Interesting Art Stories: 81. Tennis at Newport, George Bellows

 

How are you?

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

The 81st story is the “Tennis at Newport” by George Bellows.

“Tennis at Newport” is a 1919 oil on canvas painting by the American artist George Bellows that depicts one of the major events of high society, the “Newport Casino Invitational” held at the Newport Casino.

George Bellows was an American realist painter, born in August 12, 1882 and died in January 8, 1925, known for his bold depictions of New York City’s life and described as "the most acclaimed American artist of his generation".

George Bellows

A member of the Ashcan School, an artistic movement that took place in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often depicting scenes of daily life in New York's impoverished neighborhoods, Bellows was instrumental in the organization of the 1913 Armory show in New York.

Armory Show, NYC (1913)

Renowned for his paintings of boxing matches, Bellows also depicted leisure activities of the wealthy.

Dempsey and Firpo, George Bellows (1924)

He painted “Tennis at Newport” in his New York studio based on sketches he made the previous summer. The annual tennis tournament held at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, was an important sporting and social event.

Covered in light, the painting focuses on the image of the spectators rather than the players, emphasizing the setting around the match rather than the match itself. In the painting, the players appear to be playing in the foreground, but the spectators strolling the grounds and lingering on the lawn attract viewer's attention and divert the viewer’s attention away from the contest. Bellows’ unique brushwork and the palette used in the painting bring the eerily pale ghostly spectator image with bright, almost blinding light and sweltering heat together.

Thank you.

“Modigliani with Themes” NewsLetter (December 17, 2022)

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Amedeo Modigliani in Worldwide Museums: 17. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

How are you?

The 17th place I would like to introduce for this week is The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is the largest art museum in the Americas. The museum's permanent collection includes over two million works and is divided into 17 curatorial departments. 

Located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park in Manhattan's Upper East Side, the main building is one of the largest art museums in the world by area. A much smaller second museum, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, houses an extensive collection of medieval European art, architecture and artifacts.

The Met Cloisters

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 with the mission of providing art and art education to the American people. The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures by almost all the European masters, and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The museum also has extensive collections of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine and Islamic art. It also has extensive collections of antique weapons and armor, musical instruments, costumes and accessories from around the world. The galleries in the museum feature several noteworthy interiors, ranging from 1st-century Roman to modern American design.

The works of Modigliani currently in the possession of The Metropolitan Museum of Art are as follows.

Thank you.

“Modigliani with Themes” News Letter (December 3, 2022)

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Interesting Art Stories: 80. Young Sick Bacchus, Caravaggio

 

How are you?

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

The 80th story is the “Young Sick Bacchus” by Caravaggio.

The “Young Sick Bacchus” is an early self-portrait by the Baroque artist Caravaggio, painted between 1593 and 1594, which is now in the collection of the Galleria Borghese in Rome. According to Giovanni Baglione, Caravaggio's first biographer, it was a cabinet piece by the artist using a mirror.

Portrait of Caravaggio, Ottavio Leoni
(c. 1621)

Galleria Borghese

Caravaggio created this painting after arriving in Rome from his hometown of Milan in mid-1592. According to a 2009 article in the American medical publication "Clinical Infectious Diseases", since the figure shows jaundice in his skin and the eyes, which are indications of some active hepatic disease that causes high levels of bilirubin, the artist’s physical disease likely involved malaria. The “Young Sick Bacchus” was one of the collections of Giuseppe Cesari, one of Caravaggio's early employers, and in 1607, the art collector Cardinal Scipione Borghese acquired the painting, together with the artist’s “Boy peeling fruit” and “Boy with a basket of fruit.”

Boy Peeling Fruit, Caravaggio (c. 1592
–1593)

Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Caravaggio
(c.1593)

It is also likely that this painting was used by Caravaggio to promote himself, demonstrating his virtuosity in painting genres such as still life and portraits and alluding to his ability to paint classical figures of antiquity, but what stands out in the painting is the grimace, tilt of the head, and a realistic expression of the pain the artist felt.

The still life in the painting can be compared with that included in slightly later works such as the “Boy with a basket of fruit” and the “Boy bitten by a lizard”, where the fruits are in a much better condition, reflecting the artist’s improved physical and mental condition.

Boy Bitten by a Lizard, Caravaggio (1593
–1594)

The painting also shows the influence of his teacher Simone Peterzano, in the utilization of the tensed musculature depiction, and of the Lombard school style in its attention to realistic details.

Cindy Sherman, the American artist, created a self-portrait titled “Untitled # 224”, a parody of the “Young Sick Bacchus,” as part of her “History Portrait” series.

Untitled #224, Cindy Sherman, MoMA
(1990)

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Seungyong Chang’s Culture and Art Stories (Naver Premium Contents Studio)

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Amedeo Modigliani in Worldwide Museums: 16. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

 

 

How are you?

 

The 16th place I would like to introduce for this week is Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum located in Manhattan in New York City. It has a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art, and hosts special exhibitions throughout the year. 

The museum was founded in 1939 by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation as an abstract art museum, under the guidance of its first director, Hilla von Rebay. The museum adopted its current name in 1952, three years after the death of its founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim.

Solomon R. Guggenheim

A landmark work of 20th-century architecture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum building drew controversy for its unique shape of its exhibition space and was completed in 1959 after 15 years of design and construction. The museum's main gallery features a six-story spiral ramp that extends along its perimeter and a central ceiling skylight.

The museum's main gallery

The museum's collection has grown over the decades and is based on several important private collections, starting with the collection of Solomon R. Guggenheim. With around 8,000 works as of 2022, the museum's collection is shared with sister museums such as The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The works of Modigliani currently in the possession of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum are as follows.

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