36 Comments
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Harry Watson's avatar

Great curation, George, and if I may, I will throw in another van Gogh (no surprise there, I hear you say 😉). It's probably my favourite of his, although it's much less well-known than his others. It's 'Landscape at Twilight', an evening tree-lined landscape in the fields near Auvers, with a view of the local castle, painted in June 1890. The contrast between the dark trees and the luminous golden sunlit sky blew me away when I first saw it at the Van Gogh Museum. I understand Jo, Vincent's sister-in-law (and arguably the woman who made Vincent famous), also loved the painting, and after the deaths of Vincent and her husband Theo, she kept it above her writing desk.

George Bothamley's avatar

Thanks a lot Harry. Yes, I definitely might have guessed you'd be able to suggest another van Gogh piece too! :) But was not expecting you to mention such a unique one.

Also love the fact that it was one of Jo's favourites too. I wonder how she could ever get any writing done with something like that hanging in front of her!

Adam Zucker's avatar

I was expecting another Matthew Wong painting! Excellent curation.

George Bothamley's avatar

I always like to include him where I can! :) Glad to know you enjoyed it.

Nancy Hesting's avatar

Nice collection, George. I wasn't aware of the Edvard Munch "The Sun" painting. I like it. Thanks.

Evelyn Mow's avatar

These are incredibly perfect together! I could live in a home with all of these paintings adorning the walls❤️I especially love the pairing of Edvard Munch's sunrise with the Egyptian Sun God, just genius. And many of my favorites are there too, Klee, O'Keeffe, Van Gogh's Sower, Urizen with his compass. And of course Matthew Wong. The George Watts was a glorious surprise, as was the Emile Claus. Thank you as always!!

George Bothamley's avatar

What a great collection that would be to have them all on the walls in a home! And really glad to know you enjoyed that pairing of the opening works. (Along with all the others too). Thanks Evelyn.

Jerry Foote's avatar

Question: In the Blake painting what is the instrument in God's hand? He also painted one in an angel's hand in Jacob's Dream.

George Bothamley's avatar

Great question, Jerry. I'm pretty sure in both cases it's meant to be just a regular compass. (I suppose Blake had in mind that God would have needed such a deivce to draw the circles of the earth and the moon etc)

But Thomas' idea below of it being a sextant is a really great interpretation too.

Chuck Kendrick's avatar

I thought God was there taking the "compass of the cosmos."

Thomas Cleary's avatar

My guess is that it’s a sextant indicating direction as the sun travels across the sky. Also, the angle at which it’s held seems to mimic sunbeams.

Christine's avatar

Spectacular. Thank you. Years ago, before I saw "Impression Sunrise" at the Marmatton, I bought a reproduction that is HUGE!!! So fun to see the work in person. It's tiny. Big impact. And I love the inclusion of Turner, who was such a relatively unrecognized influence and innovator.

George Bothamley's avatar

Wow, that must have been quite a shock to see the real thing after having such a larger reproduction!

And yes, the link between Turner and Monet is much closer than a lot of people realise.

Dian Parker's avatar

Wonderful selection. Let the sun shine in...

Mike Isaac's avatar

Exquisitely chosen! Thank you +++

George Bothamley's avatar

Thanks, Mike.

JasonT's avatar

Lovely start to a sunny morning.

Robert C Culwell's avatar

🖼️🎨🖌️☀️🌐😌🔴🌞🟠🌤️🌄💙🌅⏰🟡

Thank you so much for these George!

Grace and peace to you Amigo,

CHRIST is RISEN!

George Bothamley's avatar

Much appreciated, Robert.

Jo Greenidge's avatar

Hi George, I don't know how you managed to resist showing Matthew Wong's entire triptych which is dazzling in every sense of the word! ☀️ As you asked for other favourites, there is another Van Gogh Sower which I love too: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15490/the-sower-by-van-gogh/ Thank you for sharing all your choices.

George Bothamley's avatar

That’s a great mention, Jo! And honestly, it was extremely hard to resist posting all 3 for Matthew Wong!!

But similarly, there were at least 3 other van Gogh’s paintings and a few other works by Turner too which I also had to make a difficult decision with. So in the balance of fairness, I thought it best to just go for one of each :)

Sara Castaneda's avatar

These are absolutely beautiful! Just what I need.

Gretchen Joanna's avatar

Splendid! It’s wonderful how so many artists have captured something of the glory of the sun.

I’m only viewing on my tiny phone right now, and am looking forward to seeing these on a larger screen tomorrow. At least half of them are new to me. Thank you!!

Leonora Ross's avatar

Wong's beautiful painting was the perfect end to the list, and also a lovely way of ending my working day, easing into the evening, reflecting on those gorgeous works. Thanks for sharing, George!

Thomas Cleary's avatar

Watts’ and Wong’s paintings capture the heat of a midsummer’s day so well.

Wells Of Goodness's avatar

I love that you chose the moon as an art theme, George, and I was hoping you would also cover the sun! Beautiful curation, as always, thank you. We must’ve been on the same wavelength…

https://melaniepwells22.substack.com/p/here-comes-the-sunlittle-darlin

George Bothamley's avatar

Glad to know you enjoyed it, Melanie. And thanks for sharing your article too! What a great coincidence. :)

Some of those photos you share really are stunning. (And of course, I was so pleased to see you also chose that Wong painting!!)