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The Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery has one of the most important and best-loved small collections in Britain, including world-famous Impressionist and PostImpressionist paintings,as well as Old Master paintings, sculpture and decorative arts from the 14th-20th centuries.
The Gallery is housed at Somerset House, one of the finest 18th-century buildings in London.
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ANTIBES (1888)
by CLAUDE MONET
SILK PILLOW
When Monet was 34 years old, he exhibited a landscape called
Impression: Sunrise (1872) in a show. This patchily-textured work caused one critic to skeptically call the entire show impressionist, which gave the movement its name and established Monet as one of its leaders.
He influenced art by trying to paint his personal, spontaneous response to outdoor scenes or events. Monet was the most important of the artists who first allowed their initial impressions of scenes to stand as complete works. He was especially concerned with the effects of outdoor light and atmosphere.
Monet worked in Antibes in early 1888, and on his return to Paris exhibited ten paintings of the area at the gallery of the dealers Boussod & Valadon, run by Theo van Gogh, brother of the painter. Antibes was probably one of these.
When painting the Mediterranean coast, Monet was faced with the problem of capturing the intensity of the southern light and colour. In a letter to his partner Alice Hoschedé, he commented: "What I bring back from here will be Sweetness itself, white, pink and blue, all enveloped in this magical air." Monet evoked the effect of the southern light by heightening his colours and co-ordinating the colour relationships throughout the picture into clear sequences of contrasts.
The composition of Antibes, which is replicated on this silk pillow, reflects, with its silhouetted tree and open sides, Monet's interest in Japanese woodblock prints, of which he was an avid collector. In the 1880s he travelled widely, exploring subjects which showed the most extreme natural effects, and his knowledge of Japanese art helped him to find ways of formulating these scenes in pictorial terms.
This beautiful silk pillow, with its solid silk/rayon velvet back, will add elegance and beauty to your home.
Courtauld CLAUDE MONET Silk Pillow 17" x 13" (100% hand-screen printed Silk Twill front, solid Dark Blue Silk/Rayon Velvet back and piping, removable cover with invisible zipper. Dry clean only. 100% Poly insert.) #655 $49
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TWO DANCERS ON A STAGE (1874)
by EDGAR DEGAS
SILK PILLOW
Edgar Degas, one of the world's most renowned Impressionist painters, was
born in Paris of wealthy parents. From 1854 to 1859, he spent time in Italy studying the great Italian Renaissance painters to perfect his draftsmanship and style. Degas intended to become a painter of historical scenes, but he abandoned this idea because he felt a need to paint modern subjects and began to paint scenes from everyday life. He especially enjoyed painting pictures of
race-track and theatrical life. Degas emphasized composition, drawing and form.
The painting replicated on this silk pillow shows dancers rehearsing on a stage. Degas has concentrated on the two figures without indicating whether we are watching a performance or a rehearsal. Our attention is focused on their poses,as seen from the unexpected angle of a box virtually above the edge of the stage, but the viewer is given no clue as to the narrative being enacted.
There is a paradoxical relationship between the humble working-class girls who made up the corps de ballet, and the finesse that the discipline of classical ballet imposed on them, and Degas always presented the ballet in ways which revealed its artificiality.
During the 1870s Degas attempted to study the visible world from many angles which had not been sanctioned in previous art, but which seemed to him characteristic of the ways in which everyday life appeared in the modern city.
This painting makes an interesting contrast to the bold colour and brushwork with which the Impressionist group is usually associated. The stageflats in Two Dancers on a Stage are treated in free dabs of colour, but the figures are modelled with comparative delicacy. The overall colour scheme is quite subdued, with vivid points of pink, yellow and green on the figures' shoes, flowers, bodices and head-dresses.
This beautiful silk pillow, with its solid silk/rayon velvet back will add elegance and beauty to your home.
Courtauld EDGAR DEGAS Silk Pillow 17" x 13" (100% hand-screen printed Silk Twill front, solid Dark Blue Silk/Rayon Velvet back and piping, removable cover with invisible zipper. Dry clean only. 100% Poly insert.) #654 $49
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