Paintings at the Met – Spain
610. Velazquez Best: Velazquez, Juan de Pareja (1650). A masterpiece of world portraiture: Velazquez’s consummate brushwork comes through the unfortunate glazing, capturing light reflecting off the Moor’s forehead, texturing his skin, revealing itself in the lace color and rich gray background. Note the single red dot that marks the right ear. Worst: Bartolome Esteban Murillo, […]
Paintings at the Met – 16th Century
607. Venice Some periods are just better than others. 16th c. Venice – with Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and Lotto – is one. The next gallery – 16th c. Northern Italy – is not. Best: Paolo Veronese, Mars and Venus United by Love (1570s). A topflight work (along with its companions at the Frick) by a […]
Paintings at the Met – before 1500
602. Gold Ground Best: Lorenzo Monaco, David (1405-10). David strikes a commanding pose, holds a ‘cither’ realistically on his knee, and has the most human face in the gallery. The gold background sets off the beautiful green, pink and blue of David’s robes. Worst: Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni, St. Catherine Disputing and Two […]
Claude Monet Considered
For more than 50 years Claude Monet has been one of my favorite artists, but while there are works I like more than others, I had never systematically analyzed his different periods vis-à-vis my taste. Three recent experiences, however, have shown me that I don’t like all Monets and led me to rate the “good” […]
Paintings at the Met – 19c.
Without being pretentious but in an effort to look at familiar art more closely, I herewith embark on a project to evaluate the Met’s collection gallery by gallery, selecting the best and the worst – or, rather, my favorite work and least favorite, for I do not confuse my opinion with quality. (To see a […]