Shipwreck in The Tempest, forgotten Impressionists, a threshing machine, a weekend on the River Seine, a pair of portraits of Thomas and Susan Eakins, a pair of clowns, and more.
Eakins
Spinning natural fibres like wool into yarn was “women’s work” and had several connotations, here explored in paintings, and the origin of the word ‘spinster’.
More wives from Raffaela Zeppa, through Lovis Corinth’s Charlotte Berend, to Pierre Bonnard’s Marthe, plus two husbands.
From Rubens’ double-portrait with Isabella Brant, and Rembrandt’s with Saskia, to Paul Signac’s wife with a parasol and Ferdinand Hodler’s wife Berthe Jacques.
The art of Thomas Eakins, Gustave Caillebotte, John Singer Sargent, Harriet Backer, Toulouse-Lautrec, Edvard Munch and others were enabled by Bonnat.
From 1875 on, paintings of surgical procedures, heroes of medical and surgical advances, and the new clinical look of hospitals.
From linear perspective projection, synthetic pigments like Prussian Blue, and colour theory, to the first new painting medium since oils, science and painting have developed together.
A selection of masterpieces which were rejected by the person(s) who commissioned them, or from major exhibitions. Illustrated contents with links.
Blurring for dramatic effect, and to mimic photographic depth of field effects, were used in the 19th century, but motion blur came later.
Rejected from the 1876 Centennial Exhibition as ‘unsightly’, The Gross Clinic was hidden in an Army hospital. In 2006, it was almost sold for $68 million.