Anders Zorn, etching portrait

Anders Zorn, etching portrait, a photo by deflam on Flickr.

Zorn, 1893

Zorn, 1893, a photo by Mauro F.A. on Flickr.

More Pics of Thayer's Gladys

This were sent to me by David Baird.  Thanks David.

Who Sits at What Table In the High Cafeteria of Art History?

Just a funny thought I had.  These are not personal insults against the artists themselves.  For goodness sake don't take this too seriously.  I'd love to hear your suggestions too.

Punks/Skaters:
Turner
Toulouse Lautrec
Van Gogh
Rembrandt
LePage

Goths:
Goya
Zurburan
Henry Fuseli
Von Stuck

Nerds/Geeks:
Pre-Raphaelites
The Hudson River School
French Academic Art

Metal Heads:
Albrecht Durer
Bosch
Grunewald
William Blake
Dore

Jocks:
Picasso
Jackson Pollock
De Kooning


Preppies:
Ingres
Raphael
Rococo
David

Detention:
Courbet
Caravaggio
Jan Steen
Hogarth

Rednecks:
Thomas Hart Benton

Stoners:
Franz Hals
Adriaen Brouwer

A bit of LePage

Jules Bastien-LePage.

Thayer's unfinished "Gladys" at the Brooks Museum, Memphis

Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921) is one of those names that everyone should know but somehow he did not get invited to Art History's cool table.  Painters love him for his monumental compositions, fearless broad handling of the brush, great color, and solid architecture of his heads. 

My first trip to the Brooks Museum in Memphis I was smitten with (by?) this crazy painting of Gladys Thayer, Abbot's daughter.  I tried to photograph this painting last time I was in Memphis just before I was busted by their security guards.  Yes, they have one of those backward policies that you can't even take non-flash photos, but I won't complain, because it's the best museum day-tripable from Little Rock.  I searched the internet for years looking for a photo of it, but just recently I found these nice reproductions on  this blog. 

It never occurred to me that Thayer's process would look so chaotic.  The slashes of thick thick, gooey paint look much like what I've seen while watching Steven Assael paint, although the form is more like chiseled stone than Assael's rounded clay-like form.  The long, quick strokes are fearless, and most of the drawing seems to be done into a layer of already thick paint.  Startlingly unacademic, and almost alien.

The second thing to surprise me was the color choices in the flesh mixtures.  The green here is much more limey than the photo reveals, The rest of the neck is a pure blob of naples with a red slash through it, redefining the border of the back of the neck.

The third thing is the Auerbach-like hand with the curious black "S" shape next to it.  Do they all start this way?  Look at the pink on the arm, the way the form turns blue as the breast turns under.  No feigned mastery here, this is the real thing.

If you aren't familiar with Thayer's work, below are a few of his greatest hits.

 

A Few Annigoni Videos

"Like any Italian worth his garlic salt Annigoni can make a tasty omelet..."