SUPPER AT EMMAUS

According to the Gospel of St. Luke, after the death of Christ, two of his disciples traveling down the road to Emmaus met a stranger and invited him to join them.  At supper the stranger blessed the bread and broke it to give to the disciples.  Immediately the disciples saw the stranger was Christ risen from the dead.  

This painting dramatically captures the moment when the disciples realize the stranger is Christ himself. Caravaggio painted this masterpiece in 1601 for a Roman nobleman and avid art collector.  The painting contains all the stylistic elements that Caravaggio is noted for: the realistic figures and the dramatic changes of light and dark, known as chiaroscuro.

This painting is part of London's National Gallery of Art's permanent collection, but in late 2009, the National Gallery lent the painting to the Art Institute of Chicago for three months in return for borrowing a painting by Francisco de Zurbará which would play a key part in an exhibition. During a visit to the Art Institute, I was fortunate to be able to see the painting on display.

Thank you for visiting.

A Great Europe Trip Planner

This post was originally published in my blog Tutti Capolavori on October 16, 2012. 
The photo was taken by me during my visit to the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER

In 1905, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was one of the founding members of the art movement Die Brücke (The Bridge). The Brücke style attempted the creation of pure expression through color and form. Their aim was to find new ways of artistic expression and to free themselves from the traditional academic style of the time. The Brücke was therefore one of the earliest German artists’ associations which had a crucial impact on the development of classical modern art. The artists collectively created a style which was to be defined within 20th century art history as Expressionism.

In 1937 the Nazis confiscated nearly all of Kirchner's paintings that were in German museums (over 600). Already suffering from mental problems (he suffered a nervous breakdown during his service in World War I), Kirchner committed suicide in 1938.

Here are three of his masterpieces that are part of the permanent collection of the St. Louis Art Museum.

Portrait of a Woman (1917)

View of the Basel and the Rhine (1927/1928)

Circus Rider (1914)

 




































Thank you for visiting. 

A Great Europe Trip Planner

This post was originally published in my blog Tutti Capolavori on August 25, 2012. 
The photos were taken by me during my visit to the St. Louis Art Museum.

PIERRE BONNARD

Pierre Bonnard was a founding member of a group of artists called Les Nabis (Nabi means prophet in Hebrew), a short-lived group of Post-Impressionist artists in Paris in the 1890s. Although trained as a lawyer (the wishes of his father), Bonnard really wanted to be a painter and at age 21, he began studying at the Académie Julian in Paris; many of his fellow classmates would become members of Les Nabis. Known for his use of intense color, Bonnard's earlier works such as the top painting, Girl with a Straw Hat (1903), were still being influenced by Impressionist painters such as Renoir. During his lifetime Bonnard also contributed illustrations for many books and magazines, successfully published several series of lithographs and even designed set decorations for theater and ballet productions. Bonnard constantly showed his works in major art exhibitions not just in France, but throughout the world. In 1910, he made his first trip to the south of France; after making annual trips to the area, he permanently moved there in 1925. Bonnard would paint over 300 paintings, such as the bottom painting, View from the Artist's Studio, Le Cannet (1945).

These two paintings are why many art historians believe that Pierre Bonnard is considered one of the greatest colorist painters of the modern art.

These two masterpieces are part of the collection assembled by Mrs. Harry L. Bradley during the second half of the 20th century, beginning in 1950. Over the next twenty-five years she acquired over 400 works of art. The idea of gifting the collection to the Milwaukee Art Museum came after she and her husband noticed how much families enjoyed visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  They wanted the same enjoyment for their hometown museum even though other major U.S. museums tried to obtain the collection. In addition to the works of art, Mrs. Bradley gave the museum $1,000,000 to erect the Bradley Wing to house the collection. After the Bradley Wing opened in 1975 until her death in 1977, Mrs. Bradley came to the museum nearly every day to view her collection and greet museum visitors.

Thank you for visiting.

A Great Europe Trip Planner

This post was originally published in my blog Tutti Capolavori on July 29, 2012. 
The photos were taken by me during my visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum.