Yashima Gakutei 八島岳亭 (Japan, 1786?-1868) Turtles and Sake Cup, c.1827-9 Woodblock surimono print; ink, color & metallic pigment on paper shikishiban; H 21.6 x W 19.3 cm (8 1/2 x 7 5/8 in) Harvard Art Museums 1933.4.1717
Helmut Middendorf (Germany, b.1953)
#TwoForTuesday on #NationalCatDay 🐱🐱:
Marguerite Thompson Zorach (USA, 1887-1968)
Two Cats, n.d.
Oil on canvas, 24 x 28 in. / 61.0 x 71.1 cm
#TwoForTuesday :
William Adolphe Bouguereau (France, 1825-1905)
Arion on a Sea Horse, 1855
Bacchante on a Panther, 1855
Oil on canvas
On display at The Cleveland Museum of Art 1980.238,1-2
“These paintings are from a series of eight works that Bouguereau painted for a Parisian home decorated in the style inspired by ancient Roman wall paintings found at Pompeii.
The ancient Greek poet Arion escaped pirates by fleeing on the back of a sea creature attracted by the poet's singing. In the companion picture, a bacchante, a female follower of the Roman god Bacchus, rides a panther and carries a pinecone-tipped spear called a thyrsus. The figures are silhouetted against a gold honeycomb-patterned background evoking ancient Roman mosaics Bouguereau had studied in Italy. The soft, waxy flesh tones and glimmering gold leaf were calculated to come to life when viewed under the mansion's gas lighting.”
#TwoForTuesday :
Cranes and Serpents, 475-221 BCE (Warring States Period)
China, State of Chu (reportedly from Hunan province,Changsha)
Lacquered wood with polychromy
132.1 x 124.5 cm (52 x 49 in.)
On display at Cleveland Museum of Art 1938.9
“A different style of ritual art developed in the state of Chu in South China. In addition to bronze vessels, lacquered wood artifacts expanded the repertory of ritual implements.
This extraordinary sculpture was probably a drum stand for supporting a suspended drum in ritual ceremonies. It is unique among other excavated drum stands of the Chu, which typically show two birds standing on tigers. The theme of the bird stepping on the serpent was common in the Chu visual culture. Yet the slender proportions and seemingly flimsy structure of this particular set raise the question of whether it was utilitarian or mostly served symbolic functions in the tomb.
The birds' and serpents' bodies have designs painted in red lacquer and yellow pigment against the black lacquer. Scientific analyses confirm the additional use of a blue or green pigment that has been discolored over time.”
#TwoForTuesday:
Jean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol
Collaboration (#Lice) + Collaboration (#Crab), 1984-85
Acrylic, silkscreen ink, and oil stick on linen
On display at The Andy Warhol Museum 1998.1.489,490
#TwoForTuesday + #TurtleTuesday :
Paul Wayland Bartlett (USA, 1865-1925)
1. Frog on Tortoise, c. 1915
Bronze
1. Crane on Turtle, c. 1890-1905
Bronze
On display at Washington County Museum of Fine Arts A1039,59.0446, A1039,59.0427
#TwoForTuesday:
Rabbit Tureens, c.1755
Chelsea Porcelain Factory, London, England
Soft-paste porcelain with enamel-painted decoration
On display at Winterthur’s Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens 96.4.2,3
“Figures of rabbits and hares were popular ceramic ornaments, but tureens in the form of life-size rabbits appear to be peculiar to the Chelsea factory.”
#TwoForTuesday:
William De Morgan (British, 1839–1917)
Charger with Peacocks' Meeting, c. 1890
Red lustre on glazed earthenware
3 1/2 x 15 3/4 in. (8.9 x 40 cm)
On display at Delaware Art Museum DAM1984-164
Additional note from DAM: “The peacock…became one of the signature emblems of the Aesthetic Movement.”
#TwoForTuesday: two heads are better than one?
Composite Lion and Bull
Northwest Iran, possibly Koffrabad, western Gilan Province, 1500–1000 BCE
Bronze, cast, 11.4 x 9.7 x 14.8 cm (4 1/2 x 3 13/16 x 5 13/16 in.), 0.98 kg
On display at The Cleveland Museum of Art 1969.122
Additional description from CMA:
“Combining the strength of the lion and the fertility of the bull, this creature must have served as an object of worship in a temple or shrine.”
#TwoForTuesday :
William Zorach (USA, b. Lithuania, 1889-1966)
Pumas, 1948
Plaster with paint & coating
On display at University of Delaware Museums’ new exhibit “Sight, Sound, and Motion: The Dimensions of Sculpture”
“Animals, and particularly cats, were among William Zorach's favorite subjects. This pair of sculptures was inspired by two pumas that lived at the Staten Island Zoo. Zorach studied and drew them for a week in preparation for producing the sculptures. These plaster models were produced to make the molds used to cast the sculptures in bronze. Surface residue and abrasions indicate that these plasters were used in the foundry. Following the casting process, they were returned to Zorach, who painted them to look like bronze. Six bronze casts were created of the pumas, including a pair in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. A related Puma made in Labrador black granite in 1954 was installed in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia in 1962.”
#TwoForTuesday :
Sculptures of Roosters
Igun Eronmwon (Brass Casting Guild), Nigeria, Edo, Benin City, 18th c. CE
Copper Alloy
Penn Museum display AF2065A,B
“The lyoba's unique political status made her the highest-ranking woman in Benin. Placing roosters on her altar highlights how she took on a position of power in the Royal Court.”
#TwoForTuesday :
Batons in the Form of Birds
Igun Eronmwon (Brass Casting Guild), Nigeria, Edo, Benin City 16th-19th c. CE
Copper Alloy
Penn Museum display AF2048, AF5085
“The bird of prophecy predicted defeat in a 16th-century battle. The Oba ignored the warning and won an important part of the Niger River. At the ceremony of Ugie Oro, chiefs beat brass birds with rods to remind them that the Oba is more powerful than prophecy.”
Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669) Two Studies of a Bird of Paradise, c.1639 Pen & bistre, some washes, white bodycolour; 181 x 154 mm Musée du Louvre RF 4687, Recto
Two Elephants: fol. 99 in Ms. Ludwig XV 3 (Bestiary), Flanders, c.1270 Tempera colors, gold leaf, ink Getty 83_MR.173.99
"Elephants picking and eating fruit from a tree. This image shows the artist had some idea of how elephants use their trunks to deliver food to their mouths. This is a very unusual elephant illustration." (description via https://bestiary.ca/manuscripts/manugallery378.htm)
Anna Heyward Taylor (USA, 1879-1956) Red Azaleas + Azaleas - Butterflies 1925 color woodblock prints Gibbes Museum 1953.007.0034, 1953.007.0040 🆔Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Lowell Nesbitt (USA, 1933-1993) Snakes and Snakes II, 1981 oil on canvas, 64 x 80 inches each
