Tigers

 

(click to enlarge)

Arthur Wardle

(English, 1864-1949)

Tigers, ????

Oil on canvas

Who doesn't like tigers?

A Still Life with Roses and a Fan

(click to enlarge)

Jan Bogaerts
(Dutch, 1878-1962)
A Still Life with Roses and a Fan, 1918
Oil on canvas

I usually don't get excited about still lifes, but this is just lovely. I had never heard of this artist until I stumbled across this painting. I looked him up and found some other gorgeous still lifes that will probably grace this blog soon! :)

Christ in the House of His Parents

(click to enlarge) 

John Everett Millais

(English, 1829-1896)

Christ in the House of His Parents, 1849-50

Oil on canvas

This painting is full of Pre-Raphelite detail! Enlarge it and check it out! As for what's going on in the painting, Wikipedia sums it all up perfectly:

The painting depicts the young Jesus assisting Joseph in his workshop. Joseph is making a door, which is laid on his carpentry work-table. Jesus has cut his hand on an exposed nail, leading to a sign of the stigmata, prefiguring the crucifixion. As Saint Anne removes the nail with a pair of pincers, his concerned mother Mary offers her cheek for a kiss while Joseph examines his wounded hand. The young John the Baptist brings in water to wash the wound, prefiguring his later baptism of Christ. An assistant of Joseph's, representing potential future Apostles watches these events. In the background various objects are used to further point up the theological significance of the subject. A ladder, referring to Jacob's ladder is visible leaning against the back wall; a dove standing for the Holy Spirit rests on it. Other carpentry implements refer to the Holy Trinity. . . . The sheep in the fold in the background represent the future Christian flock.

A Teasing Riddle

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Augustus Leopold Egg
(English, 1816-1863)
A Teasing Riddle, ????
Oil on canvas

Aw. :)

Roses

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John Singer Sargent
(American, 1856-1925)
Roses, 1866
Watercolor on paper

The Farewell

 

(click to enlarge)

James Jacques Tissot
(French, 1836-1902)
The Farewell, 1871
Oil on Canvas

Tissot is known for his paintings of pretty girls in pretty dresses. If you're interested in Victorian clothes he's definitely the artist to check out! Enlarge the picture and look at how detailed it is!

The Bouquet

 (click to enlarge)

John William Waterhouse
(English, 1849-1917)
The Bouquet, 1908

Oil on canvas

A Waterhouse I've never seen before!! *Fangirls* Even his studies and unfinished paintings are gorgeous!

The Annunciation

(click to enlarge)

Edward Burne-Jones
(English, 1833-1898)
The Annunciation, 1876-1879

Oil on canvas

I love paintings of the Annunciation because there are so many different interpretations of it. This painting is very different from the usual ones, it's more solemn for one thing, and the composition is very creative. Definitely check out the details, especially the relief on the wall above her head (it's of the expulsion from the garden of Eden).

The Orange Gatherers

 (click to enlarge)

John William Waterhouse
(English, 1849-1917)
The Orange Gatherers, 1890

Oil on canvas

This is one of my favorite paintings. However, in all the photos I had seen of it (I haven't seen it in person) I always thought the colors seemed much to dark for such a sunny scene,  So I was overjoyed when I saw this photo of the same painting:

 (click to enlarge) 

The quality of the image isn't as good, but it seems to imply that the painting is brighter in person!

Madonna and Child

(click to enlarge)

Marianne Stokes
(Austrian, 1855-1927)
Madonna and Child, 1907-1908

Oil on canvas

One of my favorite paintings of Mary and the child Jesus. I love how your eyes are automatically drawn to Mary's serene face, and then to her hand lovingly and reverently pulling the cloth away so we can get a glimpse of Jesus's face. And baby Jesus! All bundled up in swaddling clothes! He's so delicately and skillfully painted! He looks like a real baby, but at the same time serious and holy. Though the painting looks very simple at first, enlarge it (it's a beautiful high-quality image!) and give it a closer look. I love the gold! Aside from being gorgeous, the gold recalls medieval icons. And the thorns are a look ahead to Christ's passion and death. I'm not sure what the flowers are or if they symbolize anything. This post is getting rather long, so I'll just point out a couple more things to look at: their delicate halos, the strong blues of the painting, the delicate shades of pink, the elegant hands, baby Jesus's raised hand, the the folds of cloth.

Virgin With Children

(click to enlarge) 

Filipino Lippi

(Italian, 1457-1504)

Virgin With Children, ????

Oil on canvas

Had a hard time finding a quality photo of this painting, but this seems the most faithful to the colors. Enlarge the picture and check out the details! The detailed background, the realistic folds and drapery of their clothes, the transparency of Mary's headcovering, the beads in her hair, the decorations on her dress, the shades of pink on her face, the delicate gold halos she and baby Jesus have, her soft and elegant hands, the angel staring whimsically at the viewer, the tasseled cushion–this painting is so full of pretty!

Windswept

 (click to enlarge)

John William Waterhouse
(English, 1849-1917)
Windswept, 1902

Oil on canvas

I have a little print of this painting on my wall! Just had to brag. ;) Don't you love how it looks like she's almost being swept out of the painting?

The Annunciation

 (click to enlarge)

John William Waterhouse
(English, 1849-1917)
The Annunciation, 1914
Oil on canvas

Probably my favorite painting of the Annunciation because of its originality. :) Mary looks so genuinely surprised! Here's a smaller photo but with better colors:

(click to enlarge)

Love Among the Ruins

(click to enlarge)

Edward Burne-Jones
(British, 1833-1898)
Love Among the Ruins, 1894
Oil on canvas

This painting takes it's title from Robert Browning's poem of the same name. The speaker in the poem muses on the ruins of an old palace and at the end of the poem concludes:

Oh heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!
Earth's returns
For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!
Shut them in,
With their triumphs and their glories and the rest!
Love is best.

 Christina Rossetti said the same thing more simply in her poem In The Willow Shade:

All things are vain that wax and wane,
For which we waste our breath;
Love only doth not wane and is not vain,
Love only outlives death.

Not too Much to Carry

(click to enlarge)

William Adolphe Bouguereau

(French, 1825-1905)

Fardeau Agreable (Not too Much to Carry), 1895

Oil on canvas

Bouguereau painted many paintings of children, but this one is probably my favorite. What sister doesn't have happy memories of when they were little enough for their big sister to carry them, or when their little sister was little enough to be carried? :)

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

(click to enlarge)

John Singer Sargent

(American, 1856-1925)
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-1886
Oil on canvas

*Sighs Wistfully* Isn't this lovely? So dreamlike it almost looks as though there should be fairies! If you're curious about the title,  John Singer Sargent took it from a song called "Ye Shepherds Tell Me." You can learn more about the painting and read the lyrics here.

A Pavane

(click to enlarge)

Edwin Austin Abbey
(American, 1852-1911)
A Pavane, 1897

Oil on canvas

The pavane is a stately dance from the 16th century, in case you didn't know. I didn't. I also didn't know that Edwin Austin Abbey was an American painter! Pretty cool! I love the colors, the dresses, and the scenery in this painting! This is my favorite detail:

Cashmere

 (click to enlarge)

John Singer Sargent
(American, 1856-1925)
Cashmere, 1908
Oil on canvas

I think this painting is very intriguing! Who are these girls? Where are they? Where are they going? Why? Are you curious at all about this painting? Here's one cool thing about it: they're all the same girl! They're all Sargent's niece in an exotic cashmere shawl.

The Confession (the Problem Picture)

(click to enlarge) 

Sir Frank Dicksee

(English, 1853-1928)
The Confession, 1896

Oil on canvas

Not too long ago I realized that a lot of the people who read this blog (very awesome people indeed!) like to write. And so, I figured that the genre of painting that would probably appeal to them most would be– the Problem Picture! And since I'm no good at writing, here's a quote from Wikipedia that sums it up quite nicely:

A problem picture is a genre of art popular in the late Victorian era, characterised by a deliberately ambiguous narrative that can be interpreted in several different ways, or which portrays an unresolved dilemma.  . . . The viewer of the picture is invited to speculate about several different possible explanations of the scene.

Exciting! And the painting I have chosen is The Confession by Frank Dicksee. Who is confessing to whom? What could he/she be confessing? I have my theories, but I won't spoil your fun! ;)

Joan of Arc

(click to enlarge)

Jules Bastien-Lepage
(French, 1848-1884)
Joan of Arc, 1879

Oil on canvas

I think this is a pretty cool painting. Enlarge the picture and see if you can spot the saints. ;)

Resting

(click to enlarge)

John Singer Sargent
(American, 1856-1925)
Resting, 1875
Oil on canvas

I love artists who can really paint sunshine.

Bonaparte, Calm on a Fiery Steed, Crossing the Alps

(click to enlarge)

Jacques-Louis David

(French, 1748-1825)

Bonaparte, Calm on a Fiery Steed, Crossing the Alps, 1801

Oil on canvas

I don't know whether to laugh or be awed . . . 

The Property Room

(click to enlarge)

Arthur Hughes
(French, 1832-1915)
The Property Room, 1879
Oil on canvas

I think this painting is rather mysterious. It looks like an illustration from a mystery, doesn't it? A curious/frightened looking girl steps into the theater's room full of props and costumes. What is she doing there? Definitely enlarge the picture and check it out, there's some cool stuff!

A Girl and Her Duenna

(click to enlarge)

Bartolome Esteban Murillo
(Spanish, 1617-1682)
A Girl and Her Duenna, 1670
Oil on canvas

A duenna is a chaperone or governess. I love the mischeivious look on the girl's face and the giggling of the governess. Wonder what they're looking at. :)

A Pleasant Corner

(click to enlarge)

John Callcott Horsley
(English, 1817-1903)
A Pleasant Corner, 1865

Oil on canvas

Oh gosh, isn't this gorgeous? I absolutely love the sunshine streaming in through the window and the beautiful Victorian interior! It's SO PRETTY!! And the fact that there's a book in it just makes it better.

Miranda - The Tempest

(click to enlarge) 

John William Waterhouse

(English, 1849-1917)

Miranda - The Tempest, 1916

Oil on canvas

    If by your art, my dearest father, you have
    Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
    The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
    But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
    Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered
    With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel,
    Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
    Dash'd all to pieces.
    (The Tempest, I.ii.1–8)

This painting shows Miranda (from Shakespeare's The Tempest) watching a ship toss and turn in a storm Prospero (her father) created purposely to crash the ship.

It was hard to find a high quality photo of this painting and, though the one above is very nice, I think the coloring might be a bit off. So here is a smaller photo with brighter colors:

I love how her hair and her dress are flying in the wind. You can definitely tell there's a tempest happening! And the painting fits the text so well. Just look at how her hand is against her heart,

O, the cry did knock

Against my very heart.

(The Tempest, I.ii.8–9)

St Cecilia

 (click to enlarge)

Nicolas Poussin

(French, 1594-1665)

St Cecilia, 1627-1628

Oil on canvas

This is one of my favorite paintings of Saint Cecilia. For anyone who doesn't already know, St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music and is the subject of many paintings. She is almost always painted with some kind of musical instrument and an angel or two. Even though this painting looks fairly simple, every little detail is beautiful and the colors are gorgeous! Make sure to look at it closely! :)

A Huguenot

(click to enlarge) 

John Everett Millais

(English, 1829-1896)

A Huguenot, 1852

Oil on canvas

Isn't this painting adorable? The expressions are perfect, the colors are lovely, the whole thing is just beautiful. :) Of course, you may be wondering what's going on. The full title of the painting explains it very well: A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew's Day Refusing to Shield Himself from Danger by Wearing the Roman Catholic Badge. The Wikipedia article on the painting sums it up perfectly:

It depicts a pair of young lovers in an embrace. The familiar subject is given a dramatic twist because the "embrace" is in fact an attempt by the girl to get her beloved to wear a white armband, declaring his allegiance to Roman Catholicism. The young man gently pulls the armband off with the same hand with which he embraces the girl. The incident refers to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 when French Protestants (Huguenots) were massacred in Paris, leading to other massacres elsewhere in France. A small number of Protestants escaped from the city by wearing white armbands.

The painting is so bittersweet. Doesn't it make your heart ache just to look at them? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I can't decide if I like to be left wondering or not . . .

The Green Lizard

(click to enlarge)

Charles E Perugini

(English, 1839-1918)

The Green Lizard (also known as The Lizard Charmer), 1902

Oil on canvas

Such a gorgeously sunny day! What better way to spend it then . . . . playing music to a lizard. 

Red Riding Hood

(click to enlarge) 

John Everett Millais

(English, 1829-1896)

Red Riding Hood, 1865

Oil on canvas

I love classic fairy tales. :)

The Enchanted Garden (Welcome!)

I had a lot of trouble picking the painting for today. I wanted a painting that would really represent the kind of feeling I wanted the blog to have. And I think I found one that does that very well!

(click to enlarge) 

John William Waterhouse

(English, 1849-1917)

The Enchanted Garden, 1916

Oil on canvas

Waterhouse died before completing this painting, but even unfinished it's lovely. Did you notice the sprinkling of snow flurrying in from the outside? Even while it's frigid outside, the garden is calm, warm, and enchanting! That's how I would like this blog to be, an enchanted garden of sorts. Where, no matter how gold and gray it is outside, you can find beauty. This does not mean every painting I post is going to be full of flowers and pretty dresses (though probably a lot of them will be!). I hope there will be some variety. But you can help me with that! Please, leave comments! Tell me what you think of the paintings, and feel free to recommend other artists and paintings! And please, try to tolerate my terrible writing skills and affinity for smilie faces. :)

Welcome to The Daily Painting!