Why does the simple portrait Black and Brown Blouse by Alex Katz make me want to cry?
– Flat canvas full of feelings
– The unconscious pull of deep relationships
– A proprietary technique stays relevant
Why did Jules Bastien-Lepage paint Joan of Arc in 1879?
– 400 years later – Joan of Arc became a hero
– The 100 years war parallels the Franco-Prussian war
– A saint in the backyard … surrounded by angel messengers
What makes Philip Guston’s painting Stationary Figure a masterpiece?
– Passage of time and imminent death
– A child’s drawing… of pooling blood
– Preposterous solidity in a puff of smoke
What makes Joan Miro’s painting Bleu II so groundbreaking in the art history canon?
– Miro breaks the Bourgeoisie’s guitar
– A red slash stops abstract traffic
– The vast, cobalt sky highlights our insignificance on Earth
Why is Édouard Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass or Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe a masterpiece?
– A conformist rebellion
– Flâneur – a French Impressionist version of a dandy
– The insignificance of eating at lunch
What makes Pieter Bruegel’s painting The Harvesters so significant?
– Bringing the art world down to earth
– Golden nourishment
– How nature provides