The National Museum of Sweden in Stockholm (Part 4 of 5)

Paintings and Portraits (Part 2)

We also get to see paintings depicting a bridge, a brooding person deep in thought, some blacksmiths, an outdoor table being laid out in the lap of nature, two girls which look like twins, piano performance at a church, some portraits, baby with a puppy and an indoor table just being laid out for a delicious meal, gently nudging a visitor to rush to the museum café for some exquisite Swedish dishes.  

      

As an amateur photographer, I always find it challenging to capture paintings better. Some paintings are shiny, others not so. Often, the lighting arrangements are such that I have to find the best angle at which the paintings can be seen the best, with minimum reflection of its spotlights. If you find this collection off-key in parts, you know whom to blame!

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The National Museum of Sweden in Stockholm (Part 3 of 5)

Paintings and Portraits (Part 1)

Glimpses of mundane life of royals as well as the hoi polloi can be had by virtue of the paintings and portraits on display at the museum. A lady doing gardening, a boy playing the flute, playful dogs, few Biblical fables, a lady milking the cow, some stiff-upper-lip portraits, the Cupids in action, natural scenery, a depiction of the Piazza San Marco in Venice and many others.

In the following parts of this series, you will get to see a few more paintings, crockery, vases and other items on display at the museum.

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‘The Dance of Life’ at the National Gallery of Norway

ashokbhatia

A friend suggested visiting the National Gallery in Oslo. Having had the opportunity of admiring the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso and others in the last few years, I was naturally curious as to what Norwegian artists had come up with in the past. The visit turned out to be a truly instructive one. I realized the depth and range of work done by painters as well as sculptors and marvelled at the passion and artistic fervour of the artists concerned.

Founded in 1837, the National Gallery houses Norway’s largest public collection of paintings, drawings and sculptures. In its permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum presents older art, with principal emphasis on art from Norway.

Highlights from the collection are shown in the permanent exhibition “The Dance of Life – The Collection from Antiquity to 1945”.

The exhibition presents a chronological overview of more than 300 Norwegian…

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A walk through the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, India: Part 3 of 3

While continuing our walk through the corridors of the National Gallery of Modern Art, we are often mesmerised by the rich tapestry of artworks it offers.

Village Family (Sailoz Mukherjee)

 

Head Study (S Bakre)

 

Nude (K H Ara)

 

Practice Session (Krishen Khanna)

 

Landscape (Ram Kumar)

 

Old Man and the Bird (B C Sanyal)

 

Untitled (Satish Gujral)

 

Thorn (N S Bendre)

 

Shakti (Chintamoni Kar)

 

Sea Creatures (Jaya Appaswamy)

 

A sculpture in the lawns

The photographic skills of yours truly suffer from severe limitations. Hence the poor quality of the visual representation attempted here.

The artworks are well-lit, save and except the fact that the lighting arrangements often interfere with one’s endeavours to capture some of the artworks on one’s camera. This is especially so when art works happen to be protected with a sheet of transparent glass.

In fact, this remains an issue with most of the art galleries elsewhere too. Perhaps, museum curators and architects in general need to be sensitized to this simple need of a lay viewer while soaking in and wanting to capture images of national treasures of an artistic nature.

(Related Posts:

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/05/06/a-walk-through-the-national-gallery-of-modern-art-in-new-delhi-india-part-1

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/a-walk-through-the-national-gallery-of-modern-art-in-new-delhi-india-part-2-of-3)

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A walk through the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, India: Part 2 of 3

With 12,000 square meters of exhibition space, the Delhi branch of the National Gallery of Modern Art is one of the world’s largest modern art museums.

A walk down its corridors makes one marvel at the attention to detail and the sheer depth of talent showcased at the gallery. When the walk is aided and guided by a guy who is an enthusiastic art lover and a dynamic person, many of the artworks on display spring to life and touch the viewer’s soul.

Portrait of HH Bhagavat Singhjee of Gondal (Gujarat)

 

Toilet (Heman Majumdar)

 

Mahishasura Mardini (Dipen Bose)

 

Toilet (G C Bhatt)

 

Divine Flame (S L Haldankar)

 

Self Portrait (Amrita Sher Gil)

 

Self Portrait (Amrita Sher Gil)

 

Notre Dame (Amrita Sher Gil)

 

Young Girls (Amrita Sher Gil)

 

Study of a Model (Amrita Sher Gil)

 

The Ancient Storyteller (Amrita Sher Gil)

 

Three Pujarins (Jamini Roy)

 

Christ and a Boy (Jamini Roy)

 

Shiva and Sati (Nandlal Bose)

(Continued….)

(Related Posts: 

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/05/06/a-walk-through-the-national-gallery-of-modern-art-in-new-delhi-india-part-1

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/05/10/a-walk-through-the-national-gallery-of-modern-art-in-new-delhi-india-part-3-of-3)

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A walk through the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, India: Part 1 of 3

The National Gallery of Modern Art boasts of a collection of more than 14,000 works. The permanent collection, ‘In the seeds of time…’ has art objects tracing the life and times of the country during the 18^th and the 19^th century.

Its exquisite collection comprises miniature paintings, East India Company paintings, including works by such artists such as Thomas Deniell, Raja Ravi Varma, Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher Gil and the like. It has several sculptures by various artists.

Banaras – Manikarnika Ghat (Thomas Deniell)

 

Mosque (Thomas Denille)

 

Dancers (Tilly Kettle)

 

Calcutta (Marshal Claxtion)

 

Lord Ronaldshey (G F Watt)

 

A Woman holding a Fruit (Raja Ravi Varma)

 

Girl holding Hooka and Broom (Raja Ravi Varma)

 

Portrait of a Gentleman (Raja Ravi Varma)

 

Lady Illiot (Haris Bert)

 

Portrait of a Parsi Girl (M F Pithawala)

 

Miss Clerk (M F Pithawala)

 

Malan, Female Gardener (M F Pithawala)

 

Miss William (M F Pithawala)

 

Saraswati (Chitragara Krishnappa)

 

Lakshmi (Chitragara Krishnappa)

 

Bal Krishna (Unknown artist, Tanjore painting)

 

(Continued….)

(Related Posts:

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/a-walk-through-the-national-gallery-of-modern-art-in-new-delhi-india-part-2-of-3 

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/05/10/a-walk-through-the-national-gallery-of-modern-art-in-new-delhi-india-part-3-of-3)

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Revisiting the National Gallery of Norway: Humans – Part 2

Artists appear to love depicting human beings in all conditions, including in the buff. Perhaps they are in awe of the wonderful creation known as the human body. Understandably so.

Somehow, members of the tribe of the delicately nurtured attract much more of their attention than those who happen to be members of the so-called sterner sex. One wonders as to why the latter have so far not formed a union of some kind and registered a protest at this kind of discrimination!

Madonna (Edvard Munch)

 

 

The Sleepwalker (Gustav Vigeland)

 

At the entrance

 

Dance of Life (Edvard Munch)

 

Female Nude (Per Deberitz)

 

Female Nude (Jean Heiberg)

 

Bathers at a Forest Pond (Eric Heckel)

 

Women on the Beach (Bjarne Engebret)

 

Fishing Boats (Max Pechstein)

 

Another one at the entrance

 

One more at the entrance

 

It is praiseworthy that Norway’s rich artistic heritage is being preserved and presented so well at the National Gallery in Oslo. To soak it in, all one needs to have is some time and interest.

(Related Posts:

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/the-dance-of-life-at-the-national-gallery-of-norway

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/revisiting-the-national-gallery-of-norway-nature

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/04/28/revisiting-the-national-gallery-of-norway-humans-part-1)

 

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Revisiting the National Gallery of Norway: Humans – Part 1

We continue our exploration of the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo.

In the previous post, we looked at the manner in which different elements of Nature have got captured in some of the paintings on display.

In this post, and in the next one, we admire the life-like depiction of human beings and their interactions with each other. Some are mythical, some are real and some are a product of the artist’s creative genius.

Woman Suckling an Infant (Ferdinand Bol)

 

Mary Magdalene penitent (Artisia Gentileschi)

 

A rustic party (David Teniers)

 

The Three Graces listening to Cupid’s song (Bertel Thorvaldsen)

 

The Farewell (Harriet Backer)

 

The Return of the Bear Hunter (Adolph Tidemand)

 

The Thinker (Auguste Rodin)

 

La Coiffure (Edgar Degas)

 

The Dreamer (Halfdan Egedius)

 

Portrait of Gerda (Richard Bergh)

 

Albertine to See the Police Surgeon (Christian Krohg)

 

Mother and Daughter (Edvard Munch)

 

The Girls on the Bridge (Edvard Munch)

‘Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye… it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.’

This is what Munch had to say. How very insightful!

(Continued…..)

(Related Post: https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/revisiting-the-national-gallery-of-norway-nature)

 

 

 

 

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Revisiting the National Gallery of Norway: Nature

An opportunity arose recently for yours truly to be able to revisit the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo. Time spent in its serene ambience, soaking in the artistic brilliance in each of its works on display, was time well spent, indeed.

This post captures some of the paintings which depict the beauty of nature in all its glory.

Oak Tree by the Elbe in Winter (Johan Christian Dahl)

 

The Labro Falls at Kongsberg (Thomas Fearnley)

 

The Grindelwaldgletscher (Thomas Fearnley)

 

Winter at the River Simoa (Frits Thaulow)

 

Storm, Evening (Eugene Jansson)

 

Street in Roros in Winter (Harald Sohlberg)

 

Flower Meadow in the North of Norway (Harald Sohlberg)

 

Summer Night (Kitty Kielland)

 

Moonlight (Edvard Munch)

 

Landscape from Holmsbu (Oluf Wold-Torne)

 

The White Horse in Spring (Nikolai Astrup)

 

In the Garden (Astri Welhaven Heiberg)

 

Each painting is unique, and captures a different mood of Mother Nature in a very effective manner.

(Related Post: https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/the-dance-of-life-at-the-national-gallery-of-norway)

 

 

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A saunter down the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway (Part 3 of 3)

 

 

Portrait Torvald Stang

 

Seated Model on the Couch

 

Summer in the Garden

 

Sunrays

 

The Pathfinder

 

The Sun

 

Tree

 

Two Backfisches

 

Two Maids

 

Two Women

 

Waves Against the Shore

 

Winter Landscape

 

Winter Night

 

Woman with Poppies

 

Edvard Munch

 

The creative outpourings of artists depend on several factors. One such factor is their upbringing, which shapes their value systems and their outlook towards life in general. Yet another is the kind of challenges life throws at them. The opportunities they get matter. The people who surround and support them in their work also matter.

Above all, the fact that their ideas find a resonance amongst those who have an eye for the kind of creative output they are capable of churning out.

 

(Note: The poor quality of reproduction of these paintings is surely not a reflection on the original work of the artist. These merely expose the limited photography and photo-editing skills of yours truly.)

(Related Posts:

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/a-saunter-down-the-munch-museum-in-oslo-norway-part-1-of-3

https://ashokbhatia.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/a-saunter-down-the-munch-museum-in-oslo-norway-part-2-of-3)

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