Notes (Part 1) on the exhibition: The Brothers Le Nain, Painters of 17th-Century France

[feliciacraft]

I finally got to the Legion of Honor last week to see this: the first major exhibition in the U.S. about the Le Nain Brothers (Antoine, Louis, and Mathieu), painters active in Paris during the 1630s and 1640s. Some of the artworks haven't been in the public view for decades, and many have traveled a long distance - from Paris, London, etc. - to be

Comments

[kazzy_cee]

It was interesting reading your thoughts. Yes the knees are very smooth aren't they. I always wonder how much is restored and how much original painting.

I also like seeing the same faces pop up over time - child models growing up :)

[feliciacraft]

Hmm, good point. I hope whatever restoration has been done to whichever paintings has preserved the paintings' original qualities.

Seeing child models grow up is really a special experience!

[trepkos]

Great analysis of the two cave paintings!

[feliciacraft]

Thanks. I was going to write about how similar they were, but then I realized the similarities only served to emphasize their differences! :P

[slaymesoftly]

I don't have time this morning to go through the entire post, I I quite enjoyed the part I did. A bit of an art history course in college has stuck with me (very little bit, I'm sure), enough that I can appreciate most art. Your smile-inducing comments were the icing on the cake. :)

[feliciacraft]

Hee. I wish I'd have taken more art history classes in college. In order to satisfy all the requirements for my major I only managed a couple. But I enjoy art exhibitions even if I don't always know much about the featured artworks or artists! :)

[brunettepet]

What a wonderful exhibition. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and photographs of the gorgeous paintings.

[feliciacraft]

Thank you. The museum lighting made photography a challenge. There was so much glare. Glad you enjoyed the post nonetheless. :)

[snogged]

Wow! These paintings are incredible.

Thank you for sharing.

[feliciacraft]

You're welcome. I'm going to try to do this types of posts more, because I really enjoy the exhibitions and taking notes forces me to actually think about what I've seen. I have no idea how outlandish some of my interpretations must be, since these days most of my museum visits are solo visits without someone else to bounce ideas off of. The museum labels help, and there's always the Internet, but I'm hardly going to google about 40 paintings. :P

I vaguely recall lessons on symbolism in religious paintings in the little art history I took in college (I remember reading contracts upon contracts of art commissions specifying how much aquamarine was to go into the Virgin Mary's robes, etc., for what purpose was that reading assigned, I'm not sure), but very little of the details "stuck". Anyway, the Le Nains sure made beautiful paintings that are enjoyable even without being knowledgeable about them. :P