After some false starts, he finally re-established his reputation at the Salon, but was that work a political allegory?
narrative
Using Storyspace to explore, read, and visualise the different stories of Salome and John the Baptist.
A wide-ranging selection of appealing and interesting watercolours, covering most of Blake’s career and themes.
One of the greatest German painters, he covered several genres and has proved very influential. The start of a broad and more balanced view of his work.
He still couldn’t repeat his earlier success in the years running up to the Franco-Prussian War. But some paintings have been under-appreciated.
Two paintings of the buried dismemberment of a victim: one theatrical narrative, the other a serene reverie of anti-theatrical non-narrative. And an oriental witch.
He took the Salon of 1864 by storm, but was barely noticed with 2 more paintings the following year. Why?
Some stories sound plausible, but are problematic when you try to paint or photograph them. Here’s a good example, with attempted solutions by Reni, Rubens, Moreau, and others.
Three major paintings, each very ambitious, but abandoned, reworked, and abandoned again, give insight into his progress in changing history painting.
Moreau’s extraordinary paintings have been described as Symbolist, Decadent, even Surrealist. They are notoriously difficult to read – here is some help.
