Shopping and Adoration

Let’s talk Christmas!! It’s happening, guys! Jesus was born and there’s no canceling something that happened thousands of years before stupid Covid. I want to share some beautiful Christmas-y art, but first I want to put a plug in for some art-related gifts.

1.      The Met Store. Or any museum store. Obviously, art museums are not having their best year, so this is a great way to support them! Most of them ship and have a wide range of fun artsy gifts and stocking stuffers for big and little budgets. Starry Night umbrella? Yup! Bajillion dollar piece of art? Yup! I found a darling fairy garden set for my niece over the summer at a museum shop. She’s going to love it!

2.       Etsy. I found so many awesome gifts on Etsy this year! A cute hand-stitched pillow for my mother-in-law, a sweet hockey decal for my daughter’s bedroom wall, a goat wallet for my other daughter, beautiful ornaments made from sea glass for each kid.

3.       Local artists. I contacted a local artist I am familiar with and asked about a project for my mom. She was happy to oblige. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever purchased for my mom! Art galleries have great gifts by local artists. Also? Tap into your friends’ talents! I bought super cool greeting cards from one of my girlfriends and another is selling gorgeous wreaths. People love artsy gifts with a personal connection and it’s SO much better than a gift card!

4.       Indie book stores. Every one I go into has great, kitschy stuff! Local friends, Schuler’s has a section with Frida Kahlo air fresheners and erasers shaped like Van Gogh’s ear. What art lover wouldn’t want that?!

If you’re already done shopping or an artist can’t deliver before Christmas, don’t worry, you can buy stuff for friends and family year-round! These places are always happy to take your money! 😊

Speaking of presents… how about those gifts the Magi brought baby Jesus? Here is how Sandro Boticelli imagined the scene:

If you really zoom in, Jesus’ halo is just barely visible and his fat little baby fingers are raised in blessing. Then I’m sure they went right back into his mouth afterward. The man (presumably) drying Jesus’ feet is Cosimo de’ Medici and not the only Medici in the painting. Piero, Giuliano, and Lorenzo are also featured, as is Botticelli himself. He’s the guy on the far right, scrutinizing viewers.

Another cool figure worth pointing out is the horse on the far left. Art scholars suspect that’s a callback to Leonardo da Vinci, who was an accomplished musician and supposedly made a lyre shaped like a horse’s head. (Side note: Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi is in the Uffizi Gallery, along with Botticelli’s. Remind me to do a compare/contrast post someday on Botticelli and da Vinci.) If you zoom in, you can see the horse is about to bite the arm of the guy in red… who is Guiliano Medici’s assassin!

Silly me- I thought this was just a painting of the wise men coming to worship Jesus. Nothing is ever that simple, is it? But then, Jesus knew a thing or two about scandal and dirty politics, so maybe it is fitting after all.

Thanksgiving Art

 Happy Thanksgiving! Here are three things I’m thankful for today:

1.     1. Hotels are finally sanitizing the tv remotes between guests. Or at least making us think they did.

2.     2.   Road trip games. You know the ones: the license plate game, I Spy, etc.

3.     3. Chocolate chip cookies from Penn Station Eastcoast Subs. My husband boldly declared it was his favorite food in the world. I get that.

Oh, and my family, friends, health, blah blah blah. Also, in the grand scheme of life, hand turkeys on brown construction paper have to make the list of things I’m thankful for too. They are such sweet reminders of little patties. Bonus points if they have sloppy, misspelled words of things kids are thankful for. (i.e. fod/food, nutla/Nutella, hoke/hockey, undrpats/underpants).

If your taste is a little more refined, let me offer you these pieces of Thanksgiving art:

Claude Monet’s The Turkeys. I never see white turkeys! And I see a lot of turkeys. Not just the ones I live with either.

Norman Rockwell’s Freedom From Want. This one makes me cry. They’re all so happy! Sniffle, sniffle.

Norman Rockwell’s Home for Thanksgiving. Another tearjerker. Good grief, Norman! You're killing me!

I’m thankful for ART this Thanksgiving. And time with my family. Which I’m going to take advantage of right now with our highly sanitized remote control. Have a lovely Thanksgiving, friends!

QuARTantine

I’ve been trying very, very hard not to write about Covid on Nice and Easel. I’d like it to be a haven from the bummer that is coronavirus. But the day has come that I am doing a pandemic post… with a twist! I’d like to write about the silver lining lacing our corona cloud: the awesome art that will come from artists in quarantine. Because when school/work/life is canceled? Art is not. Did we learn nothing from Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” album? That’s just the tip of the iceberg. We are going to be swimming in amazing art. Below are a few examples of some art made during the Spanish flu era. 

Edvard Munch had the Spanish flu and lived to paint about it. This was right up his alley. He enjoyed (maybe not the right word?) painting scenes of illness, as seen in The Sick Child. I love that he did a self-portrait during his illness and one after. A pictorial diary of affliction. For more on Munch, check out this Nice and Easel post from 2018.

Self-Portrait With the Spanish Flu. Didn't we see a similar expression elsewhere....?

Self-Portrait After the Spanish Flu. Like right after, I presume.

Meanwhile, in France, Renoir was laboring through the pandemic. (There is no record of him having the Spanish flu perse, though he was chronically ill.) In the midst of war and illness, he created The Bathers. Critics absolutely tore it apart at the time, not doing anything for his spirits, I’m sure, but we get the benefit of its beauty now, a hundred years later. Critics thought the women were too big (I’m throwing shade, critics. Gimme a break.) and too pink. As a rather “pink” person myself I’m tres offended, as they say in France. 

The Bathers. Pretty in pink, if  you ask me.

I am newly fascinated by the incredible Marc Chagall. His surrealism is just on the cusp of believable, his colors are vibrant and beautiful, and of course… he did some of his best work during the Spanish flu, which hit Russia (his home at the time) as hard as the U.S. His work cheers me, though it was made during universally low moral. Here are two paintings that I particularly love. 

Wedding. Cupid's red, heart-shaped wings? LOVE!

Over the Town. I think we've all wanted this escape at one time or another in 2020.

Friends, we will see the other side of this pandemic! And when we do, we can look forward to a bumper crop of incredible art. History says so!

Pumpkin: Not Just A Term of Endearment

Happy almost Halloween! Gone are the days of triangle eyes, square noses, and gap-toothed smiles! As I’m sure you’ve seen, pumpkin carving in this millennia is next level. Here are my kids’ pumpkins. Pretty basic compared to the others you’ll see in a moment.

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. The far left pumpkin reads, “MEIJER,” (the hockey team my daughter plays for), the middle is a face, but with a black eye (pumpkin hockey fight), and the far right says, “PIG” (not hockey related. Just. Random.) Last year, my middle carved "TACOS!" into her pumpkin. We really love words in our family. And tacos. Obviously.

My cousin and her family live in Thailand, where pumpkins aren’t easily accessible, so they get creative in their carving mediums. Here are a few food items they’ve carved in lieu of pumpkins.

How cute are these?! 

Back to pumpkins. If we’re going to have a post about incredible pumpkin carvings, we first have to talk about Ray Villafane (www.villafanestudios.com). Villafane is an American sculptor that SLAYS the pumpkin carving scene. No plastic knife, choppy mouth, uneven eyes from this guy. His pumpkins are scary cool.

Look at the detail on the snake skin! Almost TOO lifelike! 

So clever! So fun!

We don’t have all day or I’d post a hundred more of his creations. Give yourself a Halloween treat and Google his other works.

If you like a more classic pumpkin, fear not. Maniac Pumpkin Carvers (maniacpumpkincarvers.com) has got your back. Their pumpkins have been featured at MoMA, the Whitney, and other such commonplace museums. Every year they feature a famous piece from a classic artist and blow everyone’s minds.

Picasso so cool. 

This is not a pumpkin.

Finally, the Pumpkin Geek, aka Alex Wer (www.thepumpkingeek.com). Another amazing talent, and will also take orders if you want- say, your kid’s face on a pumpkin! Or your pug’s mug! You get the picture! (groan.) You must visit his website too. I wanted this post to be at least a little scary, so I was going to post one of his horror movie carvings, but honestly, they creeped me out too much. This was the best I could do for you:

I feel like Edward would also be good at pumpkin carving.

If Covid was a person.

Whatever you do this Halloween, whether it’s trick-or-treating, or dressing up to pass out candy, or tailgating in an ice arena parking lot between your kids’ hockey games with cider mimosas, I hope you have a moderately spooky day!

Much Much Dutch!

My daughters have a few days off from school this week so we spent yesterday in darling Holland, Michigan! They just finished planting tulip bulbs for next year's Tulip Festival, prompting me to say "We should plant tulips this year!" Which prompted my girls to answer, "You say that every year!" We visited the whimsical Wizard of Oz sculptures, walked the Window by the Waterfront park, with its view of an authentic windmill, scoped out Hope College, did some Christmas shopping (wooden shoes for everyone!), marveled at how tall Dutch people are, and laughed at ourselves as we tried to pronounce their last names (Huizenga and Beenhouwer, for instance). It was a super fun day and inspired me to dig into some Dutch art!

I've written about the biggies several times: Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Vermeer... but throughout the ages, the Netherlands has proven to be a bottomless vat of talented painters. Let's look at some that don't have the same star power as say- Pieter Brueghel, but that definitely deserve more attention!

The painting below caught my eye because of the title, then I loved the painting, and finally, I was delighted to see it was painted by a woman!

Painted by Judith Leyster. I'm thinking of being that boy for Halloween. Thoughts?

I love that the boy and girl are showing some personality, unlike most portraits where the subject isn't smiling or giving bunny ears to the person beside them, or throwing a peace sign. These kids are mischievous and I happen to love it. Is he about to drop that eel down his sister's dress? Is she about to yank that cat's tail? We can only imagine! Some scholars think the painting refers to a Dutch proverb: "To hold an eel by the tail" which means you don't get to hold onto something just because you have it. Others point out eels were often fed to cats because nobody else would eat them. I don't know, but I love those rosy cheeks and the cat's panicked expression.

Pieter de Hooch is a Golden Age big-wig, with paintings in Windsor Castle and the London Gallery, but I'm including him in my post about lesser known Dutch artists because I've never heard of him before.  And I love the lighting in his paintings. Oh, and his last name is funny. 

Wait no, maybe I'll be that feathery hat guy instead.

How hard was it to get the light coming in from the door and windows just right? It seems impossible, but Hooch nailed it. Like A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel, the subjects are having fun, but in a less mischievous manner. If they were in Holland, Michigan they'd be playing Euchre. Amiright, Michiganders? 

Finally, I'm highlighting Jan Steen's Peasants Making Merry in Front of a Tavern. Making merry, indeed! It looks like the beginning of a good, ole-fashion saturnalia and it's still daylight! Not even baby's bedtime! Everyone is having a good time. As far as we know, no fights have broken out yet. Maybe they're celebrating the summer solstice? Or christening that boat that's about to tip over? Maybe it was baby's baptism (ha!) or maybe it was just Happy Hour on Friday. Whatever the circumstances, I am all about the detail, the color, and the fun Steen puts in this painting. Apparently, it was on-brand for him to paint slightly chaotic scenes. This resulted in a Dutch saying, "It looks like Jan Steen's house" when referring to a messy room or house. I can relate! I'm so bringing this saying to the States!

Augh! Okay, I'll be the woman dancing. Final answer.

I'm off to plant my tulips now! Lie. Okay, I'm off to clean my Jan Steen-esque house now! Lie. For real, I'm off to binge-watch The Good Place now! Truth.

The Fruit and the Fall

Between apple season and my current Bible Study on the book of Genesis, I have got to get some Adam and Eve stuff out of my system! First, let’s talk apples. My friend and I carpooled to a cross-country meet an hour away last night and we talked about apples almost the whole way home. Who knew the fruit could incite such passion?! (Answer: Adam. Eve. Serpent. God.) As we discussed, she sent me a chart she had to help with all apple-centric decisions. Of which there are many this time of year. Here is the chart, in case you too are wondering where Jonagolds fall in the rankings. 

This makes me hungry for pie.

I am also studying the fall of mankind in my Bible Study. Just a fun, light-hearted topic to ponder on the daily! It reminded me of this piece of art I love in the Chicago Institute of Art. Or pieces, I suppose. Lucas Cranach the Elder painted several versions of Adam and Eve, sometimes in one portrait, sometimes in two. Chicago has Adam and Eve in separate frames, but obviously together. In all Cranach’s versions, Eve has red hair. (Only notable for people with red hair, I know.)

Eve’s portrait gives us more information about what’s happening. I had to zoom in, but there is a bite already taken from the apple so she has fallen, but there is still hope for Adam. I think Cranach really captured Adam’s emotion well. With his hand close to his heart he looks a little horrified, but his face looks soft and ready to try that tasty Honeycrisp (don’t you think it was a Honeycrisp?) 

Next we’ve got… the Sistine Chapel. Surely, I’ve written about this before? Eve is not a redhead in this painting because she hasn’t sinned yet. In fact, she hasn’t even been created. If we’re being honest, I didn’t know until recently Eve was even in this painting! I must have been distracted by Adam (ow ow!) But she’s there, tucked under God’s arm, waiting to exist. There is a theory that Michelangelo gave Adam an extra rib on his left to symbolize the creation of Eve from said rib. I can’t see an extra rib, but I hope it’s a true theory, because that is a very clever idea. 

Lastly, The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man. How's that for a succinct title? I just learned about this painting and I love it. Adam is jacked, even though Genesis says nothing of a nearby Crossfit. And the animals? Gorgeous. Apparently there are some grapes in there somewhere that represent wine, which represents Jesus’ blood. I sure do love some good, old-fashioned Christian symbolism in a painting! Jan Brueghel the Elder did the flora and fauna in this painting and Peter Paul Rubens did the figures. That’s an even better collaboration than Doja Cat and Niki Minaj if you ask me! 

*A PSA: You can get all kinds of Eve-as-a-Temptress art on Etsy. I don’t care to remember the downfall of humanity every time I walk through my hallway, but if that’s the motif you’re going for…

A Visit to Eli Broad

Last week my friend Carla and I went to the Eli Broad Museum in East Lansing. She had a photograph in one of the exhibits there (yes, not only do I love art, but I love the people who make it!) so we wanted to see it on display. It was lovely of course, (I only hobnob with the best of the best.) and so was all the other artwork on display*.

An artist by the name of Emily Somoskey had six mixed media pieces on display. She is from Akron, OH but earned her MFA at Michigan State (Go Green! Go White!) For you locals, she also did the mural on the wall outside the Division St. parking garage. 

Of the six at Eli Broad, the 2D piece below was my favorite. Carla chose a different favorite. We are still friends because you can have different opinions and still be friends (take note, social media! Politicians! Yankees and Red Sox! Lovers of ebooks and people who only read “real” books!)

I loved the colors in this and the fun, scattery vibe.

Carla's favorite. More great colors!

Let me take this opportunity to put a plug in for art museums all over. We were the only guests at the Eli Broad and the employees looked really happy to see us. Plus, the artists have been waiting for their displays to be up and open to the public for several months (or maybe their entire lives!) If you're missing art, go visit! It's safe, it's fun, it's beautiful! Or it's video. But you might have a nice time anyway.

 

 *Except the video art. I never, ever like the video art.