Velasquez was the court painter of Phillip IV of Spain. The little girl in the centre of the picture is the 5 year old Infanta of Spain, Phillip’s only living heir, and Velasquez standing at the back on the left by his easel is painting her picture. The two girls …
Painted in 1872, it is an image of the game sometimes also called Crack the Whip. A group of boys play this rough and tumble game. In the back of the field is the little red schoolhouse these boys attend. Analyze the picture to explain how the game is played, …
In December 1888, Van Gogh mutilated his ear. Recognizing what was probably depression, he admitted himself to an “insane asylum” for the wealthy where he had his own bedroom and a separate art studio. Here he created some of his most famous paintings, including The Starry Night. Find Don McLean’s …
Seurat was an impressionist painter who used pointillism – which is thousands upon thousands of tiny little dots to create the painting. “Green” might be made of many tiny dots of green, and blue, and yellow, and maybe even red. This is an upper middle class park. Write a detailed …
There are 5 different ones in the series, each painting is of Provencal peasants in France, always male, always totally engrossed in the card game. One of them was sold to the royal family of Qatar in 2017 for $250 million dollars. Write about card games that you play, where, …
Vermeer was a dutch painter only 36 of whose paintings have survived- this is probably a portrait of Leeuwenhoek, the first scientist working with microscopes – also Dutch. It was stolen by the Nazi’s during WWII, but returned to the Jewish Rothschild banking family after the war. This painting has …
In slang a “nighthawk” is an insomniac or a person who naturally prefers the night. The picture is said to represent the loneliness of the city. The actual “nighthawk” is a bird that hunts at night. Shows like “the Simpsons” and various movies have set up a scene like this …
Degas frequently painted and sculpted ballet dancers. The man in the painting is a famous ballet master teacher. Taking lessons. Write about lessons you have taken – music, dance, skiing, skating, bike riding, even Kumon – any lessons taught by someone other than your parents. Write about outfits and costumes …
Hokusai (Japanese) is the most famous woodblock printmaker in the world. He painted 36 Views of Mount Fuji, of which this is the most reproduced. Mount Fuji is in the back of the picture. Painted in the 1820’s, it was the time that the west forced the opening of Japan …
Peter Bruegel the Elder was from the Netherlands, and was among the first generation of artists to paint oil paintings of every day life, when all paintings were no longer of mostly religious themes. He painted the activities of peasants which gives us a real window into life in the …
