The painter who gave us Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
(Click here to buy print) ,
also gave us Young Woman Powdering Herself.
It is owned by the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
Hat tip: Tara
Next week: Sculpture Series!
May 5, 2009
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Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is my favorite painting! I was very blessed to get to see the exhibit when it was in Chicago.
Comment by Moviegirl20 — May 5, 2009 @ 7:36 pm
I saw this painting recently at an exhibit featuring Seurat — it’s a painting of his mistress, Mlle. Knobloch (I’m sure I spelled that wrong and I already forgot her first name, shame on me). You can see he adored her.
Comment by chachaheels — May 5, 2009 @ 8:40 pm
“Look at her looking. Forever with that mirror. What does she see? The pink lips, the red cheeks… The wide eyes. Studying the round face, the tiny pout… Seeing all the parts and none of the whole. But the way she catches light… And the color of her hair… I could look at her forever.”
Sorry, but if you give me a chance to quote Sondheim, I will take it. (Did her name happen to be Dot, chachaheels?)
Comment by harveypenguin — May 6, 2009 @ 2:55 am
That’s what the character’s name in the play about the Grande Jatte painting is. I believe Dot is a nickname.
I remember reading that this painting of her powdering herself was painted during the end of her pregnancy (I could be wrong because my memory is quickly becoming worthless these days). For some reason, I remember reading that she was in labour when he painted the picture. They had a son together, their relationship was very long lived and most of his family and friends only found out about her when she died.
I love that he surrounds her with flowers in this painting, and I’ve always thought he “announces” their relationship to each other by featuring her gleaming bracelet so prominently.
Comment by chachaheels — May 6, 2009 @ 8:19 am
Oh, I knew her name wasn’t really Dot. I was just joking. It’s nice to know what happened with them though.
Comment by harveypenguin — May 6, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
you should check out the work of Fernando Botero. all of his paintings have these great fat round people (and sometimes animals) in them doing everyday things like dancing or getting ready to take a bath. he even has a painting of a fat! mona lisa. you can find statues of some of his painted characters all over the world: Mexico, Singapore, Italy, etc.
Comment by janie — May 10, 2009 @ 2:45 pm