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17401_T | Animals in Pools | Explore the Reception of this artwork, Animals in Pools. | According to the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which maintains the work, the animal sculptures "are some of the most beloved in the public art collection as can be seen by the many shiny spots resulting from years of petting and cuddling". | [
"Regional Arts & Culture Council"
] |
|
17401_NT | Animals in Pools | Explore the Reception of this artwork. | According to the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which maintains the work, the animal sculptures "are some of the most beloved in the public art collection as can be seen by the many shiny spots resulting from years of petting and cuddling". | [
"Regional Arts & Culture Council"
] |
|
17402_T | Cossacks (sculpture composition) | Focus on Cossacks (sculpture composition) and discuss the abstract. | Cossacks (Russian: Казаки) is a sculpture composition on the north-west outskirts of Volgodonsk, Rostov oblast, Russia. It decorates the lock No. 15 of Volga–Don Shipping Canal. The sculpture composition was opened in 1953. It was designed by sculptor Georgy Motovilov and architect Leonid Polyakov. By resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of August 30, 1960 No. 1327, the monument was designated a federal Heritage Site. It is the only object of federal cultural heritage in Volgodonsk and Volgodonskoy District. Cossacks sculptures symbolize the military glory of the Don Cossacks as a whole and the feat of the 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Corps during the Great Patriotic War. | [
"Volgodonsk",
"lock",
"Volgodonskoy District",
"Great Patriotic War",
"Don Cossacks",
"Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic",
"Volga–Don Shipping Canal",
"Rostov oblast",
"4th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Corps",
"Russia"
] |
|
17402_NT | Cossacks (sculpture composition) | Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract. | Cossacks (Russian: Казаки) is a sculpture composition on the north-west outskirts of Volgodonsk, Rostov oblast, Russia. It decorates the lock No. 15 of Volga–Don Shipping Canal. The sculpture composition was opened in 1953. It was designed by sculptor Georgy Motovilov and architect Leonid Polyakov. By resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of August 30, 1960 No. 1327, the monument was designated a federal Heritage Site. It is the only object of federal cultural heritage in Volgodonsk and Volgodonskoy District. Cossacks sculptures symbolize the military glory of the Don Cossacks as a whole and the feat of the 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Corps during the Great Patriotic War. | [
"Volgodonsk",
"lock",
"Volgodonskoy District",
"Great Patriotic War",
"Don Cossacks",
"Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic",
"Volga–Don Shipping Canal",
"Rostov oblast",
"4th Guards Kuban Cossack Cavalry Corps",
"Russia"
] |
|
17403_T | Cossacks (sculpture composition) | How does Cossacks (sculpture composition) elucidate its Description? | The sculpture composition consists of two towers-columns located on both sides of the last lock (No. 15) of Volga–Don Shipping Canal. Massive pedestals are topped with bronze statues of horsemen. The pedestals are designed in the style of early classicism. They are decorated with fielded panel. The monument is 9 m height; width is 4.5 m at the base.
The Cossacks in uniform represented as a prancing horsemen. One of them threatens with a shashka. Other keeps it above the head. Economic or some other activities that can undermine preservation of the monument is prohibited on the immediate area because that this sculpture composition is object of cultural heritage. Also advertisement placement and deforestation are prohibited. | [
"lock",
"shashka",
"Volga–Don Shipping Canal"
] |
|
17403_NT | Cossacks (sculpture composition) | How does this artwork elucidate its Description? | The sculpture composition consists of two towers-columns located on both sides of the last lock (No. 15) of Volga–Don Shipping Canal. Massive pedestals are topped with bronze statues of horsemen. The pedestals are designed in the style of early classicism. They are decorated with fielded panel. The monument is 9 m height; width is 4.5 m at the base.
The Cossacks in uniform represented as a prancing horsemen. One of them threatens with a shashka. Other keeps it above the head. Economic or some other activities that can undermine preservation of the monument is prohibited on the immediate area because that this sculpture composition is object of cultural heritage. Also advertisement placement and deforestation are prohibited. | [
"lock",
"shashka",
"Volga–Don Shipping Canal"
] |
|
17404_T | Woman-Ochre | Focus on Woman-Ochre and analyze the abstract. | Woman-Ochre is a 1955 abstract expressionist oil painting by Dutch/American artist Willem de Kooning, part of his Woman series from that period. It was controversial in its day, like the other paintings in the series, for its explicit use of figures, which Jackson Pollock and other abstract expressionists considered a betrayal of the movement's ideal of pure, non-representational painting. Feminists also considered the works misogynistic, suggesting violent impulses toward the women depicted.
Several years after it was completed, a wealthy collector from the Eastern United States bought it and later donated it to the new University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) in Tucson, where he frequently vacationed, with the stipulation that the museum could not ever sell or give it away, even as the value of other de Kooning paintings from that era rose to over $100 million in the early 21st century; however the stipulation did not prevent the museum from loaning it to traveling exhibits, and it went with several, as far away as Eastern Europe.
In 1985 it was stolen from the museum. Investigators believed the thieves were a couple who had visited the museum briefly on the day after Thanksgiving Day that year, as it was found to have been cut from its frame shortly after they left. Sketches were circulated in an effort to identify them, but no leads turned up until it was recovered 32 years later after it was offered for sale at a New Mexico antique store, where it had been part of the estate of Jerry and Rita Alter, two former New York City public school teachers who had retired to the area. Visitors to the store speculated that the work was a de Kooning, and then the proprietor found a picture of the missing painting on the Internet. He contacted museum staff, who were able to provisionally authenticate it, and it was returned to Tucson. The museum did not put it back on exhibit, except for one day before sending it to the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, and raised funds to restore and repair it. After delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was finished in 2022. The J. Paul Getty Museum is currently exhibiting it before the painting's return to Tucson.
It has not been determined who stole the painting. Suspicion has fallen on the Alters, who were photographed at a family Thanksgiving dinner in Tucson the night before the theft, and displayed it in their house in a manner that only they were likely to have seen during their lifetimes. They also did bear a slight resemblance to the couple in the sketches, and Jerome Alter later wrote a book of stories in which two characters carry out a similar theft of a museum piece to reserve for their own exclusive enjoyment. The living relatives of the Alters believe it is possible that they bought the painting from a third party, entirely unaware of its provenance. | [
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"traveling exhibit",
"use of figures",
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"Sketches",
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"New York City public school teachers",
"University of Arizona",
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"Jackson Pollock",
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"Eastern United States",
"left",
"University of Arizona Museum of Art",
"oil painting",
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] |
|
17404_NT | Woman-Ochre | Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract. | Woman-Ochre is a 1955 abstract expressionist oil painting by Dutch/American artist Willem de Kooning, part of his Woman series from that period. It was controversial in its day, like the other paintings in the series, for its explicit use of figures, which Jackson Pollock and other abstract expressionists considered a betrayal of the movement's ideal of pure, non-representational painting. Feminists also considered the works misogynistic, suggesting violent impulses toward the women depicted.
Several years after it was completed, a wealthy collector from the Eastern United States bought it and later donated it to the new University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) in Tucson, where he frequently vacationed, with the stipulation that the museum could not ever sell or give it away, even as the value of other de Kooning paintings from that era rose to over $100 million in the early 21st century; however the stipulation did not prevent the museum from loaning it to traveling exhibits, and it went with several, as far away as Eastern Europe.
In 1985 it was stolen from the museum. Investigators believed the thieves were a couple who had visited the museum briefly on the day after Thanksgiving Day that year, as it was found to have been cut from its frame shortly after they left. Sketches were circulated in an effort to identify them, but no leads turned up until it was recovered 32 years later after it was offered for sale at a New Mexico antique store, where it had been part of the estate of Jerry and Rita Alter, two former New York City public school teachers who had retired to the area. Visitors to the store speculated that the work was a de Kooning, and then the proprietor found a picture of the missing painting on the Internet. He contacted museum staff, who were able to provisionally authenticate it, and it was returned to Tucson. The museum did not put it back on exhibit, except for one day before sending it to the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, and raised funds to restore and repair it. After delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was finished in 2022. The J. Paul Getty Museum is currently exhibiting it before the painting's return to Tucson.
It has not been determined who stole the painting. Suspicion has fallen on the Alters, who were photographed at a family Thanksgiving dinner in Tucson the night before the theft, and displayed it in their house in a manner that only they were likely to have seen during their lifetimes. They also did bear a slight resemblance to the couple in the sketches, and Jerome Alter later wrote a book of stories in which two characters carry out a similar theft of a museum piece to reserve for their own exclusive enjoyment. The living relatives of the Alters believe it is possible that they bought the painting from a third party, entirely unaware of its provenance. | [
"Arizona",
"New Mexico",
"Getty Conservation Institute",
"Willem de Kooning",
"abstract expressionist",
"Feminists",
"provenance",
"Los Angeles",
"misogynistic",
"traveling exhibit",
"use of figures",
"abstract",
"Sketches",
"Eastern Europe",
"Tucson",
"stolen",
"violent impulses toward the women",
"COVID-19 pandemic",
"Thanksgiving Day",
"restore",
"collector",
"American",
"Thanksgiving",
"Dutch",
"J. Paul Getty Museum",
"New York City public school teachers",
"University of Arizona",
"Ochre",
"Jackson Pollock",
"antique",
"Eastern United States",
"left",
"University of Arizona Museum of Art",
"oil painting",
"estate"
] |
|
17405_T | Woman-Ochre | In Woman-Ochre, how is the History discussed? | De Kooning started Woman-Ochre, an extension of his earlier Woman series, in 1954 while living in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village along with other artists and intellectuals of the New York School. He finished it the following year.Like the other paintings in the series, it depicted a female figure, recognizable albeit highly stylized into abstract shapes. They were controversial both among de Kooning's fellow artists and critics. The former, especially Jackson Pollock, felt the artist had been unable to sustain abstract expressionism's goal of pure painting by resorting to what was still recognizably figurative art. John Elderfield, who curated a 2011-2012 de Kooning retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, says that the series' power stems from its use of the thick brushes and broad strokes associated with Venetian painting juxtaposed with its subject matter: "He was using traditional techniques to make alarmingly modern paintings, and I think this hybrid quality made people uncomfortable."From outside the arts community, critic Emily Genauer attacked the works from a feminist perspective, calling them misogynistic depictions of women being tortured. De Kooning's comments on the paintings did not allay that criticism. "Women irritate me sometimes", he said. "I painted that irritation in the 'Woman' series." His wife Elaine said her mother-in-law, not she, was the inspiration.
After de Kooning completed Woman-Ochre in 1955, it was displayed at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York for two years, part of a one-man show of 21 works, mostly oils but with a few sketches, only two of them abstract. Edward Joseph Gallagher Jr., an architect and collector from Baltimore, bought it in 1957. Another pastime of his was vacationing at dude ranches in Arizona. The following year, after reading an article in Life about the University of Arizona's new art museum and its collection of Renaissance art, Gallagher called the university's president and offered to donate some of his modern paintings to the museum in honor of his son, who had recently died in a boating accident. Ultimately, he gave UAMA 200 works including Woman-Ochre, many of which were by de Kooning and other abstract expressionist painters such as Pollock and Mark Rothko. His gift came with the stipulation that the museum could never sell or give the paintings, including Woman-Ochre, to anyone else.During the 1960s, the museum loaned it to several exhibitions elsewhere. It was displayed at the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1963, and then at several colleges in New England over the next two years. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) included it in one of its own traveling exhibitions, Two Decades of American Painting, during 1966 and 1967. A 1969 Smithsonian exhibit, The Disappearance and Reappearance of the Image, introduced the painting to museumgoers in several Eastern European countries, Paris and Brussels.Woman-Ochre largely remained in Arizona after that. It was loaned to another MoMA traveling exhibit, Four Contemporary Masters, in 1975. For two weeks at the end of August 1981, it was displayed at the Guild Hall of East Hampton, New York, which had exhibited many of de Kooning's other works and helped popularize him. | [
"Smithsonian",
"Arizona",
"Martha Jackson",
"Martha Jackson Gallery",
"art museum",
"abstract expressionist",
"Emily Genauer",
"feminist perspective",
"Lausanne",
"Baltimore",
"Manhattan",
"abstract expressionism",
"misogynistic",
"traveling exhibit",
"abstract",
"Eastern Europe",
"dude ranch",
"New England",
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"New York School",
"American",
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"Guild Hall of East Hampton",
"Venetian painting",
"John Elderfield",
"Life",
"Switzerland",
"Paris",
"University of Arizona",
"Ochre",
"Jackson Pollock",
"Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts",
"Renaissance art"
] |
|
17405_NT | Woman-Ochre | In this artwork, how is the History discussed? | De Kooning started Woman-Ochre, an extension of his earlier Woman series, in 1954 while living in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village along with other artists and intellectuals of the New York School. He finished it the following year.Like the other paintings in the series, it depicted a female figure, recognizable albeit highly stylized into abstract shapes. They were controversial both among de Kooning's fellow artists and critics. The former, especially Jackson Pollock, felt the artist had been unable to sustain abstract expressionism's goal of pure painting by resorting to what was still recognizably figurative art. John Elderfield, who curated a 2011-2012 de Kooning retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, says that the series' power stems from its use of the thick brushes and broad strokes associated with Venetian painting juxtaposed with its subject matter: "He was using traditional techniques to make alarmingly modern paintings, and I think this hybrid quality made people uncomfortable."From outside the arts community, critic Emily Genauer attacked the works from a feminist perspective, calling them misogynistic depictions of women being tortured. De Kooning's comments on the paintings did not allay that criticism. "Women irritate me sometimes", he said. "I painted that irritation in the 'Woman' series." His wife Elaine said her mother-in-law, not she, was the inspiration.
After de Kooning completed Woman-Ochre in 1955, it was displayed at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York for two years, part of a one-man show of 21 works, mostly oils but with a few sketches, only two of them abstract. Edward Joseph Gallagher Jr., an architect and collector from Baltimore, bought it in 1957. Another pastime of his was vacationing at dude ranches in Arizona. The following year, after reading an article in Life about the University of Arizona's new art museum and its collection of Renaissance art, Gallagher called the university's president and offered to donate some of his modern paintings to the museum in honor of his son, who had recently died in a boating accident. Ultimately, he gave UAMA 200 works including Woman-Ochre, many of which were by de Kooning and other abstract expressionist painters such as Pollock and Mark Rothko. His gift came with the stipulation that the museum could never sell or give the paintings, including Woman-Ochre, to anyone else.During the 1960s, the museum loaned it to several exhibitions elsewhere. It was displayed at the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1963, and then at several colleges in New England over the next two years. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) included it in one of its own traveling exhibitions, Two Decades of American Painting, during 1966 and 1967. A 1969 Smithsonian exhibit, The Disappearance and Reappearance of the Image, introduced the painting to museumgoers in several Eastern European countries, Paris and Brussels.Woman-Ochre largely remained in Arizona after that. It was loaned to another MoMA traveling exhibit, Four Contemporary Masters, in 1975. For two weeks at the end of August 1981, it was displayed at the Guild Hall of East Hampton, New York, which had exhibited many of de Kooning's other works and helped popularize him. | [
"Smithsonian",
"Arizona",
"Martha Jackson",
"Martha Jackson Gallery",
"art museum",
"abstract expressionist",
"Emily Genauer",
"feminist perspective",
"Lausanne",
"Baltimore",
"Manhattan",
"abstract expressionism",
"misogynistic",
"traveling exhibit",
"abstract",
"Eastern Europe",
"dude ranch",
"New England",
"Mark Rothko",
"traveling exhibitions",
"Museum of Modern Art",
"Greenwich Village",
"modern",
"collector",
"Brussels",
"New York School",
"American",
"figurative art",
"Guild Hall of East Hampton",
"Venetian painting",
"John Elderfield",
"Life",
"Switzerland",
"Paris",
"University of Arizona",
"Ochre",
"Jackson Pollock",
"Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts",
"Renaissance art"
] |
|
17406_T | Woman-Ochre | In the context of Woman-Ochre, explore the Theft of the History. | On November 29, 1985, the day after Thanksgiving, an older woman and younger man, wearing heavy winter coats against the 55 °F (13 °C) late November chill, were waiting outside the museum shortly before its 9 a.m. opening time. When security guards let a staff member in, the couple followed. The guards decided to let them in anyway.The couple went upstairs. Midway up the stairs, the woman began asking the guard on duty about some of the artwork in the museum, while the man continued upstairs. Shortly afterwards, he returned and the two left.This very short visit to the museum seemed unusual to the guard, and he went upstairs to see if anything was amiss. He found that Woman-Ochre had been cut from its frame. It appeared that the man had hidden the painting under his coat before leaving. A witness later recalled seeing the two drive off in a rust-colored two-door sports car.No fingerprints were found at the scene. At the time the museum had no security cameras, so investigators had to rely on eyewitness accounts which described the man as in his late 20s, with dark brown hair, glasses and a mustache, wearing sunglasses and a dark blue water-repellent coat with a hood; the woman was said to be older, with a scarf and granny glasses, reddish-blonde hair, wearing a red water-repellent coat and tan bell-bottoms. Sketches were made and distributed to the public. The university's police department turned the case over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but no leads materialized.The museum's insurance company paid $400,000, the painting's estimated market value at the time, on the claim. It used the money to buy security cameras; the museum also revised its schedule to stay closed on the day after Thanksgiving in the future. Like many other art museums that have suffered thefts of works on display, it did not replace Woman-Ochre, instead placing a blank ochre-colored canvas on the wall behind the frame, where the cut fibers were still visible, to call attention to the loss. By 2015, when another 1955 de Kooning, Interchange, was sold for $300 million, making it the most expensive painting ever at that time, the museum estimated the value of the still-missing work at $160 million. | [
"claim",
"Federal Bureau of Investigation",
"art museum",
"Sketches",
"the most expensive painting ever",
"sports car",
"Thanksgiving",
"bell-bottoms",
"ochre",
"Interchange",
"rust",
"Ochre",
"security camera",
"left"
] |
|
17406_NT | Woman-Ochre | In the context of this artwork, explore the Theft of the History. | On November 29, 1985, the day after Thanksgiving, an older woman and younger man, wearing heavy winter coats against the 55 °F (13 °C) late November chill, were waiting outside the museum shortly before its 9 a.m. opening time. When security guards let a staff member in, the couple followed. The guards decided to let them in anyway.The couple went upstairs. Midway up the stairs, the woman began asking the guard on duty about some of the artwork in the museum, while the man continued upstairs. Shortly afterwards, he returned and the two left.This very short visit to the museum seemed unusual to the guard, and he went upstairs to see if anything was amiss. He found that Woman-Ochre had been cut from its frame. It appeared that the man had hidden the painting under his coat before leaving. A witness later recalled seeing the two drive off in a rust-colored two-door sports car.No fingerprints were found at the scene. At the time the museum had no security cameras, so investigators had to rely on eyewitness accounts which described the man as in his late 20s, with dark brown hair, glasses and a mustache, wearing sunglasses and a dark blue water-repellent coat with a hood; the woman was said to be older, with a scarf and granny glasses, reddish-blonde hair, wearing a red water-repellent coat and tan bell-bottoms. Sketches were made and distributed to the public. The university's police department turned the case over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but no leads materialized.The museum's insurance company paid $400,000, the painting's estimated market value at the time, on the claim. It used the money to buy security cameras; the museum also revised its schedule to stay closed on the day after Thanksgiving in the future. Like many other art museums that have suffered thefts of works on display, it did not replace Woman-Ochre, instead placing a blank ochre-colored canvas on the wall behind the frame, where the cut fibers were still visible, to call attention to the loss. By 2015, when another 1955 de Kooning, Interchange, was sold for $300 million, making it the most expensive painting ever at that time, the museum estimated the value of the still-missing work at $160 million. | [
"claim",
"Federal Bureau of Investigation",
"art museum",
"Sketches",
"the most expensive painting ever",
"sports car",
"Thanksgiving",
"bell-bottoms",
"ochre",
"Interchange",
"rust",
"Ochre",
"security camera",
"left"
] |
|
17407_T | Woman-Ochre | In the context of Woman-Ochre, explain the Recovery of the History. | In June 2017, Rita Alter, a former speech pathologist in the New York City public school system as well as the local school district in Cliff, New Mexico, died. She and her husband, Jerry, who had predeceased her in 2012, a former clarinetist and music teacher in the New York City schools, had retired to the area in 1977 and built a house on 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land near Gila National Forest that included a sculpture garden with busts of Beethoven and Molière, where they raised their own chickens and ducks. Her nephew, Ron Roseman, was named executor of her estate.Roseman sent photos of the Alter's artwork and statues to a dozen museums and auction houses. Roseman then hired a local realtor, Ruth Seawolf, to sell the Alters' house. As the two were touring the house to prepare for the sale, Seawolf noticed several items in the house that might be of interest to someone she knew, mainly pottery and African pieces. She called up a friend, David Van Auker, who ran an antique store in nearby Silver City, and Roseman hired him to appraise the art and furniture in the house that the family itself had not wanted. He sought to sell them those items in bulk so the family could then sell the emptied house and dispose of the estate. Van Auker went to the house to inspect the contents in August.During Van Auker's tour, in addition to the art Seawolf had told him about, he found another painting in the Alters' master bedroom, hung on the wall next to the door in such a way that it was visible only when the door was closed, a discovery he made only when he closed the door to get a better look at a broken dresser drawer, part of the room's mid-century furniture set, which he thought could be sold together at a good price. While he did not recognize the painting, it appeared to him to be the work of a mid-20th century artist as well, which he thought was "great" and "cool", although he thought very little of its frame.Van Auker bought the contents of the house for $2,000 and returned the next day with some friends to take the artwork and furniture back to his store. They put the painting atop the pile in their truck and drove it back to Silver City, where he put it on display, propping it up against the wall on the floor. He intended to change the frame, which he disliked, and hang it in his guesthouse.Silver City has a large population of artists, and shortly after Van Auker put it on display, a customer recognized it as a work by de Kooning, a remark the proprietors dismissed. But within an hour, two other customers had made the same assessment; one man even returned several times and offered to buy the painting for $200,000. Van Auker, realizing he might have acquired something more valuable than he appreciated, decided to put the painting in a bathroom, the only room in the store that could be locked. He did an Internet search, which eventually led him to a 2015 article about Woman-Ochre in The Arizona Republic.The painting Van Auker had bought from the Alters' house looked exactly like the stolen work, when he compared it to an online image, down to the drips and splatters. He called UAMA and told the receptionist he thought he had a painting that had been stolen from them. She immediately put him through to curator Olivia Miller, who asked him to measure it. It was one inch off from its 40-by-30-inch (102 cm × 76 cm) dimensions, consistent with having been cut from its original frame. After Van Auker also described how the paint had been cracked, as it might have been if it had been rolled up for some time, Miller asked him to take pictures of the painting's rear with his cellphone and send them to her. The marks on them matched the ones on file for de Kooning's work.News that a masterpiece of modern art had somehow ended up in a local antique shop got around Silver City, and by the end of the day 40 people had shown up to ask if they could see it. On the advice of the Albuquerque FBI office, which told him to put it in "a very safe place", Van Auker took the painting back to his Pinos Altos home and hid it behind his sofa, staying up all night and guarding it with his guns. The next day, needing to keep it somewhere while he ran the shop, Van Auker and his partners drove it around town, looking for someone whom they could temporarily place it with. A lawyer they were acquainted with doubted the story until he saw the painting, and agreed to take it for the day.FBI agents from the Phoenix office, who had been investigating the theft since university police turned the case over to them, made the 225-mile (362 km) trip east along with Miller and a UAMA team later in that day. At the lawyer's house, where he was having a small party for family and friends, the Grant County sheriff greeted Van Auker, Miller and the FBI agents. When she saw Woman-Ochre in the lawyer's home office upstairs, Miller fell to her knees and gasped, a moment Van Auker recalled as "electric". "Holy shitballs!" she said, as during her entire tenure at the museum she had come to know the painting well, yet never actually seen it in person. They had brought the frame that originally housed the painting, and its remaining threads matched those still on the painting.The law enforcement officers present promptly moved the painting to a vault for the coming weekend. Afterwards a UAMA van arrived to take the painting back to Tucson. New Mexico State Police escorted it to the state line, where their Arizona counterparts took over as it made the journey down Interstate 10 to the museum.After its return, Woman-Ochre was allowed to rest for a few days. Following that period, Nancy Odegaard, a conservator at the nearby Arizona State Museum, began the final process of authentication. She and her graduate student found a sticker from the 1969 traveling Smithsonian exhibit on the painting's rear. An ultraviolet light detected an acrylic varnish. There was also evidence of repairs the museum had made, and recorded, before 1985.Finally, Odegaard and her student put the painting over the original frame it had been cut from and compared the canvas. The damage to the painting and the damage to the threads that had remained matched perfectly, including the colors of stray paint. A large stray black stroke in the upper left corner that matched that on the remnants provided the final confirmation, and Odegaard formally authenticated the painting. On August 11 the museum held a news conference announcing that Woman-Ochre had been recovered after 31 years.University police chief Brian Seastone, who had investigated the case in 1987, was elated. "Somebody saw something, they said something, and today she's home." Van Auker, who was also present, described how he had come to find the painting and his role in the process of its recovery. He declined a reward, and brushed aside suggestions that he was somehow heroic. "We returned something that was stolen, and that's something everyone should do."The university gave Van Auker the gold wooden frame the painting had been hung in when it was stolen. He and the shop's co-owner, Buck Burns, have hung it in a guest house they own, where they had originally planned to hang the painting before they learned of its true origin. Van Auker said visitors to their shop ask about the painting at least once a day; they also still receive calls expressing gratitude.In 2022 they visited the Getty to see the painting after its restoration. Miller observed that if the theft represented people at their worst, its recovery showed "the best of people". A photo of the two is on display at the Getty with the painting. | [
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] |
|
17407_NT | Woman-Ochre | In the context of this artwork, explain the Recovery of the History. | In June 2017, Rita Alter, a former speech pathologist in the New York City public school system as well as the local school district in Cliff, New Mexico, died. She and her husband, Jerry, who had predeceased her in 2012, a former clarinetist and music teacher in the New York City schools, had retired to the area in 1977 and built a house on 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land near Gila National Forest that included a sculpture garden with busts of Beethoven and Molière, where they raised their own chickens and ducks. Her nephew, Ron Roseman, was named executor of her estate.Roseman sent photos of the Alter's artwork and statues to a dozen museums and auction houses. Roseman then hired a local realtor, Ruth Seawolf, to sell the Alters' house. As the two were touring the house to prepare for the sale, Seawolf noticed several items in the house that might be of interest to someone she knew, mainly pottery and African pieces. She called up a friend, David Van Auker, who ran an antique store in nearby Silver City, and Roseman hired him to appraise the art and furniture in the house that the family itself had not wanted. He sought to sell them those items in bulk so the family could then sell the emptied house and dispose of the estate. Van Auker went to the house to inspect the contents in August.During Van Auker's tour, in addition to the art Seawolf had told him about, he found another painting in the Alters' master bedroom, hung on the wall next to the door in such a way that it was visible only when the door was closed, a discovery he made only when he closed the door to get a better look at a broken dresser drawer, part of the room's mid-century furniture set, which he thought could be sold together at a good price. While he did not recognize the painting, it appeared to him to be the work of a mid-20th century artist as well, which he thought was "great" and "cool", although he thought very little of its frame.Van Auker bought the contents of the house for $2,000 and returned the next day with some friends to take the artwork and furniture back to his store. They put the painting atop the pile in their truck and drove it back to Silver City, where he put it on display, propping it up against the wall on the floor. He intended to change the frame, which he disliked, and hang it in his guesthouse.Silver City has a large population of artists, and shortly after Van Auker put it on display, a customer recognized it as a work by de Kooning, a remark the proprietors dismissed. But within an hour, two other customers had made the same assessment; one man even returned several times and offered to buy the painting for $200,000. Van Auker, realizing he might have acquired something more valuable than he appreciated, decided to put the painting in a bathroom, the only room in the store that could be locked. He did an Internet search, which eventually led him to a 2015 article about Woman-Ochre in The Arizona Republic.The painting Van Auker had bought from the Alters' house looked exactly like the stolen work, when he compared it to an online image, down to the drips and splatters. He called UAMA and told the receptionist he thought he had a painting that had been stolen from them. She immediately put him through to curator Olivia Miller, who asked him to measure it. It was one inch off from its 40-by-30-inch (102 cm × 76 cm) dimensions, consistent with having been cut from its original frame. After Van Auker also described how the paint had been cracked, as it might have been if it had been rolled up for some time, Miller asked him to take pictures of the painting's rear with his cellphone and send them to her. The marks on them matched the ones on file for de Kooning's work.News that a masterpiece of modern art had somehow ended up in a local antique shop got around Silver City, and by the end of the day 40 people had shown up to ask if they could see it. On the advice of the Albuquerque FBI office, which told him to put it in "a very safe place", Van Auker took the painting back to his Pinos Altos home and hid it behind his sofa, staying up all night and guarding it with his guns. The next day, needing to keep it somewhere while he ran the shop, Van Auker and his partners drove it around town, looking for someone whom they could temporarily place it with. A lawyer they were acquainted with doubted the story until he saw the painting, and agreed to take it for the day.FBI agents from the Phoenix office, who had been investigating the theft since university police turned the case over to them, made the 225-mile (362 km) trip east along with Miller and a UAMA team later in that day. At the lawyer's house, where he was having a small party for family and friends, the Grant County sheriff greeted Van Auker, Miller and the FBI agents. When she saw Woman-Ochre in the lawyer's home office upstairs, Miller fell to her knees and gasped, a moment Van Auker recalled as "electric". "Holy shitballs!" she said, as during her entire tenure at the museum she had come to know the painting well, yet never actually seen it in person. They had brought the frame that originally housed the painting, and its remaining threads matched those still on the painting.The law enforcement officers present promptly moved the painting to a vault for the coming weekend. Afterwards a UAMA van arrived to take the painting back to Tucson. New Mexico State Police escorted it to the state line, where their Arizona counterparts took over as it made the journey down Interstate 10 to the museum.After its return, Woman-Ochre was allowed to rest for a few days. Following that period, Nancy Odegaard, a conservator at the nearby Arizona State Museum, began the final process of authentication. She and her graduate student found a sticker from the 1969 traveling Smithsonian exhibit on the painting's rear. An ultraviolet light detected an acrylic varnish. There was also evidence of repairs the museum had made, and recorded, before 1985.Finally, Odegaard and her student put the painting over the original frame it had been cut from and compared the canvas. The damage to the painting and the damage to the threads that had remained matched perfectly, including the colors of stray paint. A large stray black stroke in the upper left corner that matched that on the remnants provided the final confirmation, and Odegaard formally authenticated the painting. On August 11 the museum held a news conference announcing that Woman-Ochre had been recovered after 31 years.University police chief Brian Seastone, who had investigated the case in 1987, was elated. "Somebody saw something, they said something, and today she's home." Van Auker, who was also present, described how he had come to find the painting and his role in the process of its recovery. He declined a reward, and brushed aside suggestions that he was somehow heroic. "We returned something that was stolen, and that's something everyone should do."The university gave Van Auker the gold wooden frame the painting had been hung in when it was stolen. He and the shop's co-owner, Buck Burns, have hung it in a guest house they own, where they had originally planned to hang the painting before they learned of its true origin. Van Auker said visitors to their shop ask about the painting at least once a day; they also still receive calls expressing gratitude.In 2022 they visited the Getty to see the painting after its restoration. Miller observed that if the theft represented people at their worst, its recovery showed "the best of people". A photo of the two is on display at the Getty with the painting. | [
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|
17408_T | Woman-Ochre | Explore the Repair and restoration about the Recovery of the History in this artwork, Woman-Ochre. | Repair and restoration In August of 2019 Miller told the Arizona Daily Star that she could not say when it could be restored to exhibit as it could not be taken from the museum to the conservator's shop until the FBI closed the case.The instrument used during the theft to remove the painting from its frame was sharp enough to cut cleanly through the canvas, but for that same reason it would take a long time to match the threads exactly and reattach them, Miller explained. One of the corners had torn, she added. She and Odegaard both commented on the many small sections of paint that had flaked off the horizontal creases formed across the painting when it was rolled up.At some point after the theft, the painting had been reframed into the one that Van Auker had found so unappealing when he first saw it. Whoever had done that work had done it crudely, using flat screws to attach the canvas to the wood, causing further damage. The lack of temperature and humidity controls at the Alter house also left the paint brittle; Miller said it was fortunate that more paint had not been lost.Nevertheless, the Alters appeared to have taken some measures to protect it while it hung in their bedroom. A reporter from Dallas-based television station WFAA was able to tour the house for a short documentary about the case, and noted that a heavy screw had been partially driven into the baseboard at the floor level below the wall where the painting hung, effectively serving as a doorstop that prevented the door from opening fully and inadvertently damaging the painting. Likewise, the window on the side of the room that faced the setting sun was equipped with a heavy blackout curtain that would have blocked sunlight from the direction when drawn.Shortly after its return the museum took the painting to a conservator's studio for the repair and restoration process. It originally expected to take a year, but near the end of that period, Miller said she was no longer so certain. UAMA started a fundraising drive to raise the $1 million it expected the restoration would cost.In March 2019, the museum announced it had chosen experts at the Getty Conservation Institute, associated with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, to repair Woman-Ochre. Before it went there, the museum put the painting on public display on St. Patrick's Day, an event for which a special fee was charged. Among the 250 people who attended was actor Hal Linden, who was performing in a nearby production of A.R. Gurney's play Love Letters. "I'm really taken by the drama of the story", he told the Republic. "I would love to know the story of the people who lived with it in their home."Experts at the Getty, who were present, said they expected it would take 14 or 15 months to fully repair Woman-Ochre. During the restoration, conservators had to decide to what degree they would leave damage related to the theft intact, since the theft is now part of the painting's history. They would also have to avoid over-restoring the work to the point where it would look too artificial.The institute did the work for free in exchange for the Getty museum being allowed to exhibit the work after it was restored. Originally, UAMA expected to have Woman-Ochre back on its walls where it was stolen from after Thanksgiving 2020, around the 35th anniversary of its theft; those plans were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of many art museums at that time. At one point the conservators at the Getty could only spend one day a week working on the painting.The conservators' primary task was to stabilize the paint surface. Damage done during the theft had been compounded by the thieves' having rolled it up immediately afterwards, cracking the paint in many places. Since the thieves had not been aware of the secondary canvas attached to the back with a wax resin, they had not cut it completely and had ripped the painting out where they could not cut,in addition to rolling the primary canvas off the secondary one, an action that led to a later patch on the back of the primary canvas put there with common white glue.: 1:20–1:30 "There was a lot of violence to the way the canvas was pulled away from the backing canvas. The word trauma comes to mind", said Tom Learner, the Getty's head of science.One conservator, Laura Rivers, used "gentle heat and tiny dental tools" to reattach paint flakes, "It was ... the most damaged painting that I have ever worked on," she said. She found those flakes with a microscope, scattered across the entire painting like "visual noise". Rivers was often able to work on only an inch (2.5 cm) of the painting a day.Once she had finished that task, Rivers removed two layers of varnish, one added by MoMA in 1974 and the other by the thieves, with solvent mixtures, allowing de Kooning's original colors to return. She noted that one of the two varnishes was slightly fluid at room temperature, which had led to the painting collecting much of the dust in the desert air during the time it was in the Alters' home.After flattening the canvas so that it could be reattached to the portions left behind in the original frame during the theft, a process that the institute's senior conservator, Ulrich Birkmaier, says took two years,: 2:53 he completed the restoration by reattaching all the sliced canvas fibers. Using a very small paintbrush that barely touched the canvas, he painted in gaps left by the cracks, always avoiding any of de Kooning's original work; although he did remove and paint over some areas where the thieves had made "amateurish restoration attempts" of their own. In an interview with the Arizona Republic, he compared the painting to a puzzle, where "you only fill in the pieces that are missing."While modern viewers will know the painting was stolen, recovered and restored, Birkmaier said, viewers later in the century may not. "Hopefully, there's just a painting with some slight scars (that) to the casual viewer won't be visible really", he said of the restoration. Writing in The New York Times, Jori Finkel noted a close observer can discern the impressions left by the staples the thieves used to attach the canvas to a new stretcher bar and some unevenness close to the frame where the reattached fibers did not perfectly match. "And, if you know where to look, you can probably make out a few of the tears that were repaired, like one beneath the artist's signature."Learner was proud that there was not a single remnant of the damage from the theft that would blatantly mar the painting. It would, he told the Times, take a very large one since "There's so much action in the painting, [it] works to our advantage." Finkel agreed, commenting that "maybe in this strange way the violence of the theft and the violence of de Kooning's imagery will now work together, woven into the very fabric of this newly conserved painting."From June to August 2022 Woman-Ochre was on temporary exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. | [
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|
17408_NT | Woman-Ochre | Explore the Repair and restoration about the Recovery of the History in this artwork. | Repair and restoration In August of 2019 Miller told the Arizona Daily Star that she could not say when it could be restored to exhibit as it could not be taken from the museum to the conservator's shop until the FBI closed the case.The instrument used during the theft to remove the painting from its frame was sharp enough to cut cleanly through the canvas, but for that same reason it would take a long time to match the threads exactly and reattach them, Miller explained. One of the corners had torn, she added. She and Odegaard both commented on the many small sections of paint that had flaked off the horizontal creases formed across the painting when it was rolled up.At some point after the theft, the painting had been reframed into the one that Van Auker had found so unappealing when he first saw it. Whoever had done that work had done it crudely, using flat screws to attach the canvas to the wood, causing further damage. The lack of temperature and humidity controls at the Alter house also left the paint brittle; Miller said it was fortunate that more paint had not been lost.Nevertheless, the Alters appeared to have taken some measures to protect it while it hung in their bedroom. A reporter from Dallas-based television station WFAA was able to tour the house for a short documentary about the case, and noted that a heavy screw had been partially driven into the baseboard at the floor level below the wall where the painting hung, effectively serving as a doorstop that prevented the door from opening fully and inadvertently damaging the painting. Likewise, the window on the side of the room that faced the setting sun was equipped with a heavy blackout curtain that would have blocked sunlight from the direction when drawn.Shortly after its return the museum took the painting to a conservator's studio for the repair and restoration process. It originally expected to take a year, but near the end of that period, Miller said she was no longer so certain. UAMA started a fundraising drive to raise the $1 million it expected the restoration would cost.In March 2019, the museum announced it had chosen experts at the Getty Conservation Institute, associated with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, to repair Woman-Ochre. Before it went there, the museum put the painting on public display on St. Patrick's Day, an event for which a special fee was charged. Among the 250 people who attended was actor Hal Linden, who was performing in a nearby production of A.R. Gurney's play Love Letters. "I'm really taken by the drama of the story", he told the Republic. "I would love to know the story of the people who lived with it in their home."Experts at the Getty, who were present, said they expected it would take 14 or 15 months to fully repair Woman-Ochre. During the restoration, conservators had to decide to what degree they would leave damage related to the theft intact, since the theft is now part of the painting's history. They would also have to avoid over-restoring the work to the point where it would look too artificial.The institute did the work for free in exchange for the Getty museum being allowed to exhibit the work after it was restored. Originally, UAMA expected to have Woman-Ochre back on its walls where it was stolen from after Thanksgiving 2020, around the 35th anniversary of its theft; those plans were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of many art museums at that time. At one point the conservators at the Getty could only spend one day a week working on the painting.The conservators' primary task was to stabilize the paint surface. Damage done during the theft had been compounded by the thieves' having rolled it up immediately afterwards, cracking the paint in many places. Since the thieves had not been aware of the secondary canvas attached to the back with a wax resin, they had not cut it completely and had ripped the painting out where they could not cut,in addition to rolling the primary canvas off the secondary one, an action that led to a later patch on the back of the primary canvas put there with common white glue.: 1:20–1:30 "There was a lot of violence to the way the canvas was pulled away from the backing canvas. The word trauma comes to mind", said Tom Learner, the Getty's head of science.One conservator, Laura Rivers, used "gentle heat and tiny dental tools" to reattach paint flakes, "It was ... the most damaged painting that I have ever worked on," she said. She found those flakes with a microscope, scattered across the entire painting like "visual noise". Rivers was often able to work on only an inch (2.5 cm) of the painting a day.Once she had finished that task, Rivers removed two layers of varnish, one added by MoMA in 1974 and the other by the thieves, with solvent mixtures, allowing de Kooning's original colors to return. She noted that one of the two varnishes was slightly fluid at room temperature, which had led to the painting collecting much of the dust in the desert air during the time it was in the Alters' home.After flattening the canvas so that it could be reattached to the portions left behind in the original frame during the theft, a process that the institute's senior conservator, Ulrich Birkmaier, says took two years,: 2:53 he completed the restoration by reattaching all the sliced canvas fibers. Using a very small paintbrush that barely touched the canvas, he painted in gaps left by the cracks, always avoiding any of de Kooning's original work; although he did remove and paint over some areas where the thieves had made "amateurish restoration attempts" of their own. In an interview with the Arizona Republic, he compared the painting to a puzzle, where "you only fill in the pieces that are missing."While modern viewers will know the painting was stolen, recovered and restored, Birkmaier said, viewers later in the century may not. "Hopefully, there's just a painting with some slight scars (that) to the casual viewer won't be visible really", he said of the restoration. Writing in The New York Times, Jori Finkel noted a close observer can discern the impressions left by the staples the thieves used to attach the canvas to a new stretcher bar and some unevenness close to the frame where the reattached fibers did not perfectly match. "And, if you know where to look, you can probably make out a few of the tears that were repaired, like one beneath the artist's signature."Learner was proud that there was not a single remnant of the damage from the theft that would blatantly mar the painting. It would, he told the Times, take a very large one since "There's so much action in the painting, [it] works to our advantage." Finkel agreed, commenting that "maybe in this strange way the violence of the theft and the violence of de Kooning's imagery will now work together, woven into the very fabric of this newly conserved painting."From June to August 2022 Woman-Ochre was on temporary exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. | [
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|
17409_T | Woman-Ochre | Focusing on the History of Woman-Ochre, discuss the Investigation about the Recovery. | Investigation Although the painting was recovered, the investigation into the theft has continued, as the FBI cannot say for certain that the Alters had anything to do with the theft or that they knew Woman-Ochre was stolen when they took possession of it. A considerable amount of circumstantial evidence, some of which has emerged since the recovery, connects the Alters to the crime, however. They were apparently fans of de Kooning's work, as several replica sketches of drawings by the artist were also found in their home.While going through his aunt and uncle's estate, Roseman, who still strongly doubts that they were the thieves, found a picture taken showing the couple at a family Thanksgiving dinner in 1985, the day before the painting was stolen. When the photo is compared side by side with the sketches distributed after the crime, they did show an apparent resemblance. Three people The New York Times spoke with confirmed that in the mid-1980s, the Alters primarily traveled in a red two-door Nissan sports car, and the FBI found home movies they took showing them traveling in that car then.The Alters kept, at that time of their lives, a day planner which they used as a diary, documenting the medications they took, where they went, and what they ate on a regular basis. But the entry for Thanksgiving 1985 is uncharacteristically blank. In one piece of luggage in the house, Seawolf found a small compartment containing a scarf and glasses she believed were similar to those the female thief wore to the museum. The FBI, however, did not appear interested when she contacted them about the items, she said.Seawolf has speculated that the woman may actually have been a man in disguise, perhaps Jerry Alter, since descriptions of the man involved suggest he appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, half the age Jerry would have been at the time. The man could have been one of the Alters' children, Joseph, who also appears in the 1985 Tucson Thanksgiving dinner photos; at the time he was 23. Roseman said Joseph, who also has lived in Silver City, has had psychiatric issues that have required lengthy hospital stays throughout his life, including at the time Roseman talked to the Times about the case. Roseman did, however, tell the Republic that at some point after the painting's recovery he had taken a picture of Woman-Ochre to show Joseph while visiting him, which made him laugh hysterically. "That's one of the ugliest paintings I've ever seen!" he said.Journalists also discovered another apparent link between the Alters and the theft of the painting in the three books the couple published. In one, about their extensive travels, two chapters discussed museums where thefts had occurred. And in 2011, a year before he died, Jerry had self-published through Amazon a collection of short stories called The Cup and the Lip: Exotic Tales, which he called "an amalgamation of fantasy and reality" in his introduction. One, "The Eye of the Jaguar", particularly struck readers after the missing Woman-Ochre was found in the Alters' house.In it, a grandmother and granddaughter visit an art museum near their homes and are taken by a 120-carat emerald on display. They ask the guard, Lou, for the history of the stone. Six months later, Lou sees them return and then leave again quickly. After he sees that the emerald has been taken, he runs out to stop them as the women flee in the grandmother's car, but is killed when she runs him over, leaving "absolutely no clues which police could use". At the end, the emerald is kept in a hidden display case in the grandmother's house "where two pairs of eyes, exclusively, are there to see!"The fictional theft has a similar modus operandi to the theft of Woman-Ochre, and its display where only two people can see it also recalls how the Alters kept the painting in their bedroom such that they were the only people likely to know it was there. One other person who did, an artist neighbor who went into the bedroom with the Alters' permission to photograph a painting she had made of them on horseback in the Himalayas, then hung there, recalled seeing the de Kooning and asking the couple about it; they did not answer her questions and did not want to talk about it.Other relatives of the Alters who have talked to the media dismiss the possibility the couple could have stolen the painting. "[They wouldn't] risk something as wild and crazy as grand larceny—risk the possibility of winding up in prison, for God's sake—they wouldn't do that", Rita's younger sister told the Times. "My driving instinct is to say: 'This couldn't be my aunt and uncle who had it since the beginning'" Roseman said, although he allowed that it was possible since he knew little more about their lives than their neighbors did. He said of the people he had shown the sketches to, about half thought it might be them, although he himself did not, but he admitted he probably could not be objective.Roseman, who also saw the painting behind his aunt and uncle's door when he began arranging support services for Rita due to her worsening dementia early in 2017, but did not recognize it, has offered an alternative theory as to how the couple came into possession of Woman-Ochre. They liked to visit galleries and museums, he recalled, and believed that someone might have seen them appreciating a de Kooning at one and offered them a better painting, the stolen one, from their personal collection. The Alters might even have believed it was a copy.However, other evidence suggests the painting had been in the Alter house since its theft. Van Auker recalled that not only were there dusty cobwebs between the frame and the wall, the space behind the painting was lighter and free from dust, with a visible outline where the painting had hung, suggesting it had been there for a long time. UAMA staff also found evidence of only one reframing.Roseman said that when he was a student at Arizona himself during the late 1970s and early 1980s, he visited them at least once a month, visits he recalled fondly as they would share stories and pictures from their travels. But since his graduation and eventual relocation to Houston, he was not able to make the trip as frequently. He concluded that he was not as close to them as he thought.After the rediscovery of Woman-Ochre in the Alters' house, their neighbors, who described the couple as pleasant but generally keeping their own company, also noted that it seemed strange that they had been able to travel so much—their book jackets said they had visited "140 countries on all seven continents, including both polar regions"—on their salaries as public school teachers, or (later) their pensions, often being away from Cliff for weeks at a time. After Rita's death, bank records showed the couple had over a million dollars in their account. "I guess they figured they were being frugal", Roseman told The Washington Post. | [
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|
17409_NT | Woman-Ochre | Focusing on the History of this artwork, discuss the Investigation about the Recovery. | Investigation Although the painting was recovered, the investigation into the theft has continued, as the FBI cannot say for certain that the Alters had anything to do with the theft or that they knew Woman-Ochre was stolen when they took possession of it. A considerable amount of circumstantial evidence, some of which has emerged since the recovery, connects the Alters to the crime, however. They were apparently fans of de Kooning's work, as several replica sketches of drawings by the artist were also found in their home.While going through his aunt and uncle's estate, Roseman, who still strongly doubts that they were the thieves, found a picture taken showing the couple at a family Thanksgiving dinner in 1985, the day before the painting was stolen. When the photo is compared side by side with the sketches distributed after the crime, they did show an apparent resemblance. Three people The New York Times spoke with confirmed that in the mid-1980s, the Alters primarily traveled in a red two-door Nissan sports car, and the FBI found home movies they took showing them traveling in that car then.The Alters kept, at that time of their lives, a day planner which they used as a diary, documenting the medications they took, where they went, and what they ate on a regular basis. But the entry for Thanksgiving 1985 is uncharacteristically blank. In one piece of luggage in the house, Seawolf found a small compartment containing a scarf and glasses she believed were similar to those the female thief wore to the museum. The FBI, however, did not appear interested when she contacted them about the items, she said.Seawolf has speculated that the woman may actually have been a man in disguise, perhaps Jerry Alter, since descriptions of the man involved suggest he appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, half the age Jerry would have been at the time. The man could have been one of the Alters' children, Joseph, who also appears in the 1985 Tucson Thanksgiving dinner photos; at the time he was 23. Roseman said Joseph, who also has lived in Silver City, has had psychiatric issues that have required lengthy hospital stays throughout his life, including at the time Roseman talked to the Times about the case. Roseman did, however, tell the Republic that at some point after the painting's recovery he had taken a picture of Woman-Ochre to show Joseph while visiting him, which made him laugh hysterically. "That's one of the ugliest paintings I've ever seen!" he said.Journalists also discovered another apparent link between the Alters and the theft of the painting in the three books the couple published. In one, about their extensive travels, two chapters discussed museums where thefts had occurred. And in 2011, a year before he died, Jerry had self-published through Amazon a collection of short stories called The Cup and the Lip: Exotic Tales, which he called "an amalgamation of fantasy and reality" in his introduction. One, "The Eye of the Jaguar", particularly struck readers after the missing Woman-Ochre was found in the Alters' house.In it, a grandmother and granddaughter visit an art museum near their homes and are taken by a 120-carat emerald on display. They ask the guard, Lou, for the history of the stone. Six months later, Lou sees them return and then leave again quickly. After he sees that the emerald has been taken, he runs out to stop them as the women flee in the grandmother's car, but is killed when she runs him over, leaving "absolutely no clues which police could use". At the end, the emerald is kept in a hidden display case in the grandmother's house "where two pairs of eyes, exclusively, are there to see!"The fictional theft has a similar modus operandi to the theft of Woman-Ochre, and its display where only two people can see it also recalls how the Alters kept the painting in their bedroom such that they were the only people likely to know it was there. One other person who did, an artist neighbor who went into the bedroom with the Alters' permission to photograph a painting she had made of them on horseback in the Himalayas, then hung there, recalled seeing the de Kooning and asking the couple about it; they did not answer her questions and did not want to talk about it.Other relatives of the Alters who have talked to the media dismiss the possibility the couple could have stolen the painting. "[They wouldn't] risk something as wild and crazy as grand larceny—risk the possibility of winding up in prison, for God's sake—they wouldn't do that", Rita's younger sister told the Times. "My driving instinct is to say: 'This couldn't be my aunt and uncle who had it since the beginning'" Roseman said, although he allowed that it was possible since he knew little more about their lives than their neighbors did. He said of the people he had shown the sketches to, about half thought it might be them, although he himself did not, but he admitted he probably could not be objective.Roseman, who also saw the painting behind his aunt and uncle's door when he began arranging support services for Rita due to her worsening dementia early in 2017, but did not recognize it, has offered an alternative theory as to how the couple came into possession of Woman-Ochre. They liked to visit galleries and museums, he recalled, and believed that someone might have seen them appreciating a de Kooning at one and offered them a better painting, the stolen one, from their personal collection. The Alters might even have believed it was a copy.However, other evidence suggests the painting had been in the Alter house since its theft. Van Auker recalled that not only were there dusty cobwebs between the frame and the wall, the space behind the painting was lighter and free from dust, with a visible outline where the painting had hung, suggesting it had been there for a long time. UAMA staff also found evidence of only one reframing.Roseman said that when he was a student at Arizona himself during the late 1970s and early 1980s, he visited them at least once a month, visits he recalled fondly as they would share stories and pictures from their travels. But since his graduation and eventual relocation to Houston, he was not able to make the trip as frequently. He concluded that he was not as close to them as he thought.After the rediscovery of Woman-Ochre in the Alters' house, their neighbors, who described the couple as pleasant but generally keeping their own company, also noted that it seemed strange that they had been able to travel so much—their book jackets said they had visited "140 countries on all seven continents, including both polar regions"—on their salaries as public school teachers, or (later) their pensions, often being away from Cliff for weeks at a time. After Rita's death, bank records showed the couple had over a million dollars in their account. "I guess they figured they were being frugal", Roseman told The Washington Post. | [
"Arizona",
"The Washington Post",
"Silver City",
"art museum",
"Tucson",
"stolen",
"modus operandi",
"sports car",
"Thanksgiving",
"polar region",
"man in disguise",
"emerald",
"Ochre",
"The New York Times",
"dementia",
"carat",
"Amazon",
"circumstantial evidence",
"Himalayas",
"cobweb",
"estate",
"day planner",
"Nissan"
] |
|
17410_T | Woman-Ochre | How does Woman-Ochre elucidate its Documentary? | In 2021 director Allison Otto began filming The Thief Collector, a documentary about the painting and its theft. "As our team dug deep into the tale, we discovered that the theft itself is just the tip of the iceberg", she said. Van Auker expects that when it is completed and released, a third surge in tourism to Silver City and the store will result. "It would be great to be used as a positive reflection for what our community is about. It’s awesome and amazing that we get to be part of this place, and part of a great story." The filmmakers have reportedly expressed the hope that if the documentary stirs enough interest, the story could be the basis of a fictional feature film. | [
"Silver City",
"Allison Otto",
"The Thief Collector"
] |
|
17410_NT | Woman-Ochre | How does this artwork elucidate its Documentary? | In 2021 director Allison Otto began filming The Thief Collector, a documentary about the painting and its theft. "As our team dug deep into the tale, we discovered that the theft itself is just the tip of the iceberg", she said. Van Auker expects that when it is completed and released, a third surge in tourism to Silver City and the store will result. "It would be great to be used as a positive reflection for what our community is about. It’s awesome and amazing that we get to be part of this place, and part of a great story." The filmmakers have reportedly expressed the hope that if the documentary stirs enough interest, the story could be the basis of a fictional feature film. | [
"Silver City",
"Allison Otto",
"The Thief Collector"
] |
|
17411_T | City Carpet | Focus on City Carpet and analyze the abstract. | City Carpet is a 1983 sidewalk mosaic by Lilli Ann Killen Rosenberg, installed outside Boston's Old City Hall, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. | [
"Boston",
"Lilli Ann Killen Rosenberg",
"U.S. state",
"Old City Hall",
"Massachusetts"
] |
|
17411_NT | City Carpet | Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract. | City Carpet is a 1983 sidewalk mosaic by Lilli Ann Killen Rosenberg, installed outside Boston's Old City Hall, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. | [
"Boston",
"Lilli Ann Killen Rosenberg",
"U.S. state",
"Old City Hall",
"Massachusetts"
] |
|
17412_T | City Carpet | In City Carpet, how is the Description and history discussed? | The mosaic is made of ceramic, bronze, stone, brick, and concrete, and measures approximately 25 x 25 x 25 ft. It was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1996. The survey's description for the artwork reads, "A sidewalk mosaic depicting a hopscotch diagram containing illustrations of children playing various games. The scenes depict children flying kites, jumping rope, rolling hoops, playing marbles, turning cartwheels, swinging from trees, chasing each other, drawing, etc. The mosaic is bordered with a row of bricks and contains an inscription commemorating Boston's Latin School."An inscription reads: "SCHOOL STREET BOSTON SITE OF THE OLDEST / PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES / FOUNDED 1635 / LATIN SCHOOL / "AGREED WITH MR. JOHN BARNERD / AS FOLLOWETH HE TO BUILD / A NEW SCHOOL HOUSE OF / FORTY FOOT LONG, TWENTY / FIVE FOOT WIDE & ELEVEN / FOOT STUD WITH EIGHT / WINDOWS BELOW & FIVE IN THE ROOF" / RECORD COMMISSIONERS / REPORT PSG VOL XI 1704 / "EXPERIENCE KEEPS / A DEAR SCHOOL, BUT / FOOLS WILL LEARN / IN NO OTHER" / BENJAMIN FRANKLIN / OTHER ALUMNI INCLUDE / SAMUEL ADAMS, JOHN HANCOCK / CHARLES BULFINCH AND/RALPH WALDO EMERSON. LABOR OMNIA VINCIT. OMNIBUS OPPORTUNITAS / ARCHITECTURE HERITAGE FOUNDATION / CITY CARPET 1983. THE TOWNSCAPE INSTITUTE / ARTIST: LILLI ANN KILLEN ROSENBERG". | [
"Boston",
"Smithsonian Institution",
"LABOR OMNIA VINCIT",
"Save Outdoor Sculpture!"
] |
|
17412_NT | City Carpet | In this artwork, how is the Description and history discussed? | The mosaic is made of ceramic, bronze, stone, brick, and concrete, and measures approximately 25 x 25 x 25 ft. It was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1996. The survey's description for the artwork reads, "A sidewalk mosaic depicting a hopscotch diagram containing illustrations of children playing various games. The scenes depict children flying kites, jumping rope, rolling hoops, playing marbles, turning cartwheels, swinging from trees, chasing each other, drawing, etc. The mosaic is bordered with a row of bricks and contains an inscription commemorating Boston's Latin School."An inscription reads: "SCHOOL STREET BOSTON SITE OF THE OLDEST / PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES / FOUNDED 1635 / LATIN SCHOOL / "AGREED WITH MR. JOHN BARNERD / AS FOLLOWETH HE TO BUILD / A NEW SCHOOL HOUSE OF / FORTY FOOT LONG, TWENTY / FIVE FOOT WIDE & ELEVEN / FOOT STUD WITH EIGHT / WINDOWS BELOW & FIVE IN THE ROOF" / RECORD COMMISSIONERS / REPORT PSG VOL XI 1704 / "EXPERIENCE KEEPS / A DEAR SCHOOL, BUT / FOOLS WILL LEARN / IN NO OTHER" / BENJAMIN FRANKLIN / OTHER ALUMNI INCLUDE / SAMUEL ADAMS, JOHN HANCOCK / CHARLES BULFINCH AND/RALPH WALDO EMERSON. LABOR OMNIA VINCIT. OMNIBUS OPPORTUNITAS / ARCHITECTURE HERITAGE FOUNDATION / CITY CARPET 1983. THE TOWNSCAPE INSTITUTE / ARTIST: LILLI ANN KILLEN ROSENBERG". | [
"Boston",
"Smithsonian Institution",
"LABOR OMNIA VINCIT",
"Save Outdoor Sculpture!"
] |
|
17413_T | Boats du Rhône | Focus on Boats du Rhône and explore the abstract. | Boats du Rhône is a series of two sketches (a small one in a letter, the other very large and detailed with a reed pen) and three oil paintings, listed below, created by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh while living in Arles, France, during August, 1888. | [
"Rhône",
"Arles",
"Vincent van Gogh"
] |
|
17413_NT | Boats du Rhône | Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract. | Boats du Rhône is a series of two sketches (a small one in a letter, the other very large and detailed with a reed pen) and three oil paintings, listed below, created by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh while living in Arles, France, during August, 1888. | [
"Rhône",
"Arles",
"Vincent van Gogh"
] |
|
17414_T | Boats du Rhône | Focus on Boats du Rhône and explain the Genesis. | Van Gogh described his intention in a letter written August 13, 1888: At the moment I’m working on a study [...] boats seen from a quay, from above; the two boats are a purplish pink, the water is very green, no sky, a tricolor flag on the mast. A workman with a wheelbarrow is unloading sand. I have a drawing of it too.
Painted a few hundred metres behind his Yellow House, where the railway yard abuts the Rhône river, he had written his brother Theo two weeks earlier:I saw a magnificent and very strange effect this evening. A very large boat laden with coal on the Rhône, moored at the quay. Seen from above it was all glistening and wet from a shower; the water was a white yellow and clouded pearl-grey, the sky lilac and an orange strip in the west, the town violet. On the boat, small workmen, blue and dirty white, were coming and going, carrying the cargo ashore. It was pure Hokusai. It was too late to do it, but one day, when this coal-boat comes back, it’ll have to be tackled.
A series was created, as argued by the Van Gogh Museum's curators Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten and Nienke Bakker, because van Gogh "split the subject he describes here into two, perhaps because he realised that a high vantage point and a sunset are very hard to reconcile in a single composition." They conclude, "We do not know exactly when the latter two studies were made; there may be a connection with a letter 697, in which Van Gogh says he has painted a sunset."A leading 20th century van Gogh scholar, Jan Hulsker explained: The very detailed large drawing, referred to here must have been made first. In fact, Vincent had already sent off the drawing even while he was still working on the study and it is interesting to note how far he went in trying to simplify it in comparison with the drawing. He left out the small sailing boats in the background and the Rhône bridge [...] In the painting he was particularly concerned with the forceful contrasts of the colours.
This argument has been expanded to:Since the vantage point in Quay with Sand Barges is completely different from those with a sunset, it should be considered on its own, in particular as a Symbolist or sacred realism homage to Eugène Delacroix's Christ asleep during the tempest. When we consider van Gogh has replicated not only the colour of the sea and the likeness of the boat (with a tricolor flag), but also, as evidenced in his earlier sketch, he has transformed Arles’ cityscape into a mountain, there is little doubt the Delacroix heavily inspired this composition, especially when we read this admonition to his artist friend Émile Bernard, whom he dedicated the painting to, “If the study I’m sending you in exchange doesn’t suit you, just look at it a little longer” repeating this sentiment again in the next paragraph. | [
"Émile Bernard",
"Van Gogh Museum",
"Symbolist",
"Hokusai",
"Rhône",
"Theo",
"Arles",
"tricolor",
"Christ asleep during the tempest",
"Eugène Delacroix",
"Jan Hulsker",
"Yellow House",
"Quay with Sand Barges"
] |
|
17414_NT | Boats du Rhône | Focus on this artwork and explain the Genesis. | Van Gogh described his intention in a letter written August 13, 1888: At the moment I’m working on a study [...] boats seen from a quay, from above; the two boats are a purplish pink, the water is very green, no sky, a tricolor flag on the mast. A workman with a wheelbarrow is unloading sand. I have a drawing of it too.
Painted a few hundred metres behind his Yellow House, where the railway yard abuts the Rhône river, he had written his brother Theo two weeks earlier:I saw a magnificent and very strange effect this evening. A very large boat laden with coal on the Rhône, moored at the quay. Seen from above it was all glistening and wet from a shower; the water was a white yellow and clouded pearl-grey, the sky lilac and an orange strip in the west, the town violet. On the boat, small workmen, blue and dirty white, were coming and going, carrying the cargo ashore. It was pure Hokusai. It was too late to do it, but one day, when this coal-boat comes back, it’ll have to be tackled.
A series was created, as argued by the Van Gogh Museum's curators Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten and Nienke Bakker, because van Gogh "split the subject he describes here into two, perhaps because he realised that a high vantage point and a sunset are very hard to reconcile in a single composition." They conclude, "We do not know exactly when the latter two studies were made; there may be a connection with a letter 697, in which Van Gogh says he has painted a sunset."A leading 20th century van Gogh scholar, Jan Hulsker explained: The very detailed large drawing, referred to here must have been made first. In fact, Vincent had already sent off the drawing even while he was still working on the study and it is interesting to note how far he went in trying to simplify it in comparison with the drawing. He left out the small sailing boats in the background and the Rhône bridge [...] In the painting he was particularly concerned with the forceful contrasts of the colours.
This argument has been expanded to:Since the vantage point in Quay with Sand Barges is completely different from those with a sunset, it should be considered on its own, in particular as a Symbolist or sacred realism homage to Eugène Delacroix's Christ asleep during the tempest. When we consider van Gogh has replicated not only the colour of the sea and the likeness of the boat (with a tricolor flag), but also, as evidenced in his earlier sketch, he has transformed Arles’ cityscape into a mountain, there is little doubt the Delacroix heavily inspired this composition, especially when we read this admonition to his artist friend Émile Bernard, whom he dedicated the painting to, “If the study I’m sending you in exchange doesn’t suit you, just look at it a little longer” repeating this sentiment again in the next paragraph. | [
"Émile Bernard",
"Van Gogh Museum",
"Symbolist",
"Hokusai",
"Rhône",
"Theo",
"Arles",
"tricolor",
"Christ asleep during the tempest",
"Eugène Delacroix",
"Jan Hulsker",
"Yellow House",
"Quay with Sand Barges"
] |
|
17415_T | Colors of StoBoSa | Explore the abstract of this artwork, Colors of StoBoSa. | The Colors of StoBoSa, officially designated as the StoBoSa Hillside Homes Artwork, is a community artwork designed by the Tam-awan Village group, and is a locally recognized tourist attraction in the town of La Trinidad, Benguet. The paintwork of multiple houses composes the single artwork. | [
"La Trinidad, Benguet",
"La Trinidad",
"Benguet"
] |
|
17415_NT | Colors of StoBoSa | Explore the abstract of this artwork. | The Colors of StoBoSa, officially designated as the StoBoSa Hillside Homes Artwork, is a community artwork designed by the Tam-awan Village group, and is a locally recognized tourist attraction in the town of La Trinidad, Benguet. The paintwork of multiple houses composes the single artwork. | [
"La Trinidad, Benguet",
"La Trinidad",
"Benguet"
] |
|
17416_T | Colors of StoBoSa | Focus on Colors of StoBoSa and discuss the Name and location. | The artwork is known as the StoBoSa Hillside Homes Artwork, which is also the official designation for the artwork by the municipal government, and is also called simply as the Colors of StoBoSa. "Stobosa" is a portmanteau of the names of the sitios the artwork is situated namely Stonehill, Botiwtiw, and Sadjap. The three localities are all within Barangay Balili. | [] |
|
17416_NT | Colors of StoBoSa | Focus on this artwork and discuss the Name and location. | The artwork is known as the StoBoSa Hillside Homes Artwork, which is also the official designation for the artwork by the municipal government, and is also called simply as the Colors of StoBoSa. "Stobosa" is a portmanteau of the names of the sitios the artwork is situated namely Stonehill, Botiwtiw, and Sadjap. The three localities are all within Barangay Balili. | [] |
|
17417_T | Colors of StoBoSa | How does Colors of StoBoSa elucidate its Recognition? | The artwork is officially recognized as a tourist attraction of La Trinidad, Benguet by the municipal government. The recognition was given to the artwork through Sangguiniang Bayan (transl. Municipal Council) Resolution No. 130 which was adopted on July 12, 2016. The resolution was sponsored by councilors Roderick Awingan, Estrella Adeban, and Henry Kipas. | [
"La Trinidad, Benguet",
"La Trinidad",
"Benguet"
] |
|
17417_NT | Colors of StoBoSa | How does this artwork elucidate its Recognition? | The artwork is officially recognized as a tourist attraction of La Trinidad, Benguet by the municipal government. The recognition was given to the artwork through Sangguiniang Bayan (transl. Municipal Council) Resolution No. 130 which was adopted on July 12, 2016. The resolution was sponsored by councilors Roderick Awingan, Estrella Adeban, and Henry Kipas. | [
"La Trinidad, Benguet",
"La Trinidad",
"Benguet"
] |
|
17418_T | Colors of StoBoSa | Focus on Colors of StoBoSa and analyze the Similar projects. | The Department of Tourism plans a similar project in the neighboring city of Baguio. The endeavour is called Project Puraw which involves the painting of houses in Quirino Hill. | [
"Baguio",
"Department of Tourism"
] |
|
17418_NT | Colors of StoBoSa | Focus on this artwork and analyze the Similar projects. | The Department of Tourism plans a similar project in the neighboring city of Baguio. The endeavour is called Project Puraw which involves the painting of houses in Quirino Hill. | [
"Baguio",
"Department of Tourism"
] |
|
17419_T | History Painting (Rembrandt) | In History Painting (Rembrandt), how is the abstract discussed? | History Painting is an early painting by Rembrandt dating to 1626. The title is a generic reference to history painting, as there is no consensus about the painting's subject matter. More than a dozen subjects have been proposed, ranging from Biblical themes to classical and modern history. Art historian Gary Schwartz says "the most tempting solution offered so far is Palamedes before Agamemnon", an episode from the Trojan War in which Agamemnon orders Palamedes stoned to death on the basis of planted evidence.Owned by the Instituut Collectie Nederland, it is on permanent loan to the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden. | [
"history painting",
"episode from the Trojan War",
"Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal",
"Leiden",
"Agamemnon",
"Rembrandt",
"Trojan War",
"Palamedes",
"Museum De Lakenhal",
"Gary Schwartz"
] |
|
17419_NT | History Painting (Rembrandt) | In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed? | History Painting is an early painting by Rembrandt dating to 1626. The title is a generic reference to history painting, as there is no consensus about the painting's subject matter. More than a dozen subjects have been proposed, ranging from Biblical themes to classical and modern history. Art historian Gary Schwartz says "the most tempting solution offered so far is Palamedes before Agamemnon", an episode from the Trojan War in which Agamemnon orders Palamedes stoned to death on the basis of planted evidence.Owned by the Instituut Collectie Nederland, it is on permanent loan to the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden. | [
"history painting",
"episode from the Trojan War",
"Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal",
"Leiden",
"Agamemnon",
"Rembrandt",
"Trojan War",
"Palamedes",
"Museum De Lakenhal",
"Gary Schwartz"
] |
|
17420_T | Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach | Focus on Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach and explore the abstract. | The Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach is a painting by the German master of the Renaissance Hans Holbein the Younger. It is deposited in the Basler Kunstmuseum as part of the Amerbach Cabinet. It is painted in mixed technique on pine panel and measures 29.9 cm x 28.3 cm. | [
"Hans Holbein the Younger",
"panel",
"mixed technique",
"pine",
"Basler Kunstmuseum",
"Bonifacius Amerbach",
"Kunstmuseum",
"Amerbach Cabinet"
] |
|
17420_NT | Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach | Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract. | The Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach is a painting by the German master of the Renaissance Hans Holbein the Younger. It is deposited in the Basler Kunstmuseum as part of the Amerbach Cabinet. It is painted in mixed technique on pine panel and measures 29.9 cm x 28.3 cm. | [
"Hans Holbein the Younger",
"panel",
"mixed technique",
"pine",
"Basler Kunstmuseum",
"Bonifacius Amerbach",
"Kunstmuseum",
"Amerbach Cabinet"
] |
|
17421_T | Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach | Focus on Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach and explain the Description. | The painting was commissioned in 1519 by Bonifacius Amerbach, in order to leave a memory to his family in case he died during his stay in Avignon. Holbein portrayed him shortly after his return to Basel from Lucerne. Amerbach worked closely with Holbein during work on the portrait and also composed the scripture in Latin letters hanging from a tree in the left of the painting. Several of Amerbach's annotations concerning the text are to be found in the University Library of Basel. He carefully composed the text on the painting, the first words Picta licet are annoted twenty times on a sheet. There was also a version of a six-line verse but eventually he opted for a verse of three phrases. It is assumed he drafted the text in one day, as the ink on the sheet is of the same color. It was the first time Holbein included a panegyric text in a portrait. As with some of the later examples, the text is presented in combination with an image of a fig tree. Modern research with infrared reflectography resulted in the assumption that Bonifacius had encouraged Holbein to adapt the text, as Amerbach had prepared the original script for the painting which included COLORIBVS for colors, but in the painting LINEOLIS for lines is to be seen. Through the analysis with infrared reflectography, the adaptions could be detected. On the right beside Amerbach there is a fig tree, while in the background there are snowy mountains. The 14 October 1519 refers to the birthday of Bonifacius Amerbach. The portrait is one of the earliest paintings by Holbein as a member of the painters guild of Basel. As a member of the guild he was allowed to sign the painting with his full name. A text drafted for a second portrait without a beard was also found, but it is not known whether such a painting was ever realized. | [
"Avignon",
"Latin letters",
"Basel",
"Lucerne",
"infrared reflectography",
"University Library of Basel",
"Bonifacius Amerbach",
"fig tree",
"panegyric"
] |
|
17421_NT | Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach | Focus on this artwork and explain the Description. | The painting was commissioned in 1519 by Bonifacius Amerbach, in order to leave a memory to his family in case he died during his stay in Avignon. Holbein portrayed him shortly after his return to Basel from Lucerne. Amerbach worked closely with Holbein during work on the portrait and also composed the scripture in Latin letters hanging from a tree in the left of the painting. Several of Amerbach's annotations concerning the text are to be found in the University Library of Basel. He carefully composed the text on the painting, the first words Picta licet are annoted twenty times on a sheet. There was also a version of a six-line verse but eventually he opted for a verse of three phrases. It is assumed he drafted the text in one day, as the ink on the sheet is of the same color. It was the first time Holbein included a panegyric text in a portrait. As with some of the later examples, the text is presented in combination with an image of a fig tree. Modern research with infrared reflectography resulted in the assumption that Bonifacius had encouraged Holbein to adapt the text, as Amerbach had prepared the original script for the painting which included COLORIBVS for colors, but in the painting LINEOLIS for lines is to be seen. Through the analysis with infrared reflectography, the adaptions could be detected. On the right beside Amerbach there is a fig tree, while in the background there are snowy mountains. The 14 October 1519 refers to the birthday of Bonifacius Amerbach. The portrait is one of the earliest paintings by Holbein as a member of the painters guild of Basel. As a member of the guild he was allowed to sign the painting with his full name. A text drafted for a second portrait without a beard was also found, but it is not known whether such a painting was ever realized. | [
"Avignon",
"Latin letters",
"Basel",
"Lucerne",
"infrared reflectography",
"University Library of Basel",
"Bonifacius Amerbach",
"fig tree",
"panegyric"
] |
|
17422_T | Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach | Explore the Provenance of this artwork, Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach. | The painting became a part of the Amerbach cabinet, which was bought in its entirety by the city of Basel and the University of Basel in 1666. The portrait was later exhibited in two different locations near the Münster of Basel. In 1936 the Kunstmuseum Basel inaugurated a new building at the St. Alban Graben in which the portrait is exhibited. | [
"Basel",
"University of Basel",
"Münster of Basel",
"Kunstmuseum Basel",
"Kunstmuseum"
] |
|
17422_NT | Portrait of Bonifacius Amerbach | Explore the Provenance of this artwork. | The painting became a part of the Amerbach cabinet, which was bought in its entirety by the city of Basel and the University of Basel in 1666. The portrait was later exhibited in two different locations near the Münster of Basel. In 1936 the Kunstmuseum Basel inaugurated a new building at the St. Alban Graben in which the portrait is exhibited. | [
"Basel",
"University of Basel",
"Münster of Basel",
"Kunstmuseum Basel",
"Kunstmuseum"
] |
|
17423_T | Water Mill at Opwetten | Focus on Water Mill at Opwetten and discuss the abstract. | Water Mill at Opwetten (F48) is an oil painting of the Watermill at Opwetten, created in 1884 by Vincent van Gogh. It is considered one of his first works using oil paint as a medium and anticipates Van Gogh's early realist masterpiece, The Potato Eaters.Van Gogh described the process of painting this piece to his brother Theo van Gogh in May 1884, writing"Since you left I’ve been working on a Water mill — the one I asked about in that little inn at the station, where we sat talking with that man whom I told you seemed to suffer from a chronic shortage of small change in his pocket. It’s the same sort of thing as the two other water mills that we visited together, but with two red roofs, and which one views square on from the front — with poplars around it. Will be magnificent in the autumn." | [
"The Potato Eaters",
"Theo van Gogh",
"Watermill at Opwetten",
"Vincent van Gogh",
"F48"
] |
|
17423_NT | Water Mill at Opwetten | Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract. | Water Mill at Opwetten (F48) is an oil painting of the Watermill at Opwetten, created in 1884 by Vincent van Gogh. It is considered one of his first works using oil paint as a medium and anticipates Van Gogh's early realist masterpiece, The Potato Eaters.Van Gogh described the process of painting this piece to his brother Theo van Gogh in May 1884, writing"Since you left I’ve been working on a Water mill — the one I asked about in that little inn at the station, where we sat talking with that man whom I told you seemed to suffer from a chronic shortage of small change in his pocket. It’s the same sort of thing as the two other water mills that we visited together, but with two red roofs, and which one views square on from the front — with poplars around it. Will be magnificent in the autumn." | [
"The Potato Eaters",
"Theo van Gogh",
"Watermill at Opwetten",
"Vincent van Gogh",
"F48"
] |
|
17424_T | Statue of James Shields (U.S. Capitol) | How does Statue of James Shields (U.S. Capitol) elucidate its abstract? | James Shields is an 1893 bronze sculpture of James Shields by Leonard Volk, installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the state of Illinois. The sculpture was unveiled by Senator Shelby Moore Cullom of Illinois on December 6, 1893. | [
"Shelby Moore Cullom",
"James Shields",
"National Statuary Hall Collection",
"Illinois",
"Leonard Volk",
"bronze sculpture",
"Washington, D.C.",
"National Statuary Hall",
"United States Capitol"
] |
|
17424_NT | Statue of James Shields (U.S. Capitol) | How does this artwork elucidate its abstract? | James Shields is an 1893 bronze sculpture of James Shields by Leonard Volk, installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the state of Illinois. The sculpture was unveiled by Senator Shelby Moore Cullom of Illinois on December 6, 1893. | [
"Shelby Moore Cullom",
"James Shields",
"National Statuary Hall Collection",
"Illinois",
"Leonard Volk",
"bronze sculpture",
"Washington, D.C.",
"National Statuary Hall",
"United States Capitol"
] |
|
17425_T | La velata | Focus on La velata and analyze the abstract. | La velata, or La donna velata ("The woman with the veil"), is a well known portrait by the Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Sanzio, more commonly known as Raphael. The subject of the painting appears in another portrait, La Fornarina, and is traditionally identified as the fornarina (bakeress) Margherita Luti, Raphael's Roman mistress.
As usual with Raphael, the subject's clothing is chosen and painted with close attention; here it is strikingly opulent. | [
"Italian",
"Renaissance",
"Margherita Luti",
"Raphael",
"La Fornarina",
"portrait"
] |
|
17425_NT | La velata | Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract. | La velata, or La donna velata ("The woman with the veil"), is a well known portrait by the Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Sanzio, more commonly known as Raphael. The subject of the painting appears in another portrait, La Fornarina, and is traditionally identified as the fornarina (bakeress) Margherita Luti, Raphael's Roman mistress.
As usual with Raphael, the subject's clothing is chosen and painted with close attention; here it is strikingly opulent. | [
"Italian",
"Renaissance",
"Margherita Luti",
"Raphael",
"La Fornarina",
"portrait"
] |
|
17426_T | Venus of Galgenberg | In Venus of Galgenberg, how is the abstract discussed? | The Venus of Galgenberg is a Venus figurine of the Aurignacian era, dated about 36,000 years ago.
The sculpture, also known in German as the Fanny von Galgenberg, was discovered in 1988 close to Stratzing, Austria, not far from the site of the Venus of Willendorf. The two statuettes are normally displayed in the same cabinet at the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, to emphasise the special nature of these two "old ladies", as the curator affectionately calls them.The figurine measures 7.2 centimetres (2.8 in) in height and weighs 10 g. It is sculpted from shiny green serpentine rock which is found in the immediate vicinity of where the figurine was unearthed.
Because the figurine exhibits a "dancing pose" it was given the nickname "Fanny" after Fanny Elssler, an Austrian ballerina of the 19th century. | [
"Galgenberg",
"Aurignacian",
"Venus figurine",
"Venus of Willendorf",
"Fanny Elssler",
"serpentine",
"Vienna",
"Stratzing",
"Museum of Natural History"
] |
|
17426_NT | Venus of Galgenberg | In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed? | The Venus of Galgenberg is a Venus figurine of the Aurignacian era, dated about 36,000 years ago.
The sculpture, also known in German as the Fanny von Galgenberg, was discovered in 1988 close to Stratzing, Austria, not far from the site of the Venus of Willendorf. The two statuettes are normally displayed in the same cabinet at the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, to emphasise the special nature of these two "old ladies", as the curator affectionately calls them.The figurine measures 7.2 centimetres (2.8 in) in height and weighs 10 g. It is sculpted from shiny green serpentine rock which is found in the immediate vicinity of where the figurine was unearthed.
Because the figurine exhibits a "dancing pose" it was given the nickname "Fanny" after Fanny Elssler, an Austrian ballerina of the 19th century. | [
"Galgenberg",
"Aurignacian",
"Venus figurine",
"Venus of Willendorf",
"Fanny Elssler",
"serpentine",
"Vienna",
"Stratzing",
"Museum of Natural History"
] |
|
17427_T | Venus of Galgenberg | Focus on Venus of Galgenberg and explore the Literature. | Das neolithische Fundmaterial von St.Pölten/Galgenleithen. in: Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Wien 108.1978, 50ff. ISSN 0373-5656
Zur altsteinzeitlichen Besiedlungsgeschichte des Galgenberges von Stratzing/Krems - Rehberg. in: Archäologie Österreichs. Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Bd 18. Wien 4.1993,1,10 ff. ISSN 1018-1857
Bednarik, Robert (1989) The Galgenberg figurine from Krems, Austria. Rock Art Research. 6. 118-25 | [
"Galgenberg",
"Rock Art Research",
"Stratzing"
] |
|
17427_NT | Venus of Galgenberg | Focus on this artwork and explore the Literature. | Das neolithische Fundmaterial von St.Pölten/Galgenleithen. in: Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Wien 108.1978, 50ff. ISSN 0373-5656
Zur altsteinzeitlichen Besiedlungsgeschichte des Galgenberges von Stratzing/Krems - Rehberg. in: Archäologie Österreichs. Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Bd 18. Wien 4.1993,1,10 ff. ISSN 1018-1857
Bednarik, Robert (1989) The Galgenberg figurine from Krems, Austria. Rock Art Research. 6. 118-25 | [
"Galgenberg",
"Rock Art Research",
"Stratzing"
] |
|
17428_T | Memorial Fountain | Focus on Memorial Fountain and explain the abstract. | Memorial Fountain is an outdoor fountain created by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, located outside Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, United States. | [
"Portland, Oregon",
"Skidmore, Owings & Merrill",
"Veterans Memorial Coliseum"
] |
|
17428_NT | Memorial Fountain | Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract. | Memorial Fountain is an outdoor fountain created by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, located outside Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, United States. | [
"Portland, Oregon",
"Skidmore, Owings & Merrill",
"Veterans Memorial Coliseum"
] |
|
17429_T | Memorial Fountain | Explore the Description of this artwork, Memorial Fountain. | Memorial Fountain is dedicated to those who died at war and features a marble or black granite wall and a water basin with blue and turquoise tile. The wall is approximately 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and has a diameter of 5 inches (13 cm); inscribed are 24 columns of names of Oregonians who died in 20th century wars and the text overhead, IN MEMORY OF A SUPREME SACRIFICE WE HONOR THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR GOD, PRINCIPLE AND LOVE OF COUNTRY. The basin is approximately 27 feet (8.2 m) wide and has a diameter of 27 feet (8.2 m); the memorial wall is at the pool's north end. The square in-ground fountain features three water "elements", each with lights on either side. One shoots water up to 13 feet (4.0 m) into the air, and the other two spew water 2 feet (0.61 m) to 4 feet (1.2 m) into the air. The Smithsonian Institution categorizes Memorial Fountain as abstract and geometric. Its condition was deemed "well maintained" by the institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993. The fountain was owned by Blazer's Oregon Arena Corporation at that time. | [
"Smithsonian Institution",
"Save Outdoor Sculpture!",
"abstract"
] |
|
17429_NT | Memorial Fountain | Explore the Description of this artwork. | Memorial Fountain is dedicated to those who died at war and features a marble or black granite wall and a water basin with blue and turquoise tile. The wall is approximately 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and has a diameter of 5 inches (13 cm); inscribed are 24 columns of names of Oregonians who died in 20th century wars and the text overhead, IN MEMORY OF A SUPREME SACRIFICE WE HONOR THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR GOD, PRINCIPLE AND LOVE OF COUNTRY. The basin is approximately 27 feet (8.2 m) wide and has a diameter of 27 feet (8.2 m); the memorial wall is at the pool's north end. The square in-ground fountain features three water "elements", each with lights on either side. One shoots water up to 13 feet (4.0 m) into the air, and the other two spew water 2 feet (0.61 m) to 4 feet (1.2 m) into the air. The Smithsonian Institution categorizes Memorial Fountain as abstract and geometric. Its condition was deemed "well maintained" by the institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993. The fountain was owned by Blazer's Oregon Arena Corporation at that time. | [
"Smithsonian Institution",
"Save Outdoor Sculpture!",
"abstract"
] |
|
17430_T | Leonidas at Thermopylae | Focus on Leonidas at Thermopylae and discuss the abstract. | Leonidas at Thermopylae is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The work currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France. David completed the massive work (3.95 m × 5.31 m) 15 years after he began, working on it from 1799 to 1803 and again in 1813–1814. Leonidas at Thermopylae was purchased, along with The Intervention of the Sabine Women, in November 1819 for 100,000 francs by Louis XVIII, the king of France. The piece depicts the Spartan king Leonidas prior to the Battle of Thermopylae. David's pupil Georges Rouget collaborated on it. | [
"Paris, France",
"Leonidas",
"Sparta",
"Battle of Thermopylae",
"Georges Rouget",
"Louis XVIII",
"The Intervention of the Sabine Women",
"Louvre",
"Thermopylae",
"Paris",
"Jacques-Louis David",
"Spartan"
] |
|
17430_NT | Leonidas at Thermopylae | Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract. | Leonidas at Thermopylae is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The work currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris, France. David completed the massive work (3.95 m × 5.31 m) 15 years after he began, working on it from 1799 to 1803 and again in 1813–1814. Leonidas at Thermopylae was purchased, along with The Intervention of the Sabine Women, in November 1819 for 100,000 francs by Louis XVIII, the king of France. The piece depicts the Spartan king Leonidas prior to the Battle of Thermopylae. David's pupil Georges Rouget collaborated on it. | [
"Paris, France",
"Leonidas",
"Sparta",
"Battle of Thermopylae",
"Georges Rouget",
"Louis XVIII",
"The Intervention of the Sabine Women",
"Louvre",
"Thermopylae",
"Paris",
"Jacques-Louis David",
"Spartan"
] |
|
17431_T | Leonidas at Thermopylae | How does Leonidas at Thermopylae elucidate its Background? | The crowded and theatrical scene that David depicts takes place in a time of war, seemingly in Ancient Greece from the Greek temple and temperate mountains in the background. The setting is the mountain pass in which the Battle of Thermopylae was about to be fought, in 480 BCE. Thermopylae was chosen as an ideal location for waging a defensive action in view of its narrow passage through the mountainous geography. This helped the Greeks make a better stand against the numerically vastly superior Persians, who were invading Greece. King Leonidas, the Spartan leader, “delayed the invasion of Darius I and the Persians…by sacrificing himself and his men to give the Greeks the time they needed to organize an ultimately victorious resistance” in the long run. This act of bravery and sacrifice by King Leonidas and his three hundred soldiers inspired David as France waged its own campaigns against rival European powers that wanted to restore France's pre-revolutionary ancien régime. In 1813–14, when he finished the painting, European powers allied against the First French Empire were invading France to topple the emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, and David again found inspiration in the story of Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae. | [
"Napoleon",
"ancien régime",
"King Leonidas",
"First French Empire",
"Leonidas",
"Persians",
"Sparta",
"Battle of Thermopylae",
"Darius I",
"Napoleon Bonaparte",
"Thermopylae",
"Ancient Greece",
"Spartan"
] |
|
17431_NT | Leonidas at Thermopylae | How does this artwork elucidate its Background? | The crowded and theatrical scene that David depicts takes place in a time of war, seemingly in Ancient Greece from the Greek temple and temperate mountains in the background. The setting is the mountain pass in which the Battle of Thermopylae was about to be fought, in 480 BCE. Thermopylae was chosen as an ideal location for waging a defensive action in view of its narrow passage through the mountainous geography. This helped the Greeks make a better stand against the numerically vastly superior Persians, who were invading Greece. King Leonidas, the Spartan leader, “delayed the invasion of Darius I and the Persians…by sacrificing himself and his men to give the Greeks the time they needed to organize an ultimately victorious resistance” in the long run. This act of bravery and sacrifice by King Leonidas and his three hundred soldiers inspired David as France waged its own campaigns against rival European powers that wanted to restore France's pre-revolutionary ancien régime. In 1813–14, when he finished the painting, European powers allied against the First French Empire were invading France to topple the emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, and David again found inspiration in the story of Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae. | [
"Napoleon",
"ancien régime",
"King Leonidas",
"First French Empire",
"Leonidas",
"Persians",
"Sparta",
"Battle of Thermopylae",
"Darius I",
"Napoleon Bonaparte",
"Thermopylae",
"Ancient Greece",
"Spartan"
] |
|
17432_T | Leonidas at Thermopylae | Focus on Leonidas at Thermopylae and analyze the Style. | When Napoleon Bonaparte saw the exhibit of David's latest paintings in 1799, “he criticized the lack of action and the fixed poses of the warriors in The Sabine Women.” This critique by one of David's heroes compelled David to revisit the classical ideals that inspired him (and the French Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture). The reworked masterpiece respects classical ideals of male virtue and beauty in its depiction of historical Greek warriors to convey an impression of heroic courage. | [
"Napoleon",
"Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture",
"Napoleon Bonaparte"
] |
|
17432_NT | Leonidas at Thermopylae | Focus on this artwork and analyze the Style. | When Napoleon Bonaparte saw the exhibit of David's latest paintings in 1799, “he criticized the lack of action and the fixed poses of the warriors in The Sabine Women.” This critique by one of David's heroes compelled David to revisit the classical ideals that inspired him (and the French Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture). The reworked masterpiece respects classical ideals of male virtue and beauty in its depiction of historical Greek warriors to convey an impression of heroic courage. | [
"Napoleon",
"Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture",
"Napoleon Bonaparte"
] |
|
17433_T | Leonidas at Thermopylae | In Leonidas at Thermopylae, how is the Earlier sketches discussed? | David made many sketches before the final oil on canvas composition was executed. A sketch dating back to 1814 is a compositional study that was completed in two separate parts, leaving the final result somewhat choppy and overworked. There are a few differences between this compositional study and the final painting, one of which being a more full view of the background which resulted from the removal of trees and branches from the earlier sketch. Classical male figures were included from the beginning of David's sketches for Leonidas at Thermopylae. | [
"Leonidas",
"Thermopylae"
] |
|
17433_NT | Leonidas at Thermopylae | In this artwork, how is the Earlier sketches discussed? | David made many sketches before the final oil on canvas composition was executed. A sketch dating back to 1814 is a compositional study that was completed in two separate parts, leaving the final result somewhat choppy and overworked. There are a few differences between this compositional study and the final painting, one of which being a more full view of the background which resulted from the removal of trees and branches from the earlier sketch. Classical male figures were included from the beginning of David's sketches for Leonidas at Thermopylae. | [
"Leonidas",
"Thermopylae"
] |
|
17434_T | Leonidas at Thermopylae | Focus on Leonidas at Thermopylae and explore the Composition. | In Leonidas at Thermopylae, it is implied that the war is deeper than just the main figures in the foreground, with hundreds of other warriors in the battle too. In the foreground, we see that chaos has broken out and the army seems to be in shambles, while the leader of the army remains calm as the war progresses around him. The emphasized man in the center, presumably Leonidas, instantly draws the viewers’ eyes to him. Not only is Leonidas more bathed in light out of any of the partly shadowed figures in the painting, he also has the most static pose while almost everyone else is in motion. In this brief snapshot of a glimpse into an intense battle, he takes a moment to reflect on the war. While he is the leader of his army, Leonidas cannot do this alone; his eyes are upturned toward the heavens, as if to look up to God and beg for help. His facial expression is one of contemplation and almost defeat, as if he knows the fate of him and his army in the battle.
The contrast of the only other static man to the right of the leader serves to show that though Leonidas's figure is static, his risen state defines him as the ruler. The figures in the right background look up to Leonidas, signaling that the company sees him as divine. His idealized figure contributes to this notion too, relaying the idea of his strength and bravery during this battle. The golden embroidered cape, fancy helmet, and huge shield all contribute to the idea of Leonidas's high status and primary role in this battle.
On the left side, a soldier carves in rock the famous phrase (in Greek), "Go, passer-by, to Sparta tell/Obedient to her law we fell", conveying that Leonidas and his Spartans know their fate and are prepared to die, in the name of their country. | [
"right",
"Leonidas",
"Sparta",
"Thermopylae",
"Spartan"
] |
|
17434_NT | Leonidas at Thermopylae | Focus on this artwork and explore the Composition. | In Leonidas at Thermopylae, it is implied that the war is deeper than just the main figures in the foreground, with hundreds of other warriors in the battle too. In the foreground, we see that chaos has broken out and the army seems to be in shambles, while the leader of the army remains calm as the war progresses around him. The emphasized man in the center, presumably Leonidas, instantly draws the viewers’ eyes to him. Not only is Leonidas more bathed in light out of any of the partly shadowed figures in the painting, he also has the most static pose while almost everyone else is in motion. In this brief snapshot of a glimpse into an intense battle, he takes a moment to reflect on the war. While he is the leader of his army, Leonidas cannot do this alone; his eyes are upturned toward the heavens, as if to look up to God and beg for help. His facial expression is one of contemplation and almost defeat, as if he knows the fate of him and his army in the battle.
The contrast of the only other static man to the right of the leader serves to show that though Leonidas's figure is static, his risen state defines him as the ruler. The figures in the right background look up to Leonidas, signaling that the company sees him as divine. His idealized figure contributes to this notion too, relaying the idea of his strength and bravery during this battle. The golden embroidered cape, fancy helmet, and huge shield all contribute to the idea of Leonidas's high status and primary role in this battle.
On the left side, a soldier carves in rock the famous phrase (in Greek), "Go, passer-by, to Sparta tell/Obedient to her law we fell", conveying that Leonidas and his Spartans know their fate and are prepared to die, in the name of their country. | [
"right",
"Leonidas",
"Sparta",
"Thermopylae",
"Spartan"
] |
|
17435_T | Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul | Focus on Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul and explain the abstract. | Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul (French for Sun in the sky of Saint-Paul) is a 1983 painting in oil on canvas, 73 × 115.5 cm, by Russian-French artist Marc Chagall. It is held in a private collection. | [
"Marc Chagall",
"French",
"painting"
] |
|
17435_NT | Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul | Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract. | Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul (French for Sun in the sky of Saint-Paul) is a 1983 painting in oil on canvas, 73 × 115.5 cm, by Russian-French artist Marc Chagall. It is held in a private collection. | [
"Marc Chagall",
"French",
"painting"
] |
|
17436_T | Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul | Explore the Legacy of this artwork, Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul. | The painting served as inspiration for an ensemble from the Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2015 Show. Chagall's Russian ancestry provided a leitmotif for the embellishments that are central to the designer's aesthetic. | [
"Valentino",
"painting"
] |
|
17436_NT | Soleil dans le ciel de Saint-Paul | Explore the Legacy of this artwork. | The painting served as inspiration for an ensemble from the Valentino Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2015 Show. Chagall's Russian ancestry provided a leitmotif for the embellishments that are central to the designer's aesthetic. | [
"Valentino",
"painting"
] |
|
17437_T | St Margaret of Cortona (Gaspare Traversi) | Focus on St Margaret of Cortona (Gaspare Traversi) and discuss the abstract. | St Margaret of Cortona is a circa 1758 painting by the Italian late-Baroque painter Gaspare Traversi. This artist, active in Naples Italy, is best known for his sometimes humorous and intricate genre works. | [
"Naples",
"Margaret of Cortona",
"Gaspare Traversi"
] |
|
17437_NT | St Margaret of Cortona (Gaspare Traversi) | Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract. | St Margaret of Cortona is a circa 1758 painting by the Italian late-Baroque painter Gaspare Traversi. This artist, active in Naples Italy, is best known for his sometimes humorous and intricate genre works. | [
"Naples",
"Margaret of Cortona",
"Gaspare Traversi"
] |
|
17438_T | St Margaret of Cortona (Gaspare Traversi) | How does St Margaret of Cortona (Gaspare Traversi) elucidate its Description? | The painting depicts is a blunt allegory showing Margaret of Cortona, the 13th-century Franciscan tertiary, as underscored by the knotted belt of rope or cincture of the order. Margaret sits in a plain room, listening entranced to the words of an angel, whose hands finger a crown of thorns and partially obscure a skull; in her left hand, she cradles a crucifix. In the background, a bat-winged satanic figure departs, with his hands hiding his face. His wings have cryptic circles. St Margaret in her writings recalled that she served as a mistress and step-mother to an aristocratic noble. But he was murdered, and her dog was able to lead her to his corpse. These events triggered her departure from a sinful life in the world to a eremitic live of devotion.
The arc of her life would have held resonance for women seeking absolution in joining the tertiaries, which did not require vows of absolute poverty and chastity. The veneration of Saint Margaret of Cortona was prominent in her native Tuscany, but did spread through Italy. | [
"Franciscan tertiary",
"Tuscany",
"Margaret of Cortona"
] |
|
17438_NT | St Margaret of Cortona (Gaspare Traversi) | How does this artwork elucidate its Description? | The painting depicts is a blunt allegory showing Margaret of Cortona, the 13th-century Franciscan tertiary, as underscored by the knotted belt of rope or cincture of the order. Margaret sits in a plain room, listening entranced to the words of an angel, whose hands finger a crown of thorns and partially obscure a skull; in her left hand, she cradles a crucifix. In the background, a bat-winged satanic figure departs, with his hands hiding his face. His wings have cryptic circles. St Margaret in her writings recalled that she served as a mistress and step-mother to an aristocratic noble. But he was murdered, and her dog was able to lead her to his corpse. These events triggered her departure from a sinful life in the world to a eremitic live of devotion.
The arc of her life would have held resonance for women seeking absolution in joining the tertiaries, which did not require vows of absolute poverty and chastity. The veneration of Saint Margaret of Cortona was prominent in her native Tuscany, but did spread through Italy. | [
"Franciscan tertiary",
"Tuscany",
"Margaret of Cortona"
] |
|
17439_T | Mother Anthony's Tavern | Focus on Mother Anthony's Tavern and analyze the abstract. | Mother Anthony's Tavern (French: Le cabaret de la Mère Antony à Bourron-Marlotte), also known as At the Inn of Mother Anthony, is an 1866 oil-on-canvas painting made by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir during his Fontainebleau period. It is one of Renoir's first major paintings, having completed it at the age of 25. The work is currently in the collection of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. | [
"Nationalmuseum",
"Pierre-Auguste Renoir"
] |
|
17439_NT | Mother Anthony's Tavern | Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract. | Mother Anthony's Tavern (French: Le cabaret de la Mère Antony à Bourron-Marlotte), also known as At the Inn of Mother Anthony, is an 1866 oil-on-canvas painting made by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir during his Fontainebleau period. It is one of Renoir's first major paintings, having completed it at the age of 25. The work is currently in the collection of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. | [
"Nationalmuseum",
"Pierre-Auguste Renoir"
] |
|
17440_T | Mother Anthony's Tavern | In Mother Anthony's Tavern, how is the Description discussed? | Although there are various competing interpretations of the figures depicted in the painting, it is thought that the girl clearing plates in the front left of the painting is Nana; painter and architect Jules Le Coeur (1832-1882) appears as the bearded man standing up preparing to roll a cigarette, the clean-shaven man sitting down facing the viewer is thought to be Dutch landscape artist "Bos", a friend of Le Coeur; artist Alfred Sisley (1839–1899) appears as the bearded man seated with a hat next to Toto, a three-legged poodle with a wooden leg; in the far right background we see the back of the proprietor, Madame Anthony, wearing a headscarf. Behind her, on the wall, is an image of French novelist and poet Henry Murger (1822–1861), an icon of Bohemianism. | [
"Jules Le Coeur",
"Henry Murger",
"Alfred Sisley"
] |
|
17440_NT | Mother Anthony's Tavern | In this artwork, how is the Description discussed? | Although there are various competing interpretations of the figures depicted in the painting, it is thought that the girl clearing plates in the front left of the painting is Nana; painter and architect Jules Le Coeur (1832-1882) appears as the bearded man standing up preparing to roll a cigarette, the clean-shaven man sitting down facing the viewer is thought to be Dutch landscape artist "Bos", a friend of Le Coeur; artist Alfred Sisley (1839–1899) appears as the bearded man seated with a hat next to Toto, a three-legged poodle with a wooden leg; in the far right background we see the back of the proprietor, Madame Anthony, wearing a headscarf. Behind her, on the wall, is an image of French novelist and poet Henry Murger (1822–1861), an icon of Bohemianism. | [
"Jules Le Coeur",
"Henry Murger",
"Alfred Sisley"
] |
|
17441_T | Mother Anthony's Tavern | Focus on Mother Anthony's Tavern and explore the Influences. | The painting After Dinner at Ornans (1848–1849) by Gustave Courbet informs this work, showing the influence of Courbet on the early Renoir. | [
"Gustave Courbet",
"After Dinner at Ornans"
] |
|
17441_NT | Mother Anthony's Tavern | Focus on this artwork and explore the Influences. | The painting After Dinner at Ornans (1848–1849) by Gustave Courbet informs this work, showing the influence of Courbet on the early Renoir. | [
"Gustave Courbet",
"After Dinner at Ornans"
] |
|
17442_T | The Music Lesson (Leighton) | Focus on The Music Lesson (Leighton) and explain the abstract. | The Music Lesson is an oil painting by Frederic Leighton, first exhibited in 1877. | [
"oil painting",
"Frederic Leighton"
] |
|
17442_NT | The Music Lesson (Leighton) | Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract. | The Music Lesson is an oil painting by Frederic Leighton, first exhibited in 1877. | [
"oil painting",
"Frederic Leighton"
] |
|
17443_T | The Music Lesson (Leighton) | Explore the Exhibition of this artwork, The Music Lesson (Leighton). | The 1877 Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts included a picture fom Leighton's studio, entitled The Music Lesson. Early in 1878 Leighton was appointed President of the Jury on Paintings at the Paris International Exhibition, to which Exhibition he contributed Elijah in the Wilderness, The Music Lesson, and Captain Richard Burton, H.M.'s Consul at Trieste. | [
"Royal Academy of Arts",
"Paris International Exhibition"
] |
|
17443_NT | The Music Lesson (Leighton) | Explore the Exhibition of this artwork. | The 1877 Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts included a picture fom Leighton's studio, entitled The Music Lesson. Early in 1878 Leighton was appointed President of the Jury on Paintings at the Paris International Exhibition, to which Exhibition he contributed Elijah in the Wilderness, The Music Lesson, and Captain Richard Burton, H.M.'s Consul at Trieste. | [
"Royal Academy of Arts",
"Paris International Exhibition"
] |
|
17444_T | The Music Lesson (Leighton) | Focus on The Music Lesson (Leighton) and discuss the Analysis. | Edgcumbe Staley admired the composition:The masterly entanglement of the two lovely forms—typical and ideal—as they sit side by side on the black-and-white marble bench, is marked with intense sincerity. Nothing can exceed the delicate articulation of the hands of the two figures—mother and child, or sister. Their feet are chastely disposed and chiselled with the gentlest touch. The pose is easy and graceful. The loving way in which the elder figure places the child's hands upon the guitar as with the other hand she tunes the instrument is natural and convincing. The whole composition breathes an atmosphere of pure refinement and is the very embodiment of rhythm. The Eastern draperies are wonderfully arranged, every fold adding its light or shade in due ratio. The simple pale blue dress of the child accords absolutely with her tender carnations; whilst the white and gold-embroidered robe of the elder girl, or woman—loose and elegant—is in strict keeping, as regards good taste and the true sequence of colours. The bits of pomegranate—so often used as highest points by Leighton—are beautifully detailed. To show that the artist himself set great store by this picture, he has left a "figurine" group of the two female figures which he used for this composition as well as for the "Daphnephoria."
Ernest Rhys praised the beauty of the colouring:Imagine a classical marble hall, marble floor, marble walls, in black and white, and red—deep red—marble pillars; and sitting there, sumptuously attired, but bare-footed, two fair-haired girls, who serve for pupil and music-mistress. The elder is showing the younger how to finger a lyre, of exquisite design and finish; and the expression on their faces is charmingly true, while the colours that they contribute to the composition,—the pale blue of the child's dress, the pale flesh tints, the pale yellow hair, and the white and gold of the elder girl's loose robe, and the rich auburn of her hair,—are most harmonious. A bit of scarlet pomegranate blossom, lying on the marble ground, gives the last high note of colour to the picture. | [
"Daphnephoria",
"Edgcumbe Staley",
"Ernest Rhys"
] |
|
17444_NT | The Music Lesson (Leighton) | Focus on this artwork and discuss the Analysis. | Edgcumbe Staley admired the composition:The masterly entanglement of the two lovely forms—typical and ideal—as they sit side by side on the black-and-white marble bench, is marked with intense sincerity. Nothing can exceed the delicate articulation of the hands of the two figures—mother and child, or sister. Their feet are chastely disposed and chiselled with the gentlest touch. The pose is easy and graceful. The loving way in which the elder figure places the child's hands upon the guitar as with the other hand she tunes the instrument is natural and convincing. The whole composition breathes an atmosphere of pure refinement and is the very embodiment of rhythm. The Eastern draperies are wonderfully arranged, every fold adding its light or shade in due ratio. The simple pale blue dress of the child accords absolutely with her tender carnations; whilst the white and gold-embroidered robe of the elder girl, or woman—loose and elegant—is in strict keeping, as regards good taste and the true sequence of colours. The bits of pomegranate—so often used as highest points by Leighton—are beautifully detailed. To show that the artist himself set great store by this picture, he has left a "figurine" group of the two female figures which he used for this composition as well as for the "Daphnephoria."
Ernest Rhys praised the beauty of the colouring:Imagine a classical marble hall, marble floor, marble walls, in black and white, and red—deep red—marble pillars; and sitting there, sumptuously attired, but bare-footed, two fair-haired girls, who serve for pupil and music-mistress. The elder is showing the younger how to finger a lyre, of exquisite design and finish; and the expression on their faces is charmingly true, while the colours that they contribute to the composition,—the pale blue of the child's dress, the pale flesh tints, the pale yellow hair, and the white and gold of the elder girl's loose robe, and the rich auburn of her hair,—are most harmonious. A bit of scarlet pomegranate blossom, lying on the marble ground, gives the last high note of colour to the picture. | [
"Daphnephoria",
"Edgcumbe Staley",
"Ernest Rhys"
] |
|
17445_T | Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) | How does Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) elucidate its Description? | Picasso used a limited palette to draw attention to the overlapping, fragmented shapes of common objects including musical instruments, sheet music, glasses, a bottle, and a cigarette. Rather than attempt to copy the world in paint, Picasso used the canvas to experiment with texture and form, fracturing the objects into geometric shapes and depicting them from multiple angles. He also displayed great creativity in the application of the paint, using a comb to create the lines on the sheet music and the recorder's wood grain. | [
"canvas"
] |
|
17445_NT | Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) | How does this artwork elucidate its Description? | Picasso used a limited palette to draw attention to the overlapping, fragmented shapes of common objects including musical instruments, sheet music, glasses, a bottle, and a cigarette. Rather than attempt to copy the world in paint, Picasso used the canvas to experiment with texture and form, fracturing the objects into geometric shapes and depicting them from multiple angles. He also displayed great creativity in the application of the paint, using a comb to create the lines on the sheet music and the recorder's wood grain. | [
"canvas"
] |
|
17446_T | Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) | Focus on Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) and analyze the Background information. | Ma Jolie ("My Pretty One") was both a popular French song and the nickname of Picasso's lover, Eva Gouel (born Marcelle Humbert). Sheet music for the song can be seen in the background of the painting. This artwork represents Picasso's return to the oil paint medium after a period of experimentation with collage. Instead of using ready-made objects and materials to create textural effects, he used paint to imitate them, essentially reversing his experiments with collage. Using his new knowledge of texture to apply the syntax of collage to a painting, he raised questions about the very nature of the medium. | [] |
|
17446_NT | Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) | Focus on this artwork and analyze the Background information. | Ma Jolie ("My Pretty One") was both a popular French song and the nickname of Picasso's lover, Eva Gouel (born Marcelle Humbert). Sheet music for the song can be seen in the background of the painting. This artwork represents Picasso's return to the oil paint medium after a period of experimentation with collage. Instead of using ready-made objects and materials to create textural effects, he used paint to imitate them, essentially reversing his experiments with collage. Using his new knowledge of texture to apply the syntax of collage to a painting, he raised questions about the very nature of the medium. | [] |
|
17447_T | Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) | In Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis), how is the Acquisition history discussed? | Picasso's dealer, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler sold Ma Jolie to Katherine Dreier, founder and president of the Société Anonymne, in 1922. Theodore Schempp of New York City acquired it in 1942, possibly from Karl Nierendorf. In 1944, the Herron School of Art debated purchasing it for $3,800, a suggestion which Booth Tarkington, chairman of the Fine Arts Committee, laughed out of the room. Tarkington later regretted his display, mockingly justifying that it was "rather a distinction not to have either a Matisse or a Picasso." Devoted patron Caroline Marmon Fesler, who missed the meeting due to illness, purchased the painting on her own and displayed it in the Herron. Upon her death in 1961, it was bequeathed to the IMA. It is currently on display in the William L. and Jane H. Fortune Gallery and has the acquisition number 61.36. | [
"Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler",
"Booth Tarkington",
"Katherine Dreier",
"Caroline Marmon Fesler",
"Matisse",
"Theodore Schempp",
"Karl Nierendorf",
"Herron School of Art"
] |
|
17447_NT | Ma Jolie (Picasso, Indianapolis) | In this artwork, how is the Acquisition history discussed? | Picasso's dealer, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler sold Ma Jolie to Katherine Dreier, founder and president of the Société Anonymne, in 1922. Theodore Schempp of New York City acquired it in 1942, possibly from Karl Nierendorf. In 1944, the Herron School of Art debated purchasing it for $3,800, a suggestion which Booth Tarkington, chairman of the Fine Arts Committee, laughed out of the room. Tarkington later regretted his display, mockingly justifying that it was "rather a distinction not to have either a Matisse or a Picasso." Devoted patron Caroline Marmon Fesler, who missed the meeting due to illness, purchased the painting on her own and displayed it in the Herron. Upon her death in 1961, it was bequeathed to the IMA. It is currently on display in the William L. and Jane H. Fortune Gallery and has the acquisition number 61.36. | [
"Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler",
"Booth Tarkington",
"Katherine Dreier",
"Caroline Marmon Fesler",
"Matisse",
"Theodore Schempp",
"Karl Nierendorf",
"Herron School of Art"
] |
|
17448_T | Snow at Argenteuil | Focus on Snow at Argenteuil and explore the abstract. | Snow at Argenteuil (French: Rue sous la neige, Argenteuil) is an oil-on-canvas landscape painting by the Impressionist artist Claude Monet. It is the largest of no fewer than eighteen works Monet painted of his home commune of Argenteuil while it was under a blanket of snow during the winter of 1874–1875. This painting—number 352 in Wildenstein's catalogue of the works of Monet—is the largest of the eighteen. The attention to detail evident in the smaller paintings is less evident in this larger picture. Instead, Monet has rendered large areas of the canvas in closely like tones and colours of blue and grey. The application of smaller strokes of greens, yellows, reds and darker blues breaks up these large expanses, and the almost choreographed dispersal of these various colours helps bind the picture together. Paint at the depicted road surface is thicker than elsewhere in the painting, and impasto is suggestive of the feel of disturbed snow.Most of Monet's Snow at Argenteuil pictures from the winter of 1874–1875 were painted from locations close to the house on the boulevard Saint-Denis (now number 21 boulevard Karl Marx) into which Monet and his family had just moved. This particular painting shows the boulevard Saint-Denis looking in the direction of the junction with the rue de la Voie-des-Bans, with the river Seine out of sight to the rear, and the local railway station behind Monet's back as he painted.In December 1879 the painting was acquired from Monet by Théodore Duret. Recalling a conversation with the artist Édouard Manet, Duret years later reported that, 'One winter he [Manet] wanted to paint a snow scene. I had in my possession just such a piece from Monet. After seeing it, he said "It is perfect! I would not know how to do better", whereupon he gave up painting snow.' The picture was acquired from Duret by the art dealers Boussod, Valadon et Cie of Paris in 1892; then by Harris Whittemore of Naugatuck, Connecticut in 1893. Acquavella Galleries of New York acquired the painting in the early 1970s, and then it was purchased by Simon Sainsbury in or around 1973. It was bequeathed by him to the National Gallery, London, in 2006 and it has remained there since. | [
"National Gallery, London",
"Simon Sainsbury",
"Boussod, Valadon et Cie",
"Impressionist",
"landscape painting",
"Argenteuil",
"National Gallery",
"Édouard Manet",
"Claude Monet",
"London"
] |
|
17448_NT | Snow at Argenteuil | Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract. | Snow at Argenteuil (French: Rue sous la neige, Argenteuil) is an oil-on-canvas landscape painting by the Impressionist artist Claude Monet. It is the largest of no fewer than eighteen works Monet painted of his home commune of Argenteuil while it was under a blanket of snow during the winter of 1874–1875. This painting—number 352 in Wildenstein's catalogue of the works of Monet—is the largest of the eighteen. The attention to detail evident in the smaller paintings is less evident in this larger picture. Instead, Monet has rendered large areas of the canvas in closely like tones and colours of blue and grey. The application of smaller strokes of greens, yellows, reds and darker blues breaks up these large expanses, and the almost choreographed dispersal of these various colours helps bind the picture together. Paint at the depicted road surface is thicker than elsewhere in the painting, and impasto is suggestive of the feel of disturbed snow.Most of Monet's Snow at Argenteuil pictures from the winter of 1874–1875 were painted from locations close to the house on the boulevard Saint-Denis (now number 21 boulevard Karl Marx) into which Monet and his family had just moved. This particular painting shows the boulevard Saint-Denis looking in the direction of the junction with the rue de la Voie-des-Bans, with the river Seine out of sight to the rear, and the local railway station behind Monet's back as he painted.In December 1879 the painting was acquired from Monet by Théodore Duret. Recalling a conversation with the artist Édouard Manet, Duret years later reported that, 'One winter he [Manet] wanted to paint a snow scene. I had in my possession just such a piece from Monet. After seeing it, he said "It is perfect! I would not know how to do better", whereupon he gave up painting snow.' The picture was acquired from Duret by the art dealers Boussod, Valadon et Cie of Paris in 1892; then by Harris Whittemore of Naugatuck, Connecticut in 1893. Acquavella Galleries of New York acquired the painting in the early 1970s, and then it was purchased by Simon Sainsbury in or around 1973. It was bequeathed by him to the National Gallery, London, in 2006 and it has remained there since. | [
"National Gallery, London",
"Simon Sainsbury",
"Boussod, Valadon et Cie",
"Impressionist",
"landscape painting",
"Argenteuil",
"National Gallery",
"Édouard Manet",
"Claude Monet",
"London"
] |
|
17449_T | Lehman Madonna | Focus on Lehman Madonna and explain the abstract. | The Lehman Madonna is a c.1470 tempera-on-panel painting of the Madonna and Child by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini.This early work by Bellini demonstrates the influence of his brother-in-law, the Paduan artist Andrea Mantegna. The orange-colored gourds in the garland hanging behind the Madonna's head symbolize the Resurrection; the fruit at the right might be a cherry, representing the Eucharist (Holy Communion) or an apple, representing the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. The gourd on the left has been identified by Levi d'Ancona as a Balsam Pear.The painting was recorded in the Villa San Mauro, Rieti, Italy in 1911 and was acquired by Philip Lehman in or before June 1916. His son Robert bequeathed it in 1975 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, to which it still belongs.As of 2018, the painting is not on view. | [
"Giovanni Bellini",
"Madonna and Child",
"Philip Lehman",
"Rieti",
"Andrea Mantegna",
"Metropolitan Museum of Art",
"Robert",
"Fall of Man"
] |
|
17449_NT | Lehman Madonna | Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract. | The Lehman Madonna is a c.1470 tempera-on-panel painting of the Madonna and Child by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini.This early work by Bellini demonstrates the influence of his brother-in-law, the Paduan artist Andrea Mantegna. The orange-colored gourds in the garland hanging behind the Madonna's head symbolize the Resurrection; the fruit at the right might be a cherry, representing the Eucharist (Holy Communion) or an apple, representing the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. The gourd on the left has been identified by Levi d'Ancona as a Balsam Pear.The painting was recorded in the Villa San Mauro, Rieti, Italy in 1911 and was acquired by Philip Lehman in or before June 1916. His son Robert bequeathed it in 1975 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, to which it still belongs.As of 2018, the painting is not on view. | [
"Giovanni Bellini",
"Madonna and Child",
"Philip Lehman",
"Rieti",
"Andrea Mantegna",
"Metropolitan Museum of Art",
"Robert",
"Fall of Man"
] |
|
17450_T | Statue of Donald Trump (Slovenia) | Explore the abstract of this artwork, Statue of Donald Trump (Slovenia). | A statue of the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump was erected on private land in Sela pri Kamniku, Slovenia, in 2019. The approximately 25-foot (7.6 m) wood monument depicted Trump wearing a blue suit and a red tie, with a fierce expression and his right arm raised in a fist. A mechanism inside the statue allowed the mouth to open, revealing sharp teeth. Tomaz Schlegl, the artist behind the project, said that "Like all populists, the statue has two faces."The artist intended the statue as "a provocation, because the world is full of populism". Former Slovenian member of parliament Igor Omerza thought it could be seen as a sign of the country's "love-hate" relationship with President Trump, depicting either the raised hand of the Statue of Liberty or the iron fist of a populist dictator.After complaints from residents, the statue was relocated to Moravče. It was vandalised with the addition of a Hitler moustache, and later burned to the ground by unknown arsonists. | [
"populist",
"Sela pri Kamniku",
"Hitler moustache",
"Moravče",
"Statue of Liberty",
"Slovenia",
"Tomaz Schlegl",
"Donald Trump"
] |
|
17450_NT | Statue of Donald Trump (Slovenia) | Explore the abstract of this artwork. | A statue of the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump was erected on private land in Sela pri Kamniku, Slovenia, in 2019. The approximately 25-foot (7.6 m) wood monument depicted Trump wearing a blue suit and a red tie, with a fierce expression and his right arm raised in a fist. A mechanism inside the statue allowed the mouth to open, revealing sharp teeth. Tomaz Schlegl, the artist behind the project, said that "Like all populists, the statue has two faces."The artist intended the statue as "a provocation, because the world is full of populism". Former Slovenian member of parliament Igor Omerza thought it could be seen as a sign of the country's "love-hate" relationship with President Trump, depicting either the raised hand of the Statue of Liberty or the iron fist of a populist dictator.After complaints from residents, the statue was relocated to Moravče. It was vandalised with the addition of a Hitler moustache, and later burned to the ground by unknown arsonists. | [
"populist",
"Sela pri Kamniku",
"Hitler moustache",
"Moravče",
"Statue of Liberty",
"Slovenia",
"Tomaz Schlegl",
"Donald Trump"
] |
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