“A closer look at the Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour”

“A closer look at the Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour”

via “The Louvre“

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, better known as the Marquise de Pompadour, was born in 1721 into a bourgeois family on its way up in the world thanks to its links to the world of finance. She received a refined, elegant education.

As a child, she studied music and dance with Rameau’s favorite singer, Jélyotte. Crébillon père introduced her to the theatre and the art of declamation. He was a great rival of Voltaire, who was later to become a great friend of hers. She was a young protégée of the farmer-general Le Normant de Tournehem, who may in fact have been her real father. At the age of twenty, she married his nephew Guillaume Le Normant d’Etiolles, also later to become a farmer-general. She was then in a position to be admitted to Louis XV’s court, and became the king’s official mistress in 1745.

As a well-educated young woman who had made an advantageous marriage, she was invited to . . . .

 

Nigerian Art: Chiekwe and Caro

“Chiekwe and Caro” by Ben Enwonwu

“Tessa Groshoff Finds Safety in Art”

Tessa Groshoff Finds Safety in Art

by Jennifer Larue via “The Spokesman Review“

“On a white sheet of paper, Tessa Groshoff spills her secrets.

She swirls, lines and scribbles to tell her stories in the universal language of art that words simply cannot convey.

“Art is my way of communicating,” she said. “I believe a person’s voice can be heard without words. Each stroke is a memory to be created or released, and each stroke has a purpose whether it is dark or light.” . . . .”

 

 

“SAN BERNARDINO: Famous Poster Art on Display”

“SAN BERNARDINO: Famous Poster Art on Display”

by Fielding Buck via “The Press Enterprise“

Exhibition: Music to my Eyes

Location: 

Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art at California State University,
5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino

Dates: Now through March 15, 2014

Further Information: http://raffma.csusb.edu

“David Edward Byrd has a thing about eyes.

You can see it in his work.

“That’s how I meet you, see your face. Your eyes,” said the artist. “I always thought that was a real grabber … I kind of made it a trademark.”

A selection of Byrd’s work is on display at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art at California State University, San Bernardino. The exhibit is called “Music to My Eyes, David Edward Byrd: Posters and Music-related Designs 1968 — Now.”

Born in Tennessee, educated in Boston and now based in Los Angeles, Byrd became known for his posters created for rock concert promoter Bill Graham in the late 1960s. . . . .”

 

Statue of Maya and Merit

Egyptian Statue of Maya and Merit Currently on display at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities