Category: ABC Wednesday

U is for Umbrellas

Published on by Margaret4 Comments

‘The Umbrellas’, a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir c. 1881 – 85 an oil painting on canvas, held in the  National Gallery in London, shows an urban landscape – a crowd of fashionable Parisians in the rain under their umbrellas with a little girl in the foreground carrying a hoop. I like the contrast between the feathery brushwork of the people in the background and the harder outlines of the umbrellas and the precise drawing of the woman and little girl in the foreground. I also like the composition with the figures at the sides cut off as in a photograph and the way the painting conveys such a sense of the movement  of the bustling crowd.

An ABC Wednesday post illustrating the letter U.

La Terrace à Sainte-Adresse by Claude Monet

Published on by Margaret6 Comments

I love this bright, colourful painting by Monet of the terrace of his aunt’s house, near Le Havre. Monet painted it in 1867 whilst he spent the summer there. The high horizon with its line of boats and distinct bands of colour shows the influence of Japanese art. The painting almost has a 3-D effect, but most of all I love the contrast of colours and the delicate portrayal of the flowers and figures.

 It was not such a happy time for Monet as his father, shown seated in the painting, was about to cut off his allowance because of his affair with Camille Doncieux, who had just given birth to Monet’s son.

The painting, oil on canvas, is now held at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. I wish I could see the original!

This post is a contribution to ABC Wednesday for the letter T.

 

S is for Smailholm Tower and Sir Walter Scott

Published on by Margaret7 Comments

I took these photos of Smailholm Tower, near Kelso in the Scottish Borders on a grey day in November last year. It’s open to the public, but in the winter it’s only open at the weekends  and we went on a weekday! We keep meaning to go back and see the inside.

I think it’s an impressive sight!

It’s a peel tower perched on top of a rocky crag, originally built in the 15th/16th centuries to protect its occupants from English raiders. It’s now a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the care of Historic Scotland.

Although the Tower now stands alone on the crag it was once the centre of a small castle toun. Sir Walter Scott stayed with his grandparents who lived at Sandyknowe Farm in the hollow near the Tower, where his parents hoped his delicate health would improve. It was there that his love of the Borders began as his aunt and grandmother recited to him ballads and Border tales and legends.

For more S posts visit ABC Wednesday.

P is for Pissarro

Published on by Margaret9 Comments
L'Hermitage a Pontoise 1867, oil on canvas

 Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1903) was one of the French Impressionist painters. In 1866 he moved to Pontoise on the banks of the River Oise, on the outskirts of Paris and lived there until 1884. He loved the area and painted 300 or so paintings in that period. L’Hermitage à Pontoise, the painting above, is one of my favourites of his, painted in a realistic rather than an impressionist style, showing an idyllic village scene and the hills behind. I like all the detail and his use of light and shade drawing attention to the figures on the road and highlighting the houses.

Red Roofs, 1877, oil on canvas

Ten years later he painted Red Roofs showing a corner of the village in winter with the traditional 18th century houses viewed through the trees. I like the blend of colours with the differing tones of the red of the roofs, fields and earth in the foreground, contrasting with the green of the grass and the blue of the sky. The twisting forms of the trees with their vertical trunks contrast sharply with the geometric shapes of the houses.

An ABC Wednesday post.