Laura JG
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laurajg.bsky.social
Laura JG
@laurajg.bsky.social
630 followers 170 following 1.1K posts
Artist, art history, deconstructing. The banner is one of my artworks, created on my iPad using the Sketch Club app, with my Apple Pencil in hand. http://laurajeannegrimes.com
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By Filipino artist Alfredo Esquillo (b. 1972), Thanksgiving Prayer, 2007, oil on canvas, 61 x 183 cm. (24 x 72 in.), Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 May 2013. #art #painting #oilpainting
A man lying on his back on what might be a wooden platform, his arms open in what might be called a prayer posture. He is covered with a partly broken down cardboard box. His bare feet peek out from under the box, his slippers underneath the platform, around him red brick. A shallow space, uncovered. Beside his head, a sandwich on top of a cup. The image suggests homelessness.
November 13, 2025 at 9:12 PM
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My latest just-for-fun sketch: “Jes is Ready for the Christmas Party,” based on a photo she posted on the Museum app, drawn freehand (except for the background, which is a a community template) on my iPad Pro using the SketchClub app. #digitalart #ipadart #artapp #drawingapp #sketchclubapp
A young woman wearing a flirty Mrs. Claus outfit in front of a kaleidoscope background.
November 13, 2025 at 1:52 AM
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By Malvin Gray Johnson (1896-1934), Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, 1928-1929, oil on canvas, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. More info in ALT. #art #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #blackhistory
A group of people look up at a dark sky that has a cloud formation resembling 3 horses drawing a chariot behind them. From Swann Galleries: “Johnson's Swing Low, Sweet Chariot became one of the first modern paintings to be recorded in the canon of African-American art and culture. It launched his career, and placed him alongside Aaron Douglas and Henry Ossawa Tanner as one of the great African-American painters at that time. According to Mary Ann Calo, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot was "widely celebrated as evidence of the black artist's potential to make a distinctive contribution to American culture" with "near ecstatic" critical response. The monthly Art Digest described the painting "as a significant art world event...worthy of the highest traditions in American painting," and compared its mystical and spiritual themes to Albert P. Ryder. The evident influences of Tanner and the Renaissance were generally overlooked due to the resonance of the painting's emotional and spiritual subject. This painting visually portrays African-American spirituals as popularized by such performers as Paul Robeson and the Fisk Jubilee Singers.”
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
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By Grant Wood (1891-1942), Seedtime and Harvest, 1937, lithograph on wove paper. As an original print, it appears in many collections. #art #arthistory #printmaking #lithography
The Brunnier gives this information: 'Seed Time and Harvest, a paradox of prosperity, illustrates Wood's appreciation for the rural work ethic. Harvest season is often the most taxing on farm families since the window of time to shelter harvested crops and seeds is modest at most. Although no clouds are present, the sky appears ominous, shrinking further that window of time. The fine line that defines a successful season from abject poverty is typically drawn during harvest. In this lithograph, garlands of corn hang on the barn in celebration of a prosperous reap. "In this lithograph, there is embodied all of the technical skill that has brought Grant Wood wold fame. Solely with his play of lights and shadows the artist has introduced an extraordinary degree of color. Competent draftsmanship and brilliant balance in composition make this an outstanding lithograph. The rolling landscape has been handled expertly and the tonal values of the work is remarkable." (R.L. December 6, 1937)'
November 11, 2025 at 9:49 PM
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Here’s a sketch I’ve been working on for a few days. I think I’m going to call it done. Titled Portrait of Nerea, based on a photo she provided. Drawn freehand on my iPad Pro using the SketchClub app. #digitalart #ipadart #artapp #drawingapp #portrait
A young woman, brown skin, dark curly hair, red lipstick, holding up her cell phone, which has a cell phone case featuring a woman who might or might not be her.
November 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
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Grateful Dead concert poster, Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 16th-17th September 1966, designed by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley. The skeleton and roses image was taken from an illustration by Edmund Joseph Sullivan for a 1913 edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. #arthistory #illustration #art
Primarily colored with blue and red. From Christie’s: “The central image is a skeleton surrounded by/entwined with roses. This poster marks the first use of the 'Skull and Roses' motif which became so closely associated with the Grateful Dead and remains one of the most famous and instantly recognisable images associated with any band in the history of rock & roll.”
November 9, 2025 at 3:56 PM
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By Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma Moses,” (1860-1961), Catching the Thanksgiving Turkey, 1944, oil and glitter on masonite, 19¾ x 26 in. (50.2 x 66 cm.), photo: Christie's New York, November 19, 2014. More info in ALT. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #art
A rural winter scene. In the foreground, a horse-drawn sleigh and people walking, people chasing turkeys. In the mid ground two barns and a house. In the background a church. In the far back ground, wooded hills and 2 barns, one tucked away behind a hill. Snow on the ground throughout. In the farthest background, mountains. From Jo Ann Lewis, "The Green Meadows and Wild Woods of Grandma Moses," The Washington Post, February 12, 1979: ''1, Anna Mary Robertson was born back in the green meadows and wild woods on a farm in Washington County, New York," says Moses... Those "green meadows" were to provide subject matter for some of her most beautiful paintings... As a child she had made drawings of the landscape which she inventively colored with grape juice and berries, giving lie to the prevailing notion that her creativity had been bottled up until age 70... The prevailing mood in all of these paintings is pleasure and contentment with the simple events of life, and it is communicated in every detail. Even a threatening blizzard or hurricane or thunderstorm fails to disturb tranquility, though hats fly, trees sway and skirts whip around formless bodies as the cows brace matter-of-factly against the wind.’
November 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
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Ben Shahn (1898-1969), "From Workers to Farmers ...Thanks!," poster, 1944, photo from eBay. #arthistory #illustration #art
From Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, New York: ... published by the ClO Political Action Committee in an edition of 20,000. A copy of the poster is now in the New Jersey State Museum. The poster is illustrated in The Complete Graphic Works of Ben Shahn by Kenneth W. Prescott, published by Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co. in 1973. In 1944 Shahn joined the Political Action Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO-PAC) to help produce posters and other graphic materials for Roosevelt during that year's successful presidential campaign. The poster From Workers to Farmers...Thanks! was placed in rural settings to speak directly to farmers to show the urban industrial workers appreciation of the farmers' contribution to the war effort. The farming imagery used in Bountiful Harvest came from Shahn's two trips through the Midwest, first in 1935 as part of the Resettlement Administration focused on the poorest farmers and another trip in 1938 for the Farm Security Administration focused on the productive lives of rural people.”
November 8, 2025 at 2:45 AM
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Your art history post for today: by Jean-François Millet (1814-1875), The Angelus, ca. 1857-1859, oil on canvas, 55.5x66.0 cm, Musée d'Orsay. #art #arthistory #painting #oilpainting
From the museum: ‘A man and a woman are reciting the Angelus, a prayer which commemorates the annunciation made to Mary by the angel Gabriel. They have stopped digging potatoes and all the tools used for this task – the potato fork, the basket, the sacks and the wheelbarrow – are strewn around them. In 1865, Millet said: "The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed". So it was a childhood memory which was behind the painting and not the desire to glorify some religious feeling; besides Millet was not a church-goer. He wanted to catch the immutable rhythms of peasant life in a simple scene. Here he has focused on a short break, a moment of respite. Alone in the foreground in a huge empty plain, the two peasants take on a monumental quality, despite the small size of the canvas. Their faces are left in shadow, while the light underlines their gestures and posture. The canvas expresses a deep feeling of meditation and Millet goes beyond the anecdote to the archetype. Perhaps that explains the extraordinary destiny of The Angelus: it triggered an unbelievable rush of patriotic fervour when the Louvre tried to buy it in 1889, was venerated by Salvador Dali, lacerated by a madman in 1932 and became a world-famous icon in the 20th century.’
November 6, 2025 at 11:55 PM
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By Claude Monet (1840-1926), The Turkeys, 1877, oil on canvas, 174 x 172.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #art #thanksgiving
From Paul Hayes Tucker, The Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2024: ‘They are a motley bunch, these fleshy, red-necked, white-feathered gobblers who occupy two thirds of Claude Monet’s imposing canvas titled to honor their species. Most of them peck at the grassy knoll that rises so radically in the foreground that it partly obscures the facade of the color-coordinated chateau in the distance. Many others set their beady eyes upon us as we look at them. “What are you doing here?” they seem to ask. One on the far left even spreads its plumage, apparently in response to our unwelcome proximity. Another in the immediate foreground struts by us with an air of practiced indifference. It is an unusual position for a viewer of fine art to be in.’
November 5, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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Quote: ‘“I was born a White Protestant with some prejudices that I am continuously trying to eradicate,” Rockwell said in an interview in 1962. “I am angry at unjust prejudices, in other people and in myself.” #art #DHS #justice

www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
We're Norman Rockwell's family. Trump's DHS has shamefully misused his work. | Opinion
As Norman Rockwell's family, we know he'd be devastated to see the Department of Homeland Security's unauthorized misuse of his work.
www.usatoday.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:17 AM
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By the first African-American artist to achieve international recognition, Robert Seldon Duncanson (1821-1872), Still Life with Fruit and Nuts, 1848, oil on board, 30.48 x 40.64 cm (12 x 16 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #blackart #blackartist
From the website: “Spare, elegant, and meticulously painted, these works reflect the tradition of American still-life painting initiated by Charles Willson Peale and his gifted children—particularly Raphaelle and Rembrandt Peale. Still-life paintings by Duncanson are extremely rare and highly coveted. Signed and dated 1848, Still Life with Fruit and Nuts is a particularly fine example and the first work by Duncanson to enter the Gallery's collection. Classically composed with fruit arranged in a tabletop pyramid, the painting includes remarkable passages juxtaposing the smooth surfaces of beautifully rendered apples with the textured shells of scattered nuts.”
November 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
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Quote: “Crite was a liturgist of the everyday and that meant something, especially to the Black community in Boston that was so frequently erased from the city's narrative.” #blackart #blackartist #Art #painting #arthistory
www.wbur.org/news/2025/10...
Artist Allan Rohan Crite's vision of Black Boston
A pair of landmark exhibitions at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Boston Athenaeum celebrate Allan Rohan Crite’s vivid portrayals of Black life in Boston. Featuring more than 100 works, the re...
www.wbur.org
November 3, 2025 at 9:06 PM
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By John Currin (born 1962), Thanksgiving, 2003, oil on canvas, 1729 x 1323 mm, Tate Gallery. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #Thanksgiving
From the museum: “Thanksgiving 2003 is a large portrait format oil painting by American artist John Currin. It depicts in fine detail three young women of similar appearance (thin with pale skin and blonde hair) within an ornate setting decorated with marble columns, a chandelier and a silver-framed mirror. The woman on the left of the composition, holding the silver lid of a saucepan in one hand, feeds a spoon to a woman in a black dress next to her, who is arching her neck and opening her mouth in a manner reminiscent of a young bird or fish. The third woman, who is wearing a brown smock, sits on the right of the painting with her head bowed and a grape in her hand. On the table in front of the women is an enormous uncooked turkey, along with a bunch of grapes, an onion, a white plate and a vase of flowers (which contains both decaying and vibrant roses). Although the title Thanksgiving refers to the American holiday when turkey is traditionally served, the highly mannered style of this work – as well as the somewhat anachronistic clothing and décor depicted – seems to recall the tradition of northern European Renaissance painting.”
November 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
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By African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), The Thankful Poor, 1894, oil on canvas, 35 1/2 × 44 1/4 in. (90.2 × 112.4 cm), collection of Art Bridges, Inc., currently on loan to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. More in ALT. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #oilpainting #painting
From the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art: The Thankful Poor, titled by the artist, is one of the artist's last known “genre” paintings—images that depict everyday or ordinary domestic scenes—before he transitioned almost exclusively to religious scenes. While read differently by today’s audiences, the artist’s title aimed to honor the contributions and struggles of poor Black people in the South, where this work was likely painted. In stark contrast to the degrading imagery of African Americans that proliferated in American culture in the late nineteenth century, The Thankful Poor showcases the humanity of an impoverished older Black man and a young Black boy, as they bow their heads in a dignified prayer before a humble meal.’ From Art Bridges: “The decision to depict Black daily life became clear to the artist during his studies between Paris and Philadelphia, where he was academically trained. While Black subjects appeared in the works of white American artists, such as Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins, Tanner distinctly prioritized the humanity of his figures. In The Thankful Poor, the artist accomplishes this by transforming a moment of prayer into a complex exchange of intergenerational kinship. Spiritual values are often tied to familial relations and this focus speaks to Tanner’s personal experiences within the African Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his father was a pastor.”
November 2, 2025 at 3:35 PM
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Art history theme for Thanksgiving is Gratitude. Today I offer you: Refugee Thanksgiving, 1943, by Norman Rockwell (1894–1978), oil on canvas, 41 × 31 in. (104.1 × 78.7 cm), Saint Louis Art Museum. #arthistory #Refugees #oilpainting #painting #illustration #illustrationart
From the museum: “A young woman, with a United States Army coat draped over her shoulders, crouches amidst rubble and ruin in war-torn Italy. She folds her hands in thanksgiving over the meager meal perched on her lap. On November 27, 1943, amidst the fighting of World War II (1939–1945), a copy of this painting appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post urging readers to remember others less fortunate than themselves on a holiday devoted to gratitude.”
November 1, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎 (1760-1849), ‘Kohada Koheiji, from the series “One Hundred Ghost Tales (Hyaku monogatari)”,’ ca. 1831-1832, color woodblock print. As a print it appears in many collections, both public and private. #arthistory #woodblockprint #woodblock #printmaking #japaneseart #Art
We see a skull with eyes and with wisps of long hair looking down over a sheer curtain, pulled downward by his skeleton hands. From The Art Institute of Chicago: ‘This frightening print illustrates the story of Kohada Koheiji, a Kabuki actor who was drowned by his wife’s lover but later came back to haunt the couple. The tale was popular in the 18th century, eventually inspiring a novel and several Kabuki plays. Here, the skeletal ghost of Kohada Koheiji pulls down the mosquito net and eerily peers at the sleeping couple in their bed.”
October 31, 2025 at 3:54 PM
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#restitution #art #ceramics #blackart
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/29/m...
MFA Boston returns works by 19th-century enslaved artist David Drake to his heirs
The terms of the restitution of the two ceramic pots have been cast in the mould of Nazi war-loot agreements
www.theartnewspaper.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:13 AM
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“Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” By Edwaert Collier (1640-1708), Vanitas Still Life, 1662, oil on canvas, 65 3/8 x 54 in. (166.1 x 137.2 cm.), photo: Christie’s. More info in ALT. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #art
From the lot essay: “In the present painting the presence of a slip of paper tucked between the pages of a Bible is inscribed 'VANITAS VANITATUM ET OMNIA VANITAS' ('vanity of vanities, all is vanity' Ecclesiastes 1:2-3), removing any doubt as to the message the artist intended to convey. Every object in the composition has a symbolic content expressing the vanitas theme: although man strives for immortality, symbolized by the ivy, the delicate glass roemer alludes to the fragility of life, and the casket of jewels reminds us that all the riches and wealth of the world will count for nothing on Judgement Day. The shawm (a type of flute) quietly functions as another symbol of life's transience, as do the music sheets, the globe, and the books all remind us that earthly knowledge is passing… The music score in the present work has been identified as a page from Jacob van Eyck's Der Fluyten Lust-hof ('The pleasure garden of flutes'), published in 1646 (see Grijp, op. cit., pp. 37-43), and is a variation on the melody Quasta dolce sirena by Gastoldi.”
October 30, 2025 at 8:56 PM
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Antonio de Pereda (1611-1678), The Knight's Dream, ca. 1650, oil on wood, 152 x 217 cm, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting
The words on the banner: "Aeterne pungit cito volat et occidit" ("Eternally it stings, quickly it flies and kills”).
From the museum: “It belongs to the vanitas genre, which was widespread in 17th-century Spain. Vanitas involves the representation of a series of objects and figures of a profane nature, but imbued with a profound moralizing meaning. Sleep, as a reference to the ambiguity of reality and the imaginary, which sometimes become indistinguishable, is a constant theme in Spanish Baroque culture. A gentleman, dressed in the attire of the period, sleeps while an angel shows him the ephemeral, transient, and perishable nature of pleasures, riches, honors, and glory…For its part, the collection of objects placed on the table constitutes a veritable display of symbols and allegories. The skull, as an allusion to death; the playing cards, in reference to the fickle nature of gambling and chance; the flowers, which, like life, wither; The smoking candle positioned between the skulls symbolizes the fleeting and transient nature of life; the clock alludes to the passage of time. Other objects representing wealth, such as coins and jewels; political power, such as the laurel wreath, armor, pistol, crown, and scepter; religious power, such as the papal mitre and tiara; love, such as the miniature portrait of a lady; and the pleasures associated with music, literature, knowledge, and theater, represented by musical scores, books, and a mask, share a similar sense of temporality. In short, the artist has displayed an extraordinary collection of objects that exemplify the vanity of the world, treating them with masterful definition that individualizes them in order to accentuate, through realism, the force of their didactic, allegorical, and moral character.”
October 29, 2025 at 8:39 PM
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Unknown illustrator, “Dear God, Keep Them Safe!/Buy War Bonds and Stamps,” 1942, 35x47 inches, 90x119 cm, published by Kroger Grocery & Baking Company, photo: Swann Auction Galleries. More info in ALT. #illustration #illustrationhistory #propaganda #worldwar2 #halloween .
Two children, a boy & girl both wearing gas masks, hold hands. From Swann Galleries: “During the Second World War, private companies issued propaganda posters to express their patriotism and involvement with the war effort. These private promotions were printed in much smaller numbers than the posters issued by the U.S. Government, making surviving examples extremely rare. Perhaps the most famous non-government poster of the Second World War is the iconic female war worker "Rosie the Riveter," printed by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Certainly, the next most famous is this chilling, almost surreal image published by Kroger. The grim tableau, almost guaranteed to terrify parents of school-age children, was likely very effective in getting citizens to invest more money in the war effort. This is one in a series of posters published by the grocery chain, each one a startling photographic composition of a nightmarish, what-if scenario.”
October 28, 2025 at 10:17 PM
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By James Ensor (1860-1949), Skeletons Warming Themselves, 1889, oil on canvas, 29 7/16 x 23 5/8 in. (74.8 x 60 cm), Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth, TX. #arthistory #oilpainting #painting #halloween
From the museum: ‘Belonging to a group of closely related paintings from the late 1880s, the enigmatic Skeletons Warming Themselves is among the artist’s masterpieces. He has placed three dressed-up skeletons in the foreground around a stove on which is written “Pas de feu” and under it “en trouverez vous demain?”—“No fire. Will you find any tomorrow?” The skeletons are accompanied by a palette and brush, a violin, and a lamp. Presumably Ensor intended these items to symbolize art, music, and literature. If so, the probable implication is that artistic inspiration, or patronage to support it, has expired. Understood as a scene in an artist’s studio, Skeletons Warming Themselves resembles a vignette from the popular medieval and early Renaissance print cycles of the Dance of Death, each print portraying skeletons as an allegorical comment on the vanities of a particular profession or social type.’
October 27, 2025 at 1:56 PM
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By Frederick James Shields (1833-1911), Hamlet and the Ghost, 1901, oil on canvas, 60x41 cm, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, England. #arthistory #oilpainting #painting #art
From ArtUK: “An atmospheric scene, showing a deserted seascape at night populated only by the figures of a man and a ghost and illuminated by a full moon set low in a cloudy sky. The two figures confront each other. The left figure turns to the right in three-quarter view, his head lowered and shadowy, his sword drawn and held pointing forward in his right hand; the pale figure of the ghost is seen forward-facing, his head jutting towards the man, armoured and with fists clenched. They appear to be stood on a small island of sand between the sea in the background and an inlet of water in the foreground with the moon casting a shaft of reflected light between them. In the left background, the coast is seen to curve to form a promontory with steep cliffs descending straight into the sea; a large building sits on this high land set back some distance from the coast. The strange cloud formations dominate the composition with a glowing ring of orange cloud around the moon blending into the surrounding deep purple sky with black clouds streaked upwards.”
October 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM
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By John Collier (1850-1934), All Hallowe’en, oil on canvas, 34¼ by 50½ in. (87 by 128.3 cm), photo: Sotheby’s New York. A quote from the artist: ”In painting, as in everything else, there is a fatal tendency to become accustomed to one’s faults.” #arthistory #painting #oilpainting More info in ALT.
Sotheby’s catalogue note: ‘John Collier was a leading English painter who worked mostly in the Pre-Raphaelite style. All Hallowe’en is a psychologically charged and mysterious composition, featuring a young woman clad in a nightgown who looks at her reflection in the haunting glow of a candle. Her expression is difficult to read, and the artist does not reveal what it is that has caught her eye behind her and what might be partially reflected in the glass. This work belongs to a series of “problem paintings” by the artist, which feature ambiguous and inconclusive dilemmas, many of which took place in domestic settings. ‘
October 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
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The artist may surprise you: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette, 1886, oil on canvas, 32.3 cm x 24.8 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Done when he was taking classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. #arthistory #art #painting #oilpainting
The title pretty well covers it, but let’s hear from Obelisk Art History: “When you think of Vincent Van Gogh, his vibrant, hallucinatory visions spring to mind. Star-filled skies, electric yellow, and piercing self portraits. This dapper corpse, with its rictus grin and dangling cig, is a whole different beast. Rendered in monochrome on a stark black background, it’s missing Van Gogh’s signature swirling brushstrokes and bold color. His marks are loose, almost casual, neatly capturing form and shadow with the bare minimum of strokes. It’s simple, and kind of funny.”
October 24, 2025 at 8:03 PM