There must be an infinite number of possible thoughts on any one piece of art, but we will only cover seven, a weeks worth. For 52 weeks, through 2009, you will see a work of art from the Portland Art Museum* and a riff each day inspired by it – prose, poetry, photos, video, thoughts or ponderings.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Violincellist by Courbet
Courbet, the French painter of the mid 19th century painted this self portrait in 1847. Courbet liked to paint himself, in this case as a musician, in other cases as a poet, a peasant, a troubadour. X-rays of this painting show that the figures position and gesture changed over the course of the painting. He didn't paint from a model, but from his mind. The musical score in the middle right of the canvas is on a different canvas altogether. There is a second Violincellist in the National Museum of Art in Stockholm, without the music and a bit smaller. The painting is above all else, dark. Looking at it in the gallery I crane my neck here and there to see more deeply into it, but the deepest place is the expression on this man's face. His hands are knotted like twigs. His eyes look right through me, what is that song he plays?
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