Some of My Favorite Art...

Art speaks to different people in different ways. There are a few pieces of art I like enough to have prints matted and framed so I can hang it in my house and enjoy it every time I look at it. (I'm sure that's a run-on sentence and not quite grammatically correct, but it is what it is.) I don't need my art to speak to me; I hear enough voices. Rather, if it visually appeals to me, then I like it. I realize that may make me sound like a Philistine, but at least I'm being honest. It's the same for me when I'm reading a book or watching a show or film: while learning is wonderful, I don't always have to be educated; it can simply be entertaining. One can like a work of art simply because it is appealing without having to worry whether or not one is learning anything from it. At least, I think so.

The first piece of my favorite art is an oil on canvas work by an unknown 17th Century Flemish artist entitled Plague: Dance of the Rats. Now, being as the artist is unknown, I don't know if that is the title he or she truly bestowed upon it, but it fits it rather well. I love this painting so much I wrote it into one of the books I'm currently writing. I shan't tell you the title of the book; you'll just have to read all of them to find out.
I'm not exactly sure what attracts me to this specific piece. Admittedly, I heart rats in a major way--having adopted several who were in need of homes--but there's something about them standing and holding hands--paws?--as if they're secretly plotting something sinister that appeals to me.
Or, they could simply be dancing. Possibly practicing for the May pole festivities. One would presume they are in the midst of a rousing game of "Ring Around the Roses," which according to widespread belief about the Plague, describing the symptoms and ending with all falling down--or dying. However, the idea the rhyme is associated with the Plague only came into being in the early 1900s so it is highly suspect.
Rats are wrongly branded scapegoats when it comes to the spreading of the plague, when in fact the plague was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is usually spread through the bite of an infected flea. The Great Plague of London killed nearly one-quarter of the city's population, an estimated 100,000 people.

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The next piece of art is by Edvard Munch. Or should I say pieces? Because the title The Scream has actually been given to four versions of this iconic masterpiece. Well, technically five, because Munch created a stone in 1895 in order for lithograph prints to be made--of which approximately 40-50 were printed and some were colored by Munch--before the stone was resurfaced without Munch's consent and I bet he was not happy.

The Scream 1893 oil in the National Gallery in Oslo.

The Scream 1893 pastel in the Munch Museum in Oslo.

The Scream 1895 pastel is in a private collection.

The Scream 1910 tempera in the Munch Museum in Oslo.

A few facts about this masterpiece:

--The German title given by Munch is Der Schrei der Natur or The Scream of Nature.

--In Norwegian it is Skrik, which, while it indeed translates to "scream," it's comparable in English to how we would use "shriek."

--Two of the versions of The Scream have been stolen and recovered.

--Munch himself has given at least two different descriptions of what inspired him to create The Scream. so take that as you will.

The 1910 lithograph of The Scream; several prints survive.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes’s, better known to the world by the mononym Goya, The Great He-Goat is certainly on my list and I would love a life-size version in a great ornate carved wood frame to be hung above my fireplace. Also known as Witches’ Sabbath, but not to be confused with another painting of the same name done by Goya earlier in 1798 and which is also on my list, it was one of the fourteen Black Paintings Goya created on the plaster walls of his home in the latter years of his life and discovered about fifty years after his death; it is not known to have been named by him and if it was, the original name was never spoken or written down.

I love this work by Goya. Sure, it can be construed as being of dark subject matter, but it is enthralling and I can stare at it for hours on end. Completed around 1821-1823, it was cut down from the wall to be preserved. Unfortunately, about fifty-five inches were cut off from the right-hand side, however the painting is still the biggest of the Black Paintings--measuring fifty-six inches high by one hundred seventy-two inches wide. It has been described as "spectral" and "haunting."

The next painting by Goya is the actual Witches' Sabbath of 1798. While many view this work as another dark painting, I see it in a more whimsical light. The garlanded goat gives me a chuckle.
Certainly, I don't wish to demean any dark intent. I see the skeletal remains depicted and the departed souls spiraling above the scene. The goat gets me. He has a saucy grin!
Although I am not clear on the actual meaning, it could be either the initiation of the baby or else, according to the legend at the time of devils eating babies, perhaps the child being proffered is intended to be a snack for the high priest goat. Who says it has to have a meaning?
A coven of what is referred to as disfigured witches at his feet, apparently the goat is the personification of their deity. But they could also just be some Goth people out for a proper picnic is a place they find quite lovely.
Who are we to judge, anyway?
Contrary to the opinion of some, this work is not one of the fourteen Black Paintings; perhaps the confusion comes from its confusion with the above work by Goya.
Whether or not it is a depiction of evil, it is still well done and I find it a splendid work of art! I'm sure that gives Goya a postmortem surge of pride.

I'm a big fan of the work created by Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, perhaps better known as M.C. Escher. His mathematically-inspired works draw me in visually, especially when impossible buildings are the subject. I used to have an oversize book of his creations I bought during a field trip to Washington, D.C. while i was at university. Unfortunately, it was lost, as so much was, in the fire. While it is difficult for me to choose favorites from his artwork, I have managed to narrow it down to a handful of those which endlessly enchant and captivate me.

Reptiles 1943: I think I could only enjoy this piece of art more if it were frogs instead of reptiles!

Scarabs 1935: Scarab beetles have always been a point of fascination for me and i love this.

Three Worlds 1955: As anyone who knows me will tell you, I love goldfish and so i don't think there is any secret as to why i like this.

While not an Escher work, it is inspired by Escher and I nevertheless find this pleasing--I believe due to the color of the leaves.

Up and Down, 1947, is one of those it-can't-possibly-exist-but-there-it-is works I can keep looking at for an hour and I still cannot figure out how he did it.

Waterfall, 1961, another of Escher's impossible buildings, essentially a perpetual motion machine. A visual paradox is created by conflicting proportions. Notice how it could not be real because the water that supplies the waterfall seeming runs downhill and yet it feeds the falls.

I nearly forgot to include one of my all-time favorite pieces: Hobgoblin Hall, a drawing done in 1904 by Herbert Railton of William Wordsworth's house, Rydal Mount.

Fascinating and creepy, the intricacies in this drawing lives up to its name. Of particular interest to my eye is the crescent moon in the sky above.

My opinion is this work can be seen in two ways. The first is, it is a lovely old manor house lit by a young moon. The second is, it is the decaying ruins of a formerly fine old manor house illumed by the final phase of a dying moon.

Either way you see it, it's a romantic drawing, evoking feelings serenity--at least in me.

One can imagine hobgoblins right at home here, lurking about in the gardens, or what remains of them, playing in old fountains, and spiriting away into the shadows when someone encroaches upon their territory.

It's another work I will hopefully get around to framing and hanging in my house.

So many pieces of art and so little wall space!

I hope you've enjoyed me sharing some of my favorite works of art with you. There are so many others I could have added to this list--such as Salvador Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper, 1955, and Swans Reflecting Elephants, 1937--but I shall save them for perhaps another blog entry.
On second thought, take a look at these two glorious works of art and see what you think!

This Dali painting puts me in the mind of an ambigram--I am a big fan of ambigrams and have always wanted to have one of my book titles done as one--and I've always wanted to get a print of this and frame it. It's just a cool work of art.

If I remember correctly, I was enthralled by this painting in a college art history class. The instructor said it was the first time, hopefully I am recalling this information correctly, Jesus Christ had been portrayed as a blond man. Still, I like how Dali had played with the solidity of the scene, or should I say the lack of solidity?

Thank you for taking the time to stroll with me through some of my favorite works of art. I hope i have educated as well as entertained you.
Check out my art, my books on Amazon.com and feel free to spread the word about them. Word of mouth is the most effective form of publicity!
Into the Mirror Black
Angels of the Seventh Dawn
Angels of the Mourning Light
A Christmas Canticle
and
Rhayven House

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