art history | Daydream Tourist

Apr 3

Back from Spring Break!

As you probably noticed, I’ve been slacking on my weekly daydreaming. That’s because I picked up last minute, mileage tickets (read: free!) and had only 4 days to plan a whirlwind Spring Break! I didn’t end up having the city and museum break that I was thinking about, but I had an incredible time! Lots of new cities and new sights; I even wrapped up some unfinished business from this summer.

I have lots of art and history to share but first let me give you some clues about my trips via a new (well, actually very old) media.

Apr 1

4 Comments

ArtSmart Roundtable – Trust me, that’s a lion

The monthly ArtSmart Roundtable brings together some of the best art history-focused travel blogs with a post around a common theme. In honor of April Fool’s Day, April 1, were looking at funny, weird or optical illusions in art. You can find links below to all the group’s examples this month. Enjoy!

With zoos and photography, we all know what exotic animals look like and certainly take that for granted. But what if you lived 500 years ago? If the you are trying to tell a story that required an animal you’ve honestly never seen before, then what do you do? Well most artists just made it up! Whales, leopards, and eagles can all look way off.

Mar 7

6 Comments

Celtic Gothic Figures

While I love Gothic art, there is something especially appealing about the Irish Gothic style. The heavy infusion of Celtic design and the stylized figures energize this art and gives it a playful feel. Many of the medieval ruins I found in Ireland where not particularly ornate which made the appearance of Gothic figures and motifs that much more enjoyable.

Doorway decoration from the Monastery at Dysert O’Dea (County Clare):

Mar 4

Robert Campin and workshop, "Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece)", 1427–32 (Photo: The Cloisters Collection)

13 Comments

ArtSmart Roundtable – Medieval Europe at the Cloisters, New York City

The monthly ArtSmart Roundtable brings together some of the best art history-focused travel blogs with a post on a common theme. For March we are discussing Art Worth Traveling For. You can find links below to all the group’s amazing destinations this month. We also want to welcome the Roundtable’s newest member, Murissa from The Wanderfull Traveler!

I love medieval art and architecture. In the back of my mind, I have the perfect medieval art itinerary planned: starting among the great Cathedrals of France, I move south through the Pyrenees into Spain and enjoy all the pilgrimage churches along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Someday I’ll do all of this! But in the meantime, for an infusion of Medieval art without leaving the US, I have to recommend a visit to the hauntingly beautiful Cloisters Museum in New York City. Going far beyond the normal concept of a museum, the Cloisters recreates the atmosphere of a medieval monastery by literally transporting parts from Europe and reconstructing them in Northern Manhattan.

Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Cloisters, New York City

The Cloister from Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, (ca. 1130–40) as can be viewed at the Cloisters Museum in New York City. This structure is Catalan in style but is from present day France. (Photo: The Cloisters Collection)

Feb 25

2 Comments

Art Frames and Friedrich Wahle

Admittedly, my Friedrich Wahle research has been on the back-burner since I found the print version of my painting. I’ve mostly been trying to monitor the auction market where a few of his paintings surface every year. Interestingly, I happened across a television appraisal of a Fritz Wahle painting on Kunst & Krempel (Art & Stuff), the German version of Antiques Roadshow. It’s a well executed scene of a couple sharing a few private words at a dinner party which I think the show entitled “Eavesdropping”. While the image is beautiful, it was the frame that really got my attention – it is the same as the one on my Wahle!