Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Focus on Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) and explain the Period of synthesis paintings.

Cézanne's work during this period was filled with direct light and sharply outlined forms. These paintings were deeply "preconceived and pondered." He tended to compose paintings in lines or bands across his canvases. In his landscapes, including the paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne liked to modify and simplify the scenes. This broke the landscape norm of composing in planes in order to define depth. Cézanne's landscapes also tended to have asymmetrical compositions, as well as broad and thick brushstrokes, to the point that he sometimes used the palette knife.The bulk of Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period were from the mid-1880s on. Most of these works were executed with Cézanne situated east of Aix. He was particularly drawn to Mont Sainte-Victoire for its clarity and stark geometric form. In his works, Cézanne generally strove to unify rhythm, form, and color. His works became the most detailed from 1884-1888, and became more loose and "visionary" later on.Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period generally displayed an extended profile of the mountain dominating the familiar valley. In some, a railroad bed cuts across the fields, with the arched viaduct crossing the middle ground. Houses and farm buildings dot the landscape. Many features "assume the weight of its history," like the train trestle that transforms into an ancient aqueduct, resembling a Roman road. These features, as well as careful placement of the trees, allowed more fluid and intimate access to the mountain.A few paintings explore the relationship between the mountain, the single pine, the viaduct, and the ridge of Le Cengle. Cézanne climbed up and down the incline to test different views of this scene and these motifs. He enjoyed the interplay of the firmer planes of the landscape and mountain and the musicality of the trees. He would use structures, like the viaduct and arches, to introduce rhythm and pattern into the landscape. This rhythm gave the paintings a sense of unity and intention that is very  different from Cézanne's later paintings, making them more accessible than isolated. Cézanne often used a single pine as a framing device, like a curtain, which was generally placed on the left. This device was probably derived from his work with Pissarro.In general, these paintings contain a relaxed gradation of greens, grays, and blues that imbue this series of paintings with more of a sense of peacefulness. They tend to be more consistent and transparent, creating atmospheric effects unique in Cézanne's repertoire. In one painting with a single pine, the dark brown of the trunk and brighter green of the needles set up an effective contrast to the calmer background, giving the effect of "tranquil release." In another, all the colors are more translucent, creating a sense of awe and structure sometimes aided by Chinese white paint, which had an "opalescent" quality.In the painting Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bibémus Quarry, c. 1897, as an example from this period, Cézanne concentrated on the peak of the mountain, floating above the reddish rocks below it. The mountain rises above the smooth, angular quarry, the crest tying the landscape together and providing a sense of stability. Mont Sainte-Victoire acts as a counterpoint to the dynamic perspective of the foreground. The work was painted from a high vantage point, with the tops of the pine trees as visual entry points to the scene. The viewers encounter this warm green gate before the cold rocks beyond.In another example of this period, Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from above the Tholonet Road, c. 1896-8, the mountain looms overhead, effectively displacing the sky. This painting similarly utilizes warm, red tones across the landscape and cool, blue tones across the mountain and sky, with the clear light exposing the dry air. This work is more reductive than his past works; the higher vantage point allows the slope of the valley leading into the mountain to lie open and the foreground to be reduced, and Mont Sainte-Victoire to stand boldly and clearly before the viewer. Pine trees anchor the composition, giving it a sense of stability. It has a vertical format, emphasizing the upwards formation of the mountain. This vertical format is only present in two of Cézanne's other paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire.As a final example, in Cézanne's canvas at the Musée d'Orsay, the viaduct is included, as usual, but the road was obscured, reorienting the features of the landscape. The painting emphasizes horizontal elements in the composition. In this work, Cézanne blended and undercut colors; green, ocher, and blue shades are set against shades of lavender and chartreuse yellow, brightening the painting. It has a blended and smooth quality that is less crisp and clear than his other, more architectural works. This painting also notably has a more golden hue and autumnal color than his other contemporary works, presaging his later Mont Sainte-Victoire works.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Explain the Period of synthesis paintings of this artwork, Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne).

Cézanne's work during this period was filled with direct light and sharply outlined forms. These paintings were deeply "preconceived and pondered." He tended to compose paintings in lines or bands across his canvases. In his landscapes, including the paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne liked to modify and simplify the scenes. This broke the landscape norm of composing in planes in order to define depth. Cézanne's landscapes also tended to have asymmetrical compositions, as well as broad and thick brushstrokes, to the point that he sometimes used the palette knife.The bulk of Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period were from the mid-1880s on. Most of these works were executed with Cézanne situated east of Aix. He was particularly drawn to Mont Sainte-Victoire for its clarity and stark geometric form. In his works, Cézanne generally strove to unify rhythm, form, and color. His works became the most detailed from 1884-1888, and became more loose and "visionary" later on.Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period generally displayed an extended profile of the mountain dominating the familiar valley. In some, a railroad bed cuts across the fields, with the arched viaduct crossing the middle ground. Houses and farm buildings dot the landscape. Many features "assume the weight of its history," like the train trestle that transforms into an ancient aqueduct, resembling a Roman road. These features, as well as careful placement of the trees, allowed more fluid and intimate access to the mountain.A few paintings explore the relationship between the mountain, the single pine, the viaduct, and the ridge of Le Cengle. Cézanne climbed up and down the incline to test different views of this scene and these motifs. He enjoyed the interplay of the firmer planes of the landscape and mountain and the musicality of the trees. He would use structures, like the viaduct and arches, to introduce rhythm and pattern into the landscape. This rhythm gave the paintings a sense of unity and intention that is very  different from Cézanne's later paintings, making them more accessible than isolated. Cézanne often used a single pine as a framing device, like a curtain, which was generally placed on the left. This device was probably derived from his work with Pissarro.In general, these paintings contain a relaxed gradation of greens, grays, and blues that imbue this series of paintings with more of a sense of peacefulness. They tend to be more consistent and transparent, creating atmospheric effects unique in Cézanne's repertoire. In one painting with a single pine, the dark brown of the trunk and brighter green of the needles set up an effective contrast to the calmer background, giving the effect of "tranquil release." In another, all the colors are more translucent, creating a sense of awe and structure sometimes aided by Chinese white paint, which had an "opalescent" quality.In the painting Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bibémus Quarry, c. 1897, as an example from this period, Cézanne concentrated on the peak of the mountain, floating above the reddish rocks below it. The mountain rises above the smooth, angular quarry, the crest tying the landscape together and providing a sense of stability. Mont Sainte-Victoire acts as a counterpoint to the dynamic perspective of the foreground. The work was painted from a high vantage point, with the tops of the pine trees as visual entry points to the scene. The viewers encounter this warm green gate before the cold rocks beyond.In another example of this period, Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from above the Tholonet Road, c. 1896-8, the mountain looms overhead, effectively displacing the sky. This painting similarly utilizes warm, red tones across the landscape and cool, blue tones across the mountain and sky, with the clear light exposing the dry air. This work is more reductive than his past works; the higher vantage point allows the slope of the valley leading into the mountain to lie open and the foreground to be reduced, and Mont Sainte-Victoire to stand boldly and clearly before the viewer. Pine trees anchor the composition, giving it a sense of stability. It has a vertical format, emphasizing the upwards formation of the mountain. This vertical format is only present in two of Cézanne's other paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire.As a final example, in Cézanne's canvas at the Musée d'Orsay, the viaduct is included, as usual, but the road was obscured, reorienting the features of the landscape. The painting emphasizes horizontal elements in the composition. In this work, Cézanne blended and undercut colors; green, ocher, and blue shades are set against shades of lavender and chartreuse yellow, brightening the painting. It has a blended and smooth quality that is less crisp and clear than his other, more architectural works. This painting also notably has a more golden hue and autumnal color than his other contemporary works, presaging his later Mont Sainte-Victoire works.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: How does Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) explain its Period of synthesis paintings?

Cézanne's work during this period was filled with direct light and sharply outlined forms. These paintings were deeply "preconceived and pondered." He tended to compose paintings in lines or bands across his canvases. In his landscapes, including the paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne liked to modify and simplify the scenes. This broke the landscape norm of composing in planes in order to define depth. Cézanne's landscapes also tended to have asymmetrical compositions, as well as broad and thick brushstrokes, to the point that he sometimes used the palette knife.The bulk of Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period were from the mid-1880s on. Most of these works were executed with Cézanne situated east of Aix. He was particularly drawn to Mont Sainte-Victoire for its clarity and stark geometric form. In his works, Cézanne generally strove to unify rhythm, form, and color. His works became the most detailed from 1884-1888, and became more loose and "visionary" later on.Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period generally displayed an extended profile of the mountain dominating the familiar valley. In some, a railroad bed cuts across the fields, with the arched viaduct crossing the middle ground. Houses and farm buildings dot the landscape. Many features "assume the weight of its history," like the train trestle that transforms into an ancient aqueduct, resembling a Roman road. These features, as well as careful placement of the trees, allowed more fluid and intimate access to the mountain.A few paintings explore the relationship between the mountain, the single pine, the viaduct, and the ridge of Le Cengle. Cézanne climbed up and down the incline to test different views of this scene and these motifs. He enjoyed the interplay of the firmer planes of the landscape and mountain and the musicality of the trees. He would use structures, like the viaduct and arches, to introduce rhythm and pattern into the landscape. This rhythm gave the paintings a sense of unity and intention that is very  different from Cézanne's later paintings, making them more accessible than isolated. Cézanne often used a single pine as a framing device, like a curtain, which was generally placed on the left. This device was probably derived from his work with Pissarro.In general, these paintings contain a relaxed gradation of greens, grays, and blues that imbue this series of paintings with more of a sense of peacefulness. They tend to be more consistent and transparent, creating atmospheric effects unique in Cézanne's repertoire. In one painting with a single pine, the dark brown of the trunk and brighter green of the needles set up an effective contrast to the calmer background, giving the effect of "tranquil release." In another, all the colors are more translucent, creating a sense of awe and structure sometimes aided by Chinese white paint, which had an "opalescent" quality.In the painting Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bibémus Quarry, c. 1897, as an example from this period, Cézanne concentrated on the peak of the mountain, floating above the reddish rocks below it. The mountain rises above the smooth, angular quarry, the crest tying the landscape together and providing a sense of stability. Mont Sainte-Victoire acts as a counterpoint to the dynamic perspective of the foreground. The work was painted from a high vantage point, with the tops of the pine trees as visual entry points to the scene. The viewers encounter this warm green gate before the cold rocks beyond.In another example of this period, Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from above the Tholonet Road, c. 1896-8, the mountain looms overhead, effectively displacing the sky. This painting similarly utilizes warm, red tones across the landscape and cool, blue tones across the mountain and sky, with the clear light exposing the dry air. This work is more reductive than his past works; the higher vantage point allows the slope of the valley leading into the mountain to lie open and the foreground to be reduced, and Mont Sainte-Victoire to stand boldly and clearly before the viewer. Pine trees anchor the composition, giving it a sense of stability. It has a vertical format, emphasizing the upwards formation of the mountain. This vertical format is only present in two of Cézanne's other paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire.As a final example, in Cézanne's canvas at the Musée d'Orsay, the viaduct is included, as usual, but the road was obscured, reorienting the features of the landscape. The painting emphasizes horizontal elements in the composition. In this work, Cézanne blended and undercut colors; green, ocher, and blue shades are set against shades of lavender and chartreuse yellow, brightening the painting. It has a blended and smooth quality that is less crisp and clear than his other, more architectural works. This painting also notably has a more golden hue and autumnal color than his other contemporary works, presaging his later Mont Sainte-Victoire works.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: In Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne), how is the Period of synthesis paintings discussed?

Cézanne's work during this period was filled with direct light and sharply outlined forms. These paintings were deeply "preconceived and pondered." He tended to compose paintings in lines or bands across his canvases. In his landscapes, including the paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne liked to modify and simplify the scenes. This broke the landscape norm of composing in planes in order to define depth. Cézanne's landscapes also tended to have asymmetrical compositions, as well as broad and thick brushstrokes, to the point that he sometimes used the palette knife.The bulk of Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period were from the mid-1880s on. Most of these works were executed with Cézanne situated east of Aix. He was particularly drawn to Mont Sainte-Victoire for its clarity and stark geometric form. In his works, Cézanne generally strove to unify rhythm, form, and color. His works became the most detailed from 1884-1888, and became more loose and "visionary" later on.Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings during this period generally displayed an extended profile of the mountain dominating the familiar valley. In some, a railroad bed cuts across the fields, with the arched viaduct crossing the middle ground. Houses and farm buildings dot the landscape. Many features "assume the weight of its history," like the train trestle that transforms into an ancient aqueduct, resembling a Roman road. These features, as well as careful placement of the trees, allowed more fluid and intimate access to the mountain.A few paintings explore the relationship between the mountain, the single pine, the viaduct, and the ridge of Le Cengle. Cézanne climbed up and down the incline to test different views of this scene and these motifs. He enjoyed the interplay of the firmer planes of the landscape and mountain and the musicality of the trees. He would use structures, like the viaduct and arches, to introduce rhythm and pattern into the landscape. This rhythm gave the paintings a sense of unity and intention that is very  different from Cézanne's later paintings, making them more accessible than isolated. Cézanne often used a single pine as a framing device, like a curtain, which was generally placed on the left. This device was probably derived from his work with Pissarro.In general, these paintings contain a relaxed gradation of greens, grays, and blues that imbue this series of paintings with more of a sense of peacefulness. They tend to be more consistent and transparent, creating atmospheric effects unique in Cézanne's repertoire. In one painting with a single pine, the dark brown of the trunk and brighter green of the needles set up an effective contrast to the calmer background, giving the effect of "tranquil release." In another, all the colors are more translucent, creating a sense of awe and structure sometimes aided by Chinese white paint, which had an "opalescent" quality.In the painting Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bibémus Quarry, c. 1897, as an example from this period, Cézanne concentrated on the peak of the mountain, floating above the reddish rocks below it. The mountain rises above the smooth, angular quarry, the crest tying the landscape together and providing a sense of stability. Mont Sainte-Victoire acts as a counterpoint to the dynamic perspective of the foreground. The work was painted from a high vantage point, with the tops of the pine trees as visual entry points to the scene. The viewers encounter this warm green gate before the cold rocks beyond.In another example of this period, Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from above the Tholonet Road, c. 1896-8, the mountain looms overhead, effectively displacing the sky. This painting similarly utilizes warm, red tones across the landscape and cool, blue tones across the mountain and sky, with the clear light exposing the dry air. This work is more reductive than his past works; the higher vantage point allows the slope of the valley leading into the mountain to lie open and the foreground to be reduced, and Mont Sainte-Victoire to stand boldly and clearly before the viewer. Pine trees anchor the composition, giving it a sense of stability. It has a vertical format, emphasizing the upwards formation of the mountain. This vertical format is only present in two of Cézanne's other paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire.As a final example, in Cézanne's canvas at the Musée d'Orsay, the viaduct is included, as usual, but the road was obscured, reorienting the features of the landscape. The painting emphasizes horizontal elements in the composition. In this work, Cézanne blended and undercut colors; green, ocher, and blue shades are set against shades of lavender and chartreuse yellow, brightening the painting. It has a blended and smooth quality that is less crisp and clear than his other, more architectural works. This painting also notably has a more golden hue and autumnal color than his other contemporary works, presaging his later Mont Sainte-Victoire works.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Focus on Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) and explain the Late period paintings.

Cézanne's Late Period ran from about 1895 until his death in 1906, but most of his works of Mont Sainte-Victoire came from the time after Cézanne bought property just north of Aix in 1902. From 1902-1906, Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire eleven times in oil paint, and many more in watercolor. This period was defined by more saturated colors, less stable compositions, and a more clear division of forms into smaller parts, as dictated by Cézanne's thick brushstrokes. He created his forms with discrete patches of intense color, developing his compositions by considering the elements of the paintings as geometric shapes imbued with color. The structure constructed from these shapes became stronger and then more implied, in order to emphasize emotional intensity. The subject matter was almost unrecognizable within the brushstrokes, pointing the way toward abstraction. Cézanne's analytical approach to these unpopulated landscapes caused the paintings to seem distanced from humanity.In the paintings Cézanne did from this period, the mountain was often shown in dramatic profile, the peak rising over the surrounding plain, which spread out in a patchwork of farm buildings, trees, and fields. They are imbued with a sense of urgency and anticipation. Cézanne emphasized the roughness of nature in these paintings by combining the stark, architectural forms of the landscape and mountain with the wild, lyrical vegetation. He did not seek to represent nature traditionally, but rather to, first and foremost, express the consistent, permanent nature of the structure beneath the surface.In several of the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings, Cézanne left parts of the canvas bare. Furthermore, he often used diluted oil paint and watercolor. He saw these as giving him greater freedom and flexibility, painting faster, lighter, and with more fluidity. The fleeting lighting and weather in which some of his paintings were made led to many of them being left unfinished. This unfinished quality of Cézanne's works was a continuation of the Impressionists' method of intentionally making their paintings look unfinished, or sketch-like.In one painting from this period, simply entitled Mont Sainte-Victoire, and which is now in the Annenberg Collection, Cézanne constructed the painting on five different pieces of canvas that were pieced together over time. His brushstrokes cut across pieces of canvas to create one cohesive image, but the addition of these pieces "provides an explanation of [the painting's] development." This multi-canvas technique was rare for Cézanne, but was not unique among the Impressionists; Degas also used this technique, but any direct connection between the two is unlikely. Here, the mountain is clear and pristine, its contours painted with a "brilliant" blue. The western slope is constructed with minute, transparent brushwork over a white primer, and reflects the light shining over the landscape, while the northern slope is darkened in shadow. The sky is painted in even strokes of green, blue, and lavender, with patches of white interjected as passing clouds, while the valley rolls forward in layers of green and ocher towards the farmhouse, which stands firm and geometric among the surrounding, more musical trees and fields. Broader and wetter brushstrokes accompany the composition downwards, along with tighter and more constricted color modulations, while to the right of the mountain, the upright brushstrokes in the plain likewise get broader and more energetic. This conveys a sense of acceleration from left to right, to the point of the space seeming to bend as the brushstrokes get larger and the color gets thinner. The greens and blues in the right third of the sky also get more energetic and abstract and sweep off the canvas. Much of the canvas is left bare in the energy and excitement in which Cézanne produced the painting, but still, the small farmhouse is clearly defined, establishing rhythm and recession. Cézanne's vision for the painting seems to have shifted as he worked on it, as evidenced by the additional strips of canvas and changing energy and style of brushstrokes. Throughout the painting, it is clear that Cézanne wrestled with the issue of trying to convey color while also expressing distance. The work's energy, geometric quality, and abstract look is emblematic of Cézanne's work during this late period.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Explain the Late period paintings of this artwork, Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne).

Cézanne's Late Period ran from about 1895 until his death in 1906, but most of his works of Mont Sainte-Victoire came from the time after Cézanne bought property just north of Aix in 1902. From 1902-1906, Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire eleven times in oil paint, and many more in watercolor. This period was defined by more saturated colors, less stable compositions, and a more clear division of forms into smaller parts, as dictated by Cézanne's thick brushstrokes. He created his forms with discrete patches of intense color, developing his compositions by considering the elements of the paintings as geometric shapes imbued with color. The structure constructed from these shapes became stronger and then more implied, in order to emphasize emotional intensity. The subject matter was almost unrecognizable within the brushstrokes, pointing the way toward abstraction. Cézanne's analytical approach to these unpopulated landscapes caused the paintings to seem distanced from humanity.In the paintings Cézanne did from this period, the mountain was often shown in dramatic profile, the peak rising over the surrounding plain, which spread out in a patchwork of farm buildings, trees, and fields. They are imbued with a sense of urgency and anticipation. Cézanne emphasized the roughness of nature in these paintings by combining the stark, architectural forms of the landscape and mountain with the wild, lyrical vegetation. He did not seek to represent nature traditionally, but rather to, first and foremost, express the consistent, permanent nature of the structure beneath the surface.In several of the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings, Cézanne left parts of the canvas bare. Furthermore, he often used diluted oil paint and watercolor. He saw these as giving him greater freedom and flexibility, painting faster, lighter, and with more fluidity. The fleeting lighting and weather in which some of his paintings were made led to many of them being left unfinished. This unfinished quality of Cézanne's works was a continuation of the Impressionists' method of intentionally making their paintings look unfinished, or sketch-like.In one painting from this period, simply entitled Mont Sainte-Victoire, and which is now in the Annenberg Collection, Cézanne constructed the painting on five different pieces of canvas that were pieced together over time. His brushstrokes cut across pieces of canvas to create one cohesive image, but the addition of these pieces "provides an explanation of [the painting's] development." This multi-canvas technique was rare for Cézanne, but was not unique among the Impressionists; Degas also used this technique, but any direct connection between the two is unlikely. Here, the mountain is clear and pristine, its contours painted with a "brilliant" blue. The western slope is constructed with minute, transparent brushwork over a white primer, and reflects the light shining over the landscape, while the northern slope is darkened in shadow. The sky is painted in even strokes of green, blue, and lavender, with patches of white interjected as passing clouds, while the valley rolls forward in layers of green and ocher towards the farmhouse, which stands firm and geometric among the surrounding, more musical trees and fields. Broader and wetter brushstrokes accompany the composition downwards, along with tighter and more constricted color modulations, while to the right of the mountain, the upright brushstrokes in the plain likewise get broader and more energetic. This conveys a sense of acceleration from left to right, to the point of the space seeming to bend as the brushstrokes get larger and the color gets thinner. The greens and blues in the right third of the sky also get more energetic and abstract and sweep off the canvas. Much of the canvas is left bare in the energy and excitement in which Cézanne produced the painting, but still, the small farmhouse is clearly defined, establishing rhythm and recession. Cézanne's vision for the painting seems to have shifted as he worked on it, as evidenced by the additional strips of canvas and changing energy and style of brushstrokes. Throughout the painting, it is clear that Cézanne wrestled with the issue of trying to convey color while also expressing distance. The work's energy, geometric quality, and abstract look is emblematic of Cézanne's work during this late period.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: How does Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) explain its Late period paintings?

Cézanne's Late Period ran from about 1895 until his death in 1906, but most of his works of Mont Sainte-Victoire came from the time after Cézanne bought property just north of Aix in 1902. From 1902-1906, Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire eleven times in oil paint, and many more in watercolor. This period was defined by more saturated colors, less stable compositions, and a more clear division of forms into smaller parts, as dictated by Cézanne's thick brushstrokes. He created his forms with discrete patches of intense color, developing his compositions by considering the elements of the paintings as geometric shapes imbued with color. The structure constructed from these shapes became stronger and then more implied, in order to emphasize emotional intensity. The subject matter was almost unrecognizable within the brushstrokes, pointing the way toward abstraction. Cézanne's analytical approach to these unpopulated landscapes caused the paintings to seem distanced from humanity.In the paintings Cézanne did from this period, the mountain was often shown in dramatic profile, the peak rising over the surrounding plain, which spread out in a patchwork of farm buildings, trees, and fields. They are imbued with a sense of urgency and anticipation. Cézanne emphasized the roughness of nature in these paintings by combining the stark, architectural forms of the landscape and mountain with the wild, lyrical vegetation. He did not seek to represent nature traditionally, but rather to, first and foremost, express the consistent, permanent nature of the structure beneath the surface.In several of the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings, Cézanne left parts of the canvas bare. Furthermore, he often used diluted oil paint and watercolor. He saw these as giving him greater freedom and flexibility, painting faster, lighter, and with more fluidity. The fleeting lighting and weather in which some of his paintings were made led to many of them being left unfinished. This unfinished quality of Cézanne's works was a continuation of the Impressionists' method of intentionally making their paintings look unfinished, or sketch-like.In one painting from this period, simply entitled Mont Sainte-Victoire, and which is now in the Annenberg Collection, Cézanne constructed the painting on five different pieces of canvas that were pieced together over time. His brushstrokes cut across pieces of canvas to create one cohesive image, but the addition of these pieces "provides an explanation of [the painting's] development." This multi-canvas technique was rare for Cézanne, but was not unique among the Impressionists; Degas also used this technique, but any direct connection between the two is unlikely. Here, the mountain is clear and pristine, its contours painted with a "brilliant" blue. The western slope is constructed with minute, transparent brushwork over a white primer, and reflects the light shining over the landscape, while the northern slope is darkened in shadow. The sky is painted in even strokes of green, blue, and lavender, with patches of white interjected as passing clouds, while the valley rolls forward in layers of green and ocher towards the farmhouse, which stands firm and geometric among the surrounding, more musical trees and fields. Broader and wetter brushstrokes accompany the composition downwards, along with tighter and more constricted color modulations, while to the right of the mountain, the upright brushstrokes in the plain likewise get broader and more energetic. This conveys a sense of acceleration from left to right, to the point of the space seeming to bend as the brushstrokes get larger and the color gets thinner. The greens and blues in the right third of the sky also get more energetic and abstract and sweep off the canvas. Much of the canvas is left bare in the energy and excitement in which Cézanne produced the painting, but still, the small farmhouse is clearly defined, establishing rhythm and recession. Cézanne's vision for the painting seems to have shifted as he worked on it, as evidenced by the additional strips of canvas and changing energy and style of brushstrokes. Throughout the painting, it is clear that Cézanne wrestled with the issue of trying to convey color while also expressing distance. The work's energy, geometric quality, and abstract look is emblematic of Cézanne's work during this late period.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: In Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne), how is the Late period paintings discussed?

Cézanne's Late Period ran from about 1895 until his death in 1906, but most of his works of Mont Sainte-Victoire came from the time after Cézanne bought property just north of Aix in 1902. From 1902-1906, Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire eleven times in oil paint, and many more in watercolor. This period was defined by more saturated colors, less stable compositions, and a more clear division of forms into smaller parts, as dictated by Cézanne's thick brushstrokes. He created his forms with discrete patches of intense color, developing his compositions by considering the elements of the paintings as geometric shapes imbued with color. The structure constructed from these shapes became stronger and then more implied, in order to emphasize emotional intensity. The subject matter was almost unrecognizable within the brushstrokes, pointing the way toward abstraction. Cézanne's analytical approach to these unpopulated landscapes caused the paintings to seem distanced from humanity.In the paintings Cézanne did from this period, the mountain was often shown in dramatic profile, the peak rising over the surrounding plain, which spread out in a patchwork of farm buildings, trees, and fields. They are imbued with a sense of urgency and anticipation. Cézanne emphasized the roughness of nature in these paintings by combining the stark, architectural forms of the landscape and mountain with the wild, lyrical vegetation. He did not seek to represent nature traditionally, but rather to, first and foremost, express the consistent, permanent nature of the structure beneath the surface.In several of the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings, Cézanne left parts of the canvas bare. Furthermore, he often used diluted oil paint and watercolor. He saw these as giving him greater freedom and flexibility, painting faster, lighter, and with more fluidity. The fleeting lighting and weather in which some of his paintings were made led to many of them being left unfinished. This unfinished quality of Cézanne's works was a continuation of the Impressionists' method of intentionally making their paintings look unfinished, or sketch-like.In one painting from this period, simply entitled Mont Sainte-Victoire, and which is now in the Annenberg Collection, Cézanne constructed the painting on five different pieces of canvas that were pieced together over time. His brushstrokes cut across pieces of canvas to create one cohesive image, but the addition of these pieces "provides an explanation of [the painting's] development." This multi-canvas technique was rare for Cézanne, but was not unique among the Impressionists; Degas also used this technique, but any direct connection between the two is unlikely. Here, the mountain is clear and pristine, its contours painted with a "brilliant" blue. The western slope is constructed with minute, transparent brushwork over a white primer, and reflects the light shining over the landscape, while the northern slope is darkened in shadow. The sky is painted in even strokes of green, blue, and lavender, with patches of white interjected as passing clouds, while the valley rolls forward in layers of green and ocher towards the farmhouse, which stands firm and geometric among the surrounding, more musical trees and fields. Broader and wetter brushstrokes accompany the composition downwards, along with tighter and more constricted color modulations, while to the right of the mountain, the upright brushstrokes in the plain likewise get broader and more energetic. This conveys a sense of acceleration from left to right, to the point of the space seeming to bend as the brushstrokes get larger and the color gets thinner. The greens and blues in the right third of the sky also get more energetic and abstract and sweep off the canvas. Much of the canvas is left bare in the energy and excitement in which Cézanne produced the painting, but still, the small farmhouse is clearly defined, establishing rhythm and recession. Cézanne's vision for the painting seems to have shifted as he worked on it, as evidenced by the additional strips of canvas and changing energy and style of brushstrokes. Throughout the painting, it is clear that Cézanne wrestled with the issue of trying to convey color while also expressing distance. The work's energy, geometric quality, and abstract look is emblematic of Cézanne's work during this late period.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Focus on Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) and explain the Reception.

In general, Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire series "have been discussed in the grandest terms." They are considered to represent Cézanne's transformation into the highest mode of his artistic ideals.Lionello Venturi, for example, described the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings as part of a "cosmic" creation, noting that "The structure is more and more implied, and less and less apparent." Cézanne himself noted, according to Joachim Gasquet, that the mountain held some sort of "cosmic" significance for him: "Look at Ste.-Victoire. What élan, what an imperious thirst for the sun, and what melancholy, in the evening, when all this weightiness falls back to earth...These masses were made of fire. Fire is in them still. Both darkness and daylight seem to recoil from them in fear, trembling. There above us is Plato's cave: see how, as large clouds pass by, the shadow that they ast shudders on the rocks, as if burned, suddenly swallowed by a mouth of fire." Such statements capture how Cézanne imbues Mont Sainte-Victoire with a sense of urgency and drama, and how he hoped his paintings would be received by viewers. Indeed, this perception has been echoed by critics like Fritz Novotny, who have argued that, in these works, Cézanne gave up real truth to nature. His Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings are simultaneously "timeless" and "quiet" as well as "turbulent" and "ecstatic."Despite its grand ambitions, this series has "rarely been critically assessed or published," in the scheme of art history., although it was featured in the 1980 BBC television series 100 Great Paintings.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Explain the Reception of this artwork, Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne).

In general, Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire series "have been discussed in the grandest terms." They are considered to represent Cézanne's transformation into the highest mode of his artistic ideals.Lionello Venturi, for example, described the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings as part of a "cosmic" creation, noting that "The structure is more and more implied, and less and less apparent." Cézanne himself noted, according to Joachim Gasquet, that the mountain held some sort of "cosmic" significance for him: "Look at Ste.-Victoire. What élan, what an imperious thirst for the sun, and what melancholy, in the evening, when all this weightiness falls back to earth...These masses were made of fire. Fire is in them still. Both darkness and daylight seem to recoil from them in fear, trembling. There above us is Plato's cave: see how, as large clouds pass by, the shadow that they ast shudders on the rocks, as if burned, suddenly swallowed by a mouth of fire." Such statements capture how Cézanne imbues Mont Sainte-Victoire with a sense of urgency and drama, and how he hoped his paintings would be received by viewers. Indeed, this perception has been echoed by critics like Fritz Novotny, who have argued that, in these works, Cézanne gave up real truth to nature. His Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings are simultaneously "timeless" and "quiet" as well as "turbulent" and "ecstatic."Despite its grand ambitions, this series has "rarely been critically assessed or published," in the scheme of art history., although it was featured in the 1980 BBC television series 100 Great Paintings.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: How does Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) explain its Reception?

In general, Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire series "have been discussed in the grandest terms." They are considered to represent Cézanne's transformation into the highest mode of his artistic ideals.Lionello Venturi, for example, described the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings as part of a "cosmic" creation, noting that "The structure is more and more implied, and less and less apparent." Cézanne himself noted, according to Joachim Gasquet, that the mountain held some sort of "cosmic" significance for him: "Look at Ste.-Victoire. What élan, what an imperious thirst for the sun, and what melancholy, in the evening, when all this weightiness falls back to earth...These masses were made of fire. Fire is in them still. Both darkness and daylight seem to recoil from them in fear, trembling. There above us is Plato's cave: see how, as large clouds pass by, the shadow that they ast shudders on the rocks, as if burned, suddenly swallowed by a mouth of fire." Such statements capture how Cézanne imbues Mont Sainte-Victoire with a sense of urgency and drama, and how he hoped his paintings would be received by viewers. Indeed, this perception has been echoed by critics like Fritz Novotny, who have argued that, in these works, Cézanne gave up real truth to nature. His Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings are simultaneously "timeless" and "quiet" as well as "turbulent" and "ecstatic."Despite its grand ambitions, this series has "rarely been critically assessed or published," in the scheme of art history., although it was featured in the 1980 BBC television series 100 Great Paintings.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: In Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne), how is the Reception discussed?

In general, Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire series "have been discussed in the grandest terms." They are considered to represent Cézanne's transformation into the highest mode of his artistic ideals.Lionello Venturi, for example, described the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings as part of a "cosmic" creation, noting that "The structure is more and more implied, and less and less apparent." Cézanne himself noted, according to Joachim Gasquet, that the mountain held some sort of "cosmic" significance for him: "Look at Ste.-Victoire. What élan, what an imperious thirst for the sun, and what melancholy, in the evening, when all this weightiness falls back to earth...These masses were made of fire. Fire is in them still. Both darkness and daylight seem to recoil from them in fear, trembling. There above us is Plato's cave: see how, as large clouds pass by, the shadow that they ast shudders on the rocks, as if burned, suddenly swallowed by a mouth of fire." Such statements capture how Cézanne imbues Mont Sainte-Victoire with a sense of urgency and drama, and how he hoped his paintings would be received by viewers. Indeed, this perception has been echoed by critics like Fritz Novotny, who have argued that, in these works, Cézanne gave up real truth to nature. His Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings are simultaneously "timeless" and "quiet" as well as "turbulent" and "ecstatic."Despite its grand ambitions, this series has "rarely been critically assessed or published," in the scheme of art history., although it was featured in the 1980 BBC television series 100 Great Paintings.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Focus on Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) and explain the Discovery in Gurlitt trove.

In 2012, a version of Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire (Landscape with Mont Sainte-Victoire), 1897 was discovered in the stash of paintings held by the Munich recluse Cornelius Gurlitt.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: Explain the Discovery in Gurlitt trove of this artwork, Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne).

In 2012, a version of Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire (Landscape with Mont Sainte-Victoire), 1897 was discovered in the stash of paintings held by the Munich recluse Cornelius Gurlitt.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: How does Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne) explain its Discovery in Gurlitt trove?

In 2012, a version of Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire (Landscape with Mont Sainte-Victoire), 1897 was discovered in the stash of paintings held by the Munich recluse Cornelius Gurlitt.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne)

Prompt: In Mont Sainte-Victoire (Cézanne), how is the Discovery in Gurlitt trove discussed?

In 2012, a version of Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire (Landscape with Mont Sainte-Victoire), 1897 was discovered in the stash of paintings held by the Munich recluse Cornelius Gurlitt.

Category:Paintings in the Pushkin Museum

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Focus on La maja desnuda and explain the abstract.

The Naked Maja or The Nude Maja (Spanish: La maja desnuda [la ˈmaxa ðesˈnuða]) is an oil-on-canvas painting made around 1797–1800 by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, and is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It portrays a nude woman reclining on a bed of pillows, and was probably commissioned by Manuel de Godoy, to hang in his private collection in a separate cabinet reserved for nude paintings. Goya created a pendant of the same woman identically posed, but clothed, known today as La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja), also in the Prado, and usually hung next to La maja desnuda. The subject is identified as a maja or fashionable lower-class Madrid woman, based on her costume in La maja vestida.The painting is renowned for the straightforward and unashamed gaze of the model towards the viewer. It has also been cited as among the earliest Western artwork to depict a nude woman's pubic hair without obvious negative connotations (such as in images of prostitutes). With this work Goya not only upset the ecclesiastical authorities, but also titillated the public and extended the artistic horizon of the day. It has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1901.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Explain the abstract of this artwork, La maja desnuda.

The Naked Maja or The Nude Maja (Spanish: La maja desnuda [la ˈmaxa ðesˈnuða]) is an oil-on-canvas painting made around 1797–1800 by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, and is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It portrays a nude woman reclining on a bed of pillows, and was probably commissioned by Manuel de Godoy, to hang in his private collection in a separate cabinet reserved for nude paintings. Goya created a pendant of the same woman identically posed, but clothed, known today as La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja), also in the Prado, and usually hung next to La maja desnuda. The subject is identified as a maja or fashionable lower-class Madrid woman, based on her costume in La maja vestida.The painting is renowned for the straightforward and unashamed gaze of the model towards the viewer. It has also been cited as among the earliest Western artwork to depict a nude woman's pubic hair without obvious negative connotations (such as in images of prostitutes). With this work Goya not only upset the ecclesiastical authorities, but also titillated the public and extended the artistic horizon of the day. It has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1901.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: How does La maja desnuda explain its abstract?

The Naked Maja or The Nude Maja (Spanish: La maja desnuda [la ˈmaxa ðesˈnuða]) is an oil-on-canvas painting made around 1797–1800 by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, and is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It portrays a nude woman reclining on a bed of pillows, and was probably commissioned by Manuel de Godoy, to hang in his private collection in a separate cabinet reserved for nude paintings. Goya created a pendant of the same woman identically posed, but clothed, known today as La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja), also in the Prado, and usually hung next to La maja desnuda. The subject is identified as a maja or fashionable lower-class Madrid woman, based on her costume in La maja vestida.The painting is renowned for the straightforward and unashamed gaze of the model towards the viewer. It has also been cited as among the earliest Western artwork to depict a nude woman's pubic hair without obvious negative connotations (such as in images of prostitutes). With this work Goya not only upset the ecclesiastical authorities, but also titillated the public and extended the artistic horizon of the day. It has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1901.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: In La maja desnuda, how is the abstract discussed?

The Naked Maja or The Nude Maja (Spanish: La maja desnuda [la ˈmaxa ðesˈnuða]) is an oil-on-canvas painting made around 1797–1800 by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, and is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It portrays a nude woman reclining on a bed of pillows, and was probably commissioned by Manuel de Godoy, to hang in his private collection in a separate cabinet reserved for nude paintings. Goya created a pendant of the same woman identically posed, but clothed, known today as La maja vestida (The Clothed Maja), also in the Prado, and usually hung next to La maja desnuda. The subject is identified as a maja or fashionable lower-class Madrid woman, based on her costume in La maja vestida.The painting is renowned for the straightforward and unashamed gaze of the model towards the viewer. It has also been cited as among the earliest Western artwork to depict a nude woman's pubic hair without obvious negative connotations (such as in images of prostitutes). With this work Goya not only upset the ecclesiastical authorities, but also titillated the public and extended the artistic horizon of the day. It has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1901.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Focus on La maja desnuda and explain the Description.

Although the two versions of the Maja are the same size, the sitter in the clothed version occupies a slightly larger proportion of the  pictorial space; according to art historian Janis Tomlinson she seems almost to "press boldly against the confines of her frame", making her more brazen in comparison to the comparatively "timid" nude portrait.The painting carries many of the traditions of depictions of the nude in Spanish art, but marks a clear break in significant ways, especially in her bold gaze. Further, the accompanying pendant showing a woman in contemporary dress makes it clear that the focus of the work is not of a mythological subject, as in Velázquez's Rokeby Venus, but in fact of a nude Spanish woman. More obviously, while Velázquez painted his Venus revealing only her back, Goya's portrait is a full frontal view. Goya's figuration is short and angular, while Velázquez's is elongated and curved, and his figure placed on richly coloured satin, which starkly contrasts to the bare white cloths Goya's maja rests on.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Explain the Description of this artwork, La maja desnuda.

Although the two versions of the Maja are the same size, the sitter in the clothed version occupies a slightly larger proportion of the  pictorial space; according to art historian Janis Tomlinson she seems almost to "press boldly against the confines of her frame", making her more brazen in comparison to the comparatively "timid" nude portrait.The painting carries many of the traditions of depictions of the nude in Spanish art, but marks a clear break in significant ways, especially in her bold gaze. Further, the accompanying pendant showing a woman in contemporary dress makes it clear that the focus of the work is not of a mythological subject, as in Velázquez's Rokeby Venus, but in fact of a nude Spanish woman. More obviously, while Velázquez painted his Venus revealing only her back, Goya's portrait is a full frontal view. Goya's figuration is short and angular, while Velázquez's is elongated and curved, and his figure placed on richly coloured satin, which starkly contrasts to the bare white cloths Goya's maja rests on.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: How does La maja desnuda explain its Description?

Although the two versions of the Maja are the same size, the sitter in the clothed version occupies a slightly larger proportion of the  pictorial space; according to art historian Janis Tomlinson she seems almost to "press boldly against the confines of her frame", making her more brazen in comparison to the comparatively "timid" nude portrait.The painting carries many of the traditions of depictions of the nude in Spanish art, but marks a clear break in significant ways, especially in her bold gaze. Further, the accompanying pendant showing a woman in contemporary dress makes it clear that the focus of the work is not of a mythological subject, as in Velázquez's Rokeby Venus, but in fact of a nude Spanish woman. More obviously, while Velázquez painted his Venus revealing only her back, Goya's portrait is a full frontal view. Goya's figuration is short and angular, while Velázquez's is elongated and curved, and his figure placed on richly coloured satin, which starkly contrasts to the bare white cloths Goya's maja rests on.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: In La maja desnuda, how is the Description discussed?

Although the two versions of the Maja are the same size, the sitter in the clothed version occupies a slightly larger proportion of the  pictorial space; according to art historian Janis Tomlinson she seems almost to "press boldly against the confines of her frame", making her more brazen in comparison to the comparatively "timid" nude portrait.The painting carries many of the traditions of depictions of the nude in Spanish art, but marks a clear break in significant ways, especially in her bold gaze. Further, the accompanying pendant showing a woman in contemporary dress makes it clear that the focus of the work is not of a mythological subject, as in Velázquez's Rokeby Venus, but in fact of a nude Spanish woman. More obviously, while Velázquez painted his Venus revealing only her back, Goya's portrait is a full frontal view. Goya's figuration is short and angular, while Velázquez's is elongated and curved, and his figure placed on richly coloured satin, which starkly contrasts to the bare white cloths Goya's maja rests on.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Focus on La maja desnuda and explain the Inquisition.

The identity of the model and why the paintings were created are today unknown. Both paintings are first recorded in an inventory of "unpopular and unsuccessful art" by Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy, Duke of Alcúdia in 1800, when they were hung in a private room reserved for nude paintings, alongside such works as Velázquez's Rokeby Venus. Godoy retained the picture for six years before it was discovered by investigators for the Spanish Inquisition in 1808, along with his other "questionable pictures". Godoy and the curator of his collection, Don Francisco de Garivay, were brought before a tribunal and forced to reveal the artists behind the confiscated art works which were "so indecent and prejudicial to the public good." The controversy was populist and driven by a political motive, following a mob gathering demanding Godoy's removal as Prime Minister. In the fallout, Goya was named and summoned on a charge of moral depravity. As Godoy had only been found in possession of the painting, Goya was asked to identify why "he did them", and also "at whose request, and what attention guided him." His answers do not survive, but it is known that the Director of Confiscations accepted that Goya had followed and emulated Titian's Danaë series and Velázquez's Rokeby Venus; two painters whose works, including their nudes, were admired by the court and church, and the Inquisition had previously found nothing objectionable in the Rokeby Venus.Goya escaped prosecution when the tribunal accepted that he was following in a tradition, and emulating a Velázquez painting which had been favoured by Philip IV of Spain. The earlier picture of Venus had been similarly kept out of view by that art-loving king in a private room, "the room where His Majesty retires after eating." In fact, the Inquisition by 1808 was nearing the end of its influence, and while it could draw attention to "dangerous" forms of expression, be they books, plays, or paintings, it was usually unable to fully suppress them.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Explain the Inquisition of this artwork, La maja desnuda.

The identity of the model and why the paintings were created are today unknown. Both paintings are first recorded in an inventory of "unpopular and unsuccessful art" by Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy, Duke of Alcúdia in 1800, when they were hung in a private room reserved for nude paintings, alongside such works as Velázquez's Rokeby Venus. Godoy retained the picture for six years before it was discovered by investigators for the Spanish Inquisition in 1808, along with his other "questionable pictures". Godoy and the curator of his collection, Don Francisco de Garivay, were brought before a tribunal and forced to reveal the artists behind the confiscated art works which were "so indecent and prejudicial to the public good." The controversy was populist and driven by a political motive, following a mob gathering demanding Godoy's removal as Prime Minister. In the fallout, Goya was named and summoned on a charge of moral depravity. As Godoy had only been found in possession of the painting, Goya was asked to identify why "he did them", and also "at whose request, and what attention guided him." His answers do not survive, but it is known that the Director of Confiscations accepted that Goya had followed and emulated Titian's Danaë series and Velázquez's Rokeby Venus; two painters whose works, including their nudes, were admired by the court and church, and the Inquisition had previously found nothing objectionable in the Rokeby Venus.Goya escaped prosecution when the tribunal accepted that he was following in a tradition, and emulating a Velázquez painting which had been favoured by Philip IV of Spain. The earlier picture of Venus had been similarly kept out of view by that art-loving king in a private room, "the room where His Majesty retires after eating." In fact, the Inquisition by 1808 was nearing the end of its influence, and while it could draw attention to "dangerous" forms of expression, be they books, plays, or paintings, it was usually unable to fully suppress them.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: How does La maja desnuda explain its Inquisition?

The identity of the model and why the paintings were created are today unknown. Both paintings are first recorded in an inventory of "unpopular and unsuccessful art" by Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy, Duke of Alcúdia in 1800, when they were hung in a private room reserved for nude paintings, alongside such works as Velázquez's Rokeby Venus. Godoy retained the picture for six years before it was discovered by investigators for the Spanish Inquisition in 1808, along with his other "questionable pictures". Godoy and the curator of his collection, Don Francisco de Garivay, were brought before a tribunal and forced to reveal the artists behind the confiscated art works which were "so indecent and prejudicial to the public good." The controversy was populist and driven by a political motive, following a mob gathering demanding Godoy's removal as Prime Minister. In the fallout, Goya was named and summoned on a charge of moral depravity. As Godoy had only been found in possession of the painting, Goya was asked to identify why "he did them", and also "at whose request, and what attention guided him." His answers do not survive, but it is known that the Director of Confiscations accepted that Goya had followed and emulated Titian's Danaë series and Velázquez's Rokeby Venus; two painters whose works, including their nudes, were admired by the court and church, and the Inquisition had previously found nothing objectionable in the Rokeby Venus.Goya escaped prosecution when the tribunal accepted that he was following in a tradition, and emulating a Velázquez painting which had been favoured by Philip IV of Spain. The earlier picture of Venus had been similarly kept out of view by that art-loving king in a private room, "the room where His Majesty retires after eating." In fact, the Inquisition by 1808 was nearing the end of its influence, and while it could draw attention to "dangerous" forms of expression, be they books, plays, or paintings, it was usually unable to fully suppress them.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: In La maja desnuda, how is the Inquisition discussed?

The identity of the model and why the paintings were created are today unknown. Both paintings are first recorded in an inventory of "unpopular and unsuccessful art" by Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy, Duke of Alcúdia in 1800, when they were hung in a private room reserved for nude paintings, alongside such works as Velázquez's Rokeby Venus. Godoy retained the picture for six years before it was discovered by investigators for the Spanish Inquisition in 1808, along with his other "questionable pictures". Godoy and the curator of his collection, Don Francisco de Garivay, were brought before a tribunal and forced to reveal the artists behind the confiscated art works which were "so indecent and prejudicial to the public good." The controversy was populist and driven by a political motive, following a mob gathering demanding Godoy's removal as Prime Minister. In the fallout, Goya was named and summoned on a charge of moral depravity. As Godoy had only been found in possession of the painting, Goya was asked to identify why "he did them", and also "at whose request, and what attention guided him." His answers do not survive, but it is known that the Director of Confiscations accepted that Goya had followed and emulated Titian's Danaë series and Velázquez's Rokeby Venus; two painters whose works, including their nudes, were admired by the court and church, and the Inquisition had previously found nothing objectionable in the Rokeby Venus.Goya escaped prosecution when the tribunal accepted that he was following in a tradition, and emulating a Velázquez painting which had been favoured by Philip IV of Spain. The earlier picture of Venus had been similarly kept out of view by that art-loving king in a private room, "the room where His Majesty retires after eating." In fact, the Inquisition by 1808 was nearing the end of its influence, and while it could draw attention to "dangerous" forms of expression, be they books, plays, or paintings, it was usually unable to fully suppress them.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Focus on La maja desnuda and explain the Provenance.

La maja desnuda has always hung alongside, above, or before its companion. They were twice in the collection of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, also in Madrid, being "sequestered" by the Inquisition between 1814 and 1836 before being returned. They have been in the Prado since 1901.It is not known if the two works were intended to be hung together. One early account gives the Clothed Maja placed in front of the current work; the pull of a cord revealed the nude version. Today they are hung side by side, although others have suggested that they were intended to be spaced apart, and seen in succession.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Explain the Provenance of this artwork, La maja desnuda.

La maja desnuda has always hung alongside, above, or before its companion. They were twice in the collection of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, also in Madrid, being "sequestered" by the Inquisition between 1814 and 1836 before being returned. They have been in the Prado since 1901.It is not known if the two works were intended to be hung together. One early account gives the Clothed Maja placed in front of the current work; the pull of a cord revealed the nude version. Today they are hung side by side, although others have suggested that they were intended to be spaced apart, and seen in succession.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba


La maja desnuda

Prompt: How does La maja desnuda explain its Provenance?

La maja desnuda has always hung alongside, above, or before its companion. They were twice in the collection of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, also in Madrid, being "sequestered" by the Inquisition between 1814 and 1836 before being returned. They have been in the Prado since 1901.It is not known if the two works were intended to be hung together. One early account gives the Clothed Maja placed in front of the current work; the pull of a cord revealed the nude version. Today they are hung side by side, although others have suggested that they were intended to be spaced apart, and seen in succession.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba


La maja desnuda

Prompt: In La maja desnuda, how is the Provenance discussed?

La maja desnuda has always hung alongside, above, or before its companion. They were twice in the collection of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, also in Madrid, being "sequestered" by the Inquisition between 1814 and 1836 before being returned. They have been in the Prado since 1901.It is not known if the two works were intended to be hung together. One early account gives the Clothed Maja placed in front of the current work; the pull of a cord revealed the nude version. Today they are hung side by side, although others have suggested that they were intended to be spaced apart, and seen in succession.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Focus on La maja desnuda and explain the Identity of the model.

It has been conjectured that the woman depicted was Prime Minister Godoy's young mistress Pepita Tudó. It has also been suggested that the woman was María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya is rumored to have been romantically involved and whose portrait he painted twice (in 1795 and 1797). However, many scholars have rejected this possibility, including Australian art critic Robert Hughes in his 2003 biography Goya. Many agree that Pepita Tudó is a more likely candidate. Others believe that the woman is a composite of several different models.The word maja is the feminine form of majo, a low-class Spaniard of the 18th and 19th century.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Explain the Identity of the model of this artwork, La maja desnuda.

It has been conjectured that the woman depicted was Prime Minister Godoy's young mistress Pepita Tudó. It has also been suggested that the woman was María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya is rumored to have been romantically involved and whose portrait he painted twice (in 1795 and 1797). However, many scholars have rejected this possibility, including Australian art critic Robert Hughes in his 2003 biography Goya. Many agree that Pepita Tudó is a more likely candidate. Others believe that the woman is a composite of several different models.The word maja is the feminine form of majo, a low-class Spaniard of the 18th and 19th century.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: How does La maja desnuda explain its Identity of the model?

It has been conjectured that the woman depicted was Prime Minister Godoy's young mistress Pepita Tudó. It has also been suggested that the woman was María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya is rumored to have been romantically involved and whose portrait he painted twice (in 1795 and 1797). However, many scholars have rejected this possibility, including Australian art critic Robert Hughes in his 2003 biography Goya. Many agree that Pepita Tudó is a more likely candidate. Others believe that the woman is a composite of several different models.The word maja is the feminine form of majo, a low-class Spaniard of the 18th and 19th century.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: In La maja desnuda, how is the Identity of the model discussed?

It has been conjectured that the woman depicted was Prime Minister Godoy's young mistress Pepita Tudó. It has also been suggested that the woman was María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba, with whom Goya is rumored to have been romantically involved and whose portrait he painted twice (in 1795 and 1797). However, many scholars have rejected this possibility, including Australian art critic Robert Hughes in his 2003 biography Goya. Many agree that Pepita Tudó is a more likely candidate. Others believe that the woman is a composite of several different models.The word maja is the feminine form of majo, a low-class Spaniard of the 18th and 19th century.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Focus on La maja desnuda and explain the Influence.

The work has inspired other artists. Jeffrey Meyers, in his book Impressionist Quartet: The Intimate Genius of Manet and Morisot, Degas and Cassatt, opines that Manet's Olympia "boldly alluded to another masterpiece, Goya's Naked Maja."Two sets of stamps depicting La maja desnuda in commemoration of Goya's work were privately produced in 1930 and later approved by the Spanish Postal Authority.The novel The Naked Maja (by Samuel Edwards, 1959) is based on Goya's affairs with the Duchess. Later that same year, an Italian-French-American co-production film based on this novel (sharing |the same name) was made by S.G.C., Titanus Films, and United Artists.The painting figures into the plot of film Toto in Madrid, an Italian comedy film from 1959, directed by Steno, written by Vittorio Metz, starring Totò and Louis de Funès.In the comedy film The Toy (1982 film), U.S. Bates has a portrait of his young wife posed in imitation of La maja vestida. A hidden switch on Bates' desk causes the figure's clothes to slide away, making it now resemble La maja desnuda.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: Explain the Influence of this artwork, La maja desnuda.

The work has inspired other artists. Jeffrey Meyers, in his book Impressionist Quartet: The Intimate Genius of Manet and Morisot, Degas and Cassatt, opines that Manet's Olympia "boldly alluded to another masterpiece, Goya's Naked Maja."Two sets of stamps depicting La maja desnuda in commemoration of Goya's work were privately produced in 1930 and later approved by the Spanish Postal Authority.The novel The Naked Maja (by Samuel Edwards, 1959) is based on Goya's affairs with the Duchess. Later that same year, an Italian-French-American co-production film based on this novel (sharing |the same name) was made by S.G.C., Titanus Films, and United Artists.The painting figures into the plot of film Toto in Madrid, an Italian comedy film from 1959, directed by Steno, written by Vittorio Metz, starring Totò and Louis de Funès.In the comedy film The Toy (1982 film), U.S. Bates has a portrait of his young wife posed in imitation of La maja vestida. A hidden switch on Bates' desk causes the figure's clothes to slide away, making it now resemble La maja desnuda.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: How does La maja desnuda explain its Influence?

The work has inspired other artists. Jeffrey Meyers, in his book Impressionist Quartet: The Intimate Genius of Manet and Morisot, Degas and Cassatt, opines that Manet's Olympia "boldly alluded to another masterpiece, Goya's Naked Maja."Two sets of stamps depicting La maja desnuda in commemoration of Goya's work were privately produced in 1930 and later approved by the Spanish Postal Authority.The novel The Naked Maja (by Samuel Edwards, 1959) is based on Goya's affairs with the Duchess. Later that same year, an Italian-French-American co-production film based on this novel (sharing |the same name) was made by S.G.C., Titanus Films, and United Artists.The painting figures into the plot of film Toto in Madrid, an Italian comedy film from 1959, directed by Steno, written by Vittorio Metz, starring Totò and Louis de Funès.In the comedy film The Toy (1982 film), U.S. Bates has a portrait of his young wife posed in imitation of La maja vestida. A hidden switch on Bates' desk causes the figure's clothes to slide away, making it now resemble La maja desnuda.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


La maja desnuda

Prompt: In La maja desnuda, how is the Influence discussed?

The work has inspired other artists. Jeffrey Meyers, in his book Impressionist Quartet: The Intimate Genius of Manet and Morisot, Degas and Cassatt, opines that Manet's Olympia "boldly alluded to another masterpiece, Goya's Naked Maja."Two sets of stamps depicting La maja desnuda in commemoration of Goya's work were privately produced in 1930 and later approved by the Spanish Postal Authority.The novel The Naked Maja (by Samuel Edwards, 1959) is based on Goya's affairs with the Duchess. Later that same year, an Italian-French-American co-production film based on this novel (sharing |the same name) was made by S.G.C., Titanus Films, and United Artists.The painting figures into the plot of film Toto in Madrid, an Italian comedy film from 1959, directed by Steno, written by Vittorio Metz, starring Totò and Louis de Funès.In the comedy film The Toy (1982 film), U.S. Bates has a portrait of his young wife posed in imitation of La maja vestida. A hidden switch on Bates' desk causes the figure's clothes to slide away, making it now resemble La maja desnuda.

File:Francisco de Goya - Escena de Inquisición - Google Art Project.jpg

Josefa de Tudó, 1st Countess of Castillo Fiel

María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

Category:Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado

Category:Obscenity controversies in painting

María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando


Man at the Crossroads

Prompt: Focus on Man at the Crossroads and explain the abstract.

Man at the Crossroads (1933) was a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Originally slated to be installed in the lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the fresco showed aspects of contemporary social and scientific culture. As originally installed, it was a three-paneled artwork. A central panel, depicting a worker controlling machinery, was flanked by two other panels, The Frontier of Ethical Evolution and The Frontier of Material Development, which respectively represented socialism and capitalism.The Rockefeller family approved of the fresco's idea: showing the contrast of capitalism as opposed to communism. However, after the New York World-Telegram complained about the piece, calling it "anti-capitalist propaganda", Rivera added images of Vladimir Lenin and a Soviet May Day parade in response. When these were discovered, Nelson Rockefeller – at the time a director of the Rockefeller Center – wanted Rivera to remove the portrait of Lenin, but Rivera was unwilling to do so. In May 1933, Rockefeller ordered Man at the Crossroads to be plastered over and thereby destroyed before it was finished, resulting in protests and boycotts from other artists. The fresco was peeled off in 1934 and replaced by a mural from Josep Maria Sert three years later. Only black-and-white photographs exist of the original incomplete fresco, taken when Rivera suspected it might be destroyed. Using the photographs, Rivera repainted the composition in Mexico under the variant title Man, Controller of the Universe.The controversy over the fresco was significant because Rivera's communist ideals contrasted with the theme of Rockefeller Center, even though the Rockefeller family themselves admired Rivera's work. The creation and destruction of the fresco is dramatized in the films Cradle Will Rock (1999) and Frida (2002). The reactions to the fresco's controversy have been dramatized in Archibald MacLeish's 1933 collection Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller's City as well as in E. B. White's 1933 poem "I paint what I see: A ballad of artistic integrity".

Now Museum, Now You Don't (The Simpsons)

Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center

File:Palacio de Bellas Artes - Mural El Hombre in cruce de caminos Rivera 3.jpg

Category:Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin

alt=The central scene. A workman is depicted controlling machinery. Before him, a giant fist emerges holding an orb depicting the recombination of atoms and dividing cells in acts of chemical and biological generation.

hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="yale/1837891">{{cite web

Detail of ''Man, Controller of the Universe'', fresco at [[Palacio de Bellas Artes

United States Department of the Interior

alt=Part of "American Progress", the mural that replaced "Man at the Crossroads"

América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos

The controversial portrait of Lenin, as seen in the recreated painting.

title=RCA Building Murals (by Sert and Brangwyn) (New York, NY) : “American Progress” detail, workmen deal with colossal statues of creative muses - Yale University Library

alt=Detail of Man, Controller of the Universe, showing Leon Trotski, Friedrich Engels, and Karl Marx

Information desk panel, ''American Progress, the Triumph of Man's Accomplishments Through Physical and Mental Labor'',<ref name="003.34.2.369-386">{{cite journal

Category:Fresco paintings in the United States

LAPD Red Squad raid on John Reed Club art show

title=The Atlántida of Capitalism. The murals of Sert in the decorative programme of New York’s Rockefeller Center

File:Mexico - Bellas Artes - Fresque Riviera « Man at the Crossroads ».JPG

File:Rockefeller Center entrance (4674369705).jpg


Man at the Crossroads

Prompt: Explain the abstract of this artwork, Man at the Crossroads.

Man at the Crossroads (1933) was a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Originally slated to be installed in the lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the fresco showed aspects of contemporary social and scientific culture. As originally installed, it was a three-paneled artwork. A central panel, depicting a worker controlling machinery, was flanked by two other panels, The Frontier of Ethical Evolution and The Frontier of Material Development, which respectively represented socialism and capitalism.The Rockefeller family approved of the fresco's idea: showing the contrast of capitalism as opposed to communism. However, after the New York World-Telegram complained about the piece, calling it "anti-capitalist propaganda", Rivera added images of Vladimir Lenin and a Soviet May Day parade in response. When these were discovered, Nelson Rockefeller – at the time a director of the Rockefeller Center – wanted Rivera to remove the portrait of Lenin, but Rivera was unwilling to do so. In May 1933, Rockefeller ordered Man at the Crossroads to be plastered over and thereby destroyed before it was finished, resulting in protests and boycotts from other artists. The fresco was peeled off in 1934 and replaced by a mural from Josep Maria Sert three years later. Only black-and-white photographs exist of the original incomplete fresco, taken when Rivera suspected it might be destroyed. Using the photographs, Rivera repainted the composition in Mexico under the variant title Man, Controller of the Universe.The controversy over the fresco was significant because Rivera's communist ideals contrasted with the theme of Rockefeller Center, even though the Rockefeller family themselves admired Rivera's work. The creation and destruction of the fresco is dramatized in the films Cradle Will Rock (1999) and Frida (2002). The reactions to the fresco's controversy have been dramatized in Archibald MacLeish's 1933 collection Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller's City as well as in E. B. White's 1933 poem "I paint what I see: A ballad of artistic integrity".

Now Museum, Now You Don't (The Simpsons)

Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center

File:Palacio de Bellas Artes - Mural El Hombre in cruce de caminos Rivera 3.jpg

Category:Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin

alt=The central scene. A workman is depicted controlling machinery. Before him, a giant fist emerges holding an orb depicting the recombination of atoms and dividing cells in acts of chemical and biological generation.

hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="yale/1837891">{{cite web

Detail of ''Man, Controller of the Universe'', fresco at [[Palacio de Bellas Artes

United States Department of the Interior

alt=Part of "American Progress", the mural that replaced "Man at the Crossroads"

América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos

The controversial portrait of Lenin, as seen in the recreated painting.

title=RCA Building Murals (by Sert and Brangwyn) (New York, NY) : “American Progress” detail, workmen deal with colossal statues of creative muses - Yale University Library

alt=Detail of Man, Controller of the Universe, showing Leon Trotski, Friedrich Engels, and Karl Marx

Information desk panel, ''American Progress, the Triumph of Man's Accomplishments Through Physical and Mental Labor'',<ref name="003.34.2.369-386">{{cite journal

Category:Fresco paintings in the United States

LAPD Red Squad raid on John Reed Club art show

title=The Atlántida of Capitalism. The murals of Sert in the decorative programme of New York’s Rockefeller Center

File:Mexico - Bellas Artes - Fresque Riviera « Man at the Crossroads ».JPG

File:Rockefeller Center entrance (4674369705).jpg


Man at the Crossroads

Prompt: How does Man at the Crossroads explain its abstract?

Man at the Crossroads (1933) was a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Originally slated to be installed in the lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the fresco showed aspects of contemporary social and scientific culture. As originally installed, it was a three-paneled artwork. A central panel, depicting a worker controlling machinery, was flanked by two other panels, The Frontier of Ethical Evolution and The Frontier of Material Development, which respectively represented socialism and capitalism.The Rockefeller family approved of the fresco's idea: showing the contrast of capitalism as opposed to communism. However, after the New York World-Telegram complained about the piece, calling it "anti-capitalist propaganda", Rivera added images of Vladimir Lenin and a Soviet May Day parade in response. When these were discovered, Nelson Rockefeller – at the time a director of the Rockefeller Center – wanted Rivera to remove the portrait of Lenin, but Rivera was unwilling to do so. In May 1933, Rockefeller ordered Man at the Crossroads to be plastered over and thereby destroyed before it was finished, resulting in protests and boycotts from other artists. The fresco was peeled off in 1934 and replaced by a mural from Josep Maria Sert three years later. Only black-and-white photographs exist of the original incomplete fresco, taken when Rivera suspected it might be destroyed. Using the photographs, Rivera repainted the composition in Mexico under the variant title Man, Controller of the Universe.The controversy over the fresco was significant because Rivera's communist ideals contrasted with the theme of Rockefeller Center, even though the Rockefeller family themselves admired Rivera's work. The creation and destruction of the fresco is dramatized in the films Cradle Will Rock (1999) and Frida (2002). The reactions to the fresco's controversy have been dramatized in Archibald MacLeish's 1933 collection Frescoes for Mr. Rockefeller's City as well as in E. B. White's 1933 poem "I paint what I see: A ballad of artistic integrity".

Now Museum, Now You Don't (The Simpsons)

Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center

File:Palacio de Bellas Artes - Mural El Hombre in cruce de caminos Rivera 3.jpg

Category:Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin

alt=The central scene. A workman is depicted controlling machinery. Before him, a giant fist emerges holding an orb depicting the recombination of atoms and dividing cells in acts of chemical and biological generation.

hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="yale/1837891">{{cite web

Detail of ''Man, Controller of the Universe'', fresco at [[Palacio de Bellas Artes

United States Department of the Interior

alt=Part of "American Progress", the mural that replaced "Man at the Crossroads"

América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos

The controversial portrait of Lenin, as seen in the recreated painting.

title=RCA Building Murals (by Sert and Brangwyn) (New York, NY) : “American Progress” detail, workmen deal with colossal statues of creative muses - Yale University Library

alt=Detail of Man, Controller of the Universe, showing Leon Trotski, Friedrich Engels, and Karl Marx

Information desk panel, ''American Progress, the Triumph of Man's Accomplishments Through Physical and Mental Labor'',<ref name="003.34.2.369-386">{{cite journal

Category:Fresco paintings in the United States

LAPD Red Squad raid on John Reed Club art show

title=The Atlántida of Capitalism. The murals of Sert in the decorative programme of New York’s Rockefeller Center

File:Mexico - Bellas Artes - Fresque Riviera « Man at the Crossroads ».JPG

File:Rockefeller Center entrance (4674369705).jpg