Friday, October 24, 2008

painting of the day---raft of medusa 1818–1819


This is one of my favorite paintings. It is painted by Gericault and is a very important work because it was a psychological break from the neo-classical style (which had become stale and lifeless as a plaster cast) and led to a movement of romanticism which is a great period of art (in spite of its own faults)..this is a painting about politics and what really led to the shipwreck of the Medusa. The ship that eventually saved them was called the argus--I am seeing a greek theme here. On the raft is a portrait of Gericault's student Delacroix who became a very famous artist in his own right. I think there are two kinds of artists, those who like neocalssical and those who like the dark underbelly of romanticism..I prefer storms to calm weather..this picture has life and energy and that is what art should have.

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