The Exam Room by Cyril E. Power (c. 1934, linocut, 26.6 x 38.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; not on display)
Archive for Art
The Exam Room – Cyril E. Power
Posted in Art with tags Art, Cyril E. Power, Examinations, Linocut, The Met on January 15, 2026 by telescoperDecember 31st – Richard Hoffman
Posted in Art, Poetry with tags Art, December 31st, Memento Mori, Poem, Poetry, Richard Hoffman, Vanitas on December 31, 2025 by telescoperAll my undone actions wander
naked across the calendar,
a band of skinny hunter-gatherers,
blown snow scattered here and there,
stumbling toward a future
folded in the New Year I secure
with a pushpin: January’s picture
a painting from the 17th century,
a still life: Skull and mirror,
spilled coin purse and a flower.
by Richard Hofmann (b. 1949) from his collection Emblem.
I don’t know precisely which picture the poet is referring to for January in his calendar, nor which artist, but it it is undoubtedly an example of a Vanitas or Memento Mori, a genre symbolizing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, and thus the vanity of ambition and all worldly desires. The paintings involved still life imagery of items suggessting the transitory nature of life.
A couple of examples are here:
Between them you find all the elements mentioned in the poem: the skull represents death, the flowers impermanence, the coins personal wealth and the other items worldly knowledge and pleasure. There’s an interesting WordPress blog about the symbolism this genre here:
P.S. My own calendar has pictures of tractors in it.
Alegoría del Invierno – Remedios Varo
Posted in Art with tags Alegoría del Invierno, Allegory of Winter, Art, painting, Remedios Varo, Remedios Varo Uranga on December 29, 2025 by telescoper
Alegoría del Invierno (Allegory of Winter) by Remedios Varo Uranga, 1948, gouache on paper, 44 ×44 cm, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain.
Art in Bruges
Posted in Art, Film with tags Art, Brendan Gleason, Colin Farrell, Hieronymous Bosch, In Bruges, The Last Judgment on December 19, 2025 by telescoperFor various reasons I find myself thinking about this little clip from the 2016 film In Bruges, starring Brendan Gleason and Colin Farrell. It’s set in the Groeningemuseum in the city of Bruges.
You can read an interesting post about the art in the film here.
You will see that the only painting that Ray (Colin Farrell) likes is a triptych called The Last Judgment, a version of which coincidentally featured in my post on Monday. The one I posted was by Hieronymous Bosch and is in Vienna; the one in Bruges is of doubtful attribution. It may be by Bosch, but experts think it is more likely to be by members of his workshop.
P.S. If you like black comedies then In Bruges is definitely for you! I wouldn’t say it was really a Christmas movie though…
Around the Circle – Wassily Kandinsky
Posted in Art with tags Around the Circle, Art, Wassily Kandinsky on December 10, 2025 by telescoper
by Wassily Kandinsky (1940; oil and enamel on canvas. 96.8 x 146 cm Guggenheim, New York)
Graduation – Jacob Lawrence
Posted in Art, Poetry with tags Art, Graduation, Jacob Lawrence, Langston Hughes, Poetry on October 28, 2025 by telescoper
by Jacob Lawrence (1948, ink over graphite on paper, 72 × 49.8 cm, Art Institute of Chicago, USA)
This work, Graduation, is one of six drawings that Jacob Lawrence made as illustrations for Langston Hughes’s 1949 book of poetry, One-Way Ticket.
Moonlight and Lights – Léon Spilliaert
Posted in Art with tags Art, Léon Spilliaert, Moonlight and Lights on September 30, 2025 by telescoper
by Léon Spilliaert (1909, pastel and ink wash on paper, 65 x 50cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris)
Blu Tack Art
Posted in Art, Maynooth with tags Art, blu tack, sculpture on August 26, 2025 by telescoperMy attention was drawn today to this scuplture which is currently on display in the Department of Physics at Maynooth University. The artist and subject are unknown (to me) and the work is not dated, but the material is clearly Blu Tack, a putty-like pressure-sensitive adhesive commonly used to attach lightweight objects to walls, doors or other dry surfaces.
Et in Arcadia Lego
Posted in Art with tags Art, Et in Arcadia Ego, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Lego, painting on May 27, 2025 by telescoper
Posted with apologies to the Italian Baroque artist Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino) on whose original Et in Arcadia Ego this is based.
Spring Undergrowth – Joan González
Posted in Art, Barcelona with tags Art, Joan González, Sous-bois printanier, Tate Gallery on April 29, 2025 by telescoper
The artist Joan González was born in Barcelona, and lived from 1868 to 1908; the title of this work in Catalan is Sous-bois Printanier.
In the Dark 