fuck yeah art history

Marie Antoinette
Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun
1783 
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

In Advance of the Broken Arm (Fourth version, after lost original of November 1915)
Marcel Duchamp
1964
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, USA 

Grimani Breviary: The Month of December
Flemish Minaturist 
1490-1510
Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, Italy

Mosaic with Street Musicians
Dioskourides of Samos
1st century BCE
The Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy

This Mosaic with Street Musicians, signed by Dioskourides of Samos was found in the so-called Villa of Cicero near the ancient city of Pompeii. The mosaic depicts an episode from a comedy, since the figures are wearing theatrical masks. The figures are playing musical instruments often connected with the cult of Cybele: the tambourine, small cymbals and the double flute.

This particular mosaic dates from the first century BCE, but the scene is known from the 3rd century BCE onward. It is found in paintings and mosaics until the 3rd century CE. The play is not immediately identifiable from this mosaic. (http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/1089_Mosaic_with_Street_Musicians.html)

Girl with a Pearl Earring
Jan Vermeer (Johannes Vermeer, Johan Vermeer)
c. 1665-1666 
Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague, South Holland, The Netherlands 

Why is the Girl with the pearl earring Vermeer’s best-loved painting? It must have something to do with the fact that the girl looks over her shoulder, as though hoping to see who is standing behind her. This draws the viewer into the picture, suggesting that he is the one who has made the girl turn her head.

Equally important, though, are Vermeer’s fresh colours, virtuoso technique and subtle rendering of light effects. The turban is enlivened, for example, with the small highlights that are Vermeer’s trademark. The pearl, too, is very special, consisting of little more than two brushstrokes: a bright accent at its upper left and the soft reflection of the white collar on its underside.

Then there is the girl herself, who gazes at us, wide-eyed, her sensual mouth parted. She makes an uninhibited, somewhat expectant impression that cannot help exciting our interest, even though we have no idea who she is. (mauritshuis.nl)

The Art Critic (Saturday Evening Post Cover April 16, 1955)
Norman Rockwell
1955
The Norman Rockwell Museum of Stockbridge, Stockbridge, MA, USA

Untitled
Mark Rothko
1968
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York, USA 

Still-life with Turkey-Pie
Pieter Claesz
1627
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

That “turkey-pie” looks… undercooked? - @irockgnomes 

Folio from Uta makura (The Poem of the Pillow)
Kitagawa Utamaro
1788 (Edo Period)
The British Museum, London, UK

The album ‘Poem of the Pillow’ is a masterpiece among the erotic works by Utamaro (died 1806), and indeed, among the entire erotica of the Ukiyo-e school.

Utamaro has avoided the stereotypical scenes of love-making that were often produced at the time, and instead created an innovative and powerfully sensual design. He uses a very low viewpoint and places the unusually large figures so that they seem to expand beyond the frame of the picture. The eye is shocked by the white of the woman’s skin against the bright scarlet under-kimono, and the transparency of the gauze fabric that covers the couple’s entwined legs only heightens the sensuousness. Finally, however, the viewer focuses on the heads and shoulders. The details emphasise the emotion of the moment: the man’s eye as he gazes intently at his lover, the tender touch of their delicate fingers and the exquisite nape of the woman’s neck. (britishmuseum.org)

The Boulevard Montmartre at Night
Camille Pissarro
1897
The National Gallery, London, UK