Artfully Said!

John Russell, 1791. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. There is so much that I love about this painting. Mrs. Godschall’s kind eyes, the blue tint of her hair, the metallic edging on her ruffles, the bold strokes of paint that give movement and swishiness to the copious layers of fabric, the massive

Auguste Renoir, Two Young Girls at the Piano, 1892. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Renoir gives us lots of color and great detail in this painting. Take some time to look at these details. Enlarge the picture if you can and look not only at the girls–their expressions and their clothing–but past

Amedeo Modigliani, Girl in a Sailor’s Blouse, Oil on canvas–1918. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. This portrait is typical of the stylized work of Amedeo Modigliani. After looking carefully at this painting, you could probably identify other paintings by Modigliani when you come across them in books and museums. With that in

Paul Cezanne, Dish of Apples, ca. 1876-77. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Paul Cezanne painted a lot of fruit in his day. Sometimes they were arranged on a dish like this and sometimes they were just scattered about on a cloth or piled on a table. They were usually surrounded by common objects

Vincent Van Gogh, Shoes, 1888. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Van Gogh’s shoes are ordinary shoes. But his painting of them is vintage Van Gogh. His brush strokes, his color choices, his lighting, his approach–all work to take an every day object and elevate it into art–in singular Van Gogh style. What