 Today’s creeeeepy ArtDrop is an oil painting ‘House by the Railroad’ by American 20th century artist Edward Hopper.
The image shows train tracks running parallel to the bottom edge of the painting. Emerging above the tracks is a huge Queen Anne-style Victorian home with a turret that soars to a fourth floor that must have been situated much too close to the tracks. The backdrop is a clear blue sky that adds to a feeling of isolation. This grand house feels like it has been plopped down in the middle of nowhere. The picture is mainly blue except for pops of warm rust in the tracks and three red chimneys on the roof. This painting is reported to be the inspiration for the Bates’ home in Alfred Hitchcock’s terrifying film Psycho.
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 Today’s ArtDrop is an abstract waterscape, ‘Green Confluence’ by Bryan Wynter from 1974.
The image is a colorful abstract of meandering lines in blues, greens, yellows, grey and pops of red. The lines resemble both a meandering river bed from above and reflections on the surface currents of a waterway.  Today’s ArtDrop is an abstract painting from 1912, ‘The Trees’ by Piet Mondrian.
The image shows a painting in mid range mixed colors of tans, pale green, and warm yellow. The bottom of the vertical painting features darker outlined areas that suggest tall tree trunks. As the eye travels upward the outlines take on the shape of leaves branching from the trunk shapes. The leaf outlines are mingled in a way that suggest the branches of the tree. Mondrian’s early forays into abstraction are fascinating. He starts out studying organic forms using a natural palette. This study evolves into his mature minimal style of pure geometry, balance, and flat blocks of primary color.  Today’s ArtDrop is a landscape oil painting ‘View from Fern Tree Walk, Jamaica’ circa 1870 by Martin Johnson Heade.
This is a photo of an antique oil painting that can use cleaning and restoration. The scene is a tropical island landscape. The foreground is on the left with a thick copse of tropical palms and ferns. The view expands just off center to the right with a view of a glassy bay surrounded by tropical flora. The sky is partly cloudy, with a juicy, dark atmosphere and dappled light. At the very right there is a fallen tree trunk in the foreground that is hit with a beam of sunlight. The fallen tree is covered in vines and Spanish moss.  Today’s ArtDrop is ‘Connemara Sculpture, 1971’ by land artist Richard Long. It is made out of the rocks from the site of the sculpture.
The photo shows a field that is part short grass and part craggy rock. There are taller mountains in the background. In a grassy expanse in the foreground, the artist has drawn a meditational walking labyrinth with rocks from the site. The light rocks stand out against the darker grass. Richard Long’s land art practice involved getting intimately connected with the terrain and creating something spontaneously from his dialogue with the land. He used natural materials for his work that he collected as he walked or explored the area. This labyrinth is an insight into the meditational nature and the walking method of his practice.  Today’s ArtDrop is the Tiffany Dome at the Chicago Cultural Center from 1897.
From the Chicago Cultural Center’s website on the dome: "The magnificent translucent dome, 38 feet in diameter and made of Tiffany Favrile glass, is cut in the shape of fish scales. At the top of the dome are the signs of the zodiac. At the base of the dome is a quotation from the British author Joseph Addison. The dome glass, lighting fixtures, wall sconces and chandeliers were made by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company of New York. The supporting frame was constructed by the Chicago Ornamental Iron Company.” There is another beautiful Tiffany Dome ceiling in the old Marshall Fields’ & Co. department store two blocks away. That one is mosaic dome and not a translucent skylight dome like this one.  Today’s ArtDrop is a contemporary sculpture by Ukrainian artist, Mikhail Reva. The piece is made from shrapnel from the war in Ukraine and Russia.
The photo shows a sculpture made from crumpled metal roughly in the shape of an anatomical heart. The core of the piece is painted bright red. Sharp pieces of mangled sheet metal and other war debris appear to pierce the heart shape.  Today’s ArtDrop is a ceramic sculpture with acrylic finish called ‘The Heap’ by Ken Price from 2004.
The photograph shows an organic sculptural form on a white pedestal. It looks like several handfuls of smooth, kneaded clay have been plopped on top of each other and then fired. The surface treatment is a mottled mix of a few colors of terracotta, black, white, and red. This was accomplished by painting in layers and then abrading through them.  Today’s ArtDrop is an Art Deco bronze figurine by Erte called ‘L’amour du Vin’. These figurines were
published as collectible limited editions in the late 20th century. The image shows a photograph of small bronze glamorous female figurine with polychrome finish and gold leaf accents. The skin is a smooth warm bronze patina. The figure is in a dramatic theatrical pose with one arm extended that shows off the costume’s draping sleeve. The costume is a stylized interpretation of a multi-tiered and pleated Greco-Roman style dress with the addition of a dramatic long right sleeve that drapes along the ground ending in tassels in the shape of clusters of grapes. Gold grape leaves festoon the draping sleeve, bodice, and hair ornament. The hair style is a typical 1920’s short bob. The polychrome treatment is a gradient of blues, pinks and grey. The figure wears gold high-heel closed-toed shoes with ankle straps.     Today’s ArtDrop is my personal top 5 heist target list of priceless artifacts I would steal from the Louvre.
1. Durer’s Rabbit. I considered the self portrait, but feel that the rabbit is the best example of his genius without being reminded of his massive ego. Chance making off with the loot: It’s a small piece-50%. 2 & 3. Michelangelo’s ‘Rebellious Slave’ and ‘Dying Slave’. I like a matched set. Chance of successful caper: 0%. 4. ‘Lacemaker’ by Vermeer. A sentimental favorite. It is also a small piece. I have a 50/50 chance of success with the right team of bandits. 5. 'Winged Victory’. I want to put her by the indoor pool across from my home gym that I’m going to have in my fancy house some day. Chance of successfully kidnapping Victory: 0%. |
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