L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e  ~  D o s t o ï e v s k i



Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Mars and Venus, Allegory of Peace by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, 1770



Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée (December 30, 1724, Paris – June 19, 1805, Paris), also know as Lagrenée l'Aîné (the elder), as his younger brother, Jean-Jacques Lagrenée, was also an artist.  French painter, a member of the Royal Academy from 1755, and awarded the cross of the légion d'honneur by Napoléon in 1804

High-brow mythological smut for the upper-classes in late ancien régime France.  Fairly typical of just-transitioning-from-Rococo-to-Neoclassicism painting, the draftsmanship is not all that secure, but the coloration is exquisite.


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I really do try and keep these posts brief, but I find brevity so difficult to attain.  While I was working on this post, G walked by and remarked on the loveliness of the painting.  I mentioned how this color combination is one of my favorites - deep blue-green, old rose, white - and how the one small touch of a very different blue sets it all off so perfectly.  Which made me remember that I'd used this exact color combination - against a contrasting background - in my painting L'Innocence from 2012.  G said that I'd made the same comment about the contribution of that very different blue, then, and that I should include all that in this post.  I am surprisingly obedient.

L'Innocence - acrylic on panel - 12x12 - 2012



2 comments:

  1. the longer the better in my opinion! Let it rip!
    And so right RE: the color. Just a hint of a contrast is all you need (like a throw pillow in a living room).

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    Replies
    1. Haha! You're very kind. I love to blather on, but it's a question of time. I have a show in Seattle in July, a show here next May and, possibly, a big commission in between. Add that to the fact of me being the world's slowest painter, and you begin to see why I need to try and rein myself in.

      I love your comment about the throw pillow. Seriously, I'm sure most good interior designers have a much more sensitive response to - and sound understanding of - color than most artists. Ah, but don't tell anyone I said that! : )

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