tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post2023246482118110253..comments2024-03-18T07:23:32.809-04:00Comments on Gurney Journey: Ernest Meissonier: 19th C's Most Expensive ArtistJames Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-78990459445706725922010-06-10T01:54:40.384-04:002010-06-10T01:54:40.384-04:00I was able to see this painting ("A Game of P...I was able to see this painting ("A Game of Piquet") today in Albuquerque, NM and recalled this post you made on the artist from a while back. <br /><br />Despite your mention of the small size of his work I had no conception of how tiny this painting actually is! It's barely larger than a sheet of normal Letter sized typing paper. <br /><br />The quality of the rendering and form is flawlessly executed at such a minuscule scale, it's quite the achievement. Thanks for bringing this name to my attention in the first place!Kyler Dannelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12535848482145388563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-29098447471862450162009-03-08T14:18:00.000-04:002009-03-08T14:18:00.000-04:00This was a fun contest. Thanks, James!Having read ...This was a fun contest. Thanks, James!<BR/><BR/>Having read Ross King's book, my earlier comment was incorrect. It seems historians were as responsible as educators and the market for the removal of Meissonier from popular knowledge, just as every female painter has been eliminated. No doubt his star will rise again.Laraine Armentihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14939199509459633075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-89756578839554497352009-02-11T13:19:00.000-05:002009-02-11T13:19:00.000-05:00Mesonnier is one of my favorite artists, he would ...Mesonnier is one of my favorite artists, he would have been an incredible illustrator. However my faovrite pieces of his are looser works like "the Siege of Paris" and of course his macquettes. <BR/><BR/>I believe you can see his influence in some of the most famous illustrators: especially in Howard Pyle, Richard Caton-Woodville, and Fortunino Matania (among others).<BR/><BR/>Good stuff!<BR/><BR/>BilBil Hardenbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04779242142296640109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-67518356473834755702009-02-09T19:19:00.000-05:002009-02-09T19:19:00.000-05:00Ernest Meissonier reminds me a lot of Norman Rockw...Ernest Meissonier reminds me a lot of Norman Rockwell in terms of style and subject matter, even facial expressions. The audience for this sort of art I think has moved out of "high art" over the twentieth century and this one to cinema, TV and into popular illustration.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14651832951265859245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-25887440506010136272009-02-09T09:55:00.000-05:002009-02-09T09:55:00.000-05:00Innisart: yes, the Lyon exhibition catalog shows a...Innisart: yes, the Lyon exhibition catalog shows a lot of his maquettes.<BR/><BR/>Tom: We Gurneys started out in Norwich and went to Massachusetts. I'm descended from Frederick W. Gurney. We could be relations!James Gurneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-57865063466699137192009-02-09T05:24:00.000-05:002009-02-09T05:24:00.000-05:00Hi JamesI am interested to know more of your backg...Hi James<BR/><BR/>I am interested to know more of your background. It may sound a strange request but my uncle (Phil) recently began to put together a family tree, of Gurneys.<BR/><BR/>I am from UK, and we have many around the London area, but it seems also many in US too.<BR/>Oddly, my father and I are also into art, perhaps that is a trait of the name :-)<BR/><BR/>Tom Gurney<BR/>(Born - Cambridge, UK)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-81093308144753331942009-02-07T21:32:00.000-05:002009-02-07T21:32:00.000-05:00James-I love seeing and hearing about the maquette...James-<BR/><BR/>I love seeing and hearing about the maquettes that artists use for their paintings: Parrish's photos of rocks on mirrors, his plaster-of-Paris castles, wooden cottages... your models of Dinotopia... <BR/><BR/>My favorite part of The Judgement of Paris was King's description of the lengths Meissonier went to for his battle reference... his failed miniature snow-covered battlefield replaced by live participants later... Napoleonic costumes were easy enough to come by, but I loved the idea of dressing up the entire town in costume and covering the fields with flour to simulate snow! <BR/><BR/>Mattinnisarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05321227473311180542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-46267433208818183682009-02-07T17:53:00.000-05:002009-02-07T17:53:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Stapleton Kearnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00226409516935208164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-35400758208688890842009-02-07T11:07:00.000-05:002009-02-07T11:07:00.000-05:00(hmmm, I'm over-posting again...)But I just return...(hmmm, I'm over-posting again...)<BR/><BR/>But I just returned from the bookstore to buy a gift for someone. As I was about to leave I noticed a book "De klassieke school - Schilderen". As I browsed through it, the deja-vus flashed before my eyes. Until suddenly I saw <A HREF="http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=1249" REL="nofollow">this painting</A> by M !<BR/><BR/>What a coincidence!<BR/>Well...not really. The book I was holding was the dutch translation if <A HREF="http://store.arc-store.com/bovica.html" REL="nofollow">this ARC's book</A>.<BR/><BR/>In Dutch!<BR/><BR/>(but I didn't buy it. It was more a showcase than a technical book. I know a better source for technical information.)<BR/><BR/>As I was searching the Net for the book I saw in the store, I stumbled upon a site of the "Belgian Orientalists Organization". <A HREF="http://www.orientalists.be" REL="nofollow">www.orientalists.be</A><BR/><BR/>Quite an amazing hour that was!Erik Bongershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409523352634066030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-42906537628262516742009-02-07T10:35:00.000-05:002009-02-07T10:35:00.000-05:00Hi James Great post. I think Oscar Wilde said so...Hi James <BR/>Great post. I think Oscar Wilde said something to the effect that fashion/style must be ugly otherwise we would not have to change it ever six months. I think people are pretty smart over time and they can tell when an artist or art work is dealing with something fundemental to human nature.<BR/>Every artist has a technique but in my opinion techique comes out of a phisophically out look. And sometimes making things look real destorys the more important elements of the work of art. Also by posting that 19th century academic painters as critics or in opposition to 20th century artists can be turned around as the artwork of anicent cultures and the reniassiace pose fairly strong criticism of the 19th century while still mataining strong technical skills. I really like Davi disco analogy.<BR/>TomTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04641223414745777056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-72927722544926803752009-02-07T09:41:00.000-05:002009-02-07T09:41:00.000-05:00Great post and fun contest. I guessed before I goo...Great post and fun contest. I guessed before I googled, based on who I didn't know, and was wrong. I like his work a lot.<BR/><BR/>I think the reason these artists fall out of favor is the genre itself. It ceases to have resonance for later audiences. If the artist is known primarily for a particular type of genre painting, his fate is inevitably tied to that genre -- regardless of his skills. <BR/><BR/>If the surface qualities of that genre are more prominent than the artists' portrayal of some universal truth of the human condition than the work has less of a chance, to connect with a later audience who is not familiar with the vagaries of that particular fad.<BR/><BR/>A pop music analog might be "disco" -- The Bee Gees were huge when disco was popular and then when it fell out of fashion - they fell along with it. While their skills as musicians can be argued, now they are only referenced within the context of disco. <BR/><BR/>It seems that people who at the time were Disco's biggest fanatics now remember the era with bemused embarrassment. I would guess this same emotion is what motivated the later critics' anti- Meissonier vehemence (mentioned on the video link) that and possibly the money they spent. <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, sometimes you just gotta lighten up and dance.Daroohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02269629297022511462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-72500967191011248522009-02-07T09:13:00.000-05:002009-02-07T09:13:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Laraine Armentihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14939199509459633075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-81809604512196986922009-02-07T09:05:00.000-05:002009-02-07T09:05:00.000-05:00I just watched the ARC gallery.My God, M izz dze F...I just watched the ARC gallery.<BR/>My God, M izz dze French Rockwell !Erik Bongershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409523352634066030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-30698664242563632622009-02-07T08:44:00.000-05:002009-02-07T08:44:00.000-05:00In the video you link to it is mentioned that by t...In the video you link to it is mentioned that by the 1940-ies, M was completely 'airbrushed' out of France's art history.<BR/>Now if we start 'erasing' artist from history based on the taste of the day and keep this practice up for some centuries, we'll end up with an empty can!<BR/>Of course, I ignore here that with every 'erasure', other artists are reinstated.<BR/>(Where's the time that J.S.Bach was just good enough as practice material for music students.)<BR/><BR/>In any case, it shows that 'art history' is about the least scientifically objective historic study that exists. Art historians should really try and make an effort to respect the popularity of each era, regardless of how we feel now.<BR/><BR/>My personal view on M's work? I see a very skilled genre painter, but I do prefer Delacroix. But that's not really relevant here. The fact that I didn't know of M shocks me!Erik Bongershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409523352634066030noreply@blogger.com