Reflecting on One Year One Painting A Day

 'The Wedding Dress' by Frederick William Elwell

2012 has come to an end and I have decided not to continue this project this year. I know I will miss doing it because art makes me happy and I had so much fun doing this blog. (While writing this, I am actually thinking whether it would be possible to maybe start another art blog that doesn't require daily posts and will enable me to discover new painters as well.) 

I think the absolute most fun thing about this blog was discovering new artists and paintings. It has been frustrating at times, because the date on the calendar had to match the date of birth or death of the artist and sometimes it wasn't very easy to find a painting I liked. In this last post I want to give you a small list of painters that I have discovered through this blog and who have become favourites (please click on the name of the artist to link you to the blog post):

• Vilhelm Hammershøi
• George Innes
• John White Alexander
• Edmund Charles Tarbell
• Richard E. Miller
• Edgar Maxence
• William Adolphe Bouguereau
• Jules Joseph Lefebvre
• Ary Scheffer
• Joseph Karl Stieler
• Federico Zandomeneghi
• Carlo Dolci
• Pietro Antonio Rotari
• Palma Vecchio
• John William Godward
• Frank Dicksee
• Frank Cadogan Cowper
• Arthur Hacker
• John Opie
• Valentine Cameron Prinsep
• Harriet Backer
• Guy Orlando Rose

The list could go on and on.

Although selecting a painting could be time consuming, I spent more time writing the accompanying text. I feel this blog isn't complete without it, so I still need to write the text for the posts of June & July (when I was in Peru), November (when I was doing NaNoWriMo, the novel writing month) and December (when I was just being busy with holidays and work). So I owe you that and it should keep me busy for some time. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to visit the daily paintings and hope you have discovered new painters and paintings as well. If I decide to do another art blog, I will let you know and provide you with the link here.

One last time (it is weird but it really feels like saying goodbye):

For today's post I chose the painting 'The Wedding Dress' by an English painter unknown to me, Frederick William Elwell, born on 29 June 1870 and died on 3 January 1958. I think it is beautiful and sad. See you next time!

Arthur Hughes and April Love

Arthur Hughes, born on 27 January 1832 and died on 22 December 1915

Richard Redgrave and The Poor Teacher (The Governess)

Richard Redgrave, born on 30 April 1804 and died on 14 December 1888

John William Godward and Girl In A Peach Dress

John William Godward, born on 9 August 1861 and died on 13 December 1922

Frederic Leighton and A Girl

Frederic Leighton, born on 3 December 1830

Frank Dicksee and Portrait of a Lady

Frank Dicksee, born on 27 November 1853

During the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

Henry Ryland and La Primavera (Spring)

Henry Ryland, born in 1856 and died on 23 November 1924

Due to the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

John Arnesby Brown and The Dutch Windmill

John Arnesby Brown, born on 29 March 1866 and died on 16 November 1955

Due to the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

George Romney and Lady Hamilton as Circe

George Romney, born on 26 December 1734 and died on 15 November 1802

Due to the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

William Powell Frith and Asleep While Reading

William Powell Frith, born on 19 January 1819 and died on 9 November 1909

Due to the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

Edward Robert Hughes and Midsummer Eve

Edward Robert Hughes, born on 5 November 1849

Due to the NaNoWriMo Project, I will continue to post a painting a day for the month of November but I won't have time to write. I may add text at a later date. I hope you will still visit to see the daily painting. 

Charles Spencelayh and Helping Mother

'Helping Mother' (1899) by Charles Spencelayh; Private Collection?

I had never heard of English painter Charles Spencelayh, born on 27 October 1865. Judging from the length of his Wikipedia page, he seems to be a minor painter. Today's painting of a girl helping her mother immediately caught my eye. I think it is quite stunning because of its photographic quality and because the girl's face looks so modern. I also find that it could be two paintings, namely a portrait and a still life. Because both depictions in this painting are strong enough to stand on its own. Just imagine the girl without the food in front of her and the other way around. Do you see what I mean? Spencelayh was a painter in the Academic style and exhibited at the Paris Salon but more often in Britain. He painted domestic scenes, still lifes and portraits. I couldn't find the location for today's painting but found that it sold at Christie's in 1999 for 45,500 GBP.

William Hogarth and Sigismunda Mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo

'Sigismunda Mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo' (1759) by William Hogarth;
Tate Britain, London

I couldn't really make a choice today and I had initially dismissed English painter William Hogarth, born on 10 November 1697 and died on 26 October 1764. I'm not a big fan of his work but when I saw this painting of Sigismunda, I had to doublecheck its painter because it doesn't look like a Hogarth painting at all and I like it. The Tate says about this painting: "This was Hogarth's most deliberate attempt to prove that modern English painters could handle heroic themes as convincingly as the revered Italian old masters." Although Hogarth had expressed his distaste for the old Renaissance masters, he copied their style for this painting. It's a depiction of a dramatic scene from Boccaccio's Decameron. Sigismunda clutches the golden cup to her heart, sent to her by her father. Inside the cup is the heart of her dead husband Giuscardo, one of her father's servants. Distraught at the death of her beloved husband, she puts poison in the cup and kills herself. Hogarth had to endure harsh criticism for this painting and almost abandoned painting altogether for the last years of his life. For more information, click here.

Frank Cadogan Cowper and Vanity

'Vanity' (1907) by Frank Cadogan Cowper; Royal Academy of Arts, London

Today's painting I had already drafted some time ago because I think it is beautiful and I didn't want to use another painting for this date and miss out on this one. The artist Frank Cadogan Cowper, born on 16 October 1877, is described as the last of the Pre-Raphaelite painters and he's someone I had never heard of before. He took his subjects from literature, history and religion, painted in the Pre-Raphaelite style with close attention to colour and detail. Look at Vanity. Aren't the colours and details gorgeous? Cowper attended the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited his work there for the first time. In 1910, he received a commission to paint a mural for the House Of Commons. He moved to the States during the Second World War but returned to England in 1944. He continued to paint and exhibit until 1957. 

Ford Madox Brown and The Last of England

'The Last of England' (1855) by Ford Madox Brown; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham

Although very much a Pre-Raphaelite painter in style and colour, English artist Ford Madox Brown, born on 16 April 1821 and died on 6 October 1893, was never a member of the Brotherhood. He became closely involved with the movement because of his friendship with Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Born in Calais, he had been regarded as an outsider in the British art world, even though his parents were British. He studied drawing in Europe and became friends with German painters of the Nazarene movement. His work bears the influence of Johann Overbeck and Peter von Cornelius. During his life, Brown never made much money out of painting and he was largely ignored by his contemporaries. He had problems finishing his paintings and would retouch them constantly, even after they had been sold. Today's painting The Last of England is actually the only painting by Brown that I myself am familiar with, probably because it's his most famous work. It is an image of a couple of immigrants leaving England forever. The expression on their faces tell you their state of mind on leaving and I think Brown succeeded in making this a very strong depiction.

Arthur Hacker and Lost Parasol

'Lost Parasol' (1902) by Arthur Hacker; Private Collection

I so love doing this blog! I had never heard of Pre-Raphaelite painter Arthur Hacker, born on 25 September 1858. I just discovered him and am happy to use him for this post. Hacker studied at the Royal Academy schools before going to Paris. There he studied under French painter Léon Bonnat who was well-known for his portraits and a friend of Edgar Degas. Hacker became a painter of portraits and historical and religious scenes. He also painted mythological and allegorical subjects. The Wikipedia page (click on author's name) mentions that Hacker is a Classicist painter but doesn't say anything about him being part of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. I think some of his paintings are very much in the Pre-Raphaelite style like The Temptation of Sir Percival or The Drone, and I found many mentions of him being a Pre-Raphaelite painter (click here for a list of Pre-Raphaelite painters). I chose today's painting because apart from portraits, I also like narrative paintings a lot. Looking at this lighthearted scene, it makes you wonder whether the woman will be able to retrieve the parasol without getting her feet wet and why the man in the background isn't helping her.

William Clarke Wontner and Portrait Of A Beauty

'Portrait Of A Beauty' (1918) by William Clarke Wontner; Private Collection?

For today I had already drafted this painting by English portrait painter William Clarke Wontner, born on 17 January 1857 and died on 23 September 1930, so no time spent on searching for today's match. Wontner was part of the Neoclassical movement of which Lawrence Alma-Tadema was the foremost leader. I wasn't familiar with Wontner, but I had come across the work of English painter John William Godward while doing this blog. When I saw the images of the paintings by Wontner, they immediately brought back to mind the work of Godward. So it was nice to find out that Wonter worked with Godward while being under the tutelage of his father, and they became lifelong friends. They both worked in a style that became known as the Greco-Roman style. Depictions of beautiful seductive women against oriental marbled backdrops. When you see Wontner's paintings together, you can imagine it's a bit difficult to choose one painting, or simply choose one that stands out because they all look a bit similar. So I cannot really tell you why I singled out this painting because I could also have chosen this one or this one or this one. I just like the colours in this painting very much, the woman's face is beautiful and the scarf is exquisite. I couldn't find its location but found that it had been put up for auction at one point so it might be in private hands.

Herbert James Draper and The Gates of Dawn (detail)

'The Gates of Dawn' (1900) by Herbert James Draper; The Drapers' Company, London

Today's painting is a detail of a painting by English Classicist painter Herbert James Draper, born in 1863 and died on 22 September 1920. The painting is called 'The Gates of Dawn', click here for the full painting. It's not that I don't like the painting in full, nor do I have anything against nudity, but I think the face of the woman is beautiful and you just don't see that when the painting is shown in full (because it simply makes the face smaller and you get distracted by decor and breasts). Draper was a painter of historical subjects and mythological themes from ancient Greece. Today's painting is a portrait of Aurora, the Goddess of Dawn in Roman mythology (in Greek mythology she's called Eos). She is alluring, sexual and powerful. The discarded roses on the floor (only to be seen when you click on the full painting) refer to her insatiable passion. The story goes that one of her mortal lovers, Tithonus, was granted immortality by Jupiter but not eternal youth. When Tithonus grew old, Aurora turned him into a grasshopper. I think Draper captured the 'don't mess with me' look very well. What do you think? Draper was a very succesful painter in his days but is now largely forgotten and seldom seen in auction rooms.

Hilda Fearon and Enchantment

'Enchantment' (1914) by Hilda Fearon; Private Collection?

Today there was not much to choose from but I am happy to have found this painting by English painter Hilda Fearon, born on September 14, 1878. I couldn't find a Wikipedia page on her, nor much information elsewhere, so I guess she must have been a minor painter. Like her contemporary Dorothea Sharp, Fearon liked to paint outdoors and was drawn to Cornwall. She had some of her paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1908 until her death in 1917. Today's painting is probably in private hands. I couldn't find its location but it was put up for auction at Sotheby's in Sussex in 1996. I think the light in this painting is beautiful and it's the first thing that draws you in. The depiction of a mother, presumably, reading to her children is also very sweet and peaceful.

Joseph Wright of Derby and An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump

'An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump' (1768) by Joseph Wright of Derby; National Gallery, London

Today's painting has always captivated me, not in the least because I could never remember its title nor its painter. Just the image of a dark painting with lots of people in it and something to do with a bird stuck to mind. Well, the artist is Joseph Wright of Derby, born on 3 September 1734, and he made today's choice easy. Wright was known for his use of chiaroscuro and for his paintings of candlelit subjects. He was trained as a portrait painter by Thomas Hudson. He was in close contact with members of the Lunar Society, an informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands consisting of industrialists, intellectuals and natural philosophers. Many of Wright's paintings were inspired by Lunar Society gatherings. Wikipedia dedicates an entire page on today's painting (click here). It's a depiction of a group of people observing an experiment in which a bird is deprived of air. Everybody reacts differently but their concern for the bird's well-being is surpassed by their scientific curiosity. I think it's a fascinating work of art because of its subject choice and use of dramatic light.