Child with Doll

Hand Studies, Child with Doll (detail).

Alma Lavenson, American, 1897-1989. Platinum Print, 7 x 9 in. 1932. The Met - NYC.

Alma Lavenson was born in San Francisco in 1897 and was a self-taught photographer. She became quite well known and was friends with Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. She famously documented the history of the Gold Rush by photographing rush towns and buildings. This Gold Rush collection now is at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. She was invited to join an exclusive group exhibition called "Group f/64". Alma remained more of an 'amateur' photographer and died at the age of 92 in 1989.

Abbot Suger

Ambulatory and radiating chapels of the abbey church of St. Denis, 1140-1144. (outside of Paris)

Suger (pronounced 'sue-ghay') (1081-1151) French historian and politician, regent of France during the Second Crusade. In 1122 he was elected abbot of St. Denis, Paris, and was counsellor to, and biographer of, Louis VI and Louis VII. He began the reconstruction of St. Denis as the first large scale Gothic building. (Brockhampton)

Campanile

Drawing by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, 1937

'Originally a bell tower erected near or attached to, a church or town hall in Italy. The leaning tower of Pisa is an example; another is the great campanile of Florence, 275 ft high.' (Brockhampton)

Wayne Thiebaud

Girl in White Boots 1965. Oil on Canvas 72 x 60 in. Collection of Blair Sabol.

This painting is not what one would picture, thinking of Thiebaud since he's so popular for his still lifes of cakes, toys, food etc. Love her bobbed hair. She's so Audrey Hepburn or Diana Rigg of The Avengers!

Wayne Thiebaud was born 1920 in Mesa, Arizona. In 1921 his family moved to Long Beach, California. During high school, he attended the Frank Wiggins Trade School in L.A. to study commerical art. He served in the US AirForce from 1942-1945. He earned a MFA in 1960. In 1962 He had his first solo show in NYC. In 1998 , he received an honorary doctor of fine arts from California State University.

'Wayne Theibaud has long been recognized as one of America's most prominent modern artists. Probably best known for his straightforward, deadpan still-life paintings of the 1960's traditionally linked with Pop Art. Thiebaud is identified by his brilliant palette, luscious handling of paint, and the intensity of light that lends a particularly "California" flavor to his images.' (Nash and Gopnik)

Greek Fashions from the Archaic Period

Kore, form the Acropolis, Athens. circa 510 B.C. Marble. Acropolis Museum, Athens. (wearing a chiton and a himation)

The sculpture above is wearing a later frock from the 6th century. The dresses were made of a light weight linen - the chiton and worn with a heavier weight himation or mantle. 'The asymmetry of the folds greatly relieves the stiff frontality of the bodies and makes these figures appear much more lifelike than contemporary kouros statues. Added variety is achieved by showing the kore grasping part of her chiton in her left hand -broken off in this statue- to lift it off the ground as she takes a step forward.' (Gardner)

• Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, circa 530 B.C. Marble. Acropolis Museum, Athens. (she is wearing a peplos)
  
  The Peplos Kore is wearing the 'fashion of the day', an ankle length, wool dress with a belt at the waist. This style makes for a nice, columnar shape which is attractive and slimming. It dosen't cling to the body and falls down in a line. 'She once held in her hand an attribute that would identify the figure as a maiden or, as has been suggested recently, a goddess, perhaps Athena herself. ' (Gardner)
  

Jack-in-the-Pulpit IV

Georgia O'Keeffe 1930, Oil on Canvas 40 x 30 in.

'Slits in nothingness are not very easy to paint.' - Georgia O'Keeffe.

Fido in Art

Venus of Urbino, Titian. 1538 Oil on Canvas, Uffizi, Florence

In Venus... There is a little dog laying at her feet whis is called a "pendant" or balancing figure. The dog may have been a pet popular with the upper classes, other than being a 'pendant' for this composition, this dog is pure ornament!

Triumph of Death by Francesco Traini mid 14th century, Fresco Camposanto, Pisa.
Dogs depicted in paintings through the ages have represented many things, most often it is fidelity and loyalty. In contrast to the Venus of Urbino, in this painting, Triumph of Death, the dogs are hunting dogs, owned by the wealthy, lavishly dressed people who discover rotting corpses. There is a woman on a horse on far left who is cradling a sleeping pet with a hand on her chest, eyes closed as if she can't deal with the scene. The plauge was killing people by the thousands during this time. Dogs were a symbol of fidelity as they were 'always there' and were often the only companions survivors of the plauge had left in such devistating times.

The stereotype doggie name, 'Fido' came from 'fidelio' or fidelity... there's a good reason he's been dubbed man's best friend!