Favorite Paintings

[donnie]

This is not paper (necessarily), but I thought it might be good to have a thread to share any great paintings you've always admired or been fascinated by (or any other type of art, for that matter).

I'll start off by posting one by Frederic Edwin Church called Morning in the Tropics. (Click to open in a new browser tab for a larger image.) I saw this one in the National Gallery in Washington once, and have always loved it. I wonder what it might be like to be in solitude in such a place...

[BettyLouSpence]

How on earth did I miss this thread? I have a bunch of faves, but I'll just share one so as not to spam with hi-res pics.

Here's one by Evelyn de Morgan. I don't think she was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, but she was associated with them (feel free to correct me on that). This is Helen of Troy, painted in 1898.



Btw donnie, is it okay if I post hi-res images like this? I don't want to slow down the scrolling speed of this thread.

[BettyLouSpence]

I'll start off by posting one by Frederic Edwin Church called Morning in the Tropics. (Click to open in a new browser tab for a larger image.) I saw this one in the National Gallery in Washington once, and have always loved it. I wonder what it might be like to be in solitude in such a place...

Wow. That's one of the most gorgeous landscapes I've ever seen. The light shining on the water and those palm leaves. I can feel the warm climate and hear the birds

It reminded me of another landscape painted by J. M. W. Turner called The Golden Bough, based on the golden bough episode in Virgil's Aeneid (which I still need to read, but I want to finish the Canterbury Tales first).

What do you think of it?

[Kitty]

How on earth did I miss this thread? I have a bunch of faves, but I'll just share one so as not to spam with hi-res pics.


Btw donnie, is it okay if I post hi-res images like this? I don't want to slow down the scrolling speed of this thread.

I don't care if you fill threads with pics and posts as long as they're within the topic. Don't worry about it, and post to your heart's content.

[BettyLouSpence]

I don't care if you fill threads with pics and posts as long as they're within the topic. Don't worry about it, and post to your heart's content.

Aw, thanks Kitty You're the best.

[Kitty]

I don't care if you fill threads with pics and posts as long as they're within the topic. Don't worry about it, and post to your heart's content.

Aw, thanks Kitty You're the best.

You're welcome! This forum is just for fun!

[donnie]

Yes, I would love to see the hi-res ones, if possible. The Evelyn de Morgan one is striking! That range of almost all light tones and bright pastel colors combined with the realistic rendering, but mythical subject matter make that really unique. And the Turner has such delicacy in the grays and browns—really a mystical feel to that. Both those are new to me.

The Turner reminded me of another favorite of mine, Corot's Dance of the Nymphs

[BettyLouSpence]

Let's see if I can word this in a way that makes sense One of my favorite kinds of paintings are landscapes with people, but the people and any buildings are tiny, and any mountains, trees, etc. are very prominent. Examples would be the Corot and Turner paintings posted.

Btw, in the Frederic Edwin Church one, is that a tiny person, standing in the water? He's at the bottom of the cliff, and it looks like shallow water by the shore.

[Kitty]

I love the ones with whimsical or mythical subject matter.

[donnie]

Let's see if I can word this in a way that makes sense One of my favorite kinds of paintings are landscapes with people, but the people and any buildings are tiny, and any mountains, trees, etc. are very prominent. Examples would be the Corot and Turner paintings posted.

Yes! That makes perfect sense. I like the effect. It also gives us an idea of our smallness compared to the immensities of nature.

Btw, in the Frederic Edwin Church one, is that a tiny person, standing in the water? He's at the bottom of the cliff, and it looks like shallow water by the shore.

I was actually wondering about that last night when I was looking at it again. On close inspection, it's hard to tell for sure. My first thought was no, but then again, it could be a person standing on a sandbar or in shallow water. It's possible Church left it ambiguous purposely. I hope it's not, because one thing that appeals to me about this is the strong sense of utter solitude. I want this place to be completely free of human presence (except for me, of course. )

I love the ones with whimsical or mythical subject matter.

Yes, me too! And there are so many great works in that category.