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Friedrich: Traveling Exhibit part II

More thoughts on works by Caspar David Friedrich from the Hermitage.

The Dreamer sits on a window ledge of a ruin.  He is not inside the ruin nor is he outside the ruin.  Inside the ruin are dead trees, while outside life thrives.  The dreamer looks sideways, neither out of the ruin nor into the ruin.  Is this not true of a dreamer, of someone who lives half in the metaphysical realm and half in the physical world.  It is a delicate balance.

Morning in the Mountains, completed in 1821-1823, speaks of a misty, grand expanse.

Friedrich: Traveling Exhibit

While in an art museum in the Netherlands last fall I noticed a sign on a cork board  advertising a special Exhibit at The Hermitage Museum of Amsterdam.  I was excited to see that it was a show of work by an nineteenth century artist whose work I have long been drawn to, Caspar David Friedrich.  I was privileged to see 6 drawings and 9 paintings by the artist and spent a long time in front of them a few days later on my last half day in Amsterdam.

Variations on a Theme Part 2

While walking through the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the painting, Jerusalem (Golgatha, Consummatum Est, Crucifixion) by Jean-Léon Gérôme caught my eye.  It did not catch my eye because of the style, but due to the treatment of the subject.  This is an interesting painting because it is the classical crucifixion theme redone in a way that I have not seen before.  The cross itself is not visible.  Instead one views the shadows of the three laden cross as they fall across the rocky ground.  Christ is not in the picture, but does that weaken the story?...

Eeckhout and Rembrandt: An Intimate Gathering

While wondering through Het Rembrandthuis Museum, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands last autumn, a painting caught my eye.  The walls of the Rembrandt House were covered with paintings salon style, and although it was hard for the eye to isolate any image, this particular painting caught my attention and held it.  The painting, The Last Supper, by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1664) , was on loan to The Rembrandt House Museum from the Rijksmuseum.  The painting resembles Rembrandt’s style because the artist was not only a pupil but also a friend of Rembrandt.  Another interestin...