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So, who decides what is “pretty” and if that’s even relevant when looking at art? Most of the time, poor Frida Khalo painted to show her pain, if not through her exposed heart, then like this, with ribbon almost choking her and a literal monkey on her back. But all of her work was filled with lush color and imagery that captured the time and place in which she lived, and there are some who believe her work is “better” than her husband’s, Diego Rivera. Her yes command you: Look at me. Never mind the uni-brow and the mustache, the circles under my eyes. See me, and see my talent. See my gift, how I rise above and paint my life for you. Do you see it?

This painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, untitled, was one of many heads that the artist painted during his short life. This one in particular jumped out at me because of the frenetic nature of the lines, the fearful look in the eyes, and the apparent gnashing of the teeth. I believe that’s how many people walk around since 2016, and I’m not sure how much longer we can keep it up. The planet itself seems ready to explode sometimes. Maybe I should stick with paintings of flowers and breakfast in bed from now on.

This is Rene Magritte’s painting, “The Son of Man.” I bet most people don’t know the name of it, they just know the green apple (which is my fave, by the way). Sorry, no provocative genitalia this week, just a poor guy standing next to a body of water with an apple stuck to his face. What does it mean? Okay, here are two things: Magritte often painted apples in his art, which was classified as “surrealist.” Also, this was a self-portrait painted in 1964. If it had been done more recently, I might have thought there could be a commentary about people with their noses stuck in their phones all the time, but that’s rather simplistic and way out of the timeline.

There are other paintings by Magritte in which objects obscure the face of the subject (a bird, some flowers), and if you look closely at this one, the eyes are visible, especially the one on the right. So there’s some commentary about the parts of ourselves that we hide, and what we choose to show to the world. And then there is an entire religious aspect to the painting, which is primarily apparent because of its name, “The Son of Man,” referring to Jesus. Huh? You see how people can spend their careers talking about this stuff, writing dissertations and making more out of a piece of art than perhaps the painter intended. At least that’s what I think. But what do I know?

I just think it’s a cool painting.

Since we seem to be working on a theme this week, purely by chance, I thought I’d round up the blog with a painting by Mary Cassatt from 1897, entitled Breakfast in Bed. The photo above is the detail of just the cup, which actually looks rather unfinished and rough. But when you see it in the context of the entire painting, it works (see below). Mary Cassatt was not taken seriously by her peers; you know, that “woman thing,” but her paintings are lovely and replete with lush colors and depth. Enjoy this one, and think about indulging yourself in a little reclining repast.

#marycassatt #breakfastinbed #motherandchildart