Matisse "Two Models Resting" at Perelman Bldg Phila Museum of Art

Yesterday I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and, for the first time, across the street to the Museum's exhibition space in the Perelman Building (separate admission). One of the exhibits at the Perelman Building was "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera," which is on display from December 13, 2008 to November 1, 2009. Almost all the works on display are from the Museum's collection, but many I haven't seen before in the period rooms in the main building. As you can imagine, museums own many more items than they can display at any one time. So it was very worthwhile for me to visit.

I generally like Matisse's work, and I've seen a lot of it. I've seen the many works exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art which are part of their 500+ work collection of Matisse several times, and I've seen the 59 Matisse works at the Barnes Foundation many times. I've seen Matisse at the Phillips, LACMA, MoMA, the Met, Art Institute of Chicago, etc., etc. And it was nice to see some new-to-me paintings.

By the way, you can see some of my paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/. You can also access this blog through the website.

Today I'm featuring Henri Matisse's colorful Two Models Resting from 1928. I'm sorry it's slightly out of focus. That's even more reason for you to get over there yourself and see the original.

Cezanne Still Life

There are a number of fine Cezanne still life paintings at the Barnes Foundation where I visited last Friday. Here's one called Compotier, Pitcher and Fruit painted in 1872-1874. I particularly like this one for its profusion of fruit. Of course, the color and composition are typically Cezanne.

You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Cezanne "Bathers at Rest" at Barnes

Each time I go to the Barnes Foundation, as I did yesterday, I am almost overwhelmed by the Cezanne paintings (also by the Renoirs, the Matisses, the Picassos, the Rousseaus, the Van Goghs, the El Grecos, even the Glackens', etc.). There are so many Cezannes, and they span his career so there are different styles, that I come away awestruck again. Deja vu as they say.

Cezanne painted many subjects, landscapes, still life, portraits, and nudes (often bathers). Each type of subject has its own charms and contribution to his style. Today I am featuring a fairly well-known painting from 1875-1876 called Bathers at Rest. The male bathers lounging around a pond with Mont Sainte-Victoire, a frequent subject of Cezanne's landscapes, in the background, was groundbreaking in composition, color, and paint-handling when it was shown at the Third Impressionist Exhibition in 1877. It's one to be seen in person.

You can see some of my 3-D mixed media paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Barnes Foundation - Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, and Cezanne

Today I'm at the Barnes Foundation in Merion PA. It's a great way to celebrate my birthday! I love being at the Barnes. I feel so good, and inspired too. In case you don't know, the collection included the largest number of Matisse paintings in any collection in the world, 59. I believe it also has the largest number of Cezanne paintings in any collection in the world at 69. The Barnes also has by far the largest number of Renoir paintings in any collection in the world at an astounding 181.

Almost missed in the excitement over Renoir, Cezanne, and Matisse is the large number of significant Picasso paintings, 46. That's a huge number by any standard. There are also paintings by El Greco, Titian, Rubens, Degas, Van Gogh, Rousseau, Seurat, Soutine, Modigliani, Manet, Monet, and American Horace Pippin of West Chester PA. Here is the Barnes Foundation website: http://www.barnesfoundation.org/

I've featured one of my favorites, Matisse's Le Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of Life) several times in the past, so today I'll show Modigliani's Reclining Nude From The Back, painted in 1917.

You can view some of my 3-D paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Henri Matisse's "The Joy of Life"

Shortly after the 1905 Salon d'Automne at which he debuted "Woman in a Hat," featured in my most recent two posts, Matisse painted the large "Le Bonheur de Vivre" ("The Joy of Life") over the winter of 1905-1906. Rosa Arpino, an Italian woman who modelled for art schools in Paris, was the female model for all the female figures in the almost 6 feet by 8 feet painting.

"Le Bonheur de Vivre" was exhibited in April 1906 at the Salon d'Independants in Paris, and at the end of the exhibit on April 30, Leo Stein bought "Le Bonheur de Vivre." It's a beautiful painting, one I've seen many times at the Barnes Foundation in Merion PA. Although it hung in the living room of the Steins, it hangs above the landing of the staircase from the first to the second floor at the Barnes Foundation. It's interesting that there is a small circle of dancing women in "Le Bonheur de Vivre" and Matisse would produce "The Dancers" three years later in 1909 for Sergei Shchukin, the Moscow textile magnate, which was to hang in the staircase of his mansion. The second version of "The Dancers" now hangs above the staircase landing in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. What's with all these staircase paintings?

So the Steins had Matisse's "Woman in a Hat" and Matisse's "Le Bonheur de Vivre" on their walls. What fabulous paintings to have hanging in your home, although in that day they were considered scandalous.

You can view some of my 3-D paintings at www.jayrolfe.com/.

Horace Pippin "Domino Players"

One of the paintings artist Jay Rolfe viewed at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC was by an artist who was born, lived, and died in West Chester PA, the same town Jay Rolfe lives in. His name is Horace Pippin and he painted "Domino Players" in 1943. Pippin was injured in WWI in his right shoulder (he was right handed), was disabled, and later took up painting supporting his right arm with his left hand while he painted. He was "discovered" by a West Chester collector who got him a dealer and some shows. The dealer sold several paintings to Alfred Barnes and there are now 3 in the Barnes Collection now. He also showed 4 paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Horace Pippin was a self-taught artist, as is Jay Rolfe. Pippin lived and worked in West Chester PA, as does Jay Rolfe.

"Domino Players" by Horace Pippin is todays photo of the day.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

"The Seine At Argenteuil" by Renoir

One of artist Jay Rolfe's favorite Renoir paintings in the Renoir Landscapes exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the subject of today's photo. It's another painting titled "The Seine At Argenteuil" and painted in 1874. A painting from the previous year, 1873, has the same title and is painted from a similar place, yet is very different, showing the near bank, the river, and the far bank and is not about boating. I featured that painting in my post on December 19, 2007.

The photo of the day is one that artist Jay Rolfe believes is a beautiful painting of leisure boating on the Seine near Paris. Renoir painted that day along side Monet, who painted a similar canvas. Renoir's painting was lent to the exhibit by the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and it only appeared in Philadelphia.

Artist Jay Rolfe has saved some of the best images until the last few days of the exhibit in case you've been on the fence. The Renoir Landscapes exhibit is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art continues only until Sunday January 6, 2008, 3 more days. Artist Jay Rolfe recommends you get there. If you miss it, you can see a few Renoir landscapes and many, many more Renoirs (181 total Renoirs) at the Barnes Foundation in Merion PA. In fact, I posted a photo of Renoir's "Red Boat At Argenteuil," a fall scene with women boaters, on November 8, 2007.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's Unique Artistic Idea, his Hyper Representational 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/. Artist Jay Rolfe uses vibrant color, 3-D, recognizable shape, and huge size to reveal beauty, touch emotion in a positive way, and create an Uplifting Conversation Piece.

Van Gogh At The Barnes

Artist Jay Rolfe recently visited The Barnes Foundation and again admired its multi-billion dollar collection. Among the collection are 7 strong paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. The most unusual Van Gogh is a graphic nude on a couch, in the manner of the reclining nudes by Courbet ("Nude Reclining By The Sea"), Manet ("Olympia"), Titian ("Venus of Urbino"), and Giorgione ("Sleeping Venus") shown in my post of Friday, September 21, 2007. Van Gogh's nude is flipped 180 degrees, that is the head of the model is on the right rather than the left. The most unusual thing about the painting is that the painting and frame are oval, the only oval Van Gogh I've seen or heard of. I've never seen the painting reproduced and Barnes doesn't allow photos, so I can't show it to you.

Today's photo is another Van Gogh at The Barnes titled "House And Figure." I'm sure you recognize Van Gogh's style even in this small reproduction.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's Unique Artistic Idea, his 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/. Artist Jay Rolfe hopes you agree his works are Uplifting Conversation Pieces.

Vincent Van Gogh

Today is another beautiful day - bright blue sky, sunny, warm - perfect top-down driving weather. And the pool is a wonderful 80 degrees.

Today's photo is another of the Van Gogh's at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. "The Prison Courtyard" from 1890 is one of the most unusual Van Gogh's I've seen. It's very well done, but unlike any others of his I know of. (The other Van Gogh that seems unusual to me is at the Barnes Foundation in Merion PA and is an oval canvas of a nude arranged much like Manet's "Olympia" except that Van Gogh's scene is somewhat shabbier than "Olympia.")

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's unique artistic idea, his 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.