Art Reflection – Albers Joseph Albers was a master in the Abstract Art Movement. His Tectonic Series of zinc plate lithographs were geometric abstractions, illusions for the eye, both innovative and inspiring. Joseph Albers was also one of the most influential teachers of the visual arts in the 20th century. He taught in Germany with Kandinsky at the Bauhaus until it …

Art Reflection – Metzinger Jean Metzinger was a French Modernist. He painted Au Velodrome in the Cubist style, imposing geometric shapes and angles over this human form. This is a scene from the finish of a grueling bicycle race from Paris to Roubaix, a desperately difficult 155 miles over rough terrain and cobblestones. After those many miles, this race ended on the …

Art Reflection – Self Portrait This self-portrait by American artist, Chuck Close, can be a bit disorienting. It can cause us to step/lean back to better understand this image and the life story of this artist can help also. Chuck Close is a major contemporary artist whose work graces the walls of many places from prominent museums to a New …

Art Reflection – Cape Cod Morning This is another work by Edward Hopper who is sometimes referred to as the king of realism. Although Cape Cod Morning was painted 71 years ago it seems to apply to our 2021 reality in imaginative ways. This composition of clear light and color pulls us to the woman in orange and invites us into her …

Art Reflection – Bouquet of Flowers Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) was a French artist who painted across many periods of art. His confident style was always colorful and intriguing whether in the Impressionist or Modernist style. Bouquet of Flowers is representative of his confidence. It can seem off balance and unfinished at first glance but if you look closer you can almost imagine …

Art Reflection – The Angelus This painting is named for a Catholic devotion commemorating the incarnation and for the bell that was rung to accompany this devotion as a call to prayer and goodwill. It is an example of Realism painted by French artist, Jean-Francois Millet. He did another well-loved and similar painting called The Gleaners in 1857. These works share a …

Art Reflection – Frieze of American History The Frieze of American History in the Capitol Rotunda includes 19 panels. Each was painted in true fresco fashion with pigment added to wet plaster. As you can imagine time is of the essence with this technique. Each panel had to be painted in the same day the plaster was applied. Each panel …

Art Reflection – The Magpie The Magpie is a unique offering by a well-loved French Impressionist. What might be surprising to some is that Claude Monet did not just paint water lilies in summer. He painted many aspects of nature in many seasons, including this snowscape named for the little black bird on the stile. In this work, Monet stayed …

Art Reflection – Starry Night Millet painted this night sky while living in Barbizon, an artist colony southwest of Paris. He had always been inspired by nature but seemed to be completely captivated by the sky revealed beyond the lights of the city. This representational work, even with the iconic path motif and the light and blurry cart on the …