Saturday, July 16, 2011

Saturday Salon: A Favorite Painting or Two or Three...

The Deceitfulness of Riches

The Pale Complexion of True Love


The British artist Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale (1872 -1945), though born a bit late, was a  Pre-Raphaelite painter known for her luscious use of color. She was also, as you can see a brilliant designer. Her paintings tended towards the allegorical and the medieval in subject matter. Later in her life she also turned to working in stained glass.

Primarily I'm drawn to these paintings by the way Brickdale uses color. It's interesting to me that she manages to use such a bright spectrum yet her work though hardly subtle, somehow, remains fairly soft-spoken.

I'm fond of Victorian painting with all its rich detail, especially when it's this colorful and full of story telling.

To read more about Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale please go these other blogs and pages:

Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood and Victorian/Edwardian Paintings.


Image by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale from The Book of Old Songs and Ballads. The knight's armor looks like some strange carapace, doesn't it? The painting is an odd mix of the ominous and the innocent.

10 comments:

  1. Yummy pics, Yvette - a real feast for the eyes! I love PR paintings, so much beautiful detail! :-)

    Not really come across this artist though - so thanks for broadening my interest!

    (Cornwall has been very wet, btw! Haven't found any evidence of any work by Dorothea Sharp, though :-/)

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  2. Sue: I'm so sorry your holiday has turned damp. But at least you're in a beautiful corner of the world. I'm sure you're having a great time regardless. Have you checked any of the art shops? You should be able to find a print or two there.

    Yes, the Pre-Raphaelites always seem to have a story to tell. I love Brickdale and Leighton, too, of course. And Millais.

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  3. To be honest, Yvette, this is just a 'flying visit' mainly to Truro - but we are planning a longer trip next year so will def. be putting art shops and galleries on the list!

    Tomorrow we trek home via the Eden Project!

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  4. Hmmm, that's looks interesting, Sue. A biosphere. I've never heard of it before. And it's been there for 10 years. Take pictures!

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  5. I enjoy all the artists you introduce every week, Yvette! I found the second painting very humorous :)

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  6. Gorgeous paintings. I love the use of color, she has a way with red that makes my eye gravitate to it, despite that fact it's a color I nomrally don't like.

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  7. The use of color is amazing, especially the red.

    In the middle painting, it looks like clothing was made as a torture device. I can't even imagine this.

    There are so many wonderful women artists whom I had never heard of who are finding a place here. Great.

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  8. Pat: Yes. I did, too. And notice the highfaluting titles. :) Much to think about and digest. It would be fun to sit around in a group and invent stories for these paintings. Or maybe for a writing class.

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  9. Ryan: That's why I say she was also a great designer. The placement of color is perfection. Red is difficult to work with, but she uses it superbly. It'a almost as if there's a spotlight on the bright color in each painting.

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  10. Kathy: Actually I never meant to concentrate only on women artists. But lately I have. We'll see what next week brings.

    And yes, there are many lesser known artists that deserve more attention. I've featured one other painting a while back by this particular artist, but I didn't get the response I got with these three works.

    I just love the unabashed romanticism of her work.

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