Blog 9- Chapter 30 Monet- Impressionists

My whole life I have been drawn to Monet and his paintings. Hanging in my house are 36” square reproductions of Water Lilies and Bridge over a pond of Water Lilies at Giverny. I did not know what it was in his work that drew me in, but whatever it was, it resonated with me at a very deep level. When I traveled to Europe for college in1985, I went on a pilgrimage to Paris to see Claude Monet’s Water Lilies in the Musee de L’Orangerie. It was a breathtaking experience to sit in front of the 8 paintings, 4 in each of 2 oval rooms designed specifically for these monumental works (each about 19 feet long by 6 feet tall). The museum closed from 1999 to 2006 and reopened just in time for me to see it in its newly remodeled space the summer of 06 with my kids. The museum has kept the original 2 oval rooms that I saw in 85 that were designed specifically for these paintings, but they created openings in the ceiling to flood the rooms with natural sunlight to view them in a more natural setting. When I was reading about Monet this week in the text book, I came across a quote that helped me to understand why I so love Monet, and have always connected to his works. This is the statement made by Monet when he spoke to an artist friend, “When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you- a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Merely think, here is a little square of blue, here is an oblong of pink, here is a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives your own naïve impression of the scene before you.” This is what draws me to Monet. He paints the way light plays off surfaces, the ever-changing color of life. And this is what I love and identify with. When my children were young, I found a book about Monet’s garden that I fell in love with and still have today. It is called “Linnea in Monet’s Garden” by C. Bjork. It is the story of a little girl who goes to visit Monet’s garden, and the adventure she has in discovering that world. Although the premise of the story is improbable in our day (she travels with an elderly male neighbor to the gardens) the story is full of details about the garden and allows the reader to enter into the magic of Monet’s life through a child’s eyes. I would highly recommend it. As Monet is my favorite of all painters, its only fitting that I end our blog adventure in this class with a tribute to this great man.

Blog #8 Museum Visits this Semester

Since there is no topic listed for this blog, I will do it on my visits to the museums of the bay area. I started my tour of our museums at the De Young Museum on Feb 17th. I was there the weekend after the Warhol exhibit went in. I arrived just as the museum opened and took the first guided tour of the day, which was empty except for me.. so I got a private tour of the exhibit! It was wonderful to hear all about Andy Warhol’s life and have the tour guide all to myself, to ask questions and get into a dialogue about Warhol. You are not allowed to take photos of special exhibits, so I don’t have any of Warhol, but I did take some pretty cool pictures of Dale Chihuly’s glass works, including Rover’s Garden Grows. This is his piece. I decided that it would be really great to learn how to blow glass.

On March 5th, I went to The Cantor Arts Center. I went to see the new Rodin Exhibit, but I was there on a day when they were not giving a tour. So I went around and took lots of photographs of the art works that were outside, and began to explore the inside before I had to leave. I knew I would have to return. This is me in front of the Gates of Hell by Rodin.





On April 3rd, I made a visit to the San Jose Museum of Art. I realized that it was not one of the museums on our list of places to visit, but I wanted to check it out. It is a contemporary art museum, displaying works of artists in the last 100 years. They also are hosting a Warhol exhibit and it is worth visiting. Also, there is a fantastic 3 piece chandelier in the 2 story entrance hall of the museum. You are not allowed to photograph any of the exhibits, but you can take a photo in the lobby… so I photographed myself from the 2nd floor with the Chihuly chandeliers behind me.



On April 5th, I returned to the Cantor Museum and took the 1 hour docent led Rodin tour. I am writing on Michelangelo and Rodin, so I took lots of notes and photographs. The museum was nice enough to allow photographs of the pieces. It was very interesting to go on the tour, and I found that I actually knew a lot about Rodin, having read a book on him, and that made the tour even more enriching.
I was able to get the tour guide to take my picture against the Gates of Hell.. a better picture that my self portrait of before!









On April 14th, I visited the Portland Art Museum and saw the special collection of French Paintings in the age of Madame de Pompadour, entitled “ La Volupte du Gout”. Again, the museum does not allow photographs, but it was very good timing as we started on Rococo paintings the very next week!











And finally today, almost as an afterthought, I visited the Legion of Honor Museum. I had a free day and took my daughter and her friend. I was very surprised and impressed with this museum. It was the perfect museum for us to see, having taken this class. The 19 rooms on the main floor are organized by time and artistic style periods, starting with Medieval, Renaissance and Mannerist art in rooms 2-5 and ending with 18th -20th century neoclassical art through post impressionism in rooms 16-19. It was very nicely organized, and each room had a wallboard explaining the period, and the significance of the style being presented. Additionally, the center 3 galleries contained a very extensive collection of Rodin with his bronze castings as well as his plaster carvings, and a few marble pieces. The information plaque said that the Spreckels family, who donated the museum and this collection to the city of San Francisco, had acquired many of the pieces from Rodin or his friend and got pieces cast while the artist was alive! And- I was very happy to find that this museum allows you to take photographs of the pieces as long as you don’t use a flash. I ended up with over 200 photographs of the works of art.. and was able to find examples of art from every period we have studied so far!
I was very impressed with the Legion of Honor, and would have enjoyed spending much more time there, but my 12 year old daughter and her friend were ready to move on… they were saturated! So my last photograph is of me, in the mirror (pink jacket) in the recreated Neoclassical room from the Salon of the Hotel d’ Humieres, Paris, 1788.


What I have learned is that there is a fantastic wealth of art in the bay area that we can enjoy. Art museums have gone the extra mile to provide informative placards, made hand held devices to listen to tour guides, provided docents to give free tours on a regular basis, and even gone to ipod downloads that you can get ahead of time and listen to while in the museum. All you have to do is have the time, curiosity and the willingness to dig a bit deeper when there- and you can learn a whole lot from the artists of our past!

Blog #7 The Role of Art in Society- Gardens as an Art form

The role of Art in Society
Blog #7
Art takes so many different forms: paintings –(with oil, acrylic, pastels, watercolor) on canvas, wood board, plaster, or paper. There is sculpture (clay, bronze, steel, stone, glass, mixed media) , architecture, printing, graphic arts, and line drawings. Now we see photography, videos, and animation in the field of arts. Out of all of this diversity, I would like to focus in on the Garden as Art form and the role it plays in society.

All throughout history you will find examples of gardens, starting with the story in Christian biblical text of the Garden of Eden. Gardens have been portraits as places of peace, abundance, life, solitude, romance and spiritual rejuvenation. Looking back over 5 chapters in our book, you can find many examples of gardens. In Botticelli’s Primavera, the garden is rich in the colors of spring, illustrating the name of the painting. In Bellini’s St Francis in Ecstasy, the small garden around his austere cave setting is the touchstone for St Francis communion with God. Moving forward into Renaissance art, the Grotto became a popular feature of gardens of this time. Michelangelo contributed to this tradition by creating the 4 marble slaves that adorn the Great Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Pitti Palace, Florence. The function of the grotto was to commune with nymphs and Muses, cool off in the summer heat and be surrounded by the sound of water as it splashed over fountains and between the rock and stonework of the grotto.

In paintings, gardens are a popular feature. Look, for example, at Rubens Garden of Love, or Fragonard’s The Meeting. Both paintings use a garden as the backdrop to a romantic love encounter. The garden sets the mood for the romance that ensues.

The Gardens’ layout changes over time with the different periods in art. In the Baroque period, the garden layout became a geometric masterpiece. Look at the exquisitely complex layout for the Palais de Versailles by Le Vau and Le Notre. This plan inspired generations of landscape architects. The gardens in the time of Louis XV were a place for political and economic discussions and alliances to be brokered and discussed. The many passageways led to quiet, out of the way niches where one could meet and plan the future, discuss the past, ponder new scientific creations, or cheat on your current relationship. In The Park at Stourhead, Wiltshire, England, the layout is on the other end of the spectrum from the Palais de Versailles. Here, order and linear structure give way to meandering paths, hide and reveal “peak a boo” views of a variety of buildings, sculptures and temples, rivers and ponds and a blending of art styles from Greek, to Chinese, to Turkish to Gothic, and throwing in a bit of landscape painter Claude Lorraine for good measure!

All over the world, you can find beautiful gardens that inspire us even today. In India, the geometric beauty of the gardens at the Taj Mahal are breathtaking. In Outside of Shanghai, you can delight in the beauty and tranquility of the Garden of the Cessation of Official Life, and be thankful that one Beijing official got sick and tired of working in his bureaucratic job without promotion- and instead devoted himself to the creation of this garden. In Kyoto, Japan, you can have a Zen experience by contemplating the placement of stones in the rock garden Ryoan-Ji. Though very different in look from the classical Baroque gardens of France, they have a similarly calming effect on the beholder.

My favorite recent garden discoveries are the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park, and the Portland Classical Chinese Gardens, both in Portland, Oregon. In the Japanese Gardens, you see the 3 primary elements used in design, Stone (the bones of the landscape), Water (the life force) and Plants (the tapestry of the four seasons). Visitors are asked to discard worldly thoughts and to see oneself as part of the universe. The mission of the Portland Classical Chinese Garden is to cultivate an oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony. The five elements of a Chinese garden are plants, stone, water, architecture and poetry.

All over the world we can find gardens, beautiful expressions of art, that serve society by providing a place for communion with nature, a place to gain peace and tranquility and to instill a sense of awe. Gardens are generally free to the observer to enjoy and can be enjoyed all times of the day and night, 360 days of the year. They provide a place that any person can go and connect with art, the world and themselves. Gardens provide a very important role in our society.

Blog #6- Baroque Art of Flanders

Three Crosses- Fourth State Three Crosses- Third State

Three Crosses By Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt’s Three Crosses speaks to me this week as we observe Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Rembrandt, a very religious man, created a series of 5 prints entitled “The Three Crosses” which capture the moment when Jesus, on the cross, cries out his last words, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”. These prints were created by Rembrandt by using a tool called a “buris” to scratch into a copper plate 15” by 17”. Most large works of this kind were done by covering the plate with wax and etching into the soft material that covers the plate, and then dipping the metal into acid which eats into the plate to create the lines. But Rembrandt wanted to give this work the highest state of realism that you can achieve in a print by actually cutting into the plate by hand. This requires quite a bit of muscle to cut all of the lines in by hand, but has the result of giving the prints a softer, fuzzier edge to the lines, and thus more painterly than etched prints. The first “state” of this print is in our book, as is the fourth “state” (each of the 5 versions of the print are called states) I have attached the third and fourth state. I was never able to find a picture of the 5th state. The Third State appears to be Rembrandts favorite print, as it is the only version that he signed his name to, thus verifying it was ready for reproduction and sale. When I read about these prints, I imagined that he had produced 5 different copper plates and printed from each. That was not the case. He created the first state, and printed from it. He then made changes and printed the 2nd state. Later he made further changes and created the 3rd State, to which he was very happy with. In the 3rd State, the emotion of the scene is palpable. The collapsed Virgin Mary, the torturous pain felt by John expresses as he pulls his hair out, the anguish of Mary Magdalene, the on-the-spot conversion of the Centurion as he falls to his knees at the base of the cross, all form a backdrop to the solitary Jesus in his final moments as a mortal on earth. After making multiple copies of this 3rd state, the edges of the lines began to wear down, and the burs that are created by the drypoint method were flattening out. So 1 year later Rembrandt scraped off whole sections of the plate and began a new direction for the print. This new version is far darker that the previous 3, and with far less detail. The only part of this print that remains in the glorious light of God is Jesus.
When I look at these works of art by Rembrandt, I am troubled by one thought. By printing multiple copies of this copper plate, when does the print move from “work of art” to “poster”? Is not the artist cheapening his own work by mass printing the image? Is not the copper plate the real work of art? I am not settled on what I think of all of these copies, in the same way that the ability to make up to 12 brass castings of Rodins molds for his statues seems odd to me.. there could be 12 Thinkers out there.. are they all authentic when so many can be floating around? The concept of Graphic Arts, therefore, bothers me a bit. I prefer the art where there is only one true piece- Michelangelo’s David, or The Mona Lisa.
The other thought that came to mind when looking at these prints is how this image of Christ on the Cross has had (and continues to have) such a profound effect on the world. In 1985 I was lucky enough to be in Krakow, Poland on Good Friday and to visit St Mary’s Church (Mariacki Church) Here the church had the biggest recreation of this very scene of the Three Crosses in the tomb below the church that I have ever seen. At the time, the Communist party was very much against religion. So to be a practicing Catholic was a statement of defiance. Also at that time the Solidarity movement “Solidarnosc” was at its height, and also completely illegal. So for this reenactment of the Three Crosses, the Catholic Church draped a red cloth over the center cross, and on it was the words “Solidarnosc”. The freedom movement of the Polish people was equated to the suffering and death that faced Jesus. They were waiting to be resurrected. And in 1989 they finally were.. thanks to the Catholic Church and the Solidarity movement in Poland.
Images and symbols are very important, and Rembrandt was very aware of this when he created his series of prints.

Blog #5 (Chapter 22) Baroque Art In Italy

Blog #5 Baroque Art in Italy
Monument to Anexander VII (Fabio Chigi April 7, 1655-May 22 1667)
St Peters Basilica
By Gian Lorenzo Bernini
One of the most famous papal monuments in St Peters Basilica was created by Bernini, the same artist/ sculpture/ architect who created the Baldacchino in St Peters and the statue of Ecstasy of St Teresa in Santa Maria della Vittoria. Although this piece was not in our Art History book, it is one that I saw when visiting St Peters. As I was walking around the enormous Basilica, (the largest church in the world that can hold 60,000 people!) I came across this unusual monument. The fact that it even caught my eye is somewhat of a miracle as the Basilica is 730 feet long/ 500 feet wide. It has over 120 different monuments, statues and altar pieces. So when you have walked most of the way down the Basilica from Portico to Apse, and have already seen the Pieta, the Baldacchino, the Altar of the Chair and beautiful Gloria above, it is very easy to get overwhelmed by all of the statues, and works of art. But as I was standing at the edge of the Left Transept, I overheard a tour guide speaking in English about the Monument to Alexander VII. She was pointing out that the sculptural drapery over the doorway, below the statue, was made of Sicilian Jasper and that it was created by breaking up the stone, and ‘gluing” it back onto the form of the drapery to make a beautiful and unique flowing colored marble surface. This tour guide said that nobody knows what kind of epoxy the stonemason used to this day, as it worked so seamlessly and has held up so beautifully (remember- this was in 1673- 336 years ago!) Upon further inspection, I began to see that this monument was unlike the others in the Basilica. Most monuments are fairly straight forward, with a Pope or Saint modeled in profile or head on, looking out at the Basilica with a contemplative, and yet detached look. Alexander is kneeling in prayer. He seems calm and peaceful. But on all four sides of him, below his plinth, are the 4 “virtues” embodied in the female form, of Charity, Truth, Justice and Prudence. The faces of the 4 virtues look to Alexander as to tell him that something distressing has suddenly appeared. The “drapery” below the plinth is actually the cloak of “Death” who is holding up one bony hand to reveal an hour glass, signifying that time has run out. The Skeleton of Death is in gilded bronze and is cloaked in the beautiful red and pink Jasper marble. This sets Death off powerfully against the white marble of the 4 Virtues and the Statue of Alexander. The plinth is in green marble with a black and gold nameplate. The niche that this statue inhabits is covered in gold and colorful marble. It is a very good example of the Baroque style, with its flashy gold embellishments, the honeycomb pattern in the domed roof of the niche that decreases in size to give the illusion of a deeper and taller dome that actually exists, and the theatrical use of the cloak as a curtain that is pulled back to reveal Death just under the surface. The curtain is very artfully draped in a way to work with the fact that a door leading out of the church is just below the high niche. Please take a look at the photos above to see the details (overview of the whole monument and the detail of the Jasper marble with Death below).

Blog #4 (Chapter 19-20 Italy)

Michelangelo, Pieta and David
This week my blog has to focus on sculpture, as I have just completed my first sculpture after 7 months of work. My all time favorite artist in the field of sculpture is Michelangelo, and my favorite 2 sculptures are David and Pieta. Michelangelo completed the Pieta in one year when he was just 25 years old. One year later, he began the commission from the city of Florence for the statue David. This sculpture took him 3 years to complete. When you look closely at these 2 statues you will see something that very few if any artists before were able to capture, the precise musculature of the people being represented. When he was around 17 years old, Michelangelo was permitted to perform autopsies on the corpses at a local church hospital in Florence at night. Here he studied and learned anatomy, and from those studies was able to accurately represent the bone and muscle structure on his subjects in his sculpture and painting. Prior artists often draped their subjects in clothing that hid most of their body, making it easier to represent them without having to accurately represent their bodies. In these earlier works, if the body is shown naked, many would represent the muscles as rounded or soften groups of muscles, devoid of the accompanying tendons and veins. Michelangelo’s statues are so convincing in their representation of the muscle groups that it is as if the statue was really a body covered in white paint! Michelangelo carved the Pieta as a tomb monument for a French cardinal and is installed in the Vatican in Rome. He intended it to be viewed by onlookers up close, so you can stare directly into the sweet face of the Virgin holding her son Jesus. But a mentally disturbed man attacked the statue in 1972, and since then it can only be viewed behind barriers that are about 2l-0-30 feet away from the statue, making it hard to experience the statue as it was intended. The thing I personally find most fascinating about Michelangelo’s style of sculpture is contained in a quote from a sonnet that he wrote, “The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image” Michelangelo was able to see the Pieta and David contained within the block of marble that he carefully chose from the marble quarry in Carrara, Italy. He then “liberated” the statue from the stone!



This week, I completed my first sculpture. The title of my sculpture is “Flying Mandolin”. I worked for 7 months on creating the mandolin out of steel sheets and wire rods. I learned how to use cutting machines, TIG and MIG welders, and all sorts of files and grinders for finishing work. I then learned how to carve Alabaster, in the old style with hammer and chisels, to create the open mandolin case from which my steel mandolin is flying forth. It took far longer to create than could have imagined, but it was a very rewarding process from start to finish.

Blog #3- Chapter 19 Renaissance Art in 15th Century Italy

The piece I have chosen for this blog is Nanni di Banco’s The Four Crowned Martyrs. Banco won the commission to create a sculpture representing the patron saints of the stone carvers and woodworkers guilds (to which he belonged) for the Guild Building, the Orsanmichele in Florence. His piece was completed between 1409-1417. Although Nanni chose to set the stage for his 4 Martyrs by placing them in what looks like a Gothic Church, with a roofline that became popular 100 years later in the Flamboyant Style as seen on the Church of Saint Maclou, he created his Martyrs in Classical Roman style. The four men have solid bodies, and are dressed in togas. But he does something different with them. He has them standing in a semi-circle that brings the viewer into the picture, as the completed imaginary circle extends outside of the niche to where the viewer would be standing. Below the 4 Martyrs, is a relief panel showing the sculptors at work. Although only a few inches deep, Nanni cut deeply into the panel to give his figures a 3d depth that is very effective.

The top photograph shows the stone carved niche as it would have been seen right up to as recently as 2005, when it was cleaned. Covered in the black grime of the modern city of Florence, many people probably just walked past and did not take in the beauty of this piece. The lower photo is the way it looks today, and the way it looked back in 1417 when it was completed. What a difference! The figures are very realistically carved and are prominently set off by the black and white faux dome just inside the niche.


I was drawn to this piece because I am just finishing up my first stone sculpture. My piece is 2 feet wide by 1 foot high by 2 feet deep, and weighs around 65 lbs. It has taken me weeks to carve and in the last week, I have spent hours polishing the surface. I can not imagine working on 4 human figures, each 6 feet high, and with that detail of their clothing and facial expression… and not break it at some point! How did Nanni even get his stone sculpture into that niche? It must have weighed thousands of pounds! I can hardly lift my small sculpture to get it on the worktable each day. I have a whole new respect for stone carvers of any time period!