Feb. 18 is the birthday of an American painter whose talent for business provided work for many other artists. His commercial success made his name synonymous with beautiful glasswork.
Which of the images below best represents what the word ‘Tiffany’ means for you?
It’s likely that what sprang to mind was something like this picture of one of Tiffany’s famous windows.
Feb. 8 is the birthday of a German artist who turned to painting animals when mankind disappointed him. Marc was a member of the Der Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) group whose members advanced abstract art in the early 20th century.
Franz Marc (1880–1916) took refuge in other creatures when his fellow humans fell short of expectations.
Jan. 12 is the birthday of a sophisticated Euro-American painter who could find a beautiful play of light even in a pile of gators.
Few artists can capture light as did John Singer Sargent (1856–1925). You can feel the warmth of the sun in some of his paintings.
Sargent’s “Breakfast in the Loggia,” seen below, has rescued me from many a chilly day in Washington, D.C.
Dec. 31 is the birthday of an artist who repeatedly painted women captivated by books. It’s a relevant theme for pandemic life, in which reading has been a refuge for many of us.
Henri Matisse (1869–1954) often captured his models as if they were unaware of his presence. Over and over, Matisse painted women who appear to be sunk into the worlds created by the authors of good books.
He did this even before he evolved into the Matisse known so well by many art lovers. Would you have guessed the 1895 painting below was done by Matisse? The same Matisse was a leader in the early 20th experiments with bold colors and exuberant brushwork known as Fauvism?
Dec. 18 is the birthday of a painter who instructed us on how to read his vibrant abstract works.
Paul Klee (1897–1940) explored shapes and geometry in his paintings as did the famous leaders of a movement in art called Cubism. But Klee’s works somehow remain emotional even when abstract, a trait not seen in all Cubist works.
Compare Pablo Picasso’s 1914 Cubist painting, “Pipe, Glass, Bottle of Vieux Marc,” seen below on the left, with one of Klee’s most important works, “Temple Gardens.” (His last name Klee is pronounced Clay.)
Dec. 12 is the birthday of an artist whose iconic painting, “The Scream,” overshadowed a career in which he excelled in depicting dark and tragic moments of life.
Edvard Munch (1863–1944) excelled at painting anxiety, the subject of the work seen above.
The Norwegian artist is best known for “The Scream,” seen below, which has been borrowed for products including plastic vases, socks, phone cases and, in recent times, neck gaiters and face masks.
Dec. 8 is the birthday of an artist whose studies of Italian, French and Spanish paintings evolved into a mural style that is seen as distinctly Mexican.
What do we see in the 1913 painting? We have Mexican artist Adolfo Best Maugard (1891–1964) depicted as the epitome of a Parisian dandy. He radiates elegance. It even appears that the iconic ferris wheel of the Belle Époque — Grande Roue de Paris — spins on the tip of his gloved hand.
Nov. 27 is the birthday of a textile magnate who plotted how to build and display an impressive collection of modern art. Then came the Bolsheviks.
Ivan Morozov (1871–1921) seems to have accepted that the Russian Revolution took his wealth and his home. What he could not bear was the loss of his art collection.
In 1918, a Russian sculptor Sergey Konenkov appeared at Morozov’s mansion in Moscow in his new capacity as a Bolshevik official, according to a biography by Natalya Semenova. (There is a link at the end of this essay to a bibliography of sources used in my research.) Konenkov, who knew Morozov, presented him with what’s called a ‘preservation order,’ essentially taking the mansion and its collection.
Nov. 24 is the birthday of a painter who borrowed techniques from Japanese artists to portray scenes of French women expanding their role in public life.
The title given to this painting by French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) seems wrong to me. It’s commonly called “The Hangover,” which seems to miss the small revolutionary acts we may be witnessing here.
Toulouse-Lautrec shows us a young woman who has the freedom and funds to sit by herself and work through her thoughts over a glass of wine at a cafe. The woman shown here is Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938). She appears to me to be in a pensive mood.
I admit I bring to this interpretation my admiration for Valadon’s determination and grit. The child of a…
Nov. 1 is the birthday of a painter of America’s Gilded Age (1870s-1900) who showed women of his time ready to claim their space in society.
William Merritt Chase (1849–1916) paid homage to one of his fellow portraitists in his painting “The Lady in Black,” but did so in a way that brought honor — and not infamy— to the subject.
The painting on the left is John Singer Sargent’s Madame X, a beautiful and unforgettable image. This painting shocked Parisian art circles on its debut. The portrait initially showed its subject, the Louisiana-born wife of a banker, with one of her straps slipping on her shoulders. Sargent later painted the strap back in place, attempting to soothe ill feelings after the outrage this work cause.
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Kerry Dooley Young
Journalist fascinated by art, food, justice, politics, history and business. Has visited museums on six continents, eaten in more than 60 nations.
