If you cannot manage your palette, how are you going to manage your canvas? In Glasgow, Scotland, we visited the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Art Gallery and discovered a treasure trove: The Whistler Collection. Upon James McNeill Whistler’s death in 1903 (b. 1834), most of his work went to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), who had been Whistler’s companion and assistant since the death of Whistler’s wife Beatrix (1857-1896). The Whistler Collection includes the contents of his house and studio at the time of his death, including unfinished work and artist’s materials. Rosalind Philip outlived Whistler by 55 years. During those years, she devoted herself to safeguarding Whistler’s reputation. Eventually,…
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Detecting Clues in Paintings
We are excited to have Andrew McEwan’s post about William Kay Blacklock’s painting The Letter highlight our new “Guest Posts Salon.” With the probing eye of a detective and the perceptive eye of an historian, Andy uncovers amazing clues in this beautiful painting. Noticing and appreciating details makes life richer. Enjoy! William Kay Blacklock (1872-1922) was a painter very much of his time, the later Victorian and Edwardian periods, and, generally speaking, his oeuvre, in both content and style is very much like that of his many contemporaries who specialised in genre paintings in predominantly rural settings. It is probably fair to say that most of his pictures, again like those…
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Observing the Observer
While visiting the Norton Simon Museum today I came upon a sculpture, which I immediately fell in love with, and I spent some time looking at it from all angles. I bent down to look at it from a lower angle. I walked around and looked at it closely and then from a few steps back, and then from afar. I studied it from the left and right side. I learned that it was sculpted by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, a German artist who lived a short life (1881-1919). The piece is a detail from a larger work titled “Kneeling Woman” and is titled “The Head of Kneeling Woman.” Just finding one…
