Berthe Morisot was the only woman to exhibit in the first Impressionist show of 1874. She was married to the brother of Edouard Manet and dear, dear friends with Mary Cassatt.
Cassatt once wrote her,
“Women should be someone and not something.”
I totally agree. And, let’s be real — girl, you are rockin’ that look of being someone with that pup and full-floral hat!
Sometimes art is grocery shopping (though, let’s be real, it’s mostly a hassle). Luckily for you, Andy Warhol, I too am always under-utilizing my shopping cart while wearing sunglasses! It’s like we’re twins.
Mary Cassatt often modeled for Edgar Degas. Though she kept this in her studio, she sold it later in her life without him knowing. I’m imagining Degas finding out and playing that “Last Christmas” on just straight repeat. Or like, ANY Taylor Swift song.
Sometimes art is a meteor shower. The annual Perseid meteor shower starts now and peaks August 12 and 13th, during the supermoon.
The agony, the pain, the anguish. I feel this way whenever anyone mentions Monday on a Sunday or Paul Gauguin EVER.
Laocoön (lie-oh-kwahn) was a Trojan priest who, with his sons in tow, were attacked by all sorts of sea serpents. (Note: This is what happens when you try and spoil the Trojan Horse and Poseidon finds out.) It dates between 27 BC and 68 AD.
Uh, I don’t know about you, but I can’t do anything without electricity and I’ve died about a bazillion times on the Oregon Trail and that’s a GAME. I mean, that’s not even the same time period and I’m still a goner.
Michelangelo was present during its excavation from a vineyard in 1506. You know who else was?! Francesco da Sangallo, the architect of the Duomo in Florence. In his description of the excavation, he writes:
“They dug the hole wider so that they could pull the statue out. As soon as it was visible everyone started to draw [or “started to have lunch], all the while discoursing on ancient things, chatting as well about the ones in Florence.
I mean, I don’t know about you, but I always celebrate centuries-old discoveries with food.
Marcel Duchamp takes the Mona Lisa to a whole new level.
L.H.O.O.Q in French sounds like “elle a chaud au cul.” She has a hot…well, behind. Nice, Duchamp.
Duchamp also translated the phrase as, “there is fire down below.”
Double nice, Duchamp. What would Lisa del Giocondo think about all that gossip you spreadin’?!
ALSO! Happy birthday, Duchamp!
Jan van Eyck painted this panel of the Madonna and Nicolas Rolin, chancellor to Phillip the Good, in 1435. The whole thing, with such exquisite detail, is barely more than 2 feet high. You can see it at the Louvre.
Lots of mind-blowing things are happening in this panel. First, Jan van Eyck inserts himself in the background of the work; in doing so, his selfie creates a liminal, in-between space. Next, the columns in the work are actually squashing bunnies. Rabbits were known as symbols of sexuality and fertility. Well, now they’re all dead. See ya, temptation!
Lastly, while I’m all about the iconography of the work, that crown though…
Every single emotion from all these subjects are how I feel on this particular Monday. Disgust, nostalgia, general frustration, you name it. I’m not scheduled to go to the dentist or view a Gauguin today! Ugh, Monday, you’re so terrible!
Edvard Munch (let’s get on the same page with pronunciation: ed-vahrd moonk) is one of the most famous artists, right? The Scream is like our modern Mona Lisa. He loved his paintings like children, never married, and spent the last thirty years of his life living alone.
He was also totally bananas: The painting recreates a panic attack he had while out on the town with friends. Of experience, he said,
The “air turned to blood” and the “faces of my comrades became a garish yellow-white.”
Um, boyfriend? None of that is normal! Though, when I realized that one of Munch’s friends was Paul Gauguin, well…no WONDER your life is grotesque, Ed!
Munch was found dead in his house (on the second floor, with the doors locked) in 1944. He had more than 20,000 works of art in his studio at the time of his death.
Manet painting Monet’s family. Say THAT five times fast. Also, I really need to venture out in a full skirt and bonnet to enjoy a leisurely Saturday with chickens. I need that like I need another Anthropologie dress, so that’s actually a goal today.
Anthro members save 15% today, so this goal’s quickly turning into a reality…now about that poultry…
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