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Wivenhoe Park, Essex by John Constable

Painting of an English landscape on a summer day
John Constable (British, 1776 – 1837), Wivenhoe Park, Essex, 1816, oil on canvas, Widener Collection 1942.9.10

John Constable painted this bucolic landscape for Major General Francis Slater–Rebow but it’s not what it appears to be! We’ll talk about the headaches caused by an overeager client and what one of those cows is hiding.  We’ll also see how Constable used a technique to conjure up distant figures, just like Camille Pissarro did decades later.

And we’ll find out how Constable’s cheapness and cold feet nearly cost him the love of his life!

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SHOW NOTES (TRANSCRIPT)

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is “Piano Sonata no. 11, K. 331 – I. Andante grazioso” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Courtesy of musopen.org.

Wivenhoe Park, Essex info
https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/constable-wivenhoe-park-essex.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1147.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1147.html#relatedpages

British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries (PDF)

Constable info
John Constable (Masters of Art Series) by John Walker (Amazon)

Slow Art Day

Cape Cod Evening by Edward Hopper

Painting of a couple and dog outside a house on a summer evening.
Edward Hopper (American, 1882 – 1967), Cape Cod Evening, 1939, oil on canvas, John Hay Whitney Collection 1982.76.6

Edward Hopper was famous for his ambiguous paintings and Cape Cod Evening is no exception. We’ll find out the possible pop culture influence for the scene and how dumb luck can play a big role in creating art. And just what is that dog looking at?

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SHOW NOTES (TRANSCRIPT)

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is “On the Cool Side” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Robert Torchia, “Edward Hopper/Cape Cod Evening/1939,” American Paintings, 1900–1945, NGA Online Editions, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/61252 (accessed December 27, 2018).

“My Blue Heaven” (YouTube)

Slow Art Day http://www.slowartday.com

Portrait of Madame du Barry by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

Portrait of elegant woman in exterior setting.
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755 – 1842), Madame du Barry, 1782, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection) 2014.136.36

In a complete 180 from the spiritual contemplation of our last episode, today we’re looking at the portrait of Jeanne Bécu, who became Madame du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV of France. She lived and loved (a lot!) in the days before the French Revolution. We’ll find out her fate along with that of her portraitist, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. I’ll give you a hint–only one of them survives!

Here’s the portrait of Élisabeth with her daughter I mention.

Painting of woman seated and holding her daughter in her lap.
Self-portrait of Élisabeth and her daughter.

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SHOW NOTES (TRANSCRIPT)

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is “String Quartet no. 3, Op. 136” composed by Benjamin Godard, performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band. Courtesy of musopen.org

Madame du Barry information

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun information

Memoirs of Madame Vigée Lebrun
Translated by Lionel Strachey Published by Doubleday, Page, & Company 1903. Free epub available at Google Books

Wikipedia entry on Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Grove Art Online (for DC library card holders):

Liechtenstein painting information

National Gallery copyist program information

Slow Art Day

Woman Holding a Balance by Johannes Vermeer

Painting of a woman in an interior holding a jewler's balance with jewels scattered on table in front of her
Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632 – 1675), Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664, oil on canvas, Widener Collection 1942.9.97

Welcome back for Season 3! We’re starting with this gorgeous, mysterious painting by Vermeer. We’ll discover the layers of meaning in this simple domestic scene, what’s in the balance and just what the Jesuits have to do with her.

We’ll also find out how a guy who started out as a butcher ended up donating this painting to the Gallery.

You can find reading recommendations and a transcript at the end of the post.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.6MB)

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SHOW NOTES (TRANSCRIPT)

“A Long Look” theme is Ascension by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is Caro Mio Ben in C Major by Giuseppe Giordani, performed by Joel Meza. Courtesy of Soundcloud

Women Holding a Balance information
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., “Johannes Vermeer/Woman Holding a Balance/c. 1664,” Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century, NGA Online Editions, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/1236 (accessed February 11, 2019).

https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/vermeer-woman-holding-a-balance.html

Vermeer information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1951.html

Widener information
Dutch Paintings at the National Gallery of Art: The Untold Stories behind the Acquisitions of the Rembrandts, Vermeers, and Other Treasures in the Collection (audio)

RECOMMENDED READING

Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting (NGA shop)

Vermeer: Faith in Art by Daniel Arasse

Slow Art Day

Season 3 Update

detail of painting showing a woman's hand and chest of jewels
A peek at our first look for Season 3

Hey everybody! I just wanted to let you know I’m hard at work on Season 3! We’re going to start off with another Gallery favorite, this time by Vermeer.

The new season starts soon, and in the spirit of spring rejuvenation, I’ve made a few tweaks to make the show more binge worthy. I hope you like the changes! And I’ll finally be posting to Instagram @alonglookslowart!

So, get ready to listen while strolling through the spring blooms and cherry blossoms. For those of you with low vision, you can listen with Apple Podcasts or the Overcast app on your iOS devices. As always, you can find links to the information in each episode in the show notes. And I’ll include any books or publications you might like.

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SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGEdNSNkZoo&feature=youtu.be

End of Season 2

The word Look from the show's logo

We’ve reached the end of Season 2! Thanks to everyone who came back and all the new listeners and subscribers who joined us. I appreciate your support!

I’ll be taking some time off for the holidays and to plan Season 3. The gallery has some fantastic shows up, so visit if you can! There’s Corot’s Women, a retrospective of Gordon Park’s photography, the Birmingham Project by Dawoud Bey, the Rachel Whiteread retrospective and more.

There are also a few more dates for senior lecturer David Gariff’s The Christmas Story in Art a fascinating look at how the story we know came about. This is where I found out about the symbolism of rocks!

You can catch up on any episodes you missed here or you can listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, TuneIn or your favorite podcast app. You can find links to some of these below.

I’ll be posting updates here, so check back.  And as always, thanks for joining me!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.6MB)

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SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is Ascension by Ron Gelinas

Exhibitions information https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/current.html

The Christmas Story in Art schedule and live stream

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Giorgione

Painting by Giorgione showing shepherds and the Holy Family worshiping Jesus after the Nativity.
Giorgione (Venetian, 1477/1478 – 1510), The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1505/1510, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.289

The Gallery calls Giorgione “one of the most mysterious artists in the history of art.” We’ll talk about his innovative landscape style and where he got the idea for this gorgeous and unusual depiction of the Nativity.

We’ll also find out the meaning of rocks and just what the heck is up with those floating baby heads at the top of the cave!

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SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is Ascension by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is Almain I (For Bassoon and Harp – Höger-Rønnes) composed by John Bull, performed by Mac Playback Harp. Courtesy of musopen.org.

The Adoration of the Shepherds information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.432.html

In Depth: Madonna and Child by Gretchen Hirschauer, Associate Curator, Italian and Spanish Paintings

Cherub information
Hopler, Whitney. The Differences Between Cherubs, Cupids, and Other Angels in Art. ThoughtCo, Jun. 22, 2018, thoughtco.com/cherubs-and-cupids-angels-of-love-124005.

Giorgione information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgione

Slow Art Day

RECOMMENDED READING

Inventing the Renaissance Putto by Charles Dempsey

The Skater (Portrait of William Grant) by Gilbert Stuart

Portrait of William Grant ice skating.
Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), American, 1755 – 1828, 1782, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection

This full-length portrait of Scottish lawyer William Grant was Stuart’s first but already he was innovating. We’ll find out how a cold day in the studio led to this creative variation on a standard portrait pose and just what the heck the Serpentine greeting is!

We’ll also find out how despite his fame and plenty of work, Stuart ripped off the first First Lady, Martha Washington!

Here’s a detail of the frame I mentioned:

Close up of decorative carving of frame

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SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is Ascension by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is “6 String Quartets – Quartet no. 1” composed by Charles Wesley, performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band. Courtesy of musopen.org

Gilbert Stuart information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1911.html

The Skater information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.39729.html

George Washington (The Athenaeum Portrait) National Portrait Gallery entry

Serpentine Greeting/Mohawk (YouTube)

Recommended Reading

American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century (PDF)

Slow Art Day

Place du Carrousel by Camille Pissarro

Painting of the Tuileries Gardens
Camille Pissarro (French, 1830 – 1903), Place du Carrousel, Paris, 1900, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection 1970.17.55

Camille Pissarro was an Impressionist painter who created this sun-drenched view of a famous park in 1900. We’ll find out where this lovely scene takes place and how and why just 5 small strokes of color can conjure up a fashionista.

We’ll also discover its connection to Hermann Goering and how a Gallery director was instrumental in the formation of the Monuments Men program.

Here’s a detail of the frame I describe. Check out the carving!

Close up of the elaborately carved corner of a painting frame
Corner detail of frame

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SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is Ascension by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn composed by Maurice Ravel, performed by Luis Sarro. Courtesy of musopen.org

Place du Carrousel information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52199.html#overview

Impressionism
https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/impressionism.html

World War II Provenance Research
https://www.nga.gov/collection/wwii-research.html

Monuments Men information
https://www.nga.gov/about/monuments-officers-national-gallery-art.html

The Monuments Men (movie)

The Monuments Men (book)

Slow Art Day

Recommended Reading

Art and Illusion by E.H. Gombrich

Daniel in the Lions’ Den by Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Painting showing Daniel in a cave surrounded by lions.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577 – 1640 ), Daniel in the Lions’ Den, c. 1614/1616, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

So who’s this big naked guy sitting around with a bunch of lions? Meet Daniel, a favorite counselor to the Persian king Darius. Daniel has made some powerful enemies which is how he got here. We’ll find out who ends up being the lions’ breakfast and how paintings like this allowed Rubens to become a successful diplomat.

We’ll also hear about how a painting the owners thought was just a copy and maintenance headache became one of the most highly praised pieces in the Gallery’s collection.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.4MB)

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SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is Fugue in G minor, “Little”, BWV 578, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Courtesy of musopen.org

Sir Peter Paul Rubens information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1847.html

Daniel in the Lions’ Den information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.50298.html#overview

National Zoo Lion Cam

Reviewing Committee information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reviewing_Committee_on_the_Export_of_Works_of_Art

Slow Art Day

Recommended Reading

Master of Shadows: The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens by Mark Lamster