Robert Spear Dunning’s Apples

by 19th century ArtAmerican ArtArtPowerpoints
Robert Spear Dunning, American Artist, 1829-1905
Apples, 1869, Oil on Canvas, 50.2 x 64.1 cm, Private Collectionhttps://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6519615?ldp_breadcrumb=back

When I look at Robert Spear Dunning’s Apples, I can’t help but think of Robert Frost’s words… But I am done with apple-picking now. / Essence of winter sleep is on the night, / The scent of apples: I am drowsing off… from After Apple-Picking. The painting, like the poem, holds that quiet pause between abundance and rest, when the harvest is gathered in and time itself seems to slow. Yet it also makes me think about World Food Day, held each year on October 16, when more than 150 countries come together to raise awareness of hunger and poverty. Dunning’s apples, so rich and full, remind me how easily we take such everyday nourishment for granted, and how vital it is that food and beauty alike are shared more widely. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44259/after-apple-picking

Robert Spear Dunning (1829–1905) was an American painter best known as a leading figure of the Fall River School, a circle of artists in Massachusetts devoted to still-life painting. Born in Brunswick, Maine, he studied at the National Academy of Design in New York under Daniel Huntington, where he developed both academic discipline and a meticulous eye for detail. By the late 1850s, Dunning had settled in Fall River, and in 1859 he helped establish the Fall River School, transforming southeastern Massachusetts into an unexpected hub for still-life painting. Over his long career, he exhibited widely and gained recognition for elevating the still life, particularly fruit compositions, into a respected and celebrated genre of American art.

In 1870, Dunning expanded his influence further by co-founding the Fall River Evening Drawing School with fellow artist John E. Grouard. Created to make art education accessible to the city’s working population, many of whom toiled in the textile mills, the school emphasized drawing as the essential foundation for artistic practice. It quickly became a cultural center for aspiring painters and helped solidify the identity of the Fall River School, whose members became known for their luminous and painstakingly detailed still lifes. By offering structured training outside the major urban art centers, the Evening Drawing School broadened the reach of American art education and left a lasting imprint on the cultural life of the region.

Dunning’s aesthetic is marked by clarity, precision, and a refined sense of order. His canvases often feature fruit arranged with deliberate symmetry, their surfaces rendered in luminous detail that balances realism with quiet idealization. Apples, grapes, peaches, and plums are polished to near perfection, often set against dark or neutral backgrounds that heighten their rich colors and tactile presence. This combination of natural abundance and painterly restraint gives his work both elegance and restraint, transforming everyday objects into meditations on beauty, transience, and plenty.

Robert Spear Dunning’s Apples (1869) stands as a quintessential example of American still-life painting in the 19th century, showcasing the artist’s unrivaled precision and luminous treatment of everyday subjects. The composition places apples at the center of attention, their polished surfaces glowing with quiet richness against a subdued background. This balance between meticulous detail and atmospheric harmony reflects Dunning’s mastery of elevating simple fruit into a timeless meditation on abundance and beauty. Works like Apples helped establish the reputation of the Fall River School, positioning Dunning as one of the foremost still-life painters of his generation.

The painting has also enjoyed a distinguished journey through the art world. Originally in a private Massachusetts collection, it was sold at Christie’s New York in 1985, later entering the renowned Manoogian Collection before passing through Michael Altman Fine Art in New York. Its reappearance at Christie’s in January 2025, in the sale American Sublime: Property from an Important Private Collection, confirmed its enduring appeal: estimated at $100,000–150,000, Apples realized $100,800. Both as a work of art and as an object of collecting, Dunning’s Apples remains a striking testament to the lasting value of beauty captured with honesty and care.

Just as Robert Frost’s apple-picking drifts toward sleep, Robert Spear Dunning’s Apples seems to pause time, the fruit perfectly gathered, yet on the verge of passing. It’s a reminder that the beauty of harvest is always fleeting, and that food, so ordinary in appearance, is in fact precious. On World Food Day, as nations unite to face hunger and poverty, this simple still life becomes more than art: it becomes a quiet call to gratitude, and to generosity.

For a PowerPoint Presentation of Robert Spear Dunning’s oeuvre, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6519615?ldp_breadcrumb=back and https://www.godelfineart.com/artists/robert-spear-dunning

Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu

by 19th century ArtArtJapanese ArtStudent ActivitiesUncategorizedWorksheets
Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu, Japanese Edo period artist (1796–1858), six-panel folding screens with ink, color, and gold leaf on paper, The Met Museum, New York, USA
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/48982

Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu, a stunning pair of early 19th-century six-panel folding screens housed in The Met, exemplifies the lyrical elegance of the Rinpa school. Against a backdrop of luminous gold leaf, the Morning Glory vines unfurl in rhythmic cascades, their delicate blooms appearing both vibrant and contemplative. Kiitsu’s masterful use of space, color, and pattern invites a meditative gaze, blurring the boundary between nature and design. The screens evoke a quiet moment suspended in time, one that inspired the haiku: Bound in gilded calm, / the morning glories whisper / secrets to the sun. Through this intricate dialogue between natural form and artistic restraint, Kiitsu offers more than decorative beauty, he captures the ephemeral grace of a single September morning made eternal.

Suzuki Kiitsu was a prominent Japanese painter of the Edo period and a leading figure of the Rinpa school of painting. Born in Edo, modern-day Tokyo, Kiitsu was a devoted student of Sakai Hōitsu, who revived and expanded the decorative Rinpa tradition established by artists like Ogata Kōrin and Tawaraya Sōtatsu. After Hōitsu’s death, Kiitsu continued his teacher’s legacy while developing a distinct personal style. He became known for his screen paintings and nature studies that combined bold design with subtle naturalism. Despite being less internationally known than his predecessors, Kiitsu is celebrated in Japan for refining the Rinpa aesthetic with a fresh sensitivity and technical finesse.

Kiitsu’s work is characterized by luminous color, rhythmic composition, and a heightened attention to seasonal motifs such as flowers, birds, and flowing water. His celebrated screen paintings, including Morning Glories, demonstrate his skill in transforming natural subjects into elegant, almost abstract patterns while maintaining a sense of stillness and harmony. He often employed gold or silver leaf backgrounds, setting ephemeral flora against timeless, radiant fields, a hallmark of Rinpa visual poetry. Kiitsu’s legacy rests in his ability to balance reverence for tradition with individual innovation, securing his place as a master of Japanese decorative painting.

The Rinpa school of art, sometimes spelled Rimpa, originated in early 17th-century Kyoto and is one of the most influential styles in traditional Japanese painting. It began with Tawaraya Sōtatsu, who was known for his elegant, stylized depictions of classical literature and nature, often painted on folding screens and fans. A century later, Ogata Kōrin revitalized the style, blending Sōtatsu’s decorative sensibility with a more dramatic use of color, form, and rhythm. Rinpa artists were not part of a formal lineage but were connected by shared aesthetic values, including the use of gold or silver leaf backgrounds, flattened perspective, and an emphasis on seasonal or poetic themes drawn from classical Japanese literature and waka poetry.

The term “Rinpa” itself combines “Rin” from Kōrin and “pa”, meaning “school”, coined much later to describe this loosely associated group of artists. Rinpa works often merge painting, calligraphy, and design, revealing a sophisticated balance between abstraction and representation. While the style was deeply rooted in Japanese tradition, it also showed openness to Chinese and Korean influences in brushwork and composition. Suzuki Kiitsu, working two centuries later, was part of a later Edo-period revival of Rinpa led by Sakai Hōitsu. Though removed in time, Kiitsu embraced and expanded Rinpa’s visual language, ensuring its continued vitality and influence into the modern era.

Morning Glories is a monumental pair of six‑panel folding screens, a byōbu, crafted with ink, color, and gold leaf on paper. The work creates a vivid, expansive field in which rich blues and greens of Morning Glory blossoms emerge from a radiant gold-leaf ground. Kiitsu omits any spatial context or background elements, concentrating instead on the lush proliferation of flowers and leaves. The blossoms on the right screen rise upward from the ground, while those on the left cascade down, as if held by an invisible trellis, a composition that balances exuberance with careful orchestration.

This screen set reflects Kiitsu’s dual influences: trained as a textile dyer and a pupil of Sakai Hōitsu, he skillfully merges decorative pattern sensibility with naturalistic rendering. The thick, mineral pigments against the gold leaf evoke the luxurious surface of textiles, while subtle attention to botanical form ensures each petal and vine feels believable and dynamic. The tension between decorative abstraction and natural realism is characteristic of Rinpa aesthetics, yet in this work Kiitsu brings a fresh vision, his Morning Glories are botanical yet stylized, rhythmic yet alive. As a signature masterpiece of the Edo‑period Rinpa revival, these screens embody both opulent décor and quiet botanical poetry.

As a fitting close to this meditation on Suzuki Kiitsu’s Morning Glories, it is worth noting that the morning glory is the traditional birth flower of October, a symbol of fleeting beauty, affection, and renewal. In Kiitsu’s masterful screens, this humble bloom becomes a grand subject, elevated through shimmering gold and rhythmic composition into something timeless. The flower’s delicate form and brief bloom are captured in suspended motion, embodying both the transience of nature and the elegance of Edo-period design. In this radiant work, Kiitsu not only honors the spirit of the Rinpa school but also transforms a seasonal motif into a lasting celebration of life’s quiet, impermanent grace.

For a Student Activity, inspired by the MET folding screen titled Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/48982

John George Brown’s Sunshine

by 19th century ArtAmerican ArtArtPowerpoints
John George Brown, American Artist, 1831-1913
Sunshine, 1879, Oil on Canvas, 35.6 x 50.8 cm, Private Collection https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6519604?ldp_breadcrumb=back

As the golden light of summer begins its slow retreat, John George Brown’s Sunshine offers a final, tender embrace of those lingering warm rays. With its lyrical depiction of Victorian leisure, the oil-on-canvas scene captures a young woman bathed in radiant light, an atmosphere that echoes the fading warmth of long, sun-drenched days. Through ‘brilliant light, casual composition, and broad technique,’ Brown evokes both the romantic freedom and gentle nostalgia of the season, recalling the delicate balance between exuberance and quiet reflection. As we bid adieu to summer’s glow, Sunshine becomes more than a visual reverie, it’s a timeless farewell, a glowing testament to moments that warm us before they fade.

Beyond its seasonal resonance, John George Brown’s Sunshine exemplifies the artist’s broader role in shaping American genre painting during the Gilded Age. Though Brown is most often celebrated for his sympathetic portrayals of New York’s working-class children, this work demonstrates his ability to adapt genre traditions toward more idealized, pastoral subjects. Painted at a moment when American collectors were increasingly drawn to images of leisure and natural light, Sunshine reflects both Victorian tastes and the transatlantic influence of European Realism. Its luminous treatment of the figure, suffused with warmth, captures not only the immediacy of a passing season but also the cultural desire to preserve beauty and repose in an era marked by rapid urban and industrial transformation.

John George Brown (1831–1913) was an English-born American painter whose career epitomized the rise of genre painting in the United States during the late 19th century. Trained at the Newcastle-on-Tyne School of Design and later at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh, Brown immigrated to New York in 1853, where he continued his studies at the National Academy of Design. Settling in a rapidly industrializing city, he soon gained recognition for his sympathetic yet idealized depictions of street urchins, bootblacks, and newspaper boys, subjects that resonated with both middle-class sentiment and a growing market for accessible, narrative art.

Over the course of his career, John George Brown became one of the most commercially successful and widely collected American artists of his generation. Elected a full Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1861, he exhibited regularly at major venues, including the Brooklyn Art Association and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His sympathetic depictions of New York’s street children, bootblacks, newsboys, and flower sellers, proved especially popular, combining technical polish with moral uplift in ways that resonated deeply with middle-class audiences. Frequently reproduced in engravings and widely circulated prints, these works extended his reach beyond elite collectors, making Brown a household name and helping to shape the visual culture of the Gilded Age. While some critics dismissed his art as overly sentimental, his keen eye for character and his ability to elevate humble subjects into enduring images of resilience secured his place in American art history.

Yet Sunshine reveals another, often overlooked facet of Brown’s career: his turn toward more pastoral and idealized visions. In contrast to the grit and industriousness of his urban street children, the painting presents a figure suffused with warmth and leisure, bathed in radiant light. This departure demonstrates not only Brown’s versatility as a genre painter but also his sensitivity to the shifting tastes of his audience. At a time when collectors increasingly sought images of repose and natural beauty, Sunshine offered a vision of serenity and seasonal transience, echoing both Victorian ideals of leisure and the transatlantic influence of European Realism. Whereas his street children embodied perseverance amid hardship, here Brown captures a more reflective mood, an image less about survival and more about savoring a fleeting moment, marking his ability to balance sentiment with subtle lyricism.

By capturing this delicate interplay between seasonal reflection and artistic innovation, Sunshine not only broadened the scope of American genre painting but also exemplifies Brown’s responsiveness to the evolving tastes of Gilded Age collectors. The work stands as a testament to his enduring versatility, balancing sentiment and refinement while securing his place among the most celebrated figures of nineteenth-century American art.

For a PowerPoint Presentation of John George Brown’s oeuvre, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6519604?ldp_breadcrumb=back and https://www.questroyalfineart.com/artist/john-george-brown/

Marigolds

by 19th century ArtArtArt of the United KingdomPowerpointsPre-Raphaelite movement
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English, 1828 – 1882
Marigolds or Bower Maiden, 1873, Oil on Canvas, 114.3 x 73.66 cm, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, UK https://useum.org/artist/Dante-Gabriel-Rossetti

When Dante Gabriel Rossetti introduced Marigolds (also known as The Bower Maiden) to his patron Frederick Leyland in 1874, he described it as ‘modern and naturalistic,’ portraying ‘a young girl (fair) in a tapestried chamber, with a jar containing marybuds (or marsh marigolds, the earliest spring flowers here), which she is arranging on a shelf. Near her is a cat playing with a ball of worsted.’ Rossetti emphasized that the picture was painted directly from nature, its freshness recalling his Veronica Veronese, and he believed it would be ’a general favourite.’ The marigolds at the heart of the composition, however, reach beyond decorative charm. They resonate with Robert Graves’s lines: ‘Look: the constant marigold / Springs again from hidden roots. / Baffled gardener, you behold / New beginnings and new shoots.’ Just as Graves praises the flower’s irrepressible return, Rossetti’s painting transforms the simple act of arranging spring blossoms into a quiet meditation on renewal, resilience, and the enduring vitality of nature and beauty. https://allpoetry.com/poem/8502277-Marigolds-by-Robert-Graves

The symbolism of the marigolds is crucial to Rossetti’s vision. In Victorian floriography, the flower carried a dual meaning, mourning and sorrow on the one hand, resilience and renewal on the other. Graves captures this duality when he writes, ’Pull or stab or cut or burn, / They will ever yet return.’ The marigold, with its golden bloom emerging each spring, becomes an emblem of endurance in the face of loss, a reminder that life continually pushes back against decay. Rossetti, painting at a time when he himself was burdened by ill health and emotional strain, may have found in the marigold a quiet metaphor for persistence, allowing his art to embody the same cycle of return that Graves’s poem celebrates.

Equally striking is the painting’s sense of domestic immediacy. Rossetti was quick to assure Leyland that Marigolds was ‘modern and naturalistic,’ and indeed, the scene eschews lofty allegory for the intimacy of daily life: a young girl carefully placing blossoms in a vase, a cat playfully tangling with a ball of worsted, the faded richness of tapestried walls. This balance between realism and symbolism reflects Rossetti’s fascination with beauty as both ordinary and transcendent. By anchoring the marigolds within a recognisable domestic setting, he elevates a fleeting household moment into a meditation on permanence, underscoring how even the simplest gestures can carry the weight of renewal.

At the heart of Marigolds is ‘Little Annie,’ the daughter of the Kelmscott Manor gardener, who occasionally assisted in the house. Painted at Kelmscott in the spring of 1873 and finished in early 1874, the work captures Annie in a simple hood typically worn for housework, as she carefully places a vase of marigolds on the mantle shelf in the Green Room. Rossetti gave the painting several titles, The Bower Maiden, Fleur-de-Marie, and The Gardener’s Daughter, each emphasizing the domestic intimacy of the scene. Annie’s youthful poise and attentive gestures transform this ordinary task into a moment of quiet dignity, reinforcing the painting’s themes of care, renewal, and the persistent beauty of life.

This domestic setting also mirrors Rossetti’s own preoccupations during the early 1870s. He was navigating personal and creative challenges, including declining health and emotional strain, and the serene act of arranging marigolds becomes a gentle meditation on resilience. Annie, the flowers, and the Green Room together create a scene where everyday life and symbolic meaning intersect, echoing the same insistence on persistence and return celebrated decades later in Robert Graves’s poem.

Ultimately, Marigolds is a quiet testament to endurance and renewal, where the simplicity of a young girl placing flowers becomes a reflection of nature’s unstoppable vitality. Annie’s gentle presence and attentive gestures, combined with the marigolds’ persistent bloom, embody the cycle of return that Robert Graves later celebrated: ’Pull or stab or cut or burn, / They will ever yet return.’ Rossetti transforms a domestic moment into a meditation on life’s continuity, showing that beauty and resilience thrive even in the most ordinary of acts. In this convergence of naturalism, symbolism, and human care, the painting and the poem together remind us that beginnings, like the marigolds, always reemerge from hidden roots, inviting reflection on the quiet persistence of both nature and the human spirit.

For a PowerPoint Presentation, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6408804 and https://editions.covecollective.org/content/dante-gabriel-rossetti-marigolds-alternate-titles-bower-maiden-fleurs-de-marie-gardeners

Paul Cézanne’s lithograph Les Baigneurs

by 19th century ArtArtFrench ArtPost-ImpressionismPowerpointsUncategorized
Paul Cézanne, French Artist, 1839-1906
Les Baigneurs (Large Plate), 1896-1897, lithograph in colors, 419 x 521 mm, Private Collection https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6528944

Paul Cézanne’s lithograph Les Baigneurs is a masterful meditation on the relationship between figure, form, and landscape. Unlike the more polished bathers of classical tradition, Cézanne’s nude figures appear elemental, emerging from and dissolving into the terrain around them. In this image, boundaries blur… bodies echo trees, limbs mirror rocks, and space folds in on itself with quiet intensity. The muted tones and broad color planes evoke both physical solidity and ephemeral motion, inviting a deeper contemplation of perception and structure. As one haiku inspired by the work reflects: Colors breathe in stone / lines dissolve, rebuild the world, / depth through fractured light. This interplay of solidity and ambiguity is where Cézanne’s genius resides, offering not just a scene, but a new way of seeing.

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundation for the transition from 19th-century Impressionism to 20th-century modernism. Born in Aix-en-Provence to a wealthy banking family, Cézanne initially studied law before turning fully to art, despite his father’s objections. He moved between Paris and Provence throughout his life, forming a friendship with Émile Zola in his youth and later connecting with key Impressionists like Camille Pissarro. Though his early work was dark and expressive, Cézanne gradually developed a more structured, analytical approach to painting. His work was largely misunderstood during his lifetime, but he gained recognition late in his career, ultimately influencing generations of modern artists including Picasso, Matisse, and Braque.

Cézanne’s style is marked by a deep concern for form, structure, and the underlying geometry of nature. Rather than capturing fleeting light as the Impressionists did, he sought to depict the enduring essence of what he saw. He used repetitive, deliberate brushstrokes and patches of modulated color, what would later be termed “constructive strokes”, to build volume and depth. Cézanne broke traditional perspective, often presenting multiple viewpoints within a single composition, which gave his work a dynamic tension and spatial ambiguity. His landscapes, still lifes, and figure paintings are all composed of an architectonic sensibility, where every object, no matter how ordinary, is given weight and presence. This analytical approach, especially his reduction of natural forms into geometric shapes, cylinders, spheres, and cones, was a major steppingstone toward Cubism and modern abstraction.

The artist’s forays into lithography were limited, but they reflect his lasting interest in reworking earlier motifs through printmaking. According to MoMA experts, he produced a lithograph of Les Baigneurs as part of a small edition. It was one of just three lithographs he ever contributed to commercial portfolios, including an early series proposed by Ambroise Vollard. The famous Les Baigneurs (Large Plate) lithograph was created in 1896–97 and printed in colours on Ingres d’Arches paper, before an edition of one hundred. This work reinterprets his earlier oil paintings. It emphasizes bold contours, solid forms, and a strong pictorial structure of male figures immersed in swirling vegetation. The lithograph heightens Cézanne’s sculptural approach to composition. The figures lack modeled volume, seem suspended in the landscape, and show a deliberate disregard for traditional perspective. This spatial tension mirrors Cézanne’s experimental treatment of form and depth throughout his work.

Les Baigneurs (Large Plate) stands as a rare and refined expression of Cézanne’s artistic vision, rendered through the unconventional and demanding medium of color lithography. Its carefully balanced composition, where figures, trees, and terrain cohere into a unified, sculptural rhythm, demonstrates Cézanne’s ability to impose structure without sacrificing the organic vitality of nature. The lithograph’s planar brushwork and spatial ambiguity echo the artist’s mature style, inviting viewers into a world that feels both timeless and constructed. Given that Cézanne created only a handful of lithographs in his lifetime, this work is not only a masterclass in formal innovation but also a rare glimpse into how he adapted his painterly concerns to print. It is a composition that distills his lifelong pursuit: to capture the permanence of form within the fleetingness of vision.

For a PowerPoint Presentation on Paul Cézanne’s paintings of ‘Bathers, please… check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6528944 and https://www.moma.org/collection/works/59624 and https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/170.2006/#about

Rhyl Sands

by 19th century ArtArtArt of the United KingdomPowerpointsUncategorized
David Cox, UK artist, 1783–1859
Rhyl Sands, c.1854, Oil on Canvas, 454 x 630 mm, the TATE, London, UK https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/cox-rhyl-sands-t04130

Standing on the broad, breezy shore of Rhyl Sands, it’s easy to understand why David Cox was drawn to this stretch of the North Wales coast. In his painting Rhyl Sands, Cox captures not just the physical beauty of the beach—its golden expanse, the hazy sky, and the play of light on wet sand—but also the fleeting rhythms of seaside life. This was a place where families gathered, fishermen worked, and artists found endless inspiration. I’ve always found something quietly moving in Cox’s work; there’s a sense of peace in the wide-open space and an affection for the simple, everyday moments that unfold along the shore.

David Cox (1783–1859) was a prominent British landscape painter and one of the most important figures of the early English watercolour tradition. Born in Birmingham, he began his artistic career painting theatrical scenery before turning to landscape painting. Cox studied at the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited regularly at both the Royal Academy and the Society of Painters in Water Colours. He spent much of his career working between London and Birmingham, and later in life frequently visited North Wales, which became a major source of inspiration. His work played a key role in elevating watercolour painting to a respected art form in Britain.

Cox’s aesthetic is marked by a deep sensitivity to light, weather, and atmosphere. He is known for his expressive brushwork and ability to capture the fleeting moods of nature rather than its exact details. In his later years, his style became increasingly free and vigorous, often described as a forerunner to Impressionism in its focus on immediacy and movement. Rather than tightly controlled compositions, Cox preferred open scenes—windswept landscapes, coastal views, and everyday rural life—rendered with a bold yet subtle handling of colour and form. His work is celebrated for its emotional depth and naturalism, blending observation with a poetic interpretation of the landscape.

Rhyl Sands was painted by David Cox, a master of the British watercolour tradition, in 1854. By the time he created this painting, Cox was in his early seventies and had recently embraced oil painting following his training under W. J. Müller. He developed a particular attachment to North Wales, especially the coastal town of Rhyl, making multiple sketching trips there from the early 1840s. This version, one of three oil paintings on the subject, was acquired by Tate Britain in 1985 (Accession T04130) with help from the Friends of the Tate Gallery .

In Rhyl Sands, Cox opts for a painterly, weather-focused style, showcasing his mature technique in oils. The canvas, measuring 63 × 45.4 cm, is dominated by a sweeping sky of soft greys and whites that cast a delicate light over the sandy shore and its gently scattered figures. His brushwork is loose and expressive, blending sea, sand, and sky into an atmospheric whole rather than a detailed scene. Small human forms, beach carts, and distant buildings appear almost incidental, giving the composition a mood of open, unhurried space. The visual effect, achieved with muted tones and broad strokes, reflects Cox’s deep engagement with natural light and transient weather phenomena, qualities often seen as anticipating the Impressionist movement .

With its soft light, open composition, and subtle human presence, Rhyl Sands reflects Cox’s mature vision, rooted in observation but elevated by emotion and atmosphere. In blending the familiar rhythms of coastal life with an almost poetic treatment of light and space, the painting not only celebrates a specific landscape but also exemplifies the enduring power of landscape painting to evoke feeling, memory, and place.

For a PowerPoint Presentation of Rhyl Sands by David Cox, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/cox-rhyl-sands-t04130

Bastille Day

by 19th century ArtArtFlemish ArtPowerpoints
Alfred-Philippe Roll, French Artist, 1846-1919 
Bastille Day, 1880-1882, Oil on Canvas,  175 x  269 cm, Petit Palais, Paris, France https://www.petitpalais.paris.fr/en/oeuvre/bastille-day-1880-inauguration-monument-republic

On Quatorze Juillet, Fête Nationale Française, the streets of France come alive with celebration, echoing the ideals that have shaped the nation’s identity for centuries. This blog post draws inspiration from Alfred-Philippe Roll’s vibrant painting Bastille Day, which captures the spirit of liberty, fraternity, reason, and equality, core values at the heart of French republicanism. The artist’s canvas teems with joyful crowds and ‘drapeaux tricolore’ in motion, reflecting a nation united in celebration. Through art and symbolism, we explore how national identity is not only remembered but continually reimagined in the spirit of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité…

Alfred-Philippe Roll, was a French painter born in Paris, educated at the École des Beaux-Arts, and trained under prominent academic artists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Alexandre Cabanel. Initially painting in the academic tradition, Roll later gravitated toward realism, becoming a significant figure in the movement. He gained recognition for his vivid depictions of working-class life, national events, and civic pride. Deeply involved in the cultural life of the Third Republic, he held influential roles, including that of official state painter, and was awarded the Legion of Honour for his contributions to French art.

Roll’s artistic legacy lies in his ability to merge realism with national sentiment, producing grand-scale compositions that reflected the spirit and social fabric of his time. His painting Bastille Day is a prime example—brimming with energy, unity, and the democratic ethos of the French Republic. Roll captured public ceremonies, laborers, and patriotic celebrations with a painterly yet documentary eye, contributing to a visual identity for a modern France. His work bridged the academic and realist schools, offering a dignified portrayal of both the nation and its people in a period of transformation and civic renewal.

The artist’s Bastille Day, 1880 – Inauguration of the Monument to the Republic presents a vivid and crowded scene set in the Place de la République in Paris during the inaugural celebration of the newly established national holiday. The composition captures a moment of collective festivity, with a dense gathering of Parisians—families, workers, children, soldiers, and dignitaries—animatedly participating in the historic event. At the center of the square stands a temporary plaster model of Marianne, the future Monument to the Republic, flanked by fluttering tricolore flags. A canopy-covered platform on the left hosts officials, while musical performers and street figures animate the space with sound and movement. The painting serves as both a commemorative record and a portrayal of republican unity, showcasing the broad social spectrum of the French public coming together to affirm shared civic values.

Aesthetically, Roll’s painting balances realism with celebratory grandeur. The brushwork is fluid and varied—crisp in the rendering of faces and attire, yet looser in broader strokes that suggest movement and atmospheric vibrancy. The palette is rich with patriotic hues, with deep reds, luminous whites, and bold blues woven through the scene to echo the national flag. The artist employs strong diagonals and layered groupings to draw the viewer’s eye from the crowd to the statue and upward into the radiant sky, creating both depth and dynamism. The natural light bathes the square in a warm glow, enhancing the festive mood while grounding the scene in a tangible reality. Through this orchestration of color, composition, and expression, Roll transforms a civic gathering into a vibrant visual anthem of the early Third Republic.

As we reflect on the meaning of Quatorze Juillet, Roll’s painting and the figure of Marianne remind us that national celebration is not just about pageantry, it is a reaffirmation of shared values and collective memory. Art has the power to capture the emotional heart of history, preserving moments that unite generations. In honoring these symbols, we honor the enduring ideals of the French Republic, liberty, fraternity, reason ane equality, that continue to inspire and guide its people today.

For a PowerPoint Presentation on Alfred-Philippe Roll’s oeuvre, please… Check HERE!

Bibliography: https://www.petitpalais.paris.fr/en/oeuvre/bastille-day-1880-inauguration-monument-republic  

The Ironworkers’ Noontime

by 19th century ArtAmerican ArtArtPowerpointsUncategorized
Thomas Pollock Anshutz, American Artist, 1851-1912
The Ironworkers’ Noontime, 1880, Oil on Canvas, 43.2 x 60.6 cm, de Young/Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA, USA https://www.famsf.org/artworks/the-ironworkers-noontime

In an unexpected twist of history, Thomas Pollock Anshutz’s The Ironworkers’ Noontime, a powerful portrayal of laborers taking a rare moment of rest amidst the harsh realities of an iron mill, found itself repurposed as the centerpiece of an advertisement for Ivory Soap. This unlikely pairing of industrial grit and domestic cleanliness highlights a fascinating intersection of art and commerce, reframing the painting’s somber realism as a symbol of purity and progress. This transformation invites us to explore not just the artistic merits of Anshutz’s work but also its evolving cultural significance, as it transitioned from a poignant statement on the working class to a tool for marketing middle-class ideals.

Advertisement for Ivory Soap, c.1890 (colour litho) by Thomas Pollock Anschutz (1851-1912) Private Collection https://www.mediastorehouse.com.au/fine-art-finder/artists/american-school/ad-ivory-soap-c-1890-colour-litho-22922188.html

Thomas Pollock Anshutz’s The Ironworkers’ Noontime presents a vivid snapshot of life in an industrial iron mill during the late 19th century. The painting captures a group of workers taking a break, their figures scattered across the foreground in various states of rest and conversation. The central figures are shirtless, their muscular forms accentuated by the play of light and shadow, evoking both their physical strength and the exhaustion of labor. The background is dominated by the hazy glow of molten iron and the imposing structures of the factory, subtly reminding the viewer of the workers’ demanding environment. Anshutz’s composition seamlessly integrates these human and industrial elements, drawing attention to the relationship between man and machine in this transformative era.

While Anshutz predates the formal emergence of the Ashcan School, The Ironworkers’ Noontime embodies many of its aesthetic values, making it a precursor to the movement. The painting’s gritty realism, focus on the working class, and unidealized portrayal of labor align with the Ashcan artists’ commitment to capturing the raw truths of urban and industrial life. Anshutz’s use of muted colors and dramatic lighting enhances the atmospheric tension, creating a balance between the harshness of the mill and the humanity of its workers. This empathetic yet unsentimental depiction of the labor force stands as a testament to his artistic foresight, bridging the academic traditions of his time with the emerging modernist tendencies that would later define the Ashcan ethos.

Thomas Pollock Anshutz (1851–1912) was an influential American painter and teacher, best known for his realist depictions of industrial and working-class life. Born in Newport, Kentucky, Anshutz studied art at the National Academy of Design in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia. At PAFA, he became a pivotal figure under the mentorship of Thomas Eakins, with whom he shared a commitment to realism and the human figure. Anshutz’s early works reflect his meticulous academic training and a deep interest in the social and physical conditions of his subjects, which would become hallmarks of his career.

In addition to his painting, Anshutz was a celebrated teacher who influenced a generation of American artists, including members of the Ashcan School like Robert Henri and John Sloan. As a faculty member at PAFA, he succeeded Eakins as head of the school’s painting department, shaping its curriculum with a focus on direct observation and technical excellence. Though his body of work is relatively small, pieces like The Ironworkers’ Noontime stand as iconic representations of the social realist tradition in American art. Anshutz’s legacy endures not only through his paintings but also through his contributions to the development of modern American art, bridging the academic traditions of the 19th century with the expressive realism of the 20th.

The Ashcan style represents a pivotal movement in early 20th-century American art, characterized by its unvarnished depiction of urban and working-class life. Rejecting the idealized aesthetics of academic art and the genteel subjects favored by the Gilded Age, Ashcan artists focused on the gritty realities of modern cities—crowded streets, tenements, laborers, and everyday scenes imbued with raw emotion. Their use of dark, earthy tones and loose, dynamic brushwork emphasized immediacy and authenticity over polished perfection. Though Thomas Pollock Anshutz predates the formal Ashcan School, his work laid the groundwork for its ethos. Anshutz’s empathetic yet unsentimental portrayal of laborers reflects the same commitment to realism and the human condition that would define the Ashcan movement, making him an essential precursor to its development.

For a PowerPoint Presentation of Thomas Pollock Anshutz’s Oeuvre, please… Check HERE!

Angelos Giallinas

by 19th century Art20th century ArtArtGreek ArtNeohellenic ArtStudent ActivitiesUncategorizedWorksheets
Angelos Giallina, Greek Artist, 1857 – 1939
The Parthenon, Watercolour over Pencil, 273 by 455 mm, Private Collection
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/royal-noble/the-parthenon?locale=en

In his approach to the Parthenon, Angelos Giallinas (1857–1939), a prominent Greek watercolorist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not only portrayed the monument as an architectural subject but elevated it to a lyrical symbol of Greek heritage. His work, deeply connected to the theme of Light, Memory, and Reverence, reflects a profound sensitivity to the interplay between the ancient ruins and the surrounding natural environment. Born in Corfu, Giallinas studied at the local School of Fine Arts before continuing his education in Venice, Naples, and Rome. There, he absorbed the refined tonalities of the Italian landscape tradition, which he later fused with a uniquely Greek sensibility rooted in poetic realism and national pride.

Giallinas’s depictions of the Parthenon are marked by a restrained yet evocative use of watercolor. He did not aim for archaeological precision but instead emphasized the atmospheric qualities of the scene, the golden hues of Attic sunlight, the gradations of the Athenian sky, and the quiet dialogue between the ruins and the surrounding landscape. This impressionistic approach aligned with European aesthetic movements of his time while remaining deeply connected to the emotional resonance of place and memory in Greek culture.

Throughout his career, Giallinas gained significant recognition both at home and abroad. He held successful exhibitions across Europe, including in London, where his work attracted the attention of collectors and critics. In 1902, he was commissioned by the British royal family to create a series of Greek landscapes, further elevating his international profile. He played a pivotal role in legitimizing watercolor as a medium for serious artistic expression within Greek art, moving beyond its traditional role as a preparatory tool.

Technically, Giallinas mastered watercolor’s fluidity and transparency with exceptional subtlety. His brushwork was controlled yet expressive, employing translucent washes to create depth without sacrificing luminosity. He avoided harsh contrasts, favoring gradations of color that conveyed a meditative stillness. In his hands, watercolor became a means not just of depiction, but of evocation—his skies, seas, and stones imbued with feeling as much as form.

Crucially, Giallinas’s art reflects the broader cultural currents of post-independence Greece, where landscape painting became a vehicle for expressing national identity. His serene views of the Parthenon and other iconic sites participated in the 19th-century project of reconnecting modern Greece to its classical past. Yet his interpretation was not triumphant or didactic; instead, it was introspective and elegiac. By rendering these monuments with atmospheric sensitivity rather than monumental grandeur, Giallinas offered a vision of Greece that was rooted in continuity, memory, and quiet resilience—qualities that resonated deeply in a society still defining itself between antiquity and modernity.

When I look at Giallinas’s paintings of the Parthenon, I’m struck by their quiet power. There’s no theatrical drama, no exaggerated gesture—just a deep, contemplative calm. He treats the monument not as a tourist spectacle but as something intimate: a memory held in light and stone. The watercolor bleeds gently around the contours of the ruins, dissolving into the pale Athenian sky, as if he’s painting not only what he sees but what he feels. The Parthenon appears suspended in time, drifting between history and the present. Giallinas’s brush whispers rather than declares—and in that quietness, he captures something enduring, something essentially Greek.

For a Student Activity, inspired by Angelos Giallinas’s interpretation of the Parthenon, please… Check HERE!

You can view a former Teacher-Curator BLOG POST titled ‘Garden in Corfu by Angelos Giallinas’… https://www.teachercurator.com/art/garden-in-corfu-by-angelos-giallinas/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKIGElleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5ZWtES1JYMDBPQVY5c055AR7-a8br2Ukq3ahJuUCSU0eESsf5WwODDQtNdgSK0kYgNnSS856uiARVWSentw_aem_T8IM2xzIAGQQEC4qcWajdQ

Bibliography: https://corfuguidedtours.com/a-renowned-painters-historic-mansion/?utm_source=chatgpt.com and https://haaa.gr/news/en_30.php?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The Roses of Heliogabalus by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

by 19th century ArtArtArt of the United KingdomPowerpointsVictorian Art
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M., R.A., R.W.S., British Artist, 1836-1912
The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888, Oil on Canvas, 132.7 cm × 214.4 cm, Private Collection https://medium.com/@nauraanadhira/artwork-explained-the-roses-of-heliogabalus-by-alma-tadema-deb5113cb8b

As June blooms in full splendor, there is no better time to celebrate the rose, the quintessential flower of this month, than through the lavish spectacle of The Roses of Heliogabalus by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. This sumptuous painting, a masterpiece of Victorian classicism, captures a moment of both beauty and morbid decadence drawn from the Historia Augusta… In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once overwhelmed his parasites with violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top.  With petals cascading like a silken avalanche, Alma-Tadema transforms a tale of imperial excess into a vision of opulence tinged with quiet horror—perfectly suited for a season where nature and drama entwine. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html (Historia Augusta. Life of Elagabalus — Part 2 of 2)

The Roses of Heliogabalus is a striking fusion of historical narrative and aesthetic opulence. Painted in 1888, it depicts a sensational episode from the life of the Roman Emperor Elagabalus (or Heliogabalus), known for his eccentricity and extravagance. The story, as recounted in the Historia Augusta, tells of a banquet where the emperor used a reversible ceiling to release an overwhelming cascade of violet petals—though Alma-Tadema substitutes violets with roses—to smother his guests for amusement. This chilling episode of cruelty masked by beauty becomes the core of Alma-Tadema’s vision, offering a glimpse into the macabre excesses of ancient imperial decadence.

Aesthetically, the painting is a feast for the senses. The scene is bathed in soft, golden light that dances on the marble surfaces of the opulent banquet hall. Clad in flowing silks, the reclining figures exude a lethargic elegance, their expressions caught between delight and alarm as petals rain down in suffocating abundance. Alma-Tadema’s meticulous attention to classical detail—visible in the architecture, textiles, and floral textures—reveals his archeological fascination with antiquity. Yet beyond historical accuracy, he layers the image with sensuality and spectacle, transforming the tale into a visual symphony of beauty, excess, and impending doom.

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) was one of the most celebrated and successful painters of the Victorian era, renowned for his meticulously detailed portrayals of the ancient world—especially scenes of Roman luxury and domestic life. Born as Lourens Alma Tadema in the small Dutch village of Dronrijp, Friesland, he showed artistic talent from a young age. Orphaned of his father at four, Alma-Tadema originally set out to study law, but after a health scare in his teens (when doctors mistakenly predicted he had only a short time to live), he chose to devote his remaining days to painting. He recovered fully, and went on to live a long and prolific life.

He trained at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, and it was during a trip to Italy in 1863 that he fell in love with ancient Roman architecture and culture. This moment would shape the rest of his artistic life. After moving to England in 1870—amid the chaos of the Franco-Prussian War—he anglicized his name to Lawrence and added “Alma” (originally a middle name) to the front to stand out in alphabetical exhibition catalogs. In England, his career flourished. He became a favorite of both the Royal Academy and Queen Victoria, was knighted in 1899, and later received the Order of Merit.

Alma-Tadema was known for his obsessive attention to historical details. His London studio was famously packed with Roman artifacts, architectural fragments, and textiles. Visitors joked that he lived like an emperor among his collection. One anecdote tells of how he spent weeks experimenting with rose petals for The Roses of Heliogabalus—ordering fresh blooms by the thousands and even timing how long it would take for them to fall realistically from the ceiling. In his personal life, he was equally colorful: he married his second wife, Laura Epps (a talented painter herself), after painting her as a muse and falling in love through their shared artistic passion.

Though his popularity waned after his death—dismissed by Modernists as overly sentimental and decorative—Alma-Tadema’s work has since enjoyed a revival, admired for its technical brilliance and imaginative evocation of a world suspended between beauty and decay.

For a PowerPoint Presentation on the oeuvre ofSir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, please… Check HERE!

Teacher Curator has already POSTED two presentations on Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, titled… Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Romantic Love https://www.teachercurator.com/19th-century-art/sir-lawrence-alma-tadema-and-romantic-love/ and A Coign of Vantage by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema https://www.teachercurator.com/19th-century-art/a-coign-of-vantage-by-sir-lawrence-alma-tadema/

Bibliography: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/severans/roses.html and https://medium.com/@nauraanadhira/artwork-explained-the-roses-of-heliogabalus-by-alma-tadema-deb5113cb8b

Photo Credit: https://medium.com/@nauraanadhira/artwork-explained-the-roses-of-heliogabalus-by-alma-tadema-deb5113cb8b