The Gita Govinda, or “song” of Govinda, is a 12th century piece by the Indian poet Jayadeva which was later illustrated in a series of small paintings (circa 1775-1780) at Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. “The […]
Tag: art history
Adrift
In every medium, there’s at least one motif that is repeated compulsively. With writers — in the West at least — it’s a story based on Greek mythology, often produced in the adolescence of their […]
(Art) The Trances of Hilma af Klint
The Guggenheim in New York is running a major retrospective on Hilma af Klint through early 2019. I discovered her only recently as I was doing research for my forthcoming occult mystery, FEAST OF SHADOWS. […]
Women for sale
Jean-Léon Gérôme’s second painting titled “The Slave Market” showcases classical depictions of women: the madonna with child, the harlot on her passion-red cloth, the crone, the wastrel, etc. A fantastic statement on the presentation of […]
(Art) The Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait
Contemporary artist Theo Vandor has painstakingly removed the figures from Jan Van Eyck’s 1434 masterpiece, commonly known as “The Arnolfini Portrait,” which depicts a wealthy Italian merchant and his (eventual) wife in their home. Painted […]
(Art) The Worst Artist Who Ever Lived
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) was a Dutch-born British artist who became one of the wealthiest painters of the 19th century. A talented marketer as well as painter, he anglicized his name from Laurens to Lawrence so […]
(Feature) Sex, Lies, and Oil Paint
Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse’s 1916 depiction of the death of Messalina is a study in male power. Note the anger of the soldier as he grips her hair, the patrician’s condescending douchebro smirk, the gaze of the […]
