Jacques-Louis David - The Death of Socrates
It is the story of Socrates’s execution, as told by Plato in Phaedo. In this story, Socrates, as punishment for criticizing Critias, the tyrant of Athens, is told he must either drink the poison hemlock or face exile. Socrates, rather than fleeing, uses his death as a final lesson for his pupils, and faces it calmly. David’s version of the Death of Socrates contains many historical inaccuracies.
René Magritte - Golconda
John Singleton Copley – Watson and the Shark
John Singleton Copley – Watson and the Shark – 1778
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C
Commissioned by Brooke Watson to commemorate the day in his life when at 14 his leg was bitten off by a shark while he was swimming in the Havana harbor. Watson, who went on to a successful career despite the attack and the loss of his leg below the knee, commissioned the painting as a lesson for other unfortunates, including orphans like himself, in the fact that even the severest adversity can be overcome. He eventually became a Baron of England due to his successes. Watson and the Shark solidified Copley’s career in Britain and ensured his election to the Royal Academy in 1779 after its exhibition. As Watson was a British Tory, however, Copley’s heroic treatment of his patron angered many American critics and cost the artist some of his esteem back home. Copley painted a full scale replica which hangs in Boston’s Museum of Fine Art. See the original: http://bit.ly/1IvEkWb
Édouard Manet - A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Édouard Manet - A Bar at the Folies-Bergère - 1882
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
This was Manet's last major work. This painting exemplifies his commitment to realism in its detailed representation of a contemporary scene. Yet he includes a mysterious divergence from this approach. The central figure stands before a mirror. In the mirror reflection there seems to be a conversation transpiring between the barmaid and gentleman. The man stands outside the painter's field of vision, to the left, and looks away from the barmaid, rather than standing right in front of her. As it appears, the observer should be standing to the right and closer to the bar than the man whose reflection appears at the right edge of the picture. This seems to be an optical trick and an unsusual departure from the central point of view usually assumed when viewing pictures drawn according to perspective. To see the original: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Georges de La Tour - The Education of the Virgin
Georges de La Tour - The Education of the Virgin - 1650
The Frick Collection
de La Tour (March 13, 1593 – January 30, 1652) was a French Baroque painter. He painted mostly religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight. He often painted several variations on the same subjects, and his surviving output is relatively small. His son Étienne was his pupil, and distinguishing between their work in versions of La Tour's compositions is difficult. The authorship of this painting has been much debated. Recent studies of the several surviving versions suggest that all may be replicas of a lost original by Georges de La Tour. Yet some scholars maintain that the Frick canvas is the original; it has been attributed to the artist’s son Étienne primarily because of the form of its signature. The painter’s striking use of light imbues the popular genre motif of St. Anne teaching her daughter to read the Bible. See original http://bit.ly/1NAzS7t
Charles Wilson Peale – The Artist in His Museum
Charles Wilson Peale – The Artist in His Museum - 182
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Towards the end of his career, Peale painted seven self-portraits. This may seem like a bit of self-adoration, but he really did have a lot to brag about. First his creative and successful progeny named: Rembrandt, Raphaelle, Rubens and Titian Peale (REALLY). As well as many other accomplishments, like the first Art School in the US (The Pennsylvania Academy) and the first Museum in the United States, which he set up on the second floor of Independence Hall. In this painting he (Santa, ergo self-portrait in a self-portrait) is welcoming us to his newest adventure. To see the original: The Artist in His Museum
Bouguereau - Nymphs and Satyr
William-Adolphe Bouguereau- Nymphs and Satyr - 1873
Clark Art Institut
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was one of the greatest Academic painters in late 19th century France. His paintings were bought by rich Americans because of the beauty of his female figures. This painting was hung in a NYC bar until 1900 when it was sold to a buyer, who stored in in a warehouse to keep its lewd content away from the public eye. Eventually purchased by the Clark family, it now hangs in the Clark Art Institute. To see the original: Nymphs and Satyr