Les Nabis

Pierre Bonnard, “The Letter”, 1906, National Gallery of Art at Washington D.C. (click photo for larger image)Les Nabis were a group of Post-Impressionist artists and illustrators in Paris who became very influential in the field of graphic art. Their emphasis on design was shared by the parallel Art Nouveau movement. Both groups also had close ties to the Symbolist painters. The core of Les Nabis was Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis and Edouard Vuillard.

Vincent Van Gogh Work Identified

An underlying image of two wrestlers on a painting entitled 'Still life with meadow flowers and roses' by Vincent van Gogh Photo: APWell...we certainly do seem to hearing a lot about newly discovered (or reattributed) works of art these days. As more sophisticated technologies enable art historians to gather more definitive findings, art once disregarded as a copy or the work of a follower is being revisited--to reconfirm its authenticity:

“A still life once dismissed as the work of an anonymous artist has been identified as a work of Vincent Van Gogh, the tormented Dutch impressionist.

Van Gogh painted the picture during his time in Paris when living with his brother Theo.

Van Gogh's works from this period are notoriously difficult to identify as he had not described them in letters to his brother, who returned to Holland first."

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Not a highly informative article but certainly worth reading.

The Peasant, Portrait of Patience Escalier

The Peasant, Portrait of Patience Escalier - Vincent van Gogh - 1888 - Private collection Oil on canvas Height: 69 cm (27.17 in.), Width: 56 cm (22.05 in.)

The striking color, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of Vincent's work are as evident in his portraits as they are in his landscapes and still life works. He had a gift for looking into the human soul--but he clearly looked into it with sad eyes. There is always a visible touch of Vincent in his portraits--regardless of the identify of the sitter. Rather than this being a critical observation, however, I see it as part of this wonderful artist's signature style.