The Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 89. Thora Klinckowstrom (1919)

 

 

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Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani.

The 89th work to introduce for this week is “Thora Klinckowstrom” in 1919.

This work is an expressionist style portrait and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 99.7 x 64.8 cm and possessed in private collection. 

This portrait of Thora is among Modigliani's last paintings, along with that of her friend Annie Bjarne. Thora, a young woman from Sweden, came to Paris to study art, chaperoned by her brother Harald. 

Thora Klinckowstrom

Shortly after her arrival in Paris in October 1919, she met Modigliani at the Rotonde café, where her future husband, Nils Dardel, took her. 

Amedeo Modigliani and Adolphe Basler
at Rotonde cafe in Paris (c.1918)

Modigliani drew her there on squared paper provided by the café, and then added a quotation from D'Annunzio. Then, Modigliani suggested her to be his model and drew her on the back of a packet of Gitanes, on which he wrote his address, 8 Rue de la Grande Chaumiere. 

A sketch for the portrait of Thora
Klinckowstrom, Amedeo Modigliani

Despite the disorder of his studio and his negligent dress, Thora was impressed by Modigliani's good looks and beautiful, hot dark eyes. She was also impressed by his persistent cough due to his illness. 

Afterwards, Thora visited Modigliani’s studio for his model, where she accompanied her friend Annie Bjarne, whose portrait Modigliani also painted. 

Annie Bjarne, Amedeo Modigliani (1919)

Afterwards, she married Nils Dardel, and lived with him in Paris for 13 years in a studio-apartment on Rue Lepic. The portrait of Thora, who accidentally modeled for Modigliani, was soon forgotten and then reappeared on the art market in the 1970s.

Nils Dardel

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90. Classical Music: 5. George Frideric Handel, ACJ Music Academy

 

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This week's lecture is “George Frideric Handel”, the 5th topic of “Classical Music”, which is a summary of the contents of “90. Classical Music: 5. George Frideric Handel” introduced on June 3rd, 2017.

George Frideric Handel was a German-born composer who was born on February 23, 1685 and died on April 14, 1759. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach, he is a composer representing the Baroque era. 

Handel, Balthasar Denner (1733)

Educated in music in his hometown Halle, Handel worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy, and then settled in London in 1712, where he spent most of his career and naturalized to England in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. 

Having achieved success with the oratorio “Messiah”, Handel no longer composed Italian operas. His works, "Water Music" and "Music for the Royal Fireworks" are steadfastly gaining popularity. 

The Great Music Hall in Fishamble Street,
Dublin, where Messiah was first performed

The “Water Music” is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites. It was composed at the request of King George I of England for a concert on the River Thames and premiered on July 17, 1717. 

Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames,
17 July 1717, Edouard Hamman

“Music for the Royal Fireworks” is a suite for wind instruments composed by Handel at the request of George II of England for the fireworks scheduled to be held at Green Park in London on April 27, 1749. 

Green Park, London

Unlike other musicians, Handel, who is optimistic and free-minded, has accumulated a lot of wealth because of his entrepreneurial skills, but he has lived a life of twists and turns, with repeated failures. Almost blind, he died in 1759, and his funeral was held at Westminster Abbey.

Handel's monument, Westminster Abbey

Handel composed more than forty operas for over thirty years. Since the late 1960s, interest in Handel's music has grown, and his music exerted a strong influence on Classical-era composers, including Mozart and Beethoven.

A carved marble statue of Handel,
Louis-François Roubiliac,
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (1738)

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Interesting Art Stories: 52. At the Moulin Rouge, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, ACJ Art Academy

 

 

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Currently, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.

The 52nd story is “At the Moulin Rouge” by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

“At the Moulin Rouge” is an oil painting by French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Painted between 1892 and 1895, the background of this painting includes a self-portrait of Toulouse-Lautrec in profile. 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

It is one of a number of works by Toulouse-Lautrec depicting the Moulin Rouge cabaret, built in Paris in 1889. It depicts the world in which Toulouse-Lautrec himself felt most comfortable.

The Moulin Rouge (1900)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French artist born on November 24, 1864 and died on September 9, 1901. He is one of the most famous Post-Impressionist painters along with Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Georges Seurat.

Born into the aristocracy, he broke both of his legs as a child and he was just 4 feet 8 inches tall as an adult because his legs did not grow due to an unknown disease affecting growth and bone development.

Toulouse-Lautrec, born with wealth and privilege, abandoned his aristocratic roots for his fondness of Montmartre and the colorful nightlife of the area. He comforted himself with alcohol, especially absinthe because he was ridiculed for his physical appearance.

Moulin Rouge Poster, Jules Chéret (1890)

This painting depicts a group of three men and two women sitting at a table in its center part. The people at the table include: writer Édouard Dujardin, dancer La Macarona, photographer Paul Secau, photographer Maurice Guibert and Jane Avril, who is the focal point of the group, easily recognizable by her flaming reddish-orange hair. 

La Macarona in Riding Habit, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec (1893)

Jane Avril, poster, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec (1893)

In the right foreground is a partial facial view of English dancer May Milton, whose face is shining in a distinctive greenish light. 

May Milton, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
(1895)

In the right of the background is Moulin Rouge dancer La Goulue and a woman. 

La Goulue arriving at the Moulin Rouge,
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec  (1892)

In the center-left of the background is Toulouse-Lautrec’s cousin, Dr. Gabriel Tapié de Céleyran, and the short Toulouse-Lautrec himself is standing next to him. 

Gabriel Tapié de Céleyran, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec (1894)

The painting is part of the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, where it was first exhibited on December 23, 1930. It was exhibited in 2011 at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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The Stories about Art Films: 42. Museum Hours (2012), ACJ Movie Academy

 

Basic Info

Title: Museum Hours

Genre: Drama

Country: Austria, United States

Language: German, English

Running time: 106 minutes

Release date: 8 August 2012 (Locarno International Film Festival), 28 June 2013 (United States), 6 September 2013 (United Kingdom)

Staff

Director: Jem Cohen

Produced by: Jem Cohen, Paolo Calamita, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Guy Picciotto, Patti Smith

Screenplay: Jem Cohen

Music: Mary Margaret O'Hara

Cinematography: Jem Cohen, Peter Roehsler

Edited by: Jem Cohen, Marc Vives

Cast

Mary Margaret O'Hara as Anne

Bobby Sommer as Johann

Ela Piplits as Gerda Pachner

Summary

“Museum Hours” is a 2012 Austrian-American drama film written and directed by Jem Cohen. The film is set in and around the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Premiered at the 2012 Locarno International Film Festival, the film had its North American premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and screened at U.S. film festivals such as South by Southwest and Maryland Film Festival. This film was distributed to the United States by The Cinema Guild.

The (Great) Tower of Babel, Pieter Bruegel the Elder,
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (c.1563)

Plot

When a guard of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna become friends with an enigmatic visitor, the museum becomes a crossroads that sparks explorations of their lives, the city, and the ways art reflects and shapes the world.

The Hunters in the Snow, Pieter Bruegel the Elder,
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (1565)

One winter day, Johan, a guard at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, encounters Anne, who came to Vienna for the first time because of her cousin’s medical emergency. Never having been to Austria and with little money, she wanders the city, taking the museum as her refuge. Johann, initially wary, helps her and they are drawn into each other's world. (Continue).

The Peasant Wedding, Pieter Bruegel the Elder,
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (1567)

Movie Review

“Bonds us to a world of stillness”

“We Are All Subjects in a Painting by Pieter Bruegel”

“One of Those Movies That Help Us See Better And Think”

“Fascinating Meditation on the Relationship between Art and Life”

“A clean blend between fine arts and human emotions”

“Elegant Post-Modern Masterpiece”

“Something different”

“Like going to an art museum without leaving home”

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Remarks: The background music for YouTube video is not the soundtrack of the film, but randomly selected.