When I was little, I took painting and drawing classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At the start of lessons, we would walk through the galleries and look at a certain work of art that demonstrated a technique or style we would be learning about that day.
Growing up in the city, I took for granted access to a museum that owns some of the world's most renowned pieces of art. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte? Duh, I've seen it a million times. (This must be how Parisians feel all day, every day. About everything.)
This means I've seen a lot of famous pieces by big artists, but not many of their lesser-known ones. Last summer, we visited Cleveland for a wedding and stopped at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was exciting to see paintings I've never heard of by artists that everyone's heard of. Here are two of my never-seen-before faves from that day, both by Matisse:
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| The Windshield, On the Road to Villacoublay, Cleveland Museum of Art |
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| Intérieur au vase étrusque, Cleveland Museum of Art |
Last night we did some rearranging involving the television, and now I'm jonesing for prints of European paintings to add to a salon wall. (Salon? you ask. Your four-room apartment has a salon now? Shhh. Let me have this.)
I spent some time searching through post-impressionist art over on the revamped art.com. These are some of my favorites, sticking to the theme of new-to-me works from well-known artists. Some of these may be bedroom contenders as well.
Left: Bouquet of Flowers, 1890, van Gogh | Right: Sept Singes, Seurat
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Left: Skull with Burning Cigarette, Van Gogh
Above: Study, Nonelli
Below: La tasse de thé du matin, Vuillard
Above: Portrait of Armand Roulin, van Gogh
Below: The Black Marble Clock c. 1870, Cezanne
Laurencin: Women, 1920, Laurencin