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Lorr47 -> RE: Favorite painting? (5/5/2009 9:52:00 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: amoryblane
This is an obviously difficult question to answer, but I'm always curious which artists and which works of art really appeal to people. My tastes are pretty eclectic and include names like Kirchner, Klee, Jenny Saville, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Magritte (a little flippant I know but hey, Son of Man was one of the first posters I ever owned when I was a kid), &c.
But my absolute favorite painting, the one that gets under my skin and into my bloodstream, is the Saint Sebastian by Reni that hangs in the Palazzo Rosso in Genoa. The first time I ever saw it (in an art book) it excited me sensually, intellectually, erotically, and viscerally like no other painting I'd ever seen. I knew what the dictionary said "sublime" meant, but seeing the painting was the first time I ever had the qualitative sensation of experiencing the sublime.
In case you're not familiar with it, here's a link to a good online image
Before medical bills became my major cost in life I purchased two paintings by John Van Cleef. He painted in both oil and water colors with seascapes being his favorite subject. I think the painter attracted me as much as his paintings. He was originally from the Netherlands. My partner told me that Van Cleef worked in the underground during WW2 and was the only spy known to be sentenced to death by both the Nazis and the Japanese. Van Cleef smuggled out information from Germany but was himself captured and sentenced to death and was sent to a concentration camp. He had the numbers on his arm etc. He was so valuable that they broke him out. However because he was wanted by the Nazis they sent him to the Pacific threater where he acted as a Dutch sympathizer. Again, he got the information out but was himself caught trying to escape and sentenced to death by the Japanese. I do not know how they got him out but they did and he was finally restricted to the rear areas. My partner kept trying to have him write his memoirs but he never did and died with all that knowledge. There was a very big funeral attended mostly by x service men. Everytime I walk passed the paintings I think of the "Ferret."
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