Happy Birthday, Claude Monet
TITLE: “Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies”
ARTIST: Claude Monet
DATE: 1899
WHY WE CHOSE IT: Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926), the founder of French Impressionism, was born 172 years ago today.
From the Met:
In 1893, Monet, a passionate horticulturist, purchased land with a pond near his property in Giverny, intending to build something “for the pleasure of the eye and also for motifs to paint.” The result was his water-lily garden. In 1899, he began a series of eighteen views of the wooden footbridge over the pond, completing twelve paintings, including the present one, that summer. The vertical format of the picture, unusual in this series, gives prominence to the water lilies and their reflections on the pond.
SOURCE: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
To learn more about your favorite artists and the fine art available through Park West Gallery and its cruise art auctions at sea, visit www.parkwestgallery.com.
Happy Birthday, Rodin
TITLE: “The Thinker”
ARTIST: Auguste Rodin
DATE: 1880
WHY WE CHOSE IT: French sculptor Auguste Rodin (November 12, 1840 – November 17, 1917) was born on this day, 172 years ago.
From the Rodin Museum:
Auguste Rodin originally conceived a smaller version of this sculpture to sit atop his monumental bronze portal entitled “The Gates of Hell” (1880-1917). The figure was intended to represent Italian poet Dante Alighieri pondering “The Divine Comedy,” his epic story of Paradise and Inferno. However, in 1889 Rodin exhibited the sculpture independently of “The Gates,” giving it the title “The Thinker,” and in 1902 he embarked on this larger version.
Rodin recalled: “Guided by my first inspiration I conceived another thinker, a naked man, seated upon a rock, his feet drawn under him, his fist against his teeth, he dreams. The fertile thought slowly elaborates itself within his brain. He is no longer dreamer, he is creator.”
SOURCE: Rodin Museum
To learn more about your favorite artists and the fine art available through Park West Gallery and its cruise art auctions at sea, visit www.parkwestgallery.com.
Happy Thanksgiving!
TITLE: “Thanksgiving”
ARTIST: Doris Lee
DATE: 1935
WHY WE CHOSE IT: From the Park West Gallery family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
SOURCE: The Art Institute of Chicago
To learn more about your favorite artists and the fine art available through Park West Gallery and its cruise art auctions at sea, visit www.parkwestgallery.com.
