Hello ladies and gents i have recently met a great writer who has very kindly wrote this great post for me i hope you like it.
Art is an interesting subject. For various reasons the many art genres tend to fascinate few while boring many. Yet it is also the subject that connects one generation to another. Many of the art works that survive from early civilization are now our only clues as to how they lived their lives. There was always art but there was not always a written language. Today there are an estimated fifty-five thousand museums located across two hundred and two countries, each with important artifacts that give us insights into the past. Many of these pieces are located within Yale Universities collection, some of which are located within the Yale Center of British Art.
One of the first pieces of artwork that a visitor will see within the museum is a portrait of General Thomas Gage, a very famous and generally unliked name among Americans. General Gage is most famous for being the commanding officer of British troops in North America during the Revolution and the one to give the orders for the march on Concord in 1775, the beginning of a long war for Independence.
This portrait was painted by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) he was an American who later became a prominent artist in England. This specific was portrait was created in 1768 and was made for a specifically American colonist audience. Although it was painted long before the battle of Lexington and Concord tensions were already beginning to arise within the colonies and Gage, whose headquarters were located in New York at the time, most likely used the portrait as an imposing piece for when one just entered the headquarters.
General Gage is featured in full military gear and is pointing towards his well-trained troops who are featured clearly in the background.
Today, most people across the world have no clue who General Gage is. This is unfortunate because of the fact that, back in his day, the uttering of his name brought either pure love or hate to the mind of a colonist. He was also one of the most powerful men of his time, especially within the American colonies. The importance of his equivalence, or even greater significance to that of George Washington is now lost to most.
More hidden within the museum is the portrait of another famous man. This one is not from England, instead he is from Germany. Most would look at this sketch with a quick glance and then be on their way, yet this fan of a hidden gem would, and did, screech like an excited two-year-old getting candy. Richard Wagner was one of the most famous composers of the mid to late 1800’s. We all hear one of his most famous songs every time we attend a wedding. This song is known as “Here Comes the Bride” and was originally titled as the “Bridal Chorus” as a part of his opera Lohengrin. The irony with this is that his opera tells a Romeo and Juliet type story of two star crossed lovers that do not achieve their happily ever after.
This specific sketch was created by Hubert Herkomer (1849-1914) who first seen the composer during his stint in the spring of 1877 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He later took this sketch and created a watercolor portrait of Wagner. Herkomer was a lifelong fan of the composer and was proud of the fact that he attended the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen in London in 1882. He also made many pilgrimages to the Bayreuth Festival in Germany to see Wagner. The importance of a sketch like this is twofold.
First of all, the idea that so many Englanders had time and money to see such a performance means that leisure time was becoming more common and traveling to see these operas was becoming a more viable option. Pilgrimages were no longer solely religious experiences. Secondly, this sketch and Herkomer’s fascination with the man behind the operas shows just how wide the reach of this composer was. Richard Wagner had a very powerful and controversial patron, this was none other than King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig, also known as the Swan King, poured all of his money into the arts.
This meant that Wagner had the money to create or perform almost anywhere that he wanted. This deal was great for Wagner, especially since it was rumored that the young King was in love with the artist, but it was unfortunately detrimental to Mad King Ludwig. Fortunately for both men, Wagner’s works live on today and all of their suffering did not go to waste.
What these to portraits show us is that the piece itself is not all we have to take in consideration when gazing upon it. It becomes more useful to us if we think about the back story of the artist or of the people depicted. Everything happens for a reason. Thusly, every brush stroke was taken with great care and meaning.
I hope you liked this post if so leave a comment tell your frields copy and link the adress to you mates i really want this great writers work out there and as always have a chilled day from the viking.
Art and Its Significance
This portrait was painted by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) he was an American who later became a prominent artist in England. This specific was portrait was created in 1768 and was made for a specifically American colonist audience. Although it was painted long before the battle of Lexington and Concord tensions were already beginning to arise within the colonies and Gage, whose headquarters were located in New York at the time, most likely used the portrait as an imposing piece for when one just entered the headquarters.
General Gage is featured in full military gear and is pointing towards his well-trained troops who are featured clearly in the background.
Today, most people across the world have no clue who General Gage is. This is unfortunate because of the fact that, back in his day, the uttering of his name brought either pure love or hate to the mind of a colonist. He was also one of the most powerful men of his time, especially within the American colonies. The importance of his equivalence, or even greater significance to that of George Washington is now lost to most.
More hidden within the museum is the portrait of another famous man. This one is not from England, instead he is from Germany. Most would look at this sketch with a quick glance and then be on their way, yet this fan of a hidden gem would, and did, screech like an excited two-year-old getting candy. Richard Wagner was one of the most famous composers of the mid to late 1800’s. We all hear one of his most famous songs every time we attend a wedding. This song is known as “Here Comes the Bride” and was originally titled as the “Bridal Chorus” as a part of his opera Lohengrin. The irony with this is that his opera tells a Romeo and Juliet type story of two star crossed lovers that do not achieve their happily ever after.
This specific sketch was created by Hubert Herkomer (1849-1914) who first seen the composer during his stint in the spring of 1877 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He later took this sketch and created a watercolor portrait of Wagner. Herkomer was a lifelong fan of the composer and was proud of the fact that he attended the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen in London in 1882. He also made many pilgrimages to the Bayreuth Festival in Germany to see Wagner. The importance of a sketch like this is twofold.
First of all, the idea that so many Englanders had time and money to see such a performance means that leisure time was becoming more common and traveling to see these operas was becoming a more viable option. Pilgrimages were no longer solely religious experiences. Secondly, this sketch and Herkomer’s fascination with the man behind the operas shows just how wide the reach of this composer was. Richard Wagner had a very powerful and controversial patron, this was none other than King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig, also known as the Swan King, poured all of his money into the arts.This meant that Wagner had the money to create or perform almost anywhere that he wanted. This deal was great for Wagner, especially since it was rumored that the young King was in love with the artist, but it was unfortunately detrimental to Mad King Ludwig. Fortunately for both men, Wagner’s works live on today and all of their suffering did not go to waste.
What these to portraits show us is that the piece itself is not all we have to take in consideration when gazing upon it. It becomes more useful to us if we think about the back story of the artist or of the people depicted. Everything happens for a reason. Thusly, every brush stroke was taken with great care and meaning.
I hope you liked this post if so leave a comment tell your frields copy and link the adress to you mates i really want this great writers work out there and as always have a chilled day from the viking.
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