Saturday 12 July 2008

Jøy

How I loved this! The joy I feel looking at Vermeer plus the joy I feel looking at Morandi, but also finding something more overtly personal and troubled than in either of these. Troubled, therefore real and resonant. But the light, the lines, the patterns so utterly, satisfyingly beautiful. I stood before Vilhelm Hammershøi's paintings and felt such deep aesthetic pleasure that all the tense, sick weariness slid from my body. Wow.

6 comments:

Dale said...

Wow. I love those portraits from the back -- so intimate, somehow.

Zhoen said...

Really amazing that this beauty eluded appreciation at the time. Endearing and cool.

Lucy said...

They are deeply, quietly beautiful, I can see why they had the effect they did on you.

Anonymous said...

Jean, these really are wonderful, thank you. I had not heard of this artist. There's something very Whistler-like about these paintings, yet somehow more loving.

MB said...

Wonderful. Thank you.

Peter Clothier said...

So glad to have met this artist through your blog! Your Vermeer-Morandi connection is so right-on. I've always loved the modesty of the Morandi palette and subject matter. I pick up a little Blathus, too, here and there, both in the palette and the odd remoteness of the figures. Thanks for this one!