Friday, November 20, 2015

American Masterworks from the Corcoran: 1815-1940

This past April while visiting my sister in Virginia, I was able to be reacquainted with the Corcoran  collection that is now in the possession of the National Gallery of Art. My earliest influences were from this collection when I was a student at the Corcoran Gallery Art School for 2 years when I was eleven and twelve years old. The two paintings that influenced me the most and were before me all these years as I pursued my art career were: "The Last of the Buffalo" by Albert Bierstadt, and "Leisure and Labor" by Frank Blackwell Mayer.


                                         " Last of the Buffalo" by Albert Bierstadt


                                          "Leisure and Labor" by Frank Blackwell Mayer

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Trip to The Middle East: Israel and Jordan, an Artistic and Spiritual Journey

I had an amazing journey to Israel and Jordan in November 2014. Visiting the Biblical sites that I have read about and studied. This came alive as I juxtaposed the paintings of the past with my recent visit. I imagined Delacroix, Gerome, Church and more who had a fascination for the region in the nineteen century. They were better known as the Orientalists.

The old city of Jerusalem viewed from the 
Mount of Olives.

The old city of Jerusalem viewed from the 
Mount of Olives, painted by Frederick Edwin Church.

The Wailing Wall. Old Jerusalem.

The Wailing Wall by Gustav Bauernfeind.

Along the Via Dolorosa in Old Jerusalem.

City street in Old Jerusalem painted by Gustav Bauernfeind.

Church over where the Last Supper was performed in the upper room.

Painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgeman.

Eastern Gate, Old Jerusalem.

Painting by Charles James Theriat.

The empty tomb in the Garden of  Gethsemane. 

Boats on the Sea of Galilee. Was one of the  highlights of my trip, to sail on the Sea of Galilee.

Painting by Leon Belly.

Roman aqueduct in Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea

Storm on the Sea of Galilee painted by Eugene Delacroix.

Mount of Beatitudes, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. 


Jacobs Well in Samaria.

Jacob's Well.

Bedouin trader on the old road to Jericho.

Pilgrims worshiping in Garantal the cliff side monastery above Jericho. 

Painting of worshipers by Jean Lecomte du Nouy.

The Gate of Hadrian into Jerash, Jordan.

Painting by Leopold Carl Mueller.

Oval Plaza, Jerash, Jordan.

The wilderness of Edom. Mount Hor in the center, The burial site of Aaron, the 
brother of Moses.

The hike to Petra through the wilderness!

Nabatean tombs, Petra. 

First glimpse of the "Treasury," Petra.

First glimpse of the "Treasury," painted by Frederick Edwin Church.

Full view of the "Treasury," Petra

Jordanian Police guard, Petra.

Palace guard painted by Ludwig Deutsch.

Petra, Jordan.

Painting by Rudolf Hellgrewe.

Petra, Jordan.

Bedoin. Petra, Jordan.

Bedouin dirge. Petra, Jordan.

Bedouin cave dweller. Petra, Jordan.

Flash flood prevention. Petra, Jordan