Maxfield Parrish - Daybreak

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Inspired by - Maxfield Parrish  - Daybreak

Daybreak was commissioned in 1920 for the sole purpose of reproduction. It was distributed to the American public as a color lithographic print. It went on to be the most reproduced painting in American history. One 1925 survey estimated that as many as one in every four American households had a "Daybreak" print on its wall. The naked figure in "Daybreak" is Parrish's eleven-year-old daughter Jean. The reclining figure is Kitty Owen Spence, the eighteen-year-old granddaughter of William Jennings Bryan. Bryan was a three-time presidential candidate for the Democratic party. He bought the original, and it was held by his family until 1974. In preliminary drawings, there was third character. The model for which was Susan Lewin, Maxfield’s housekeeper and lover. Before the painting was released, daughter Jean asked that Lewin be removed.

On May 25, 2006, Daybreak was purchased by Mel Gibson's wife, Robyn at auction at Christie's for $7.6 million. This set a record price for a Parrish painting. When they divorced three years later, it was sold again, but this time for $5.2 million. 

See original painting:  https://bit.ly/4qOOhDS

Golconda

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Inspired by René Magritte - Golconda

Magritte got the name for this painting from his poet friend Louis Scutenaire, who often helped him find names for his paintings. All of the faces are different, but he included a likeness of Scutenaire in the middle of the center row. The name he chose, Golconda, refers to a city in India, which was considered the world’s diamond capital. Bowlers were designed for the British middle class, in the second half of the 19th century. It denoted informality and practicality, juxtaposed to the more formal top hat. This ubiquitous piece of fashion, worn by bourgeois men, was the definition of anonymity. This painting is peppered with bowler-hatted gents who represent the common man, the sort who would not stand out. Magritte said, “The bowler poses no surprise. It is a headdress that is not original. The man with the bowler is just middle-class man in his anonymity. I wear it, because I am not eager to singularize myself.”

To see original: https://bit.ly/45JwhmM

Caspar David Friederich - Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

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Inspired by Caspar David Friederich - Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

If you Google Romantcism this painting is one of the first that will appear in the images. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe, and was in its peak in the early 1800’s. Standing on a high dark rock, while foggy mist swarms over the distant valleys and mountains beyond, a lone figure contemplates his place in the universe,

At the age of 13 Kasper was skating on the Baltic with his brother. He fell through the ice, and hisis brother came to his rescue. Caspar lived but his brother died. This emotional experience haunted him for most of life. He attempted suicide in his adulthood. It may be the reason for the somber feeling in his early paintings. He painted the Wanderer at the age 34. That was also the year he married Caroline Baumar. After his marriage, his paintings became lighter, adding more color and people. Although his people were usually looking away from the painter.

To see original - https://bit.ly/3Q5qn4u