Author Archives: arthipstory

Jul 28 2014
Art

madonna of chancellor rolin

chancellor rolin big

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.

chan rollin 1

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!

chan crown

Lastly, while I’m all about the iconography of the work, that crown though…

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Jul 28 2014
Art

another monday

Sur-la-terrasse-a-Sevres

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!

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Jul 27 2014
Person

edvard munch

The_Scream

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.

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Jul 26 2014
Art

Manet’s Monets

manet

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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Jul 26 2014
Person

drake <3 james turrell

drake james turrell

A few months ago, Drake visited the James Turrell retrospective at the LACMA. Rolling Stone followed him around the show (full profile here).

Drake, on his YOLO Estate: “I was like, ‘What are the world’s craziest residential pools?’ and when I searched online, this came up. One of my goals in life is to have the biggest residential pool on the planet.”

He also followed up with the museum guide, asking about installing a Turrell work in his house. His response included the phrase “residentials.”

An interesting business venture for someone who called “the whole rap/art world thing…kind of corny.”

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Jul 26 2014
Art

chairs

chair van gogh

Vincent van Gogh painted this chair as a relative self-portrait. Artists love personification. I mean, darling, right?! Humble, quaint, simple.

Now, get ready to cringe. Below, van Gogh’s portrait of Gauguin.

chair gauguin

Showy, gaudy, just completely over the top. If this is to “portray” Gauguin, my hate level just rose exponentially. And, personally, I’m not even a little surprised. I just feel even worse for van Gogh for wanting to hang out and do this loser’s homework. Though if he did it on purpose to show how much Gauguin sucks, bravo, fine fellow.

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Jul 25 2014
Art

left-handed artists

Maybe you haven’t heard, but being left-handed is a major accomplishment (it’s right up there with being able to French braid your own hair and making Jacob’s Ladder with string). Today, we will celebrate some of our most cherished southpaw artists.

escher

M.C. Escher

durer

Albrecht Dürer

da vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Now go out and do something incredible, left handers! No, actually, try and make that Jacob’s Ladder thing happen.

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Jul 24 2014
Art

abercrombotticelli

tshirt1

tshirt

Sometimes art is a graphic tee. Venus, girl, I hear you with that dismissive gesture! I feel the same way about overly sheer daytime looks…ladiesss.

I mean, it’s been like, ten years, since I’ve shopped at Abercrombie, but I’ll do ANYTHING in the name of art.

Though I’m actually really surprised Mike Jeffries, the company’s CEO, would put such fleshy bods on his tiny tees. Also, beware: The Google search alone for that guy is shocking.

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Jul 24 2014
Art

maxime dethomas

dethomas

Maxime Dethomas was one of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec‘s besties. He was a real introvert, though, and was known to blush when he needed to speak up.

He was also a very prominent costume and scene designer. This illustration was for “Les Abeilles” (“Ballet of the Bees”) in 1917. Like I even NEEDED the translation, as I can clearly see the honeycomb pattern in this rad Art Deco piece.

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Jul 23 2014
Art

the musicians

caravaggio

Supposedly all these beautiful, barely-clothed boys are all singing sad songs about the power of love.

Ha! I’m hedging bets they’re realizing it’s only WEDNESDAY.

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