Paintings/Artwork in Galleries and Museums

[deepeabee]

I am sure I saw the bottom painting in the art gallery in Chicago when we were there a few years ago. They also have quite a few Monet paintings and I never really rated him until I saw them. I am an avid fan now.

[Katharine]

I'm not very knowledgeable about paintings, and out of all the various art forms, it's probably my least favourite, I'd rather go and see a ballet, or concert than an art gallery, but that picture of the horse is stunning!

I also quite liked the John Constable picture of Salisbury Cathedral that I saw during the week. When I first walked into the room, I saw the painting at close quarters, and didn't think it was anything special. I then wandered around the rest of the room, and turned round and say the Salisbury painting from further away, and it looked much better. A friend who is familiar with Salisbury, says it was an 'unrealistic' view of Salisbury though.

I like museums, castles etc. but mostly find all those family portraits rather boring. The only time I ever really studied them was when I visited a Castle when I was pregnant. The castle had been owned by a family with the same surname as us, so we looked at all the names on the portraits to see if there were any that we liked.

I think on the whole I prefer looking at photos than paintings.

[Anita Bensoussane]

They [the art gallery in Chicago] also have quite a few Monet paintings and I never really rated him until I saw them. I am an avid fan now.

There are a few Monets at the National Gallery, including paintings of his water-lily pond and Japanese bridge.

I like museums, castles etc. but mostly find all those family portraits rather boring...I think on the whole I prefer looking at photos than paintings.

When it comes to portraits I often prefer photos too, though many portraits in galleries date from before the advent of photography, of course. But in general I love paintings because I enjoy comparing different styles and admiring the skill that has gone into them. Also, artists can choose their own composition, arrange things in an unexpected or thought-provoking way and interpret things imaginatively, whereas a photographer is more limited (though photos can now be altered digitally, of course).

Going back to Bartolemé Bermejo's picture, the Devil looks rather more appealing than the blank-faced angel and grim-looking human! His mouth makes me think of Zippy from Rainbow!

[Katharine]

I often wonder how accurate portrait painters were in the past, as often I feel people's face are rather flat and featureless. Did people really have different shaped faces 200 years ago, were many painters rather limited in their skills, or was it the equivalent to modern airbrushing?

Although I do love fantasy pictures such as fairies etc., I think the reason I generally prefer photos to paintings is because they are usually realistic. I dislike 'interpretations' in paintings.

One artist I do know a little bit about though, and actually have a book of his drawings, is Rodney Matthews. That goes against everything I normally like, as many of his pictures are quite cruel looking, and I like 'nice' pictures. I think perhaps it's because I was introduced to his work by someone many years ago, and the pictures remind me of a special time in my life. I have a postcard of his 'Inverted Landscapes' which I used as a book mark whenever I read 'The Lord of The Rings'. To me the picture has a 'Middle Earth' feel about it.

[Katharine]

If it's not being nosey, what pictures do fellow forumites have hanging in their own homes?

We have a real mix. There are pictures of our children. A little girl picking blackberries - very Victorian looking. A framed poster from Disney's Fantasia which we got free with a video. Three paintings of steam trains which I cut out of a calendar. A photo of a dolphin jumping out of the sea - they were all the rage back in the early 1990s. Three postcards, one of Land's End and 2 of mountains in Scotland. A painting of Damon Hill winning a Grand Prix. My wedding bouquet which was dried and pressed. Finally along our landing we have a montage of family photos, one for each year since my youngest daughter was born.

Not at all sophisticated, and a real mismatch of styles etc. The only them as such is that we've tried to use the same kind of frames in in the same rooms.

[Rob Houghton]

We have loads of pictures on our walls, mainly prints. I couldn't name them all, but up the wall by the stairs we have about 20 small framed prints of posters I've designed over the years for the musical society I'm in - ranging from Pirates of Penzance to Half A Sixpence. On top of the landing we have a portrait I did of an elderly friend - which we had back when he died, and my Enid Blyton painting. Downstairs, we have two water colours of Cornish scenes - Fowey (Daphne DuMaurier's house) and Polperro. Two 'collectors plates' of characters from Gone With The Wind featuring Scarlett and Rhett and another showing Daddy Warbucks. Two framed prints of old fashioned scenes - blacksmith and coaching house. In my bedroom amongst other pictures I have a framed Gone With the Wind poster and 4 collectable Disney plates, plus a framed print of the Famous Five (which I scanned from a book) and three small Noddy prints.

We have a few more too - painting of a galleon being tossed on the sea (oil painting) and also a large painting of a river and bridge, houses and swans, not sure who by, plus a few others!

[Poppy]

Most of the pictures on our walls are canvasses of fairly new paintings. Of course, there's lots of photos of us, and a fantastic canvas of Dino, which I got for Christmas, this year. There's my latch hook rug, above the piano, etc. I don't think we have any intricate paintings on the walls. My Nana has a big framed print of 'Flaming June' by Frederic Leighton, though, which I think is gorgeous:

[Anita Bensoussane]

I often wonder how accurate portrait painters were in the past, as often I feel people's face are rather flat and featureless. Did people really have different shaped faces 200 years ago, were many painters rather limited in their skills, or was it the equivalent to modern airbrushing?

Looking at old portraits, I've sometimes wondered why so many people in the past seemed to have long noses and hooded eyelids! My guess is that those features were considered attractive, so artists bestowed them on almost everyone regardless of reality!

One artist I do know a little bit about though, and actually have a book of his drawings, is Rodney Matthews. That goes against everything I normally like, as many of his pictures are quite cruel looking, and I like 'nice' pictures. I think perhaps it's because I was introduced to his work by someone many years ago, and the pictures remind me of a special time in my life. I have a postcard of his 'Inverted Landscapes' which I used as a book mark whenever I read 'The Lord of The Rings'. To me the picture has a 'Middle Earth' feel about it.

I used to have a Rodney Matthews postcard - again a fantasy landscape.

...up the wall by the stairs we have about 20 small framed prints of posters I've designed over the years for the musical society I'm in - ranging from Pirates of Penzance to Half A Sixpence. On top of the landing we have a portrait I did of an elderly friend - which we had back when he died, and my Enid Blyton painting.

Those sound amazing, Robert. It's lovely to have personal things like that. We've just got family photos on our walls, and a couple of posters in our son and daughter's bedroom.

[Katharine]

Poppy, I love the colours in that painting, the dress reminds me of Day Lilies which grow in my garden every summer.

Anita, I think that there was probably a fashion for attractive features and as you say, artists included them regardless of reality.

Last week I saw a sketch, I'm not sure who it was by, someone connected with Gainsborough I think. It was of a nude woman who had a small 'chest' and a rather rounded stomach, anyone being painted looking like that nowadays would probably feel rather insulted. I thought it rather amusing to think that a modern woman would be portrayed the other way around, ie rather top heavy and with a flat stomach.

[Moonraker]

What a lot of art lovers we seem to be! we have Constable's Salisbury Cathedral From the Meadows hanging in our drawing room. We saw the original when it was loaned to Salisbury Museum, and just had to have a copy.



The perspective is dreadful, though!

[Katharine]

There were postcards available of Salisbury Cathedral, but it was pouring with rain outside, so I decided not to get one in case it got wet on the way home. I would like to get one though at some point.

Nigel it was interesting to read your comment about the perspective.

[Poppy]

That is a striking picture, Nigel!

Poppy, I love the colours in that painting, the dress reminds me of Day Lilies which grow in my garden every summer.

That is just what is reminds me of, Katharine! I love Orange Lilies, but they never seem to be in bloom for long, which is a shame, because they really are beautiful.

[walter raleigh]

I also love this realistic painting by Joseph Wright 'of Derby' - An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
(1768):

Yes, I forgot about the Joseph Wright. Another of my favourite paintings, that I didn't know they had. His painting of an Orrery is fabulous too:



Another picture I love which I did know was in the National Gallery is this one by Quentin Matsys:



Of course Tenniel used it as a source for his depiction of the Duchess in "Alice In Wonderland".

If it's not being nosey, what pictures do fellow forumites have hanging in their own homes?

Despite being an art lover I've got no pictures on my walls, for the simple reason that most of my wall space is taken up by bookcases.

[Katharine]

The lighting in the first painting is amazing, hard to believe it's not a photo. The second one made me shudder - I shall have nightmares now.

Despite being an art lover I've got no pictures on my walls, for the simple reason that most of my wall space is taken up by bookcases.

I'm sure many of us here would think walls lined with bookcases are a work of art in their own right.

[Eddie Muir]

I'm sure many of us here would think walls lined with bookcases are a work of art in their own right.

I certainly would, Katharine.