Stories of Odysseus and Circe, the prodigal son, the miracle of the Gadarene swine, and St Anthony. And Félicien Rops’ ‘Pornocrates’?
Ranson
Can William Blake, Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, Jacek Malczewski or others come any closer to the classical Chimera?
From Robert Nanteuil’s first pastel portraits in the 1660s to Ants Laikmaa in 1929, a history of the greatest pastel painters and links to articles about individual artists.
Paints using glue as their binder were revived by Pierre Bonnard, the Nabis and Odilon Redon in the late 19th century, with startling results.
Pastel paintings by these three Nabis, who underwent conventional training and explored different media. Later paintings by Roussel are really special.
Grisaille – grey underpainting used to set the tone for a finished work – is like underwear, waiting for richly coloured clothes to go on top. Not in these paintings, though.
Pre-Raphaelites painted Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend, and the Nabi Paul Ranson seemed fascinated by witches.
Paintings of the hippogriff from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, and some other winged horses from Puvis de Chavannes, Moreau, and ER Hughes.
Independent and aloof, cats train their humans and think that they’re still large and ferocious. Paintings from Carpaccio to Bonnard.
Short summary of their history, art, and their role in the evolution of painting in the twentieth century, with copious links to articles here.
The Eclectic Light Company 