The Story of Christmas: Joseph’s Dream

Philippe de Champaigne - The Dream of St. Joseph - Oil on canvas - H 209.5 x W 155.8 cm - National Gallery - London (click photo for larger image)Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674) was a Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school. He was a founding member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, the premier art institution in France in the eighteenth century. Known for his portraits and religious paintings, Champaigne was a highly successful court painter. As he matured, he rejected many Baroque conventions. His paintings became simplified and more austere, and his portraits demonstrate his sensitivity toward and understanding of their subjects.

Paintings that address Joseph’s role in stories surrounding the birth of Christ are rare in the history of art. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Mary is pledged in marriage to Joseph when he discovers she is pregnant. In consternation, he decides to continue with the marriage but with a future divorce in mind. But God sends an angel to Joseph in a dream to explain the divine conception and to ask him to name the baby Jesus.

Champaigne is one of very few artists to depict Joseph’s story, and he imagines his dilemma and the angelic intervention with dignity.

The Story of Christmas: The Annunciation

Fra Angelico - The Annunciation - c. 1426 - Tempera on panel - Height: 162.3 cm; Width: 191.5 cm - The Prado - Madrid, Spain (click photo for larger image)Today we’ll begin a series focused on the Christmas Story, as depicted in art.

Fra Angelico (1395-1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Italian Renaissance. Described by Giorgio Vasari in his “Lives of the Artists” as having "a rare and perfect talent,” he earned his reputation primarily for the series of frescoes he made for his own friary, San Marco, in Florence.

Fra Angelico exerted a significant influence in Florence, especially between 1440 and 1450, even on such an accomplished master as Fra Filippo Lippi (the teacher of Botticelli). As a friar, Fra Angelico was lauded in writings of the 15th century and beyond, some of which bestowed a legendary halo on him. As a painter, he was acclaimed as early as 1438 by the contemporary painter Domenico Veneziano.

In his “Annunciation” the news of Christ’s forthcoming birth is delivered to Mary by an angel. The Virgin Mary is pregnant. The son of God is on his way. In this exquisite painting by the Florentine monk, the split-second of the telling appears to be the very moment of conception itself. Mary listens in astonishment, hands crossed over her body as if receiving a blessing, but also as if protecting the new life there. Her face is a graceful portrait of awe, bewilderment and emotion: the sudden revelation made visible.

Quote of the Day

"Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get the work done. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you're not going to make an awful lot of work." ―  Chuck Close

Frida Kahlo: Pain and Suffering

Frida Kahlo - Diego and I - 1949 - Oil on canvas - Private Collection (click photo for larger image)A self-portrait of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), the beloved Mexican artist whose oil paintings drew inspiration from indigenous Mexican culture, recently sold for $34.9 million at a Sotheby's auction, marking for an all-time high for a piece of artwork created by a Latin American artist.

Perhaps ironically, the sale shattered the previous record held by Kahlo's husband, Diego Rivera, whose painting, "The Rivals," fetched nearly $10 million in a 2018 auction. As time passes, a fascination with Kahlo rises while interest in Rivera declines.

Named "Diego and I," Kahlo's painting is the last major self-portrait that the renowned artist made before her death. In addition to the artist’s tear stained face, the viewer's gaze is also drawn to the miniature portrait of Rivera, emphasizing Rivera's prominence in Kahlo's consciousness. This “third eye” also appears on Rivera’s face, indicating the mutual obsession each artist had for the other.

The image of anguish and sorrow depicted in this work most likely refers to the pain Kahlo felt when Rivera began an affair with her film star friend, María Felíx, as well as the physical pain the artist suffered throughout her life

“Sotheby's Latin American art director Anna Di Stasi said in a statement: ‘the double portrait is a summary of all of Kahlo's passion and pain, a tour de force of the raw emotive power of the artist at the peak of her abilities.’”

Marc Chagall: A Storyteller

Marc Chagall, Rain (La Pluie), 1911. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 86.7 x 108 cm, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (click photo for larger image)Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a Russian-French early modernist artist. He was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in a wide range of artistic formats, including painting, drawings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries and fine art prints.

Chagall’s poetic, figurative style made him one of most popular modern artists, while his long life and varied output made him one of the most internationally recognized. While many of his peers pursued ambitious experiments that led often to abstraction, Chagall's distinction lies in his steady faith in the power of figurative art.

Chagall's Jewish identity was important to him throughout his life, and much of his work can be described as an attempt to reconcile old Jewish traditions with styles of modernist art. However, he also occasionally drew on Christian themes, which appealed to his taste for narrative and allegory.

Although he borrowed from the Surrealists, he ultimately rejected their more conceptual subject matter. Nevertheless, a dream-like quality is characteristic of almost all of Chagall's work. The poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire described Chagall's work as “supernatural”.

Marc Chagall's influence is as vast as the number of styles he assimilated to create his work. Although never completely aligning himself with any single movement, he interwove many of the visual elements of Cubism, Fauvism, Symbolism and Surrealism into his lyrically emotional aesthetic of Jewish folklore, dream-like pastorals, and Russian life.

Read more about Chagall here on What About Art?