Saturday, December 28, 2013

Barye by Bonnat: the art of the posthumous portrait

Léon Bonnat ~ Portrait of Barye with a Wax Model of "Seated Lion" - 50 13/16 x 36 5/8 in.

Portrait of Barye with a Wax Model of "Seated Lion"

William Walters commissioned this portrait through his fellow Barye enthusiast George Lucas. Barye's having died a decade earlier, Bonnat worked from a photograph of the sculptor taken by the respected French photographer Nadar that, along with a wax model of the "Seated Lion," was provided by Lucas.

Léon Bonnat ~ Portrait du sculpteur Barye, 32.5" by 44.5"

Nadar (Gaspard Félix Tournachon), photographer (French, 1820 - 1910)
 Antoine-Louis Barye, 1855 - 1859, Salted paper print
 Image (irregular): 20.8 x 15.7 cm (8 3/16 x 6 3/16 in.) 
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Seeing the quality of the Bonnat Barye's, one wonders what percentage of his portraits are after photographs.

Léon Bonnat Portrait du sculpteur Barye (detail)
or: "Sight-sized" from Life, My Ass!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Christmas: Santa Reading Mail
signed Norman Rockwell, l. l.
oil on canvas, 35 by 27 in.
painted in 1935

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Meissonier inspired by Giorgione?

or: Inspired By(?) #9

Jean Louis Ernest  Meissonier ~ Un Homme de Geurre - 1857 oil on panel  15 3/4 x 11 1/4in.

Giorgione ~ Madonna and Child with Saints Liberale and Francis (The Castelfranco Madonna) 1505