Two women on a settee dressed in elegant 19th century attire, one holding a fan and the other a parasol, while another richly clad woman leans in close beside them, in a lavishly decorated interior setting with ornately carved gilded walls, a large mirror above the settee, inlaid marble floor, and large vases to either side of the settee. In the center of the room is a sculpture of the Medici Venus on a pedestal with her back to the viewer, her reflection evident in the mirror. Between the base of the sculpture and the viewer is an elaborately carved gilt stool covered with rich red fabric. Beside the sculpture, another woman holding a book walks towards the cluster of women.
The Kitchen, One of the 'Twelve Etchings from Nature,' or the 'French Set'
Artist
James McNeill Whistler
Physical Description
A dark interior view is shown with a deep recessed space. At the end of the space is a window; the recessed space is full of reflected light and a woman is seen framed against the bright view out the window. Closer to the viewer, the foreground is filled with domestic objects: furniture on hte left with vases stored on top; a wall rack with plates stored on the right and other objects with basins or pots below the plates.
Artist Life Dates
1834 - 1903
Century
19th century
Object Creation Date
1858
Accession Number
1954/1.330
Medium and Support
etching, printed in black ink on Japan paper, laid down on white wove paper
The Kitchen, one of the "Twelve Etchings from Nature," or the "French Set"
Artist
James McNeill Whistler
Physical Description
A dark interior view is shown with a deep recessed space. At the end of the space is a window; the recessed space is full of reflected light and a woman is seen framed against the bright view out the window. Closer to the viewer, the foreground is filled with domestic objects: furniture on hte left with vases stored on top; a wall rack with plates stored on the right and other objects with basins or pots below the plates.
Panel painting depicting a young woman of high society in an interior setting filled with Asian accessories. She stands behind a door, which she holds partly open revealing a small white dog sitting in front of an armchair.
The viewer is presented with an illusionistic rendering of a corner an ornate celiing. Architectural moldings, windows, and a still life in the corner with a globe and measuring instruments suggest that this might have been intended for a library
This study depicts a rectangular chapel with the side walls bent outward at an angle in order to provide a clearer view of the decoration. The chapel design centers upon a sarcophagus placed beneath a painted altarpiece of the Virgin and Child, which are both set within a semicircular architectural projection that extends dynamically from the wall. On the left the pair of angels that support a large oval-shaped painting reach vigorously outward, their wings overlapping the pilasters. On the right appears another sarcophagus surmounted by a pair of putti. Leaning out from the oval niche above the sarcophagus is a female half-figure—probably a portrait of the deceased—making a gesture of devotion toward the altar.
Fresh greens for the foliage and dark blue clouds sprinkled with lightning set the rain celebration scene. Court ladies have gathered on the lawn, and some swing under a blossoming tree, while the raja and a woman watch the exciement below from a balcony of his white palace.
In the foreground, a group of several figures, dressed in graeco-roman clothing, surround a man lying in bed. The setting has classical architectural components such as columns and pediments and a large stone sundial in the upper left corner. The figures are painted in bright colors (blue, white, gold and red) but the rest of the composition is painted in muted colors (gray, brown, dark green). Most figures are gazing up at the sundial.
Interior of a Pompeiian Home with Figures (The Impluvium)
Artist
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Physical Description
An ink drawing in shades of gray with very exact detailing of objects and architectural elements in the scene. It shows the interior of a Roman house with sunlight streaming into an open courtyard with a fountain. The stone fountain has a square basin supported by a pedestal and a standing nude sculpture above it. One wall of the courtyard is decorated with floral designs and two figural scenes. A small bush is growing in a dirt area of the floor and there are two large vessels against the wall. Two figures are standing in a colonnade to the left of the courtyard. One is a woman dressed in a toga who is looking at a man dressed in a short sleeved tunic. The decorations of the floor, walls and ceiling depict ancient classical designs such as ascanthus leaves, meander and scroll patterns and the roof tiles have floral plume decorations and lion's head spouts.
This enamel roundel depicts three figures in an interior. In the foreground a man with a soft pointed cap maneuvers small round loaves of bread in an oven with a long wooden paddle. Behind him a woman with an elaborate headdress and another figure prepare more loaves for baking. The silvery gray tones of this grisaille enamel impart the scene with a subtle luminosity.
"Bhagavata Purana" series: Krishna and Balarama Studying with the Brahman Sandipani
Artist
India, Uttar Pradesh, Chaurapancasika Style
Physical Description
Krishna, in blue, and Balarama are portrayed in identical poses and wearing peacock-feather headdresses. The paunchy bearded figure at right is their mentor, Sandipani. Two other, older students appear at left. They are seated, approximately equidistantly spaced, in an architectural structure that organizes the space.
The Bremen Town Musicians (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten), preparatory drawing for print, "Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten," in Alfred Kubin, Abenteuer einer Zeichenfeder (Münich: R. Piper & Co., 1941) #13
Artist
Alfred Kubin
Physical Description
To the right, four animals - a donkey, goat, cat, and rooster - appear stacked upon one another in a barely sketched-in window. On the left side, four figures sit at what appears to be a meal in a dinning room, with a soup tureen and various dishes. The image is hastily sketched and few details are absolutely readable, other than basic shapes.
Three figures with canted tabletop set with teapot, carafe, and dishes. A nude figure stands on the right side of the image, representing the ethnographic statue that the artist admired and kept in his studio. Artist's sketch from life; Kirchner developed a rapid, stroke-oriented (as opposed to detail-oriented) sketch style.
Artist's sketch from life; Kirchner developed a rapid, stroke-oriented (as opposed to detail-oriented) sketch style when out in the world. Appears to be (though not with certainty) two men conversing on the left, a man accompanied by a woman in a very tall hatt in the center/center-right, and a figure in the far right bottom corner foreground leaning toward a surface (a piano? cleaning a table?). Background and tables are suggested with various lines, but unclear.
