Matts Art Blog

Realist Style Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day, 1875      This painting was was Gustave's second big painting. He created it in 1875, the same year he came out with The Floor Scrapers. His first work was not accepted well by the critics right away. " when Caillebotte exhibited  Paris Street, Rainy Day  along with five other paintings, the influential critic had a much more positive view of the artist's work." ("Gustave Caillebotte"). This painting is stunning to me. It almost looks like a blurry photo. I like the way he doesn't outline the people or buildings as it makes the painting look so much more real. Even with the choice of colors just goes along with the tone of the rainy day as he put in the title of the work.   Frederic Edwin Church, Tamaca Palms, 1854                                                     Church was a painter apart of the Hudson River School. This school was well known for their realist style and were popular for thei

Maria Sibylla Merian: caterpillar and butterfly, 1679, Nuremburg, Germany Maria Sibylla Merian was an artist from the classical era that was from Frankfurt, Germany. She was the daughter of renowned artist Matthaus Merian. She was known for her works of insects and plants that centered around metamorphosis. She was married in 1665 and then settled in Nuremburg shortly after where she made After the birth of her second daughter she dropped a collection of illustrations including the one above. " Merian published the first volume of  Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumen-nahrung  (“Caterpillars, Their Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment from Flowers”; the second volume appeared in 1683), in which she depicted in detail the  metamorphosis  of  moths  and butterflies."  (Rogers). Her art was a big part of the advancements in entomology in this period. I really like this painting as the story it tells is pretty cool. It connects the living plant w

 David with the Head of Goliath, 1610     This painting below was one I found from this era that I liked a lot. It was painted by Caravaggio in 1610. The story behind this painting makes the work of art so much more interesting to me. In an article about the artist and this work it stated " On May 1606 Caravaggio was accused of murder and fled from Rome to distant lands (Naples, Sicily, Malta) to escape the price that had been placed on his head. His self-portrait as Goliath's severed head, held by David his executioner, was sent to the papal court in 1610 as a kind of painted petition for pardon. In fact pardon was granted, but did not reach Caravaggio before he died in Porto Ercole." (Mattise, 2009). I think the story fits perfectly with the dark tone of the painting and really feeds into the piece itself. The dark background contrasted with the eerie  image of a man holding a severed head really sets a mood in this work. Knowing the story behind this painting really el