Diane Tucker

@theshymuseumgoer.com

11608 Followers 1359 Following

Writer/producer prev seen on NATGEO, HIST, DISC, MBN, HuffPo. Also writing about great works of art and the deeply human stories they tell at TheShyMuseumgoer.com

Joan Miró, "Girl Escaping" "Jeune fille s'évadant" (1967) • This painted bronze surrealist sculpture features a found tap head, mannequin legs, and vibrant primary colors. 🎞️ (My photo)
"Luncheon of the Boating Party" (1880-81) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir • A group of French people are relaxing and drinking wine on a sunlit balcony overlooking the Seine. (Fun facts: This restaurant in Chatou is still in operation, and everyone in the painting has been identified.)
Paul Klee, "Moonlight" (1919) • An abstract painting featuring a mosaic grid of interlocking geometric shapes in gorgeous shades of blue and violet. A distinctly yellow moon glows in the upper section, nested within the blocky, fragmented forms that suggest a nighttime landscape or rooftops.
Suspended high in the air, Saint Anthony appears unfazed as a horde of demons tests his faith. (I admire his stoic chill.) Inspired by a 15th-century engraving by Martin Schongauer, the painting vanished for centuries. It resurfaced in 1905, disappeared again, and finally reemerged in 2009 when a dealer brought it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for authentication. While experts knew it originated in the Renaissance workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio, the specific painter’s identity remained a mystery.
Berthe Morisot "Eugène Manet and His Daughter in the Garden" (1881) • This Impressionist oil painting by Berthe Morisot depicts a tender family moment in a lush garden. A fashionably dressed man sits in profile on a bench with his legs resting forward. His young daughter, wearing a sunbonnet, is immersed in a toy game on his lap. The scene uses loose, feathery brushstrokes to capture soft, dappled sunlight.
Claude Lorrain “Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia” (1682) • This oil painting, which depicts a pivotal story from Virgil’s “Aeneid,” shows a classical landscape under an overcast sky. On the left, the king’s son, Ascanius, takes aim with a bow. On the opposite riverbank, a large stag stands completely still. Behind the hunter, trees bend violently in a sudden wind. • Trusting of humans, the stag looks back at Ascanius, unaware of the danger. At this moment, the king's son can still *not* do this. But he can't help himself. He will mortally wound the animal and trigger a brutal war.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot “The Woman with a Pearl” (1868-70) • This oil painting features a young woman with long, brunette hair sitting with her arms crossed, dressed in traditional peasant attire brought back from Italy by the artist. The “pearl” on her forehead is probably just a small leaf from her crown that casts a shadow. She looks at the viewer with the same captivating presence as Leonardo's "Mona Lisa," which was a revolutionary female portrait in its day. • Corot is famous for his landscapes, but when he died people found many works in his studio that had never been seen before—including portraits of beautifully enigmatic women.
“The King” belongs to a famous chess set on view at The British Museum. The pieces are made of walrus ivory and sperm whale tooth. Their various expressions are instantly appealing, from the queen’s worried manner to warriors biting their shields. • This king is seated on a throne. He is wearing a multi-pointed crown, and both of his hands grip a flat sword that rests firmly on his lap. He has a wide-eyed expression.
Alison Wilding “Nature: Blue and Gold” (1984) • An abstract two-part sculpture, each part wholly distinct from the other. The outer element consists of wing-like shapes that glitter with bits of gold decoration. The textured, metallic gold wings curve inward to tightly embrace the smooth, central wooden core. • The artist would like us to accept the symbolism as untranslatable. Art historian Sister Wendy Beckett respectfully disagrees: "The Gold protects its Blue companion, and the Blue raises the Gold and enables it to fly."
Asensio Julià stands in a dark room wearing a long grey dressing gown, surrounded by artist's tools and wooden scaffolding.
Attributed to Francisco de Goya “The Colossus” (1808-12) • An oil painting dominated by a muscular giant seen from the waist up. The giant is turned away from the viewer, appearing to stride toward a storm-darkened sky. His right arm is bent at the elbow with a large, clenched fist raised to shoulder height. Clouds surround his lower torso, blending him into the landscape. • In the bottom third of the canvas, a dark valley is filled with a chaotic crowd of people, wagons, and herds of cattle. They are scattering in all directions, creating a sense of frantic panic and mass exodus. • Amidst the frenzy, a lone donkey stands perfectly still and unperturbed in the lower center, seemingly unable to comprehend the surrounding horror. • Recently, while restoring the painting, the Prado found the initials A.J. in the corner of the canvas. Did one of Goya’s assistants heavily contribute to this painting? Seem likely?
Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel Exterior in Padua • Chapel Interior and Giotto's fresco series • Detail of the South Wall showing an architectural model of the Chapel
Daniel Craig as James Bond in the Scottish Highlands
Giotto “The Arrest of Christ (or Kiss of Judas)" and detail (1304-06) • This 14th-century fresco in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy, is set against a deep blue sky filled with a forest of upright spears, torches, and clubs. In the center, Judas, wearing a heavy, bright yellow cloak that dominates the frame, wraps his arms around Jesus to kiss him. Jesus remains calm and resolute, staring directly into Judas's eyes with an intense, knowing gaze. The crowd is dense and agitated, with figures in various robes and helmets pressing in, creating a sense of claustrophobia and high-stakes drama.
Rembrandt, “Belshazzar’s Feast” (1635-38) • A dramatic oil painting that depicts King Belshazzar at the exact moment he realizes his time is up. He recoils in shock as a divine hand writes glowing letters on a dark wall. This scene from the Old Testament (Book of Daniel) is filled with intense light and shadow, highlighting the king's ornate gold robes and the terrified expressions of his wealthy guests as they see "the handwriting on the wall."
Christopher Wool “Untitled” (2017) • National Gallery of Art, Washington DC • This sculpture features long looping forms resembling thick cords or vines that overlap with each other in a knotted jumble. It is made of a metallic material with a bronze-like finish, set on a flat rectangular base in an outdoor setting surrounded by green grass and trees with yellow and green foliage. • The artist, Christopher Wool, was inspired by tangled wire after a tornado hit Texas.
René Magritte "The Black Flag" (1939) • Does this Surrealist painting evoke the tragic day in 1937 when German planes bombed the Spanish town of Guernica, killing or injuring a third of its residents? Or does it foreshadow the horrific events Mussolini and Hitler will unleash during World War II? • In either case, Magritte wouldn’t be Magritte if his painting didn’t include at least one truly puzzling element meant to shake people out of their apathy, such as that flying window with curtains.
Wassily Kandinsky "Black Lines" (1913) • In one of the artist’s first forays into pure abstraction, vibrant ovals drift across the canvas beneath a frenzy of agitated black lines. This work portrays a collision of two worlds through color and form alone. • In fact, Kandinsky painted Black Lines in 1913, when worlds were colliding. Geopolitically, an era of stability was nearing its end, soon to be demolished by World War I. That same year, astronomers discovered that the massive Andromeda Galaxy may be on a collision course with our own Milky Way.
Joan Miró “The Morning Star” (1940) • During WWII, Miró produced 23 paintings collectively known as the Constellations. To create each piece, the artist first applied a soft ground of dry-brushed color that evokes the randomness of nature. Next, he painted fanciful black lines and vibrant flat shapes that change color whenever they cross over a line. Red switches to black…black switches to blue…blue switches to red. Miró’s Constellations pulse, like a universe with music in its soul. • During World War II, the Constellations were the first works of art created by a prominent European artist to reach America. Rumor has it they were secretly transported in a diplomatic pouch.
"The Three Sisters" (Konstantin Bronzit); "Butterfly" (Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens); "The Girl Who Cried Pearls" (Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski); "Forevergreen" (Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears); "Retirement Plan" (John Kelly and Andrew Freedman)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder “The Blind Leading the Blind” (1568) • The painting depicts a procession of six men as they walk along a path bordered by a river on one side and a village on the other. The leader of the group has fallen into a ditch, dragging his companions down with him. • The artist gave each man a different ocular affliction. The first man’s eyes are not visible; the second has had his eyes removed; the third suffers for corneal leukoma; the fourth has atrophy of the globe; the fifth may be photophobic; and the sixth has an autoimmune disease. All of the men are portrayed with their faces raised in the air because they are relying on their senses of smell and hearing.
Betye Saar "Bittersweet (Bessie Smith) (1974) • On the right side of the assemblage: A grouping of red velvet roses, fuscia feathers, and a sequined brooch surround a photograph of two young ladies in headdresses similar to those worn by Smith. (Are these girls the Swifties of their generation?) On the left side: A faded handbill promotes Smith’s sold-out engagement at the Frolic Theater in Birmingham, Alabama. Significantly, a sequined brooch has been laid to rest on top of the handbill. • Like so many of Saar’s hinged boxes, this one is both a shrine and a coffin. The white pocket watch is a memento mori, a traditional symbol of the brevity of life. Bessie Smith was involved in a car crash on Route 61 between Memphis and Clarksdale. Her right arm was nearly severed at the elbow, causing her to bleed out. She died without ever regaining consciousness. • Funds raised for Smith's headstone were stolen (twice) by her estranged husband. Thus, her grave was left unmarked until Juanita Green, who once worked for Smith, asked singer-songwriter Janis Joplin to help her purchase a proper tombstone.
“Atmospheric theaters” like this one built in 1929 were designed to transport patrons to a more exotic place with seemingly infinite vistas. Ceilings were usually painted to resemble the night sky. Tiny lamps positioned by experts from the National Geographic Society accurately represent the constellations in this theater. • The interior architecture is modeled on a Spanish village. In addition, it features replicas of well-known Greek, Roman, and Renaissance sculptures. For example, above the proscenium is a statue of Venus, who may be symbolizing the artistic depth and charisma required to connect with an audience.
Photograph of Aden Kumler, associate professor of art history at the University of Chicago
Henri Matisse "Snow Flowers (1951)" • By 1951, the bedridden artist had stopped painting and devoted himself to making large-scale cutouts from painted sheets of paper. Here, the abstract "snow flowers" are a mixture of mostly white plant forms placed against a patchwork of bold color. Although they appear to be imaginary, one small plant growing up from the bottom center edge suggests that maybe these shapes were inspired by the snowdrop, a small frosty-white, bell-shaped flower that blooms in early spring. • The handwriting along the lowest orange edge reads “Fleurs de Neige Henri Matisse 1951"
Wilhelm Smith “Winter Scene from the Streets of Stockholm” (1896) • This oil painting depicts a snow-covered city street lined with contiguous buildings in muted tones. All the lampposts are lit because the sun sets mid-afternoon during the winter months. The sky is painted a soft, overcast grey. An open umbrella suggests it may be snowing. Textured snow covers the ground, showing faint tracks. • Scattered through the middle-ground are horse-drawn carriages and people bundled up in winter clothing. Predictably, two dogs grab center stage.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir “Skaters in the Bois de Boulogne” (1868) • As rare as it is to see the Seine frozen over, it’s equally rare to see a snow scene by Renoir, who said, “If you can’t stand the cold, why paint snow?” • The scene is captured from a high vantage point. The figures, rendered in sketchy brushstrokes, assume a remarkable variety of poses, ranging from couples who glide effortlessly across the ice to a man who has fallen and is depicted with his feet up in the air. Iron gas lamps illuminate the pond, located in a park along the Seine. • Among Renoir’s earliest canvases, this picture prefigures a theme that will dominate his body of work: social leisure.
A dark sky full of strange-looking pilotless aircraft steered by invisible means. A bright light glows on the distant horizon. • Magritte wouldn't be Magritte if the painting didn't include at least one truly puzzling element, like that flying window with curtains.
Detail of Claude Monet painting "“Boulevard des Capucines” (1873)
Claude Monet “Boulevard des Capucines” (1873) • In 1874, art critic Ernest Chesneau described this painting as “an extraordinary animation of the public street, the crowd swarming on the sidewalk, the carriages on the pavement — never has movement’s elusive, instantaneous quality been captured and fixed in all its fluidity as it has in this marvelous sketch.” • Note he describes the painting as a sketch. He goes on to say, “Obviously this is not the last word in art, nor even of this art. It is necessary to go on and to transform the sketch into a finished work.” It seems Mr. Chesneau has not yet embraced the core concept of impressionism, which is to depict a fleeting moment. • What do you make of those pink daubs of paint? Some historians think they probably represent balloons on strings being held by a sidewalk vendor. What do you think?
Norman Rockwell “Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve” (1947) • The scene takes place in the toy department of a store specifically modeled after Chicago’s Marshall Field flagship store. The floor is littered with remnants of the Christmas rush, including crumpled wrapping paper and several unsold dolls. • A young woman, appearing exhausted, sits on the edge of a toy car, leaning her back against the store wall. She is rubbing her tired feet together after casting aside her shoes. • A small watch pinned to her lapel reads 5:05 PM, while the sign directly above her states that the store closes at 5 PM on Christmas Eve.
Camille Pissarro “Fox Hill, Upper Norwood” (1870) • An Impressionist oil painting of a winter scene in Upper Norwood, London. A snow-dusted road curves into the distance, lined by houses on the right and a cluster of buildings on the left with smoke rising from the chimneys. A man in a black suit walks down the path, while two women in heavy clothing walk in the opposite direction. Bare trees, dark bushes, and a grayish-blue sky add to the feeling of a cold winter’s day.
Vincent van Gogh "At Eternity's Gate" (1890) • The artist shows us an older man seated by a fire, with his head buried in his hands. Hunched over and with his fists pressed against his face, he seems completely overwhelmed by sorrow.
Wassily Kandinsky “Riding Couple” (1906-07) • Lovers wrap their arms around each other while they ride a horse under a canopy of golden leaves. Behind them, the white sails of two Viking ships are visible. On the opposite bank of the river, the outline of an imaginary Moscow reflects Kandinsky’s childhood memories of the city’s colorful domes. • Kandinsky became a naturalized French citizen in 1939, before WWII
Joan Miró “The Nightingale’s Song and Morning Rain” (1940) • To make this painting, the artist painted fanciful black lines and vibrant flat shapes that change color whenever they cross over a line. Red switches to black…black switches to blue…blue switches to red. This picture pulses, like a universe with music in its soul. • “I felt a deep desire to flee,” said Miró. “I shut myself within myself. Music and the stars began to play a major role in suggesting my paintings."
Georgia O’Keeffe, “Autumn Leaves” (1924) • A close-up illustration of overlapping leaves painted in shades of red, orange, yellow, and green. • In 1924, O’Keeffe was living primarily in the Shelton Hotel on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan with her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. However, they spent the autumn months at Stieglitz’s family home on Lake George in upstate New York, where O’Keeffe converted a barn into a studio. "I wish you could see the place here," said O'Keeffe. "There is something so perfect about the mountains and the lake and the trees, sometimes I want to tear it all to pieces, it seems so perfect. But it is really lovely."
Fra Angelico fresco showing the Magi adoring the infant Christ in a stable, with a separate tabernacle below depicting the Man of Sorrows —a suffering Christ emerging from his tomb.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec “The Two Friends” (1895) • In one of the artist’s most beautiful paintings, two cocottes lie in bed, enjoying a rare moment of feeling safe and content. The painting is one of a series created for a brothel undergoing renovation. The women felt honored that "Monsieur Henri" agreed to portray them. One woman brought flowers to his studio. "They all possess a kind heart," he said. • More on Lautrec (from me) here: https://wp.me/pdQwQ8-jNP
Italian Renaissance painter Luca Signorelli "Preaching of the Antichrist" (1500-04) • In this fresco that decorates a chapel in Orvieto Cathedral, gifts have been heaped at the foot of the Antichrist’s pedestal. On the far left, a vicious slaughter is taking place. In the background, all sorts of nightmares are unfolding. Meanwhile, clerics gather to pray. Notice how the devil’s arm sneaks into the Antichrist’s attire and transforms into his own arm — a clever representation of how the devil influences miscreants.
Paul McCartney performing Blackbird on acoustic guitar (Martin D-28?)at the Alamodome on 10/25/25. (my photo) • Next stops ➡️ New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Montreal, Hamilton, and Chicago
Paul McCartney and his band performing Getting Better at the Alamodome on 10/25/25. I’m pretty sure he’s playing a left-handed Les Paul. (my photo)
One section of a 15-mile network of paved pathways along the banks of the San Antonio River. The River Walk connects major landmarks like The Alamo and the San Antonio Museum of Art — whose recently-completed interior renovation is very special. (My photo)