Sunday, March 1, 2009

Yale Center for British Art, March 1, 2009

"The Reception" by John Frederick Lewis, oil on panel, 1873. This painting, The Reception, is one of the cornerstones of Tate Britain's touring exhibition The Lure of the East. This painting was first put on display at the Royal Academy of Arts, called "A Lady Receiving Visitors". This painting have great detail, from the stain glassed windows that shines light into the room. The pool reflects the people standing around the pool. Frederick put much into the detail of the tiles on the floor. When I look at this painting the ceiling is very well crafted. The colors that were used are warm and bright. This painting is titled "The Reception" I'm not sure why but I would assume that the woman on the sofa is the person that everyone has come to see. This woman may be a queen or a princess of some sort. I noticed how there were mostly women in this painting and only two men who are black, which would lead me to believe they were the servants. Lots of painting like this one the artist has created leads you to believe that it's a photo and not a painting. It's flawless!










"Hercules" by John Michael Rysbrack, Terracotta, 1745-52






















"The Death of Lucretia" by Galvin Hamilton 1963-67 Lucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. Her husband was Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, her father was Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus and her brother was Lucius Junius Brutus. According to Roman mythology her rape and consequent suicide were the cause for the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic.
According to the version of Livy
, the last King of Rome had a violent son, Sextus Tarquinius, who in 509 BC raped a Roman noblewoman named Lucretia. He told her that if she did not do what he said, then he would kill her and place her dead body naked next to the body of a slave. This was considered disgusting; the act of committing adultery with a lowly slave, and so Lucretia was compelled to let Tarquinius take advantage of her. Lucretia compelled her family to take action by gathering her kinsmen, telling them what happened, and then killing herself. When her family found her she was dead, with a knife stabbing her heart.




"John Orde, His Wife Anne, and His Eldest Son William" by Arthur Devis, 1754-56 Oil on Canvas.



Dosn't this look like President Obama! Well, it's not him. This scupture was created in 1988 by John Davies, titled "Untitled" It's bronze, painted with oil and synthetic polymer paint. I asked the gaurd if it was President Obama, he said no; everyone asks that question.