tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post3929733128195382247..comments2024-03-29T06:46:10.487-04:00Comments on Studio and Garden: Velázquez: The Greatest Artist?Altoon Sultanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-38202928760854013962015-09-20T08:55:44.625-04:002015-09-20T08:55:44.625-04:00I remember copying paintings, but I'm not sure...I remember copying paintings, but I'm not sure if I did a copy of a Velazquez. Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-30725507004427329492015-09-19T18:13:46.751-04:002015-09-19T18:13:46.751-04:00When I was a student I copied two of his works in ...When I was a student I copied two of his works in charcoal. If there ever was an artist to learn from it was surely Velazquez sultanchichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11905482818376660867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-66099473305943132862015-09-16T17:32:57.410-04:002015-09-16T17:32:57.410-04:00Thanks Elaine, for the lovely comment, and I agree...Thanks Elaine, for the lovely comment, and I agree about the many ways we can see a painting as great.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-40039006242797308232015-09-14T19:35:48.510-04:002015-09-14T19:35:48.510-04:00This post brought up wonderful and sometimes diffi...This post brought up wonderful and sometimes difficult emotions I have felt in front of paintings and other works of art, from Goya to Golub, Memling to Bourgeois, Boltanski to Spero. Thank you for your sensitive treatment of the subject of "greatest" painter. I've never seen a Velazquez in real life but your reproduction here is excellent. What makes great painting can be answered many ways, I believe. Even what makes something a painting is hard to pin down. Elaine Marihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06277978260041137391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-56414039793368387212015-09-11T08:12:33.113-04:002015-09-11T08:12:33.113-04:00Thanks, Steven. I love your metaphor of the river ...Thanks, Steven. I love your metaphor of the river of tradition. Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-81246761222395395472015-09-11T08:04:37.783-04:002015-09-11T08:04:37.783-04:00Well done Blog…….always a pleasure and Robert real...Well done Blog…….always a pleasure and Robert really articulated a lot of my feelings about it all seeing the details and thinking of what he taught Manet and then up through Deibenkorn in his figurative days when reacting to criticism of David Park he thickened up his paint handling…….It really is a river of tradition we all step into when we pick up the brush or pay homage to other painters great and small…...Steven Silverleafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12006643653528370117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-10812693057933950842015-09-11T06:16:13.232-04:002015-09-11T06:16:13.232-04:00Thanks for this extensive comment, Robert. I compl...Thanks for this extensive comment, Robert. I completely agree with you, as would Philippe de Montebello, since he speaks of how we change each time we look at art; I know I do. And we are indeed fortunate; I feel fortunate each time I go to the Met. Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-4870192910302076532015-09-11T00:37:52.345-04:002015-09-11T00:37:52.345-04:00You've made some excellent points here Altoon,...You've made some excellent points here Altoon, and Velasquez is no question one of the greatest painters of all time. That said, at any given moment, when we might least expect it, a painting can move us in ways that we could never predict. As an example, I remember visiting the Titian exhibition at the National Gallery, Washington in 1991, walking into the last room and being confronted by "The Flaying of Marsyas"". As I stared at it, I was weeping, which surprised me to say the least; a dark, late work, which had challenged Titian to finish near the end of his life. As described in the catalogue, his late work was *allowing us glimpses of the tragedy of human suffering and evoking a world made tumultuous by the quivering touch of his brush." I would also add that, at any given time, an artist, a painter, can reach out and touch us in unexpected ways. It could be a Constable sky or Turner seascape, a Chardin or Morandi still-life, a Matisse collage or Agnes Martin grid, a Klee watercolor or an Alice Neel portrait. We are fortunate to live in a world where art, and painting, remains an important part of our world (beyond commerce) and is irreplaceable.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05203980592267907465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-62522195613774869042015-09-10T17:06:41.150-04:002015-09-10T17:06:41.150-04:00How lucky you are, maureen, to have seen that show...How lucky you are, maureen, to have seen that show! Yes, there's such a difference in seeing reproductions and the actual paintings, especially with Velazquez. Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-40025075136745437332015-09-10T16:38:12.772-04:002015-09-10T16:38:12.772-04:00I saw the recent Velazquez exhibition in Paris.the...I saw the recent Velazquez exhibition in Paris.the Francisco Lezcano (The Boy from Vallecas) portrait was there and agree it is full of love and respect. It was the largest ever exhibition of his work outside of the Prado and I spent a whole day in the Musee d'Orsay looking and looking. greatest artist? impossible to say but when confronted with Velazquez's work in the flesh the answer is yes.maureen nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06733169624378060975noreply@blogger.com