Portrait of the artist
Sir Joshua Reynolds painted himself as a man of letters, in his robes as a Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford (1776). Note the absolute absence of any paint on that outfit. Prior to the middle of the 18th century, fine artists were considered craftsmen. While they may have been very successful and well-paid, they …
Monarchs and Militants
Portrait of King George III, 1779, by Sir Joshua Reynolds The Age of Revolution was a time of great change in the intellectual and political life of Europe and America. Portrait painting—previously considered an inferior art—rose in prominence. On the one hand, portraits reached a peak of representational virtuosity. At the same time, they became overwhelmingly …
More on that Christian art thing
Knight, Death and the Devil, woodcut, by Albrecht DĂĽrer, 1513 Part of the heated discussion that ensued after my post Friday about the so-called problem of Christian music expressed a general irritation with performers who identify themselves as Christian artists. We’re all aware of the capacity of modern artists to drape themselves over the cross …
The so-called problem with Christian music
Newworldson, from just over the border in St. Catharines, Ontario. My inbox overflowed with comments yesterday about “the problem with contemporary Christian music”, after an essay by Michael Gungor. I was dumbfounded. Gungor’s full of bunk. Contemporary Christian music has been in a renaissance for the past two decades. This makes sense in that we’ve …
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Making money the old-fashioned way
Saying Grace by Norman Rockwell, 1951 A Norman Rockwell painting sold at auction at Sotheby’s in Manhattan yesterday for $46 million. This was twice its pre-sale estimate of $15-20 million and a record for a Rockwell painting. The painting, “Saying Grace”, was one of seven Rockwells in the auction. Two other Rockwell Saturday Evening Post …