’ sort of person.
By the 1840s, Phillips portraits were under serious competition from the less expensive new technology ‘photography’. After that period he was forced to concentrate his work on the the rich and powerful, those who could afford the extra cash required for a painted portrait rather than the new photographic portrait. His paintings after that targeted the up and coming, the rich and powerful, the new ruling classes. Which was quite sad, and a long way from his folk art beginnings.
6. Claud Monet; Camille Woman in Green Dress 1866
Camille Doncieux; was the first wife of French painter Claude Monet.
She modeled for her husband many times, she was in fact his favourite model. She is also known to have modeled for Pierre-August Renoir and Édouard Manet.
Camille and Monet were married in 1870 and had two sons within a few years of being married. Jean in 1867 and Michel in 1878. It’s thought that the second pregnancy and childbirth made worse her already deteriorating health she died prematurely in 1879, probably from some form of pelvic or cervical cancer. Monet painted her on her death bed.
7. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Day Dream, 1880
This painting was commissioned by Constantine Ionides. Rossetti painted it from an earlier drawing of Jane Morris sitting in a tree at Kelmscott Manor, because by 1880, she was no longer posing for him. ceased posing regularly for him. Jane Morris is sitting in the boughs of a sycamore tree and, dreaming and ignoring the book in her lap. The picture was also titled 'Monna Primavera', signifying the spring setting for the painting.
8. Dagas; The Green and Pink Dancers
One of his many many ballet dancer paintings.
9. & 10 John White Alexander; American portrait painter
Alexander was born in Pennsylvania. He was orphaned in infancy and reared by his grandparents. When he was quite a young lad he was given a job as a telegraph boy and it was his employer who admired his drawing and encouraged him to develop his talent. By 18 he had moved to New York and was working as illustrator for Harpers weekly. He went on to train as an artist, travelled Europe and met and was influenced by many of the great artists of the time including whistler.
He is the first artist I have ever come across who seems to favour painting women wearing green, he did a whole series of different portraits of women wearing green, these are just two of them.
.No 9 is The green dress 1899 no 10 is Study in black and Green 1906.
No 11. John William Waterhouse;
Gather ye Rosebuds while ye may, 1908
Based on a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
To Virgins to Make Much of Time.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting;
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best, which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.
No 12 Tamara Delempicka Girl in a Green Dress 1929
One of Tamara De Lempicka’s most famous painting, ‘Girl in Green with Gloves’, is almost an iconic image. Painted in 1929, the ‘Girl in Green with Gloves’ is a painting of a young woman wearing a sheer green dress, white gloves, and a large, white hat. It is a stylized, two dimensional, decorative image typical of its time in overall effect but outstanding in the impact it makes when first seen. It seems as if this woman is catching her hat as it’s about to fly off her head. This is one of the earliest Art Deco images, Art Deco followed on from the more expensive Art Nouveau. Art Deco heralded art for the masses, it became used in advertising, posters and illustrations. Its smooth straight lines were bold and uncompromising in a way the more intricate art nouveau was not. It was far more accessible for mass production. Tamara De Lempicka. Was one of the dominant figures of the art deco years. Her detailed portraits of many famous and successful celebrities from all over the world brought her world recognition.
No 13 & 14 Two paintings by Suzy Papnicolas; Hula Hands and Dancers feet. 
I know virtually nothing about this artist. I came across her site while searching for more ‘green dress ladies’. She is a contemporary artist, working today and selling her work from her from her internet site here
http://www.papanik.com/Gallery1.htm
GALLERY ONE
These are signed and numbered giclees. All the images on this gallery page can be purchased in fine art reproductions on canvas.
email Suzy at suzy@papanik.com
These paintings are all sold in their originals. Reproductions are sent rolled in a tube. The price of mailing in the United States is included.
No 15, Darren Baker; Ballet flight
Darren is a contemporary British painter whose work is sold from this site
http://www.redraggallery.co.uk/artist-darren-baker.asp
No 16 Stephanie Rew Seated in Green
Another contemporary British painter selling from here
http://www.scottishartpaintings.co.uk/artist-stephanie-rew.asp
And that concludes my ''Ladies in Green''................hope you enjoyed it.
This weeks ‘Seascapes I would hang on my wall’’ took far longer than I expected to finish. Not because I couldn’t find enough paintings to include, but because I couldn’t decide which to leave out. The list was endless and getting it down to manageable size was difficult, but this is my final choice.
(Something not quite right with the picture posting again... they have all come out very small but they do enlarge if you click).
1. CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
"The Monk by the sea", Oil on canvas, 1809/10
I chose this one because, it’s so ahead of its time, it looks like a twentieth century surrealist painting not an early nineteenth century painting. This was so unlike paintings of the time it caused controversy in the art world when it was first shown. Personally I love the way it depicts the eternal vastness of the sea compared to the frail mortality of man. This painting is the emotional mirror image of how the sea makes me feel. The sea brings life back into focus, it leaves you in awe and wonder at the world while making you realize what a tiny insignificant speck you really are. Monk by the Sea (German: Der Mönch am Meer) is an oil painting by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. It was painted between 1808 and 1810 in Dresden and was first shown together with the painting ‘’The Abbey in the Oakwood’’ (Abtei im Eichwald) in the Berlin Academy exhibition of 1810. On Friedrich's request The Monk by the Sea was hung above The Abbey in the Oakwood.[After the exhibition both pictures were bought by king Frederick Wilhelm III for his collection. Today the paintings hang side by side in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. The Monk by the Sea was Friedrich's most radical composition.
2. KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI
"The Wave", c.1830
Woodblock print,
This had to be included. It changed the face of art the world over. Whole books have been written about the lasting influence this one print had in both the east and the west. The artist KATSUSHIKA Hokusai, was born in Edo (today’s Tokyo) in 1760, he created this, the most memorable image to have emerged from Japan’s whole long, brilliant culture when he was in his 60’s. It’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the wave dwarfs Mt Fuji in the background and has in more recent times been likened to a tsunami Japanese painters and engravers have always offered us a different, mystical interpretation of the natural world. This wave is so much more than a mere swell of the ocean, it's a great sea monster, a giant that threatens with its fangs any vulnerable ships that cross its path, It’s the ocean's claw powerfully poised to devour anything in its path even the great and sacred Mount Fuji. Variations of this image are repeated in seascapes from every continent even today.
3. JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER
"The fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up", 1839 (London, National Gallery) Oil on canvas
No collection of seascapes could be complete without at least one Turner. I chose this one because I love the colours but also because it reminds me of the many years I spent in Portsmouth, home of the British Navy. I have spent happy, happy hours wandering aimlessly around the historic dockyard in Portsmouth; looking around the ships, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve toured HMS Victory, I even worked in one of the museums for a while. I generally immersed myself in the maritime history of our country which added another dimension to my love of the sea. Turner is one of the greatest seascape painters from any age, he has been described as audacious and technically perfect. Turner's masterpiece is an unusual representation of a royal ship, they are normally depicted in all their splendor and glory, but here Turner paid tribute to the brave men who served on the Temeraire by depicting its last trip before being scrapped. This supreme work was elected as the best painting in England in a poll organized by the National Gallery of London in 2005.
4. IVAN AIVAZOVSKY
"The ninth wave", 1850 (St. Petersburg, State Museum)
Oil on canvas,
A Russian painter devoted to seascapes, Aivazovsky regularly practices technical perfection. In this painting he represents a group of unlucky castaways trying to survive the merciless force of the ocean. But; typically of the sea, even in the midst of tragedy, the sun, combined with the sea, the waves, the movement, the reflected sunlight through the water, all combine in an image of absolute beauty. The particular shade of green he uses with such perfection to highlight sunlight through the sea, is a shade I’m very familiar with. It is exact in shade, hue and tone to the waves that crash onto our beach.
5. Claude Monet 1867,
"The Beach at Sainte-Adresse",oil on canvas
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Illinois USA.
Sainte Adresse is a location close to Le Havre. Monet was aged only 27 when he painted this view of a beach near Le Havre, on the Norman coast of France. His parents lived at Sainte Adresse. Monet was fascinated by boats as well as seaside or any form of water. This is one of his many, many water paintings, choosing which one to include was difficult in the end I chose this one because the colours remind me of the sea here on a winters day. This is timeless, anyone who lives by the sea, anyone who has ever seen fishing boats, will recognize this scene. This is a scene that’s so much a part of so many peoples lives, he captures the ordinary everyday and turns it into a thing of beauty.
6. Starry Night Over the Rhone ( September; 1888) is one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings of Arles at night;
This was painted at a spot on the banks of river which was only a minute or two's walk from the Yellow House on the Place Lamartine which Van Gogh was renting at the time. The night sky and the effects of light at night provided the subject for some of his more famous paintings, including one of my all time favourites; Cafe Terrace at Night which he painted earlier the same month, and the later canvas from Saint-Rémy, 'The Starry Night'. A sketch of the painting is included in a letter van Gogh sent to his friend Eugène Boch on October 2, 1888.The painting was first exhibited in 1889 at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in Paris.
This is a painting that just makes you sighhhhhhhhhhh. It’s the visual equivalent of the big satisfied sigh as you sit back and relax after a good meal and a bottle of wine.
7. William McTaggart; Paps of Dura 1902
This is one I’ve stood in front of at the Kelvingrove gallery and stood and stood and stood transfixed. I have to say; this is one of those paintings that you have to see to appreciate. When you stand in front of it you become lost in it; it’s as if you are there, it evokes the sound of the gulls, the crashing waves and the soft coastal breeze. You can almost smell the sea just by standing in front of this. McTaggart is undoubtedly one of Scotlands greatest seascape painters, he has an instinctive understanding of the sea, his love of the sea shines through his work. He was one of the finest painters Scotland has ever produced, an original genius, a pioneer of impressionism before it even had a label. In his early years he taught himself drawing and painting, and at the age of twelve he was able to earn extra money with his ability as a portrait painter. McTaggart was born of crofting parents at Aros Farm, near Machrihanish, at the present day a farm beside the East end of the airfield at Machrihanish. His parents were Gaelic speaking and his mother was a granddaughter of the religious poet, Duncan MacDougall
8. Sir Peter Scott
1943 WIGEON CROSSING LOW OVER THE CREEK
Sir Peter Markham Scott, the man had so many awards I’m sure he found it difficult to remember them all. He was; CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, Born 14 September 1909 died 29 August 1989; he was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman.
Scott was knighted in 1973 for his contribution to the conservation of wild animals. He had been a founder of the World Wildlife Fund, a founder of several wetlands bird sanctuaries in Britain, and an influence on international conservation. He received the WWF Gold Medal and the J. Paul Getty Prize for his work. This is just one of his many bird studies that he painted during his long and illustrious career. He has done so much toward raising awareness and conservation of our endangered coastlines, wetlands, and birds he should be included in this collection on merit of his good works alone. But its not necessary to emphasise his acts of conservation, his paintings deserve a place here on their own merit. This particular one reminds me of the Canadian geese which migrate here and then fly back again. Watching for the distinctive V shaped flock of birds, and the familiar cry, is a sign of the changing season in much the same way as the first Robin of winter or the first snowdrop of Spring. The colours in this watercolour are perfect, exactly as they should be late afternoon of a winter day.
9. Joan Eardley ‘’Catterline in winter 1963’’
Oil painting on board.
I cannot explain how much I admire this womans work. I’ve been to the tiny clifftop cluster of cottages where she lived and worked. I’ve seen the small cottage overlooking the sea where she did some of her greatest work. I have a friend who knew her in the 60’s and who visited her at Catterline. My friend tells how this woman would stand knee deep in the sea as the tide came in, desperate to finish capturing the image before her and apparently oblivious to the rising danger. Her work is vast, huge powerful canvases that swallow the viewer and transport them into the center of her universe.
Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley was originally English but by the time of her death thought of herself ( and was thought of ) as a Scottish painter. She was born in Warnham, Sussex, England where her parents were dairy farmers. Her mother, Irene Morrison, was Scottish and Joan had a sister, Patricia. The girls had a sad childhood, their father suffered mental health problems after being caught in a gas attack during World War I, when Joan was seven he committed suicide. Joan's mother took the girls to live with her own mother in London in 1929 where an aunt paid for the girls' education at a private school and where Joan's artistic talent was recognised. In 1939 she, her mother and her sister moved to Glasgow to live with her mother's relatives and in 1940 Eardley enrolled at Glasgow School of Art as a day student.
Eardley set up a studio in Glasgow, close to the deprived Townhead area, where she became known for her drawings and paintings of poor city children, often playing in the streets in ragged clothes, the older girls looking after younger siblings. She also drew numerous scenes of the shipyards of Port Glasgow. Eardley had developed a unique style and she soon had a reputation as a highly individual, realistic and humane artist of urban life. She was often to be seen transporting her easel and paints around Glasgow in an old pram.
In the early 1950s while convalescing from mumps Eardley was taken by a friend to visit Catterline, a small fishing village near Stonehaven, Her friend bought her a cottage there and she started to spend part of each year away from Glasgow in Catterline. Eardley bought another more suitable, but still basic cottage there in 1954; it had no electricity, running water or sanitation. At Catterline she produced seascapes, often showing the same view but in different light and weather conditions. She also painted landscapes showing the changing seasons in the fields around the village, her thickly textured paintwork sometimes incorporating real pieces of vegetation. She often worked outdoors and often in poor weather. Eardley became the focus of the "Catterline School" of artists, a group who were increasingly drawn to the village during the 1950s and who included Annette Soper, Angus Neil and Lil Neilson.
I have seen her work, and I have seen where she lived, and her paintings, although not traditionally realistic, are instantly recognizable, I recognise the sea and the land from her work, it is familiar in every sense
10. James Somerville
East Neuk Storm, oil on canas.
James Somerville is a graduate from Edinburgh College of Art. He worked in art education at various Scottish Art establishments eventually becoming National Development Officer for Art and Design in the Scottish Department of Education. .
He became a full-time artist in 1990. Since then Somerville has participated regularly the RSA and RSW annual exhibitions and has had several solo art shows in Scotland. James Somerville paintings have also shown at Art Fairs in London, Barcelona and New York.
He is another artist who has worked in this area and whose work I very much admire. His work is dark and powerful. It’s atmospheric, the colours he uses eco the colours found here in the sea and they sky. There are several of his works I wanted to include but in the end I chose this one because of the colour green……………..the sea is exactly this colour on a cold winter day.
11. Raging seas
Ruth Brownlee
Ruth Brownlee was born in 1972 near Broxburn, West Lothian. From 1990 to 1994 she studied at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Drawing and Painting with Tapestry. She is a widely recognized artist and since graduating, she has gained a number of grants and awards. These include;
The Elizabeth Ballantyne Award, S.A.A.C 5th Annual Exhibition,
Royal Scottish Academy, December 1994
Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust Award, January 1996
2nd Prize British Rail Young Business Travel Award, May 1996
The Hope Scott Trust Grant Award 2000
'Scotland's Year of the Artist Award' Scottish Arts Council/ National Lottery Fund 2000 for Artist-in-residence on board the SWAN, the 100 year old restored fishing boat now used for sail training and charter in and around Shetland Isles from May - October 2000
Her paintings are almost abstract, but the essence of the sea is there, powerful and unmistakable. These seascapes could only be painted in her corner of Scotland, there is no where else where the sea looks like this.
12 & 13 Surrealist photograph's by Ben Goossens
This work was introduced to me by Nemo. Surrealism isn’t a style I always take to, but this man, a photographer not a painter, seems to capture something of the sea that I relate to. The first one; called music,
appealed to me because it seemed to capture the music of the sea. When I talk about the sea, I often talk about the sounds that are part of the sea, the wind, the waves on the beach, the sea birds overhead, the sound of the beach under foot. All of these sounds seem to me to be represented in this picture. His surrealism has added another dimension to the image of the sea.
The second image is called very beginning.
This one says to me that the sea is the source of life, before sea there is nothing but dry parched land and then the sea is poured over it and it becomes full of life. I thought this was a positive image to end on. So many of these paintings; beautiful and powerful though they are, show scenes full of destruction, devastation and despair. So often the sea can be cruel and merciless. This last image reminds us that it is also the giver of life, the source of goodness.
A little about the photographer; Ben Goossens worked for 35 years in his native Belgium as an ad agency art director. After retiring, Goossen's turned to creating photo montages with a distinctive Surrealism style reminiscent of his fellow countryman, René Magritte.His images have received awards in a number of prestigious international photography competitions including Gold and Silver medals at the Trierenberg Super Circuit, the world's largest annual photography salon. Goossens has also seen his work widely published, including an in-depth 10 page exposition in the March 2007 edition of Photo Art International. His composite photos are remarkable for their seamless yet painterly renderings of Surrealism dreamscapes.
And now some fun, the first one is a group of primary school children painting a seascape on a disused wall. The second one is an artist turning a bedroom into a wonderful water wonderland.
