Colin Campbell Cooper painting America: 1912-1923
He was on board the Carpathia when it rescued survivors from the Titanic, and moved to the West Coast in 1915, where he painted its lush vegetation and rich light.
By 1912 Colin Campbell Cooper had mastered the novel art of painting New York’s rising skyscrapers, and he and his wife travelled extensively in Europe and beyond. In April of that year they were returning to New York in the liner RMS Carpathia, and happened to be among the witnesses to its rescue of survivors from the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April. He produced several paintings showing the events, although as they are views showing the ship that he was on, they must have been based on constructed scenes rather than his direct experience. <img data-attachment-id="68844" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperrescuesurvivors/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg" data-orig-size="800,490" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperrescuesurvivors" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Rescue of the Survivors of the Titanic by the Carpathia (1912), gouache on cardboard, 21.5 x 35.5 cm, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg?w=800" class="size-full wp-image-68844" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperrescuesurvivors" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg 800w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg?w=150&h=92 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg?w=300&h=184 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cooperrescuesurvivors.jpg?w=768&h=470 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Rescue of the Survivors of the Titanic by the Carpathia (1912), gouache on cardboard, 21.5 x 35.5 cm, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN. Wikimedia Commons. Rescue of the Survivors of the Titanic by the Carpathia, above, and View of Steamship Carpathia Passing along the Edge of the Ice Flow after Rescuing Survivors of the Titanic, below, were both painted in gouache on cardboard. I apologise for the small size of these images. <img data-attachment-id="68845" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopersteamshipcarpathia/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg" data-orig-size="800,494" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopersteamshipcarpathia" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), View of Steamship Carpathia Passing along the Edge of the Ice Flow after Rescuing Survivors of the Titanic (1912), gouache on board, 21.5 x 35.5 cm, location not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg?w=800" class="size-full wp-image-68845" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg?w=940" alt="coopersteamshipcarpathia" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg 800w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg?w=150&h=93 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg?w=300&h=185 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/coopersteamshipcarpathia.jpg?w=768&h=474 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), View of Steamship Carpathia Passing along the Edge of the Ice Flow after Rescuing Survivors of the Titanic (1912), gouache on board, 21.5 x 35.5 cm, location not known. Wikimedia Commons. In 1913, the Coopers travelled to India, apparently commissioned by a rich woman in the US to paint for her there. They visited, and painted in, what are now India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. <img data-attachment-id="11776" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopertajmahalafternoon/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg" data-orig-size="1461,1123" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopertajmahalafternoon" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Taj Mahal, Afternoon (c 1913), oil on canvas, 73.7 x 91.4 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-11776" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=940" alt="coopertajmahalafternoon" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg 1461w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=150&h=115 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=300&h=231 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=768&h=590 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=1024&h=787 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopertajmahalafternoon.jpg?w=1440&h=1107 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1461px) 100vw, 1461px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Taj Mahal, Afternoon (c 1913), oil on canvas, 73.7 x 91.4 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. Taj Mahal, Afternoon (c 1913) was probably the best-known painting resulting from that trip, and was exhibited on their return in Rochester, NY, in 1915. Cooper and his wife, Emma Lampert Cooper, showed an equal number of paintings, but hers seem to have disappeared almost without trace. <img data-attachment-id="11774" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperstphilipschurch/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg" data-orig-size="1096,1340" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"19","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1376392081","copyright":"","focal_length":"100","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="cooperstphilipschurch" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Saint Philip&#8217;s Church, Charleston (1913), gouache on canvas, 46.4 x 38.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg?w=838" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11774" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperstphilipschurch" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg 1096w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg?w=123&h=150 123w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg?w=245&h=300 245w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg?w=768&h=939 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperstphilipschurch.jpg?w=838&h=1024 838w" sizes="(max-width: 1096px) 100vw, 1096px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Saint Philip’s Church, Charleston (1913), gouache on canvas, 46.4 x 38.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. Saint Philip’s Church, Charleston (1913) shows this beautiful Episcopal church in South Carolina, amid Cooper’s highly gestural foliage of trees. The church was built in 1835-6 to replace a series of ill-fated wooden buildings. Its spire was completed in 1850, and served as a navigational lighthouse for many years. <img data-attachment-id="11770" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg" data-orig-size="1338,1081" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopernewyorkpubliclibrary" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), New York Public Library (c 1915), oil on canvas, 73.7 × 92.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11770" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg?w=940" alt="coopernewyorkpubliclibrary" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg 1338w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg?w=150&h=121 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg?w=300&h=242 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg?w=768&h=620 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibrary.jpg?w=1024&h=827 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1338px) 100vw, 1338px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), New York Public Library (c 1915), oil on canvas, 73.7 × 92.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. In these later paintings, Cooper moved from the solid masses of skyscrapers to greater lightness and greenery. Although one high building is still present in his New York Public Library (c 1915), the street is less densely packed, and the plants and trees brilliant green. <img data-attachment-id="24361" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg" data-orig-size="1094,802" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), New York Public Library (detail) (c 1915), oil on canvas, 73.7 × 92.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-24361" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg?w=940" alt="coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg 1094w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg?w=150&h=110 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg?w=300&h=220 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg?w=768&h=563 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coopernewyorkpubliclibraryd1.jpg?w=1024&h=751 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1094px) 100vw, 1094px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), New York Public Library (detail) (c 1915), oil on canvas, 73.7 × 92.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. In 1915 he exhibited in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and fell in love with the West Coast, so completing his transition from skyscrapers. He and his wife spent the winter of 1915-16 in Los Angeles, and decided to move there permanently. <img data-attachment-id="11772" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperpalacefineartssf/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg" data-orig-size="1274,1024" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperpalacefineartssf" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (c 1916), oil on canvas, 102.2 x 128.3 cm, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA. The Athenaeum. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11772" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg?w=940" alt="cooperpalacefineartssf" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg 1274w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg?w=150&h=121 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg?w=300&h=241 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg?w=768&h=617 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpalacefineartssf.jpeg?w=1024&h=823 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1274px) 100vw, 1274px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (c 1916), oil on canvas, 102.2 x 128.3 cm, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA. The Athenaeum. Cooper painted several views of that International Exposition, the most spectacular being that of the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (c 1916) on a cloudless night, one of his few nocturnes. <img data-attachment-id="11775" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopersummer/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg" data-orig-size="913,764" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopersummer" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Summer (1918), oil on canvas, 127 x 153 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg?w=913" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11775" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg?w=940" alt="coopersummer" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg 913w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg?w=150&h=126 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg?w=300&h=251 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopersummer.jpg?w=768&h=643 768w" sizes="(max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Summer (1918), oil on canvas, 127 x 153 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. Summer (1918) is inspired by Japonisme, which was of course far stronger on the West Coast, and Claude Monet’s paintings from his garden at Giverny. Following his wife’s death in 1921, Cooper moved to Santa Barbara, CA, where he became Dean of Painting at Santa Barbara Community School of Arts. He maintained his studio in New York until 1931, though. <img data-attachment-id="11765" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperfortuneteller/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperfortuneteller.jpg" data-orig-size="707,902" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperfortuneteller" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Fortune Teller (1921), oil on canvas, 116.8 x 92.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperfortuneteller.jpg?w=707" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11765" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperfortuneteller.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperfortuneteller" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperfortuneteller.jpg 707w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperfortuneteller.jpg?w=118&h=150 118w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperfortuneteller.jpg?w=235&h=300 235w" sizes="(max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Fortune Teller (1921), oil on canvas, 116.8 x 92.1 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. Fortune Teller (1921) is another brilliant study in colour, light, and East Asian influence, although it’s something of a mystery that the woman at the left, whose fortune is being told, is holding a ukulele in her right hand. <img data-attachment-id="11766" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg" data-orig-size="941,1200" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperhudsonriverwaterfront" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Hudson River Waterfront, New York City (c 1921), oil on canvas, 91.4 x 73.7 cm, New York Historical Society, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg?w=803" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11766" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperhudsonriverwaterfront" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg 941w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg?w=118&h=150 118w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg?w=235&h=300 235w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperhudsonriverwaterfront.jpg?w=768&h=979 768w" sizes="(max-width: 941px) 100vw, 941px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Hudson River Waterfront, New York City (c 1921), oil on canvas, 91.4 x 73.7 cm, New York Historical Society, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons. Cooper still apparently craved the occasional skyscraper, and must have painted Hudson River Waterfront, New York City when he was back in his East Coast studio, in about 1921. The highlighted and tallest skyscraper on the left is the Woolworth Building, completed in 1913, and until 1930 the tallest building in the world, at 241.4 metres. But here the clouds are also built up high, and rise to belittle those human structures. <img data-attachment-id="11773" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperpergolasamarkand/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpergolasamarkand.jpg" data-orig-size="600,483" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperpergolasamarkand" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Pergola at the Hotel Samarkand, Santa Barbara (c 1921), oil on canvas, 73.7 x 91.4 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpergolasamarkand.jpg?w=600" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11773" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpergolasamarkand.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperpergolasamarkand" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpergolasamarkand.jpg 600w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpergolasamarkand.jpg?w=150&h=121 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpergolasamarkand.jpg?w=300&h=242 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Pergola at the Hotel Samarkand, Santa Barbara (c 1921), oil on canvas, 73.7 x 91.4 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. Back on the West Coast, Cooper completed some exquisite paintings of the lush vegetation in California, such as his Pergola at the Hotel Samarkand, Santa Barbara (c 1921). This hotel, more correctly named The Samarkand Persian Hotel, offered the height of luxury when it opened in 1920, in the buildings of what had been a boys’ school. Although it closed in 1940, the name lives on as one of Santa Barbara’s neighbourhoods. <img data-attachment-id="11777" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperterracesamarkandhotel/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg" data-orig-size="1449,971" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperterracesamarkandhotel" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Terrace at Samarkand Hotel, Santa Barbara, California (c 1923), oil on canvas, 35.6 x 50.8 cm, location not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11777" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperterracesamarkandhotel" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg 1449w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=150&h=101 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=300&h=201 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=768&h=515 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=1024&h=686 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperterracesamarkandhotel.jpg?w=1440&h=965 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1449px) 100vw, 1449px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Terrace at Samarkand Hotel, Santa Barbara, California (c 1923), oil on canvas, 35.6 x 50.8 cm, location not known. Wikimedia Commons. Terrace at Samarkand Hotel, Santa Barbara, California (c 1923) shows Cooper’s sustained Impressionist style. In the 1930s, Cooper’s failing eyesight limited his painting. Since his death in 1937, his works have been exhibited frequently throughout the USA, but as far as I can discover no exhibition has ever taken them to Europe, and very few of his paintings have entered major European collections. Reference Wikipedia.
Last Week on My Mac: Uncompressed compressed files
Only six files out of tens of thousands searched. They're supposed to be compressed, but aren't. And nothing has been near them that might have done that. So why and how did this happen?
Just over a week ago, when I was looking at problems getting Preview to open PDFs from a double-click, I stumbled across an extended attribute I hadn’t come across before, com.apple.decmpfs. Most days last week I have started drafting an article about this mysterious xattr, only to abandon it and move on to something more informative and less enigmatic. Much as I’d like to reveal all about this, so far I haven’t even drawn a blank, just plenty of claims that contradict my evidence. Six files What I can tell you is that it’s very rare, and despite extensive searches of several ~/Documents folders, I have encountered this xattr on only six files, each of which I had used repeatedly during those tests with Preview. They are a couple of PDFs, a couple of RTFs, one Swift source file, and a Pages document, all created where they are now. They’re all small files, the largest of them only 325 KB, and none of them are dataless. The com.apple.decmpfs xattr on each consists of 36 bytes of binary, with a common start spelling out the letters fpmc, which turns out to be the xattr’s ‘magic’ bytes confirming its type, and a common ending of b735a53b 0d70d062. Between those each is different. Google search Google tells me confidently, and repeatedly, “com.apple.decmpfs is a macOS extended attribute that powers transparent file compression on APFS and HFS+ filesystems. It allows files to be compressed on disk and automatically decompressed in memory when accessed.” It goes on to explain “Compressed files with this attribute have an empty data fork on disk. The compressed data, along with a 16-byte compression header, is stored directly within the attribute or the file’s resource fork.” That’s demonstrably false, as each of these six files has perfectly normal data, no resource fork, and could hardly be compressed down to a uniform 36 bytes. Google then claims: “You can see compressed files tagged with the UF_COMPRESSED flag using the ls -lO terminal command.” Unfortunately, that’s also incorrect. While there is one file in that folder reported by that command as being “compressed”, that isn’t one of the half-dozen bearing a com.apple.decmpfs xattr. ChatGPT returned similar if rather vaguer answers, none of which is consistent with my observations on those six files. Sources Some of Google’s answers are drawn from HackTricks, where there appears to be some confusion between compression and encryption: “The extended attribute com.apple.decmpfs indicates that the file is stored encrypted, ls -l will report a size of 0 and the compressed data is inside this attribute. Whenever the file is accessed it’ll be decrypted in memory.” That also makes the claim about being distinguished using ls -lO. This may have originated in HFS+ back in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (2009), according to the sleuthKit Wiki. That also claims that compressed files have an empty data fork, i.e. they are dataless, with the compressed data found in one of three places: compressed with zlib and stored in the file’s resource fork, a com.apple.ResourceFork xattr, compressed with zlib and stored in the com.apple.decmpfs xattr itself, uncompressed and stored in the com.apple.decmpfs xattr immediately after a 16 byte header. Of course, none of those applies to any of my six files. Apple’s reference manual for APFS makes no mention of any of this, as you might expect, and the word compression only appears once in the entire document. Searching Apple’s developer documentation is similarly unfruitful. Otherwise most references to this xattr quote reports from First Aid in Disk Utility, where it’s sometimes reported as an orphan or invalid xattr. None of those responding to these questions seems to have any idea of what the xattr does, and most avoid even mentioning it. The closest I have come to an explanation comes in some of Apple’s open source code. There’s a whole decmpfs.h header file in the XNU source, for instance, explaining the ‘magic’ header to the xattr, and stating it contains a uint64 giving the logical size of a regular file. It also reveals that the xattr can be attached to an uncompressed file, although it doesn’t suggest how or why that might occur. The mystery remains So there are my six ornery files that haven’t been compressed, but have a xattr attached to them indicating their transparent file-system compression. They haven’t been touched by an app or command tool that seems likely to have marked them as being uncompressed compressed files. And whatever disease they’re suffering from doesn’t appear to spread. Perhaps I should see how much I can get for them on eBay, as collectors items?
Colin Campbell Cooper painting America: 1896-1910
Trained in the US and Paris, he started painting New York skyscrapers around 1900, the right painter in the right place at the right time.
Colin Campbell Cooper was the right painter in the right place at the right time. An Impressionist trained and experienced in Europe, he was working in New York at the time its skyline was becoming dominated by skyscrapers. Whenever you see evocative photos of tall buildings, or shots of them in movies, remember it was Cooper who first explored their aesthetic appeal. He was born in Philadelphia, PA, into a professional, Anglo-Irish family, and was first inspired to paint when he visited the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876. He started his studies under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, then in 1886 travelled to Europe, where he studied at the Académie Julian in Paris for four years. Among his teachers there were Bouguereau and Lefebvre. Over that time his initial realist style became influenced by the Barbizon School, and his early works were mainly landscapes. He returned to Philadelphia in 1895, and taught watercolours at the precursor to what’s now Drexel University until 1898. Tragically a fire in the Hazeltine Galleries destroyed many of the best of his earlier works. <img data-attachment-id="11771" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperpageantbruges/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg" data-orig-size="1050,853" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperpageantbruges" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Pageant at Bruges (1896), oil on canvas, 40.6 x 50.8 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11771" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperpageantbruges" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg 1050w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg?w=150&h=122 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg?w=300&h=244 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg?w=768&h=624 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperpageantbruges.jpg?w=1024&h=832 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1050px) 100vw, 1050px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Pageant at Bruges (1896), oil on canvas, 40.6 x 50.8 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. The Pageant at Bruges (1896) is an early painting combining what were to become lasting themes in Cooper’s work, with its architectural detail, rich colours, and crowds of people. This isn’t the famous Pageant of the Golden Tree held in Bruges every five years since 1958, but appears to have been a combined legislative and religious ceremony. He continued to visit Europe, mainly in the summer, and painted in the artists’ colonies of Laren and Dordrecht in the Netherlands. He married Emma Lampert (1855-1920) in her home town of Rochester, New York, in 1897, and the following year the couple set off to tour Europe again. His style became more Impressionist, and in 1902 he developed a fascination for the growing skyscraper cityscapes on the East Coast of the US. <img data-attachment-id="24362" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperrushhour/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,1050" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperrushhour" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Rush Hour, New York City (c 1900), further details not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-24362" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperrushhour" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg 1440w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg?w=150&h=109 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg?w=300&h=219 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg?w=768&h=560 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperrushhour.jpg?w=1024&h=747 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Rush Hour, New York City (c 1900), further details not known. Wikimedia Commons. One of his earliest American cityscapes featuring crowds is this remarkable painting of The Rush Hour, New York City from about 1900. Although its figures are mainly in the foreground area of cast shadow, this is teeming with people pouring along the street, packing the stairways and walkways to a station, and seething around booths and tramcars. In 1904, the couple moved to base themselves in New York City. <img data-attachment-id="11767" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg" data-orig-size="1109,1480" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperinteriorlincolncathedral" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Interior of Lincoln Cathedral (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg?w=767" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11767" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperinteriorlincolncathedral" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg 1109w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg?w=112&h=150 112w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg?w=225&h=300 225w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperinteriorlincolncathedral.jpg?w=768&h=1025 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1109px) 100vw, 1109px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Interior of Lincoln Cathedral (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. The Interior of Lincoln Cathedral (c 1905) shows the area of the organ in this English cathedral dating from 1088. The organ shown had only recently been installed by the classical organ-builder Henry Willis. Cooper captures the lofty and distinctive vaulted ceiling and incoming shafts of light. <img data-attachment-id="11760" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperbroadstreetstnrain/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg" data-orig-size="1071,1518" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperbroadstreetstnrain" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, in the Rain (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg?w=722" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11760" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperbroadstreetstnrain" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg 1071w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg?w=106&h=150 106w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg?w=212&h=300 212w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg?w=768&h=1089 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadstreetstnrain.jpg?w=722&h=1024 722w" sizes="(max-width: 1071px) 100vw, 1071px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, in the Rain (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, in the Rain (c 1905) is one of his many skyscraper paintings. This station, at Broad and Market Streets, was the primary passenger terminal for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and at the time served as its headquarters. The site is now occupied by the office towers of Penn Center. A detail is shown below. <img data-attachment-id="24359" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg" data-orig-size="1334,1074" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperbroadstreetstnraind1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, in the Rain (detail) (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-24359" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperbroadstreetstnraind1" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg 1334w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg?w=150&h=121 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg?w=300&h=242 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg?w=768&h=618 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cooperbroadstreetstnraind1.jpg?w=1024&h=824 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, in the Rain (detail) (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. <img data-attachment-id="11763" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperferriesnewyork/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg" data-orig-size="1569,1068" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperferriesnewyork" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Ferries, New York (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11763" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperferriesnewyork" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg 1569w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=150&h=102 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=300&h=204 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=768&h=523 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=1024&h=697 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperferriesnewyork.jpg?w=1440&h=980 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1569px) 100vw, 1569px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), The Ferries, New York (c 1905), other details not known. Wikimedia Commons. The Ferries, New York (c 1905) is a superb study of the dense crush of people on the ferries, the waterside warehouses, and the abundant smoke and steam rising among the higher buildings in the background. <img data-attachment-id="11764" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperflatironbuilding/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg" data-orig-size="834,1724" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperflatironbuilding" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Flatiron Building, Manhattan (c 1908), casein on canvas, 102 x 76.2 cm, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg?w=495" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11764" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperflatironbuilding" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg 834w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg?w=73&h=150 73w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg?w=145&h=300 145w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperflatironbuilding.jpg?w=768&h=1588 768w" sizes="(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Flatiron Building, Manhattan (c 1908), casein on canvas, 102 x 76.2 cm, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX. Wikimedia Commons. Flatiron Building, Manhattan (c 1908) is an important painting in several ways. It’s one of the few made by Cooper using casein paints, which had come into vogue at the time. More characteristic of illustrations than fine art, he shows how versatile these paints are in skilled hands. This was painted just a few years after this distinctive landmark at 175 Fifth Avenue had been completed, in 1902. Then one of the tallest buildings in New York City, at 20 floors high, its triangular section makes it instantly recognisable. It was originally named the Fuller Building, after George A Fuller, the ‘father of the skyscraper’, but quickly gained its more popular title. It was equally quickly photographed in classic images by Alfred Stieglitz (1903) and Edward Steichen (1904), but Cooper’s composition, with its bustle of people, carriages, and aerial wisps of steam, makes this one of the most impressive. <img data-attachment-id="11768" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopermainstbridgerochester/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg" data-orig-size="1110,810" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopermainstbridgerochester" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Main Street Bridge, Rochester (1908), oil on canvas, 66.7 x 88.9 cm, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11768" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg?w=940" alt="coopermainstbridgerochester" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg 1110w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg?w=150&h=109 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg?w=300&h=219 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg?w=768&h=560 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopermainstbridgerochester.jpg?w=1024&h=747 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Main Street Bridge, Rochester (1908), oil on canvas, 66.7 x 88.9 cm, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. Wikimedia Commons. Main Street Bridge, Rochester (1908) was a break from his steady series of skyscrapers, and shows a view that might appear more Italian than American. The original bridge at Rochester, New York, was a modest wooden structure across the Genesee River, which was replaced in 1855-7 by one with five stone arches. Buildings soon started to appear on both sides of the bridge, making it appear as if it was a backwater in Venice or Florence. Cooper captured this unique cityscape when the buildings had been completed, and before they were removed during the 1960s. <img data-attachment-id="11761" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg" data-orig-size="1035,1541" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Broadway from the Post Office (Wall Street) (c 1909), oil on canvas, 130.5 x 89.9 cm, City of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg?w=688" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11761" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg?w=940" alt="cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg 1035w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg?w=101&h=150 101w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg?w=201&h=300 201w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg?w=768&h=1143 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cooperbroadwayfrompostoffice.jpg?w=688&h=1024 688w" sizes="(max-width: 1035px) 100vw, 1035px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Broadway from the Post Office (Wall Street) (c 1909), oil on canvas, 130.5 x 89.9 cm, City of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA. Wikimedia Commons. Back in New York City, Cooper’s Broadway from the Post Office (Wall Street) (c 1909) is another of his most famous skyscraper cityscapes, showing the Singer Building or Tower, at Liberty Street and Broadway, which had only just been completed, and was still the tallest building in the world. Broadway below is packed with people. There’s a rich golden light on the walls of the buildings with clouds of steam enhancing its effect. The Singer Building, then the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company, was demolished in 1968, and replaced by 1 Liberty Plaza. <img data-attachment-id="11762" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopercolumbuscircle/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg" data-orig-size="1624,1154" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopercolumbuscircle" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Columbus Circle (1909), oil on canvas, 66 × 91.4 cm, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11762" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=940" alt="coopercolumbuscircle" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg 1624w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=150&h=107 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=300&h=213 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=768&h=546 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=1024&h=728 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopercolumbuscircle.jpg?w=1440&h=1023 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1624px) 100vw, 1624px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), Columbus Circle (1909), oil on canvas, 66 × 91.4 cm, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA. Wikimedia Commons. Columbus Circle (1909), also set in New York City, is less about the vertical, and more the interaction of jumbled buildings, light, smoke, and steam. With Gaetano Russo’s landmark statue of Christopher Columbus just to the right of centre, the circle had only been completed in 1905, as part of Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision for Central Park, which is off to the right of Cooper’s view. In the foreground he shows some of the more intimate sights of this new elevated world, with a woman hanging out her washing amid the chimneys. <img data-attachment-id="11769" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg" data-orig-size="1050,873" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), New York from Brooklyn (c 1910), oil on board, 63.5 x 76.2 cm, Jersey City Museum, New Jersey, NJ. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg?w=940" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-11769" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg?w=940" alt="coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg 1050w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg?w=150&h=125 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg?w=300&h=249 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg?w=768&h=639 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/coopernewyorkfrombrooklyn.jpg?w=1024&h=851 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1050px) 100vw, 1050px" /> Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), New York from Brooklyn (c 1910), oil on board, 63.5 x 76.2 cm, Jersey City Museum, New Jersey, NJ. Wikimedia Commons. New York from Brooklyn (c 1910) shows the busy piers of Brooklyn still operating as the major gateway into the East Coast, and the ultimate collection of skyscrapers, most of which had only recently been completed. The colour contrast between the pale gold faces in sunlight and the near-purple of cast shadow is typical of his style. Reference Wikipedia.
Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation. 1: Half the […]
Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation. 1: Half the images came from the first iPhone to the Mac eight years later. 2: In with a puma, out in Yosemite, it was part of my life until 1. 3: Despite raw fine tuning, each version got cheaper until surrendered to Adobe. To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them. I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning. Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.
How different parts of a Mac acquired their own memory, such as VRAM, and why Apple silicon chips have unified that, and the limitations that brings.
Computers do things with data, and data needs to be stored somewhere. When your browser downloads a web page from its server, the source code for that page has to be stored while the browser’s rendering engine turns it into the image to be displayed inside its window. WindowServer then has to composite that window with all the others on your Mac’s display, and hand the composite over to the display controller to send to the display. Throughout those processes, data has to be processed from and to memory. The CPU cores have relatively small local caches for their immediate needs, and both their code and data have to be fetched from larger and slower main memory. Some of the data, such as the page source code, may be cached to disk storage, which is even more capacious but slower, and ultimately it will all have to pass through memory. Until comparatively recently, several parts of a Mac had their own local memory. Main memory (RAM) was the preserve of the cores in the CPU, while GPUs came on a graphics card with their own dedicated high-speed memory, VRAM. Some models, particularly those at the lower end and laptops, allocated some of the main memory for graphics use instead. Other hardware systems also had their own memory, used for buffering and temporary storage. This has some obvious advantages. It’s eminently upgradeable by the user; when you can afford a better graphics card, you can replace the existing one with a faster GPU and more graphics memory. You can also buy a basic version of that model with little main memory, and upgrade that when you can afford it. This has allowed graphics cards to have less, faster and more expensive memory which is only accessible to the GPU. There are also problems with that architecture. GPUs are now being used for a lot more than just driving the display, most recently for many of the calculations used in AI. So long as CPUs and GPUs continue to use their own local memory, simply moving data between RAM and VRAM has become an unwanted overhead. If you’d like to read a more technical account of some of the issues that have brought unified memory to Nvidia GPUs, you’ll enjoy Michael Wolfe’s article on the subject. At the same time, chip design has changed, with far tighter integration of what were separate chips into a System on a Chip (SoC), a field in which Apple is one of the leaders, largely as a result of its hardware development for iPhones and iPads. SoCs can run faster, use less power, and stay cooler, and when built in quantity are significantly cheaper, all advantages that Apple has used in its products, now including its full range of Macs. In this new model, CPU cores, GPUs and other hardware such as the Neural Engine all access the same memory. When data being processed by the CPU needs to be manipulated by the GPU, it stays where it is. That unified memory can be as fast to access as dedicated GPU memory, and completely flexible. When you want to connect a high-resolution display, that’s not limited by the memory tied to the GPU, but by total memory available, and the display controller. To achieve this, Apple integrates the unified memory in the chip carrier itself. That provides the shortest and fastest path between those systems within the SoC and the memory they share. It unfortunately also means that memory can’t be upgraded without replacing the whole chip. As that’s soldered onto the logic board, that in turn requires logic board replacement, and much of the cost of a new computer. Early Apple silicon chips for Macs were severely limited in the memory that could be integrated into the chip carrier. The first MacBook Air and Pro M1 offered a choice of 8 or 16 GB, but even the base MacBook Air and Pro M5 now range from 16 to 32 GB, with more than double the memory bandwidth of the base M1. At the top end, the most available in the M1 Ultra was 128 GB, which has risen to 512 GB in the M3 Ultra, to support its use with Large Language Models. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="71360" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/aboutthismac-2/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg" data-orig-size="1424,1289" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="aboutthismac" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg?w=940" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-71360" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg?w=940" alt="aboutthismac" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg 1424w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg?w=150&h=136 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg?w=300&h=272 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg?w=768&h=695 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/aboutthismac.jpg?w=1024&h=927 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1424px) 100vw, 1424px" /> Memory, its size and use have changed greatly since the days of Mac OS 8.6 running on a PowerMac G3 with just 384 MB of memory.
Great Ladies of Impressionism: Berthe Morisot 1864-73
She started copying in the Louvre when she was 16, met Corot there, and exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1864-73, and at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874.
When the first Impressionist Exhibition opened in Paris in 1874, there was but a single woman artist represented there, Berthe Morisot. This article traces her career and art prior to that, and next week’s will complete her story for the remaining years, when she became one of the four great ladies of Impressionism. She was born into an affluent family with an artistic heritage: her mother was related to the Rococo painter Fragonard (1732–1806), and ensured Berthe and her two older sisters, Yves and Edma, received an art education. After her family had moved to Paris when she was eleven, Berthe was introduced to the Louvre Gallery in 1857, and the following year started copying paintings there. She made friends with Manet, Monet, Camille Corot and other artists. Corot encouraged her to work en plein air, and she studied under Oudinot, another of the Barbizon School. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="503" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/2015/02/25/favourite-paintings-8-berthe-morisot-la-lecture-reading-1888/watersedgem/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg" data-orig-size="901,741" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="watersedgem" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot, Study, the Water&#8217;s Edge (1864), oil on canvas, 60 x 73.4 cm, Private collection. WikiArt. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg?w=901" class="size-full wp-image-503" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg?w=940" alt="Berthe Morisot, Study, the Water's Edge (1864), oil on canvas, 60 x 73.4 cm, Private collection. WikiArt." srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg?w=660&h=543 660w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg?w=150&h=123 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg?w=300&h=247 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg?w=768&h=632 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/watersedgem.jpg 901w" sizes="(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Study, the Water’s Edge (1864), oil on canvas, 60 x 73.4 cm, Private collection. WikiArt. Two landscapes of hers were accepted for the Salon of 1864, following which she exhibited regularly there until 1873, although she initially seems to have painted few in oils, including this Study, the Water’s Edge (1864). <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="68308" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotlandscape/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg" data-orig-size="1600,1018" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotlandscape" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Landscape (1867), watercolour on paper, 14.5 x 22.7 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-68308" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotlandscape" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg 1600w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=150&h=95 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=300&h=191 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=768&h=489 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=1024&h=652 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotlandscape.jpg?w=1440&h=916 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Landscape (1867), watercolour on paper, 14.5 x 22.7 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. She is said to have been more comfortable making plein air sketches in watercolour, such as her Landscape from 1867, and working in pastels. In 1868 Morisot modelled for and became friends with Édouard Manet, introducing him to plein air painting and influencing his style and composition. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="68307" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotharbourlorient/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg" data-orig-size="1788,1034" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotharbourlorient" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Harbor at Lorient (1869), oil on canvas, 43 x 72 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-68307" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotharbourlorient" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg 1788w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=150&h=87 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=300&h=173 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=768&h=444 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=1024&h=592 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotharbourlorient.jpg?w=1440&h=833 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1788px) 100vw, 1788px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Harbour at Lorient (1869), oil on canvas, 43 x 72 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Wikimedia Commons. Her older sister Edma, with whom she was particularly close, married in 1869, and moved to Cherbourg on the north French coast. During the summer of that year, the two sisters were together on the south coast of Brittany, where Berthe painted Edma beside The Harbour at Lorient (1869). <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="68312" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotsisters/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg" data-orig-size="1599,1017" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotsisters" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Sisters (1869), oil on canvas, 52.1 x 81.3 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Image by Alvesgaspar, via Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-68312" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotsisters" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg 1599w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=150&h=95 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=300&h=191 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=768&h=488 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=1024&h=651 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotsisters.jpg?w=1440&h=916 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1599px) 100vw, 1599px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Sisters (1869), oil on canvas, 52.1 x 81.3 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Image by Alvesgaspar, via Wikimedia Commons. That same year, Berthe painted their double portrait as The Sisters. This is unusual for showing two painted fans, one open in the hands, the other on display in a frame behind them. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="68310" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotpinkdress/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg" data-orig-size="1256,1021" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotpinkdress" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Pink Dress (Albertie-Marguerite Carré, later Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes, 1854–1935) (c 1870), oil on canvas, 54.6 x 67.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-68310" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotpinkdress" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg 1256w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg?w=150&h=122 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg?w=300&h=244 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg?w=768&h=624 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotpinkdress.jpg?w=1024&h=832 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1256px) 100vw, 1256px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Pink Dress (Albertie-Marguerite Carré, later Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes, 1854–1935) (c 1870), oil on canvas, 54.6 x 67.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons. Morisot painted fine portraits, mainly of women, including The Pink Dress (Albertie-Marguerite Carré, later Madame Ferdinand-Henri Himmes, 1854–1935) from about 1870. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="68309" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotparisfromtrocadero/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg" data-orig-size="1667,920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotparisfromtrocadero" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), View of Paris from the Trocadero (1871-73), oil on canvas, 46 x 81.6 cm, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-68309" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotparisfromtrocadero" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg 1667w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=150&h=83 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=300&h=166 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=768&h=424 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=1024&h=565 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotparisfromtrocadero.jpg?w=1440&h=795 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1667px) 100vw, 1667px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), View of Paris from the Trocadero (1871-73), oil on canvas, 46 x 81.6 cm, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA. Wikimedia Commons. She continued to paint landscapes, including this unusual oil sketch View of Paris from the Trocadero (1871-73). <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="498" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/2015/02/25/favourite-paintings-8-berthe-morisot-la-lecture-reading-1888/cradlem/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg" data-orig-size="2024,2604" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="cradlem" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot, The Cradle (1872), oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm, Musée d&#8217;Orsay, Paris. WikiArt. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=796" class="size-full wp-image-498" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=940" alt="Berthe Morisot, The Cradle (1872), oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. WikiArt." srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=660&h=849 660w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=1320&h=1698 1320w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=117&h=150 117w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=233&h=300 233w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=768&h=988 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/cradlem.jpg?w=796&h=1024 796w" sizes="(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), The Cradle (1872), oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. WikiArt. She steadily made her mark painting themes for the other half of the population, who had for so long been largely ignored by male artists. The Cradle, painted in 1872, shows Edma and her young infant Blanche in a fashionable cradle. One of the nine paintings she exhibited at the First Impressionist Exhibition two years later, it failed to receive the reception it deserved, and didn’t sell. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="42433" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotwomanchildbalcony/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg" data-orig-size="994,1229" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotwomanchildbalcony" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Woman and Child on a Balcony (1872), oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg?w=828" class="size-full wp-image-42433" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotwomanchildbalcony" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg 994w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg?w=121&h=150 121w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg?w=243&h=300 243w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/morisotwomanchildbalcony.jpg?w=768&h=950 768w" sizes="(max-width: 994px) 100vw, 994px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Woman and Child on a Balcony (1872), oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. Morisot had been one of her brother-in-law Édouard Manet’s models for his famous painting of The Balcony in 1868-69. She painted her own Woman and Child on a Balcony in 1872, using the balcony primarily to combine full-length portraits of the two figures with an aerial landscape of Paris. On the skyline just to the left of the woman is the dark mass of Notre Dame. That year the dealer Durand-Ruel, who sold most Impressionist works and was a key figure in the success of the movement, bought paintings from her, and she started to receive critical acclaim. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="68311" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/morisotreading/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg" data-orig-size="1613,1015" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="morisotreading" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Reading (The Green Umbrella) (1873), oil on fabric, 46 x 71.8 cm, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-68311" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=940" alt="morisotreading" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg 1613w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=150&h=94 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=300&h=189 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=768&h=483 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=1024&h=644 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/morisotreading.jpg?w=1440&h=906 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1613px) 100vw, 1613px" /> Berthe Morisot (1841–1895), Reading (The Green Umbrella) (1873), oil on fabric, 46 x 71.8 cm, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH. Wikimedia Commons. In 1873, she painted Reading or The Green Umbrella, which is likely to have been another of her paintings exhibited the following year. It too features a painted fan, carefully opened and placed on the grass. Morisot showed a total of nine paintings at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874.
What can you do when an app uses too much memory?
Is there a memory leak in that app? How to tell, and what you can do about it. Also notes about rare leaks in kernel zone memory, which can cause kernel panics.
The most common causes for Macs to perform poorly are excessive memory use and excessive CPU load. Although they’re easy to distinguish in Activity Monitor, if your Mac has a cooling fan you should be able to tell them apart before you even look at the figures there: high CPU load is usually accompanied by the sound of the fans running up, while high memory use isn’t. Poor performance means that actions that are normally instant result in a pause, sometimes long enough to show the spinning beachball, and repeatedly seeing the beachball should send you straight to Activity Monitor to look for a cause. In Activity Monitor, click on the Memory tab at the top of the window, then click the column header Memory to sort the entries with the largest memory use at the top. In the View menu, ensure that All Processes is ticked, or system processes may be hidden. Confirm the window title reads Activity Monitor All Processes. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="63313" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/memory01/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg" data-orig-size="1704,1010" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="memory01" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=940" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-63313" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=940" alt="memory01" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg 1704w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=150&h=89 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=300&h=178 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=768&h=455 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=1024&h=607 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory01.jpg?w=1440&h=854 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1704px) 100vw, 1704px"> App memory leak Excessive memory use doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a memory leak: it may just be that what you’re doing in that app requires many GB of memory. To distinguish these, as soon as you can, save your work and close that document in the app that’s using all the memory. If that results in memory use falling back to what seems normal, then this isn’t likely to be a memory leak, but simply reflects the demands your document is placing on the app. App memory leaks in user space are readily identified using Activity Monitor or a substitute displaying accurate figures for app memory use. An app that might start up using a few hundred MB of memory grows steadily with time and usage until it reaches many GB, by which stage the app’s performance normally suffers, as much of that may be virtual. This could well be sufficient to push overall memory use into the red zone. Looking at the detail at the foot of Activity Monitor’s window, you’ll see a value for the physical memory installed in your Mac, how much memory is used, whether there are any files cached from disk into memory, and any swap memory usage. Memory used is further broken down into App and Wired memory, and the amount that’s compressed to save space. macOS supports the extension of memory to include disk storage, so-called virtual memory. This is managed by a combination of hardware and software, enabling some of the memory being used to be swapped out to disk, rather than occupying physical memory. There are complex trade-offs in putting what should be in physical memory into disk storage, and how much physical memory to keep free. These are normally managed expertly by macOS, and shouldn’t be meddled with. With Activity Monitor still open, use the app as you would normally. In this example, the figures shown are for the Finder in Monterey. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="63315" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/memory03/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg" data-orig-size="1704,1010" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="memory03" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=940" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-63315" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=940" alt="memory03" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg 1704w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=150&h=89 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=300&h=178 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=768&h=455 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=1024&h=607 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory03.jpg?w=1440&h=854 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1704px) 100vw, 1704px"> Memory used by the app quickly starts to climb, here reaching over 1 GB, and continues to rise as long as you continue to work in that app. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="63317" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/memory05/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg" data-orig-size="1704,1010" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="memory05" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=940" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-63317" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=940" alt="memory05" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg 1704w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=150&h=89 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=300&h=178 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=768&h=455 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=1024&h=607 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/memory05.jpg?w=1440&h=854 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1704px) 100vw, 1704px"> In this case, memory used by the Finder reached a maximum of 3.11 GB. Not only that, but closing the app’s window didn’t recover any of that used memory: from now on, that’s the app’s starting point. Continue to work in that app and the memory used will rise again, and never fall. It will do that, voraciously consuming memory, until you quit the app, or in this case restart the Finder. When you open that app again you’ll see how little memory it should have been using. Although it can’t run for long in as little, both the app and your Mac will be able to run much faster again, with ample free memory. Most app memory leaks are simple programming errors on the part of those coding that app. The use of modern high-level programming languages like Objective-C and Swift has reduced these, as most memory allocation and freeing is handled automatically, so there are no calls normally required to deallocate memory. This becomes more complex when an app uses macOS frameworks, as some of the older frameworks still rely heavily on the code manually deallocating memory when it’s no longer required, and that can catch developers out. The frameworks can also change, and suffer their own bugs, so there’s ample scope for everyone involved to shoulder the blame. For the user, there’s only one way to live with app memory leaks: quitting the app should return all the memory that was allocated to it. If a leaking app has reached (say) 20 GB of memory used, save your work, quit the app, and open it again. While this isn’t convenient, it does allow you to continue working, as does switching to another app which can do the same job. Always let the app developer know, so that they can discover the cause and fix it. The case of the Finder in Monterey shown above is of particular interest, as that looked like a leak, but in fact was intentional caching behaviour, most prominent when viewing many images in a Gallery view window. The Finder automatically flushed those huge caches under memory pressure, or after a period of about two days. To confirm that behaviour you needed to track the Finder’s memory use for over 48 hours. Since then, on Apple silicon Macs running Tahoe at least, the Finder no longer does that, presumably relying on disk caching instead. These days the most likely offenders seem to be Pages and sometimes even Mail. Many users have reported that leaving large documents open in Pages, or large mailboxes in Mail, can bring their memory usage up to 9 GB or more, with obvious effects on performance. The best workaround is to close open documents, quit the app, and check whether that memory is returned fully. If it isn’t, then restarting may be necessary. Kernel memory leak Memory problems with apps can almost invariably be solved by quitting that app, but those occurring in the kernel are more serious, as they’re likely to result in a kernel panic, normally their first and only sign. They’re not only more serious and harder to detect, but there’s usually nothing the user can do apart from restarting the Mac and capturing a panic log. Some do arise in third-party kernel extensions, so your next action should always be to disable the use of third-party kernel extensions in Startup Security Utility, in Recovery Mode, and return an Apple silicon Mac to Full Security. In Intel Macs, you’ll need to uninstall the kernel extension, as their Secure Boot doesn’t control the loading of third-party kernel extensions. The last major kernel memory leak occurred in the Catalina 10.15.6 update in July 2020, right at the end of its development cycle. Although kernel memory leaks are very rare in release versions of macOS, they could occur in any version, not just major updates. Most kernel memory leaks occur in special pools of memory reserved for ready use by the kernel and its extensions, known as Mach zones. When a user process wants some memory, it asks to be allocated some by the kernel using a call such as malloc(); when a kernel extension wants some memory allocated to it, it uses a different call such as zalloc() or kalloc(), which aren’t available to user processes, so that the memory is allocated from that reserved for kernel mode processes. These are similar to what are known as memory caches in Linux, or Pools in Windows. Mach zones aren’t normally open to inspection by the user, except with the sudo zprint command, which provides a vast list of each of the Mach zones in use and figures for their usage. These have changed considerably since the days of Catalina, making it hard for even advanced users to see the wood for all these trees. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="53376" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/machzones1/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg" data-orig-size="1592,548" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="machzones1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=940" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-53376" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=940" alt="machzones1" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg 1592w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=150&h=52 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=300&h=103 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=768&h=264 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=1024&h=352 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/machzones1.jpg?w=1440&h=496 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1592px) 100vw, 1592px"> This is just a brief part of a long list of all the zones, giving the size of the memory blocks it contains, its current total size and the maximum, the current number of elements and the maximum, and more. Over time, even a small kernel memory leak can progressively consume all the elements currently allocated within one or more of these zones. This is detected as the zone size in use approaches its maximum, the high water mark. Some zones are expandable, and macOS can then allocate additional memory from a dedicated zone_map area to expand that zone. Rarely, such additional memory can be obtained from memory outside the zone_map, but in most cases that’s not possible, and the eventual result is zone_map_exhaustion – zone memory has run out, even though some zones still have memory available. Thus, a memory leak in a kernel extension can run the kernel out of zone memory, something you wouldn’t notice in Activity Monitor, which is concerned with the management of user memory. As always, following a kernel panic, the most important tool is the panic log. At the very top of the log, following the first word panic, the log should reveal that a memory leak is to blame: panic(cpu 8 caller 0xffffff80017729eb): "zalloc: zone map exhausted while allocating from zone kalloc.12288, likely due to memory leak in zone kalloc.48 (6586956000 total bytes, 137228148 elements allocated)"@/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-6153.141.1/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c:3627 How to deal with a kernel panic explains this in more detail. Summary App memory leaks are a relatively common cause of poor performance, diagnosed using the Memory pane of Activity Monitor. A memory leak occurs when an app uses memory but doesn’t return it when it’s done; it’s marked by rising memory use in Activity Monitor, which doesn’t get freed until you quit the app. Work around an app memory leak by saving your work and quitting the app before its memory use becomes excessive. Always report an app memory leak to its developer so they can identify the cause and fix it. Kernel memory leaks are rare, and most likely to lead to a kernel panic. The panic log should then be diagnostic.
From Dosso Dossi in around 1530, through Titian and Veronese in 1580, brushstrokes became more visible in fabrics, hair, and other passages.
By the first quarter of the sixteenth century, it was no longer exceptional for a painter to leave brushstrokes and other marks in their oil paintings. However, the evidence also becomes more difficult to interpret, as the rapid decline in the use of rigid wood panels and the rise of canvas should make us more cautious. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="7184" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/dossodossiallegoryfortune/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg" data-orig-size="1272,1182" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="dossodossiallegoryfortune" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Dosso Dossi (Giovanni di Niccolò de Lutero) (1490–1542), Allegory of Fortune (c 1530), oil on canvas, 179.1 x 217.2 cm, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-7184" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg?w=940" alt="dossodossiallegoryfortune" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg 1272w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg?w=150&h=139 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg?w=300&h=279 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg?w=768&h=714 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortune.jpg?w=1024&h=952 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1272px) 100vw, 1272px" /> Dosso Dossi (Giovanni di Niccolò de Lutero) (1490–1542), Allegory of Fortune (c 1530), oil on canvas, 179.1 x 217.2 cm, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA. Wikimedia Commons. Explaining away brushstrokes in the work of Dosso Dossi (1490–1542) as being merely the result of Venetian influence, or the effect of wear and age, is more difficult. His Allegory of Fortune (c 1530) may look impeccably smooth, but as the detail below shows, it is here that the vegetation, rather than fabrics, is formed from brushstrokes. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="7185" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg" data-orig-size="1385,529" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="dossodossiallegoryfortunedet" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Dosso Dossi (Giovanni di Niccolò de Lutero) (1490–1542), Allegory of Fortune (detail) (c 1530), oil on canvas, 179.1 x 217.2 cm, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-7185" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg?w=940" alt="dossodossiallegoryfortunedet" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg 1385w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg?w=150&h=57 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg?w=300&h=115 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg?w=768&h=293 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dossodossiallegoryfortunedet.jpg?w=1024&h=391 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1385px) 100vw, 1385px" /> Dosso Dossi (Giovanni di Niccolò de Lutero) (1490–1542), Allegory of Fortune (detail) (c 1530), oil on canvas, 179.1 x 217.2 cm, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA. Wikimedia Commons. Dosso Dossi was Ferraran, and his only contact with Venetian painting appears rather tortuous: he worked frequently with his brother Battista, who in turn had trained in Raphael’s workshop in Rome, probably between 1517-20, after its influence by del Piombo. Perhaps painterly style was highly contagious. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6704" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/bassanowaycalvary/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg" data-orig-size="1377,1500" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="bassanowaycalvary" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Jacopo Bassano (dal Ponte) (c 1510–92), The Way to Calvary (c 1544-5), oil on canvas, 145.3 x 132.5 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6704" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg?w=940" alt="bassanowaycalvary" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg 1377w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg?w=138&h=150 138w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg?w=275&h=300 275w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg?w=768&h=837 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvary.jpg?w=940&h=1024 940w" sizes="(max-width: 1377px) 100vw, 1377px" /> Jacopo Bassano (dal Ponte) (c 1510–92), The Way to Calvary (c 1544-5), oil on canvas, 145.3 x 132.5 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. Although most of Bassano’s paintings appear finished to Florentine standards, and at first sight his The Way to Calvary (c 1544-5) appears no exception, some are delightfully painterly when examined more closely. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6705" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/bassanowaycalvarydet/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg" data-orig-size="1288,1316" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="bassanowaycalvarydet" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Jacopo Bassano (dal Ponte) (c 1510–92), The Way to Calvary (detail) (c 1544-5), oil on canvas, 145.3 x 132.5 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6705" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg?w=940" alt="bassanowaycalvarydet" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg 1288w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg?w=147&h=150 147w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg?w=294&h=300 294w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg?w=768&h=785 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/bassanowaycalvarydet.jpg?w=1002&h=1024 1002w" sizes="(max-width: 1288px) 100vw, 1288px" /> Jacopo Bassano (dal Ponte) (c 1510–92), The Way to Calvary (detail) (c 1544-5), oil on canvas, 145.3 x 132.5 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. What appear from a distance to be meticulously detailed fabrics turn out to be rich in marks left by the brush. These are most abundant in the coarse petticoat seen billowing in the lower right, and in the sheen on the satin of the woman’s left arm, as well as the white sheet she is holding up. When Titian, perhaps the most famous of all the Venetian Masters, was older, his style became overtly painterly, with significant passages in many of his works having clearly visible brushstrokes. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6710" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/titiandeathactaeon/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg" data-orig-size="1171,1057" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="titiandeathactaeon" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Death of Actaeon (c 1559-75), oil on canvas, 178.8 x 197.8 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6710" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg?w=940" alt="titiandeathactaeon" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg 1171w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg?w=150&h=135 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg?w=300&h=271 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg?w=768&h=693 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeon.jpg?w=1024&h=924 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1171px) 100vw, 1171px" /> Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Death of Actaeon (c 1559-75), oil on canvas, 178.8 x 197.8 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. The Death of Actaeon (c 1559-75) is a good example of his painterly style, with many of the looser passages being obvious even at this scale. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6711" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/titiandeathactaeondet/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg" data-orig-size="1220,1256" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="titiandeathactaeondet" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Death of Actaeon (detail) (c 1559-75), oil on canvas, 178.8 x 197.8 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6711" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg?w=940" alt="titiandeathactaeondet" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg 1220w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg?w=146&h=150 146w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg?w=291&h=300 291w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg?w=768&h=791 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titiandeathactaeondet.jpg?w=995&h=1024 995w" sizes="(max-width: 1220px) 100vw, 1220px" /> Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Death of Actaeon (detail) (c 1559-75), oil on canvas, 178.8 x 197.8 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. Closer examination shows painterly rough brushwork in the brights of the water surface, fabrics, vegetation, and distant objects. In each case, this practice generates distinctive texture, compared with the smooth skin, and the coats of the dogs. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6712" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/titianrapeeuropa/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg" data-orig-size="1200,1052" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="titianrapeeuropa" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Rape of Europa (1560-2), oil on canvas, 178 × 205 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6712" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg?w=940" alt="titianrapeeuropa" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg 1200w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg?w=150&h=132 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg?w=300&h=263 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg?w=768&h=673 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropa.jpg?w=1024&h=898 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /> Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Rape of Europa (1560-2), oil on canvas, 178 × 205 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA. Wikimedia Commons. The Rape of Europa (1560-2) is another painting which doesn’t attempt to hide its painterly facture, although its paint layer does look worn as well. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6713" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/titianrapeeuropadet/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg" data-orig-size="1594,1177" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="titianrapeeuropadet" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Rape of Europa (detail) (1560-2), oil on canvas, 178 × 205 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6713" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=940" alt="titianrapeeuropadet" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg 1594w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=150&h=111 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=300&h=222 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=768&h=567 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=1024&h=756 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/titianrapeeuropadet.jpg?w=1440&h=1063 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1594px) 100vw, 1594px" /> Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (c 1490–1576), The Rape of Europa (detail) (1560-2), oil on canvas, 178 × 205 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA. Wikimedia Commons. The most obvious gestural marks once again appear in fabrics, the water surface and objects beneath it, such as the large fish at the bottom. Many of the later works of Veronese are rich in visible brushstrokes. I offer just two examples: it is worth studying high-resolution images and the originals of his paintings after about 1570 to discover more painterly passages. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6714" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/veronesehappyunion/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg" data-orig-size="1057,1011" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="veronesehappyunion" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Allegory of Love, IV, &#8216;The Happy Union&#8217; (c 1575), oil on canvas, 187.4 x 186.7 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6714" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg?w=940" alt="veronesehappyunion" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg 1057w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg?w=150&h=143 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg?w=300&h=287 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg?w=768&h=735 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyunion.jpg?w=1024&h=979 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1057px) 100vw, 1057px" /> Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Allegory of Love, IV, ‘The Happy Union’ (c 1575), oil on canvas, 187.4 x 186.7 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. From a distance, the tight composition of his Allegory of Love, IV, ‘The Happy Union’ (c 1575) looks to have been painted in disegno, although differences in fabric textures and the splash of light cloud suggest more detailed examination is warranted. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6715" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/veronesehappyuniondet/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg" data-orig-size="1527,1280" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="veronesehappyuniondet" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Allegory of Love, IV, &#8216;The Happy Union&#8217; (detail) (c 1575), oil on canvas, 187.4 x 186.7 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6715" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=940" alt="veronesehappyuniondet" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg 1527w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=150&h=126 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=300&h=251 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=768&h=644 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=1024&h=858 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesehappyuniondet.jpg?w=1440&h=1207 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1527px) 100vw, 1527px" /> Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Allegory of Love, IV, ‘The Happy Union’ (detail) (c 1575), oil on canvas, 187.4 x 186.7 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons. Once closer to the canvas, many of the details turn out to be painterly caresses with the brush, in the fabrics and hair in particular. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6716" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/veronesejudithholofernes/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg" data-orig-size="1171,1308" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="veronesejudithholofernes" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Judith and Holofernes (c 1580), oil on canvas, 195 x 176 cm, Musei di Strada Nuova, Genova. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg?w=917" class="size-full wp-image-6716" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg?w=940" alt="veronesejudithholofernes" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg 1171w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg?w=134&h=150 134w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg?w=269&h=300 269w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg?w=768&h=858 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernes.jpg?w=917&h=1024 917w" sizes="(max-width: 1171px) 100vw, 1171px" /> Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Judith and Holofernes (c 1580), oil on canvas, 195 x 176 cm, Musei di Strada Nuova, Genova. Wikimedia Commons. Later still, Veronese’s Judith and Holofernes (c 1580) make no attempt to conceal the scumbled highlights of its fabrics. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="6717" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/veronesejudithholofernesdet/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg" data-orig-size="1230,1252" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="veronesejudithholofernesdet" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Judith and Holofernes (detail) (c 1580), oil on canvas, 195 x 176 cm, Musei di Strada Nuova, Genova. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-6717" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg?w=940" alt="veronesejudithholofernesdet" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg 1230w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg?w=147&h=150 147w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg?w=295&h=300 295w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg?w=768&h=782 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/veronesejudithholofernesdet.jpg?w=1006&h=1024 1006w" sizes="(max-width: 1230px) 100vw, 1230px" /> Paolo Veronese (Caliari) (1528–88), Judith and Holofernes (detail) (c 1580), oil on canvas, 195 x 176 cm, Musei di Strada Nuova, Genova. Wikimedia Commons. A detail shows how extensive and free Veronese was in making his marks, although they are largely confined to fabrics, with flesh being painted more smoothly. With the seventeenth century fast approaching, it was high time for El Greco and Peter Paul Rubens.
SilentKnight 3 second beta adds text and JSON reporting
Adds reporting to both text and JSON files, runs from standard user accounts, and fixes several other issues. For Apple silicon Macs only, macOS 15.6 and later.
Thank you to all those who have tried the first beta of SilentKnight version 3, and for your many comments. I now offer a second beta that adds two important features, and tweaks several others. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="92805" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/2026/06/18/silentknight-3-second-beta-adds-text-and-json-reporting/sk3-27/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png" data-orig-size="1400,122" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","alt":""}" data-image-title="sk3-27" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png?w=940" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-92805" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png" alt="" width="940" height="82" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png?w=940&h=82 940w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png?w=150&h=13 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png?w=300&h=26 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png?w=768&h=67 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png?w=1024&h=89 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-27.png 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px" /> As the release notes in the app’s Help book noted, that first beta provided no way of recording the app’s results. I know for many that’s an essential feature, so why not offer it in two different forms? This release can write a plain text account containing what you see in its window, from its Malware protection section at the top down to the date and time those tests were run. For those who might want to import those data into a database or another app, there’s also the option to export in JSON format. For example, a text report might start like: SilentKnight 3 Report: Malware protection XProtect found 5323 XProtect expected 5347 XProtect last updated XProtectPlistConfigData 2025-11-11 22:09:32 +0000 : 5323 XPR found 156 XPR expected 157 XPR last updated XProtectPayloads 2025-11-10 22:08:18 +0000 : 156 XPR no scans in 36 h macOS & Firmware macOS found 26.1.0 macOS expected 26.5.1 Firmware found 13822.41.1 Firmware expected 18000.120.36 and so on. The JSON export isn’t as readable, but here are some of its entries to give an idea of what it provides: “firmExpect”:”18000.120.36″, mBoot firmware version expected “firmFound”:”13822.41.1″, mBoot firmware version found “firmGood”:false, whether firmware version is acceptable (up to date) “firmPrefix”:” “, prefix for firmware section results “fvFound”:” FileVault on.”, FileVault status “fvGood”:true, whether FieVault is turned on “fwSect”:” macOS & Firmware”, section header including overall status “gateFound”:” XProtect enabled.” whether XProtect/Gatekeeper checks are enabled “gateGood”:true, whether XProtect/Gatekeeper checks are enabled “xproExpect”:5347, XProtect version expected “xproFound”:5323, XProtect version found (new location) “xproGood”:false, whether XProtect is up to date “xproInst”:”\tXProtectPlistConfigData 2025-11-11 22:09:32 +0000 : 5323″, latest XProtect update details A listing of keys is provided in the download archive. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="92804" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/2026/06/18/silentknight-3-second-beta-adds-text-and-json-reporting/sk3-26/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg" data-orig-size="966,1301" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","alt":""}" data-image-title="sk3-26" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg?w=760" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-92804" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg" alt="" width="940" height="1266" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg?w=940&h=1266 940w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg?w=111&h=150 111w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg?w=223&h=300 223w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg?w=768&h=1034 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/sk3-26.jpg 966w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px" /> Other significant changes include: This version should now run correctly from standard user accounts, although it will then omit checks on XProtect Remediator scans, which require admin privileges. When first opened, it prompts you to use the Check All tool. I may later run that automatically when the window is opened. Reporting of macOS updates has been improved, so they don’t activate the Install Updates tool unless there are also installable updates available. My remaining task for this initial release is to get List Updates and Install Updates running in the background. I then anticipate a later version will tackle the problem of updating XProtect. SilentKnight version 3 beta 2 for Apple silicon Macs running macOS 15.6 Sequoia and later, including Golden Gate, is now available from here: skbeta2 I hope you find it more useful.
Chiaroscuro paintings by Lavinia Fontana, Adam Elsheimer, Jusepe de Ribera, Artemisia Gentileschi, Gerard can Honthorst, and Georges de La Tour.
During his brief life, Caravaggio was highly popular in Italy, and although he quickly became forgotten, other artists from across Europe were influenced by his paintings of shade and shadow. This article considers their depiction in a selection of works by successors, some who have been recognised as Caravaggisti, those who embraced Carvaggism. As a reminder, of the 10 paintings by Caravaggio that I showed last week, the primary source of light came from the left or upper left in 7, or 70%. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="12641" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/fontanajudithholofernes/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg" data-orig-size="1060,1451" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="fontanajudithholofernes" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1600), oil on canvas, dimensions and location not known. The Athenaeum. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg?w=748" class="size-full wp-image-12641" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg?w=940" alt="fontanajudithholofernes" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg 1060w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg?w=110&h=150 110w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg?w=219&h=300 219w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg?w=768&h=1051 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fontanajudithholofernes.jpg?w=748&h=1024 748w" sizes="(max-width: 1060px) 100vw, 1060px" /> Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1600), oil on canvas, dimensions and location not known. The Athenaeum. Lavinia Fontana’s Judith with the Head of Holofernes from 1600 has several good reasons for its use of chiaroscuro. Here is Judith with the decapitated body of Holofernes, passing the head she has just hacked off to her maidservant. The darkness hides some of the more ghoulish parts of the scene, heightens the sense of drama, and is entirely appropriate for the location and time of day. Its light source comes from the upper right, and the artist avoids depicting any cast shadows on the figures, as Caravaggio did. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="29577" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/elsheimercereshecuba-2/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg" data-orig-size="1080,1329" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="elsheimercereshecuba" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610) and workshop, Ceres at Hecuba&#8217;s Home (c 1605), oil on copper plate, 30 × 25 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg?w=832" class="size-full wp-image-29577" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg?w=940" alt="elsheimercereshecuba" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg 1080w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg?w=122&h=150 122w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg?w=244&h=300 244w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg?w=768&h=945 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/elsheimercereshecuba.jpg?w=832&h=1024 832w" sizes="(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px" /> Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610) and workshop, Ceres at Hecuba’s Home (c 1605), oil on copper plate, 30 × 25 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Wikimedia Commons. Many of Adam Elsheimer’s exquisite oil paintings on copper use very strong chiaroscuro too, showing stories which are set during the night, such as that of Ceres at Hecuba’s Home from about 1605. Unlike Caravaggio’s works, this scene relies on three separate point sources of light, all within the image. These appear to have been located with great care to create this effect. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="13403" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/deriberajudgementsolomon/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg" data-orig-size="1500,1132" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="deriberajudgementsolomon" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" José de Ribera (1591–1652), The Judgement of Solomon (1609-10), oil on canvas, 153 × 201 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-13403" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=940" alt="deriberajudgementsolomon" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg 1500w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=300&h=226 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=768&h=580 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=1024&h=773 1024w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/deriberajudgementsolomon.jpg?w=1440&h=1087 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /> Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652), The Judgement of Solomon (1609-10), oil on canvas, 153 × 201 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome. Wikimedia Commons. Jusepe de Ribera (also known as José de Ribera or Josep de Ribera) was born near and trained in Valencia, but by 1611 had made his way to Rome, where he worked until 1616. His powerful interpretation of The Judgement of Solomon from 1609-10, when he was still working in Valencia, is emotionally eloquent and shows the influence of Caravaggio in what is also known as Tenebrism. This also relies on light from the upper left, and adds simplified cast shadows such as those from the mother kneeling in its foreground and looking up at Solomon. Among the most brilliant of the Caravaggisti is Artemisia Gentileschi. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="7877" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg" data-orig-size="1178,1500" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="gentileschijudithholofernesnaples" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653), Judith Beheading Holofernes (1611-12), oil on canvas, 158.8 × 125.5 cm, National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg?w=804" class="size-full wp-image-7877" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg?w=940" alt="gentileschijudithholofernesnaples" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg 1178w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg?w=118&h=150 118w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg?w=236&h=300 236w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg?w=768&h=978 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/gentileschijudithholofernesnaples.jpg?w=804&h=1024 804w" sizes="(max-width: 1178px) 100vw, 1178px" /> Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653), Judith Beheading Holofernes (1611-12), oil on canvas, 158.8 × 125.5 cm, National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples. Wikimedia Commons. In her earlier version of Judith Beheading Holofernes from 1611-12 she out-darkens even Caravaggio. The sole source of light is to the left of the picture plane, and she has limited shadows cast by its three figures on others. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="781" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/2015/03/20/favourite-paintings-13-artemisia-gentileschi-allegory-of-painting-c-1638-9/judithholofernes1ag/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg" data-orig-size="886,1089" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="judithholofernes1ag" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620-1), oil on canvas, 200 x 162.5 cm, Galleria della Uffizi, Florence. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg?w=833" class="size-full wp-image-781" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg?w=940" alt="Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620-1), oil on canvas, 200 x 162.5 cm, Galleria della Uffizi, Florence. Wikimedia Commons." srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg?w=660&h=811 660w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg?w=122&h=150 122w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg?w=244&h=300 244w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg?w=768&h=944 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/judithholofernes1ag.jpg 886w" sizes="(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px" /> Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620-1), oil on canvas, 200 x 162.5 cm, Galleria della Uffizi, Florence. Wikimedia Commons. Artemisia Gentileschi’s father was a well-known Caravaggist, and she followed suit for the early years of her career. Her second version of Judith Slaying Holofernes from 1620-21 isn’t as close-cropped, and the light source is in a similar position, off to the left. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="38844" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/vanhonthorstmerrycompany/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg" data-orig-size="1374,1100" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="vanhonthorstmerrycompany" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Gerard van Honthorst (1592–1656), Merry Company (1623), oil on canvas, 125 x 157 cm, Staatsgalerie im Neuen Schloss Schleißheim, Oberschleißheim, Germany. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg?w=940" class="size-full wp-image-38844" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg?w=940" alt="vanhonthorstmerrycompany" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg 1374w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg?w=150&h=120 150w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg?w=300&h=240 300w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg?w=768&h=615 768w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/vanhonthorstmerrycompany.jpg?w=1024&h=820 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1374px) 100vw, 1374px" /> Gerard van Honthorst (1592–1656), Merry Company (1623), oil on canvas, 125 x 157 cm, Staatsgalerie im Neuen Schloss Schleißheim, Oberschleißheim, Germany. Wikimedia Commons. For Gerard van Honthorst, sometimes referred to as a Utrecht Caravaggist, dimly lit indoor scenes were associated with pleasures, often fairly sinful ones, as in his Merry Company from 1623. He also shows us how directional lighting can transform appearance, turning quite ordinary or ugly faces into caricatures. This is lit by a single point source, a candle the tip of whose flame can be seen just to the right of the man’s left hand, confirmed by the cast shadows on the tablecloth. Although most of the shade and shadow is coherent with that source, there is a little cheating in the lighting of the front of the man’s face. One of the great exponents of chiaroscuro in religious painting was Georges de La Tour, whose series of paintings of Mary Magdalen are among the finest examples of the style. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="29576" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/delatourpenitentmary/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg" data-orig-size="1012,1238" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="delatourpenitentmary" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Georges de La Tour (1593–1652), Penitent Mary Magdalen (1628-45), oil on canvas, 113 × 93 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg?w=837" class="size-full wp-image-29576" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg?w=940" alt="delatourpenitentmary" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg 1012w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg?w=123&h=150 123w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg?w=245&h=300 245w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourpenitentmary.jpg?w=768&h=940 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px"> Georges de La Tour (1593–1652), Penitent Mary Magdalene (1628-45), oil on canvas, 113 × 93 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons. De La Tour’s Penitent Mary Magdalene from 1628-45 is one of his simpler compositions, lit by the flame of the single candle behind the human skull. Shadow cast on the tabletop by the left side of the book that skull is resting on has been cropped, but this otherwise appears to comply with optics. <img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="29575" data-permalink="https://eclecticlight.co/delatourmagdalensmokingflame/" data-orig-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg" data-orig-size="1004,1280" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="delatourmagdalensmokingflame" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Georges de La Tour (1593–1652), The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (date not known), oil on canvas, 117 x 91.8 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA. Wikimedia Commons. " data-large-file="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg?w=803" class="size-full wp-image-29575" src="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg?w=940" alt="delatourmagdalensmokingflame" srcset="https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg 1004w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg?w=118&h=150 118w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg?w=235&h=300 235w, https://eclecticlight.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/delatourmagdalensmokingflame.jpg?w=768&h=979 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1004px) 100vw, 1004px" /> Georges de La Tour (1593–1652), The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (date not known), oil on canvas, 117 x 91.8 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA. Wikimedia Commons. The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame is another example which probably dates from around 1630, again lit by the single flame. De la Tour draws clear distinction between the softer edges of shade, and the crisper edges of cast shadows. As Caravaggism was dying out, the Dutch Golden Age brought together a great many painters with some of the pioneers of modern optics.