Pensive farmer & bright-eyed, college-bound son sit on truck’s running board, waiting for the train, in Norman Rockwell’s Breaking Home Ties (1954). Originally bought for $900, & hidden away by its owner behind wall panels, it was sold after its discovery for $15.4m news.artnet.com/art-world/ar...
Pair of doors with studded brass edging and decorative flourishes against a peach background and, in the transom window above, a fan of golden arrows
Enjoying the decorative artistry in this doorway in Prague, from round 1900 (Arnim Schulz) www.flickr.com/photos/arnim...
Hi Talis, I try to add alt text where it adds significantly to the info in the post. Not sure what it would have added here, but I'll make special effort in the future -- Philip
9/3/26
2,400 years ago, this terracotta plate with models of food was placed in a tomb to provide sustenance for the deceased in the afterlife ~ pomegranates, grapes, figs, nuts, cheeses, and breads (Paestum, southern Italy) www.reddit.com/r/Sarcophagu....
I’m very taken with this beautiful blue glass cup with white speckles found in Pompeii, 1st century © Parco Archeologico di Pompeii
www.alaintruong.com/archives/201...
Giving the effect of a street strewn with white petals ~- grape vines create this sun-dappled shade in the Calle Ciegos at the Bodega Gonzalez Byass winery, in Jerez, Spain
Admiring this skilful mosaic of a jellyfish in a sparkling sunlit sea, from Great Houses of Havana, by Hermes Mallea (Monacelli Press) www.greathousesofhavana.com/purchase.html
Egyptian prince Thutmose was entombed with his companion cat Ta-Miu (aka “little mewer”). Here’s the cat’s sarcophagus ~ the inscription says “I myself am placed among the imperishable ones that are in the Sky / For I am Ta-Miu, the Triumphant” (1,500 BC)
Admiring this splendid prayer desk crafted by Gaudi and his collaborators in 1906. The design is Catalan Modernism, a variant of Art Nouveau
16C artist Bernadino Luini’s luminous ‘Figure of Saint with Palm Frond, Reading the Scriptures’ emerged only recently, after being unseen since 1865. Luini was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, to whom the painting was attributed until 1956 www.alaintruong.com/archives/201...
JMW Turner depicts recently-invented steam train, dark & rain-shrouded, as it dashes over the bridge ~ maybe contrasting the speed of this new technology with the “natural” speed of the fleeing hare & the gently floating boat (Rain, Steam & Speed, 1844)
www.artinsociety.com/pt-3-the-new...
Two sides of Italy ~ Slim Aarons achieved fame for his glamorous photographs of 1960s high society, as in this image of dining on a clifftop terrace in Capri ~ but perhaps you may
prefer his early blank-and-white image of a foodstall in an anonymous village
On this cold rainy night, people sitting on stools are enjoying hot noodles and sake in this cosy lantern-lit roadside booth (Tomikichiro Tokuriki’s woodblock print ‘Noodle Restaurant on A Rainy Night’ (1951)
“I am the notebook belonging to Monsieur Picasso, painter, of 13 Rue Ravignan, Paris XVIIIe” ~ this is the cover of Picasso’s private sketchbook covering his Blue Period in Montmartre, from 1904
A ‘fame is fleeting’ moment ~ from the storage room of Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in 1979, disembodied heads of figures ranging from Jackie Kennedy to WG Grace to Richard Nixon, plus Elizabeth Taylor’s feet as an added bonus
www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPor...
Overhead graphic of pier-side restaurant lit up at night, with boats in background and the moon reflected on the water
Enjoying this vibrant design for the menu at The Harbor Restaurant on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara. Its owners, incidentally, have included actors Jimmy Cagney and Ronald Colman (1957) www.santabarbara.com/attractions/...
I'd welcome your comments on the Journal’s recent article about the first portrait painted by Leonardo da Vinci, the strange life of the sitter Ginevra de’ Benci, and the painting’s clandestine journey to America (in a suitcase!). The article is at www.artinsociety.com/the-dramatic...
This 14C Frankish Tower was built as a watchtower for the Propylaea, the ancient building which had acted as gateway to the Acropolis since 400 BC. The tower was controversially demolished in 1874 to restore the Propylaea’s original appearance (at R)
A very old clue ~ here’s a fingerprint left by Leonardo da Vinci when he was reworking the paint surface of his Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci more than five centuries ago (c 1474) www.artinsociety.com/the-dramatic...
Very glad that you enjoyed it!
JUST PUBLISHED! In our latest article we examine Leonardo’s controversial little masterpiece, his portrait of the enigmatic Ginevra de’ Benchi ~ a controversial work that would later be sold for the highest price ever paid at the time. Read it at www.artinsociety.com/the-dramatic...
Didn't use soap
This 3rd century Roman floor mosaic at an entrance to public bathhouse depicts a pair of bathing sandals, an oil flask and three curved “strigils” used for scraping off sweat, dirt and oil. The inscription declares that bathing is good for you (Sabratha Museum, Libya)
Woman is walking away from us down a little jetty. The shadow on the jetty is in the shape of a bird
Did you notice the shape of the woman’s shadow in this poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds? (Laurent Durieux)
Remarkable details of birds, flowers & insects from the border of this 2nd century Roman floor mosaic in Antioch (present-day Turkey), which depicts Ganymede offering a drink to Zeus (in the form of a cranky eagle). Signed by artist Neikias
Joaquin Sorolla celebrates this birth of his daughter Elena, showing just the heads of his wife Clotilde and the newborn as they seem to waft peacefully in a sea of white, as gentle light spreads soft shadows (Mother, 1895-1900)
Open field, with trees and houses on the far side and hills in the background
A hot summer’s day in the French countryside, captured by Paul Signac using his new pointillist style of brushwork (Comblat-le-Château. La Vallée, 1887) www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/...
Outstanding close-ups of starched lacework collar, from Frans Pourbus the Younger’s portrait of Margherita Gonzaga, Princess of Mantua (early 17C, Metropolitan Museum of Art) www.sophieploeg.com/blog/the-10-...
Admiring this small silver bull holding a spouted vessel, dated as 5,000 years old. Its bull-like head and upper torso blends into a kneeling human wearing a patterned robe. Found in SW Iran, it is just 16cm (7in) high, and was probably for ceremonial use
www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
Elegance of the art nouveau elevator and staircase in Majolika House in Vienna, designed by Otto Wagner in 1898
