(Metroplitan Museum, Gallery 810: Manet & Impressionism. Fri., 01.18.2013. 5 PM.) Re. Soap Bubbles by Thomas Couture --- contemplative atmosphere of muted tones and values; simple domestic objects (books, a drinking glass, etc.) united by soft, diffused light; a pervading quietness. The wistful, pre-Raphaelite youth seems lost in his own thoughts. Couture allows the brush to trail off and get lost from the viewer's gaze where it needs to --- the shirt cuffs are crisp and sharp at the highlights, soft and a bit muted where they turn down and away from the light. Edges do so much to tell us about what we see, they transmit so much information. With the feel of distemper in some areas, rather than oil paint, and with a sombre tonality, the few bright colors that Couture does make use of almost seem to twinkle --- the red in the chair's upholstery, and the filmy, iridescent blues and pinks of the soap bubbles themselves. Bubbles were a symbol of mortality, and used in vanitas, of which this painting is an example, reminding us that man's existence is transient and only of a moment --- "For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again." (Psalm 78, King James translation).

^ Soap Bubbles. oil on canvas, ca. 1859. Thomas Couture (1815-1879). Metroplitan Museum of Art, Gallery 810: Manet & Impressionism.

(Metropolitan Museum, Gallery 826: Post-Impressionism. Fri., 01.18, 2013. 4 PM) Re. Odilon Redon's The Chariot of Apollo and Pandora, it seems he found the strangest color relationships --- strange because they seem unreal yet also naturally occurring. His blues and blue-greens seem to be from someplace previously unknown, a vein of newly discovered ore mined beneath the sea, a color belonging to some long-forgotten god.

^ The Chariot of Apollo. oil on canvas, ca. 1905. Odilon Redon (French. 1840-1916). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

^ Pandora. oil on canvas, ca. 1914. Odilon Redon (French. 1840-1916). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

(Metropolitan Museum, Gallery 812: European Paintings. Fri., 11.02, 2012)
Re. River Rocks by Gustave Courbet (French, 1819-1877): (typical of Courbet's late work?) muted, quiet meditation on solitude and peace. Except for a touch of relief in the left foreground, which a patch of sunlight seems to provide, the entire space, a small body of water enclosed by trees and shadowy stillness, is a study of middle and deep values of browns, greens, and blues. Nothig registers lighter than a v.5, and fully a third of the painting is handled in v.8, 9, and 10. His blues (and I remember this from others of his paintings) are green-tinged cerulean opaquely applied and, while not bright, act as a "sweet-spot" among the masses of moist leaves and breathing shadows. Re. Courbet's The Calm Sea, 1869. A wonderful sense of sparkling air and expansiveness, all brought down a bit in tone. His golden sands are ochre, not yellow, and his azure blues have just a touch of gray to take the edge off. Re. Courbet's The Fishing Boat, 1865. The sky with clouds built up along the horizon are especially beautiful --- blued gray masses that have a touch of violet in the gray shift between themselves (v.4 each?),against a quiet sky of dying light shown in an opal pink and baby blue, both knocked down some.

^ The Calm Sea. oil on canvas, 1869. Gustave Courbet (French. 1819-1877). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Among other things I saw, I want to remember these:
> Sir Seymour Haden [British], 1818-1910 On the Test, ca.1856
> Thomas Frye [Irish], 1711/12-1762 Portrait of a Man, 1760
> William Hoare [British], ca.1707-1792 Portrait of Wm. Pitt the Elder, ca.1754
> Jonathan Richardson, Sr. [British], 1665-1745 Portrait of Jonathan Richardson, Jr., the Artist's Son, 1729
> Cornelius Varley [British], 1781-1873 Portrait of a Man In Profile 
> Josef Diveky [Hungarian], 1887-1951 -Rocking Horse with Three Children -Kaulitz Dolls 
   (I) -Kaulitz Dolls 
   (II) Colored lithographs published by Weiner Werkstätte, 1909
   "The postcards were used to market the workshop's products to a wide audience."
> Richard Teschner [Austrian], 1879-1948
> Vilhelm Hammershøi [Danish], 1864-1916 Moonlight, Strangade 30, 1900 Oil on canvas [severe compositions and limited palette of mostly grays. lovely.]
> Wilhelm Bendz [Danish], 1804-1832 Study of Light Oil on paper
> Johan Christian Dahl [Norwegian], 1788-1857 Cloud Study Oil on paper.
> Fritz Petzholdt [Danish], 1805-1838 German Landscape with View Towards a Broad Valley, ca.1829 Oil on paper
> Richard Wilson [Welsh], 1712/1713-1782 Welsh Landscape with a Ruined Castle by a Lake Oil on wood
> Charles Rémond [German], 1788-1825 Terrace of the Capuchin Garden, Sorrento, ca.1823/24 Oil on paper
> Alexander Desgoffe [French], 1805-1882 Cloud Study with Distant Mountains Oil on paper
> Simon Denis [Flemish], 1755-1813 Aniene River at Tivoli Oil on paper
> Simon Denis Landscape Near Rome During a Storm Oil on paper
> Aldro T. Hibbard
> T. Allen Lawson
> Joseph Wright of Derby, ARA, 1734-1797
> Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1824-1898
> Paolo Farinati, 1524-1606

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