Art Reflection – The Magpie The Magpie is a unique offering by a well-loved French Impressionist. What might be surprising to some is that Claude Monet did not just paint water lilies in summer. He painted many aspects of nature in many seasons, including this snowscape named for the little black bird on the stile. In this work, Monet stayed …

Art Reflection – Starry Night Millet painted this night sky while living in Barbizon, an artist colony southwest of Paris. He had always been inspired by nature but seemed to be completely captivated by the sky revealed beyond the lights of the city. This representational work, even with the iconic path motif and the light and blurry cart on the …

Art Reflection – L’Absinthe This work has many titles – L’Abinsthe, Absinthe Drinker, In a Café. It was staged by Degas out of respect. An actress and artist are pictured here. It is a departure from this French Impressionist’s masterworks of ballerinas, racehorses, and his eye for the movement of living things. This oil painting is part of the permanent collection of the …

Art Reflection – Castle and Sun Paul Klee was a Swiss-German artist who began creating abstract art after a trip to Tunisia in 1914. He fell in love with color and light on that trip and painted in the styles of Cubism, Expressionism and Surrealism highlighting these two art elements for the rest of his career. Castle and Sun is hung a …

Art Reflection – The Life Line, 1884 Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is considered to be the foremost American painter of the 19th century. He worked in oil, watercolor and printmaking. He painted the outdoor landscape and most often marine scenes in realism and impressionism styles. His work is displayed at the Met, the National Gallery and other prominent venues. I am taken …

Art Reflection – Door of Humility The Church of the Nativity was commissioned by Emperor Constantine. He and his mother, Helena, commissioned the building of churches to mark and commemorate important locations in our Christian story. This church was built on the site of the stable where it is believed that Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. This structure …

Art Reflection – Edward Hopper Edward Hopper lived in New York and painted his surroundings. Many of his works done in clear color and realism convey a sense of isolation and sadness as with this single figure sitting in a corner and so close to the prominent windows. Her downward gaze might be to the people on a Brooklyn street …

Art Reflection – Pierre-Auguste Renoir Two Sisters is a painting by Impressionist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It dates to 1881. It has hung at the Art Institute of Chicago since 1933 when bequeathed by a private owner. This lush painting is sprinkled with Renoir’s signature red that pulls our eyes to the two girls in white and blue. Do you think they look …

Art Reflection – Rene Magritte Time Transfixed was painted by Rene Magritte, a Surrealist from Belgium, in 1938. It is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.  This work could be a reference to the derailment in Paris in 1895 when a train came through the exterior wall of the Gare Montparnasse Terminus and onto the street …

Art Reflection – Camille Pissarro Camille Pissarro was a Danish-French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist. He lived from 1830 to 1903. A Path in the Woods, Pontoise, is an Impressionistic work on a very common, almost trite subject – the path.  I hope it holds a particular and generative appeal as we look at it now. This lovely work of quick, visible brush …