We completed our visit to the Beck building at the Museum of Fine Arts. We still have several buildings to go. We saw a lot of works from familiar masters like Cezanne and Rodin and from unknown artists. There were rooms full of religious art too.
-
- Architecture as art. This cast-iron balcony was designed by the French architect Hector Guimard, famous for designing the entrances to the Paris Métro in 1900.
-
- Paul Signac,, The Bonaventure Pine in Saint-Tropez, 1893. This is Pointillism, also called Neo-Impressionism. Lots of dots. Makes me think of the old Sunday Funnies, but this is better.
-
- Claude Monet, The Japanese Footbridge at Giverny, c. 1922. He was in his eighties and affected by failing eyesight when he painted this. Up close this has no clear shapes. It’s better from a distance.
-
- Claude Monet, The Windmill on the Onbekende Gracht, Amsterdam, c. 1874. Monet could see better when he was younger.
-
- Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Why Born Enslaved, c. 1873—74. He had strong anti-slavery sympathies.
-
- Portrait of Emperor Caligula, c. AD 37—41. May have been part of a cult temple.
-
- Auguste Rodin, Flying Figure #1, 1890, cast 1964. He got a collection of fragments of Greek and Roman sculptures that directly influenced his own aesthetic.
-
- Rembrandt van Rijn, The Raising of Lazarus: Small Plate, 1642. Etching on laid paper, state 1/11.
-
- Henri Matisse, Woman in a Purple Coat, 1937. Matisse depicts his model and companion of many years, Lydia Delectorskaya, reclining in an exotic Moroccan costume, surrounded by exuberant patterns.
-
- Jules Bastien-Lepage, Flower Seller in London, 1882.
In the religious art rooms, the depictions of the virgin Mary all showed a woman in royal robes. Not at all befitting a 14-year-old peasant girl.
There was one painting by Tintoretto. Being the intellectual that I am, I immediately though of Cat Ballou.
Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)
Italian (Venetian), 1518—1594
The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, c. 1585—90
My picture did not turn out well, but it depicts Saint Lawrence being tortured over hot coals. I recently read that he asked to be turned over because he was done on one side. The painting shows him being turned over with a stick.