Foreboding waves crash The Undercliff painting. This makes literal and figurative sense. After all, Richard Parkes Bonington painted it one month before dying. He was twenty five years old with TB. It was 1828 and tuberculosis was known as the “robber of youth” at the time.
Clarity and purpose shine through Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel. Its sharp cold bite make this more than a landscape. But on the most basic level it’s one of the best landscapes ever. More than technique, Bruegel creates suspense and drama.
Winslow Homer’s Snap the Whip delights in joyful nostalgia. No matter the life we’ve led, at some point we all had a moment like this. These scampering bare feet sing to us of freedom. After all, nothing feels like liberty as much as grass between the toes.
us that romanticism comes in many forms. This painting dwells in one of my lifelong pet peeves. The romanticisation of hard work, especially physical labor bugs me. This irritating practice shows up in all aspects of life – even art.
Nature versus Man whips like wind through the painting Approaching Storm. Eugène Boudin often painted the moneyed and middle class. Their fancy finery struck a wry contrast with Mother Nature.
What twists await in the Apollo and Daphne painting?
• The God Apollo’s Me Too moment.
• Daphne prefers life as a tree over Apollo’s advances.
• In Apollo and Daphne – her choice is everything.