The Stein Family exhibition focuses on this period. However unlikely it may now seem, at the time, between Rue de Fleurus and Rue Madame, where Michael and Sarah had a flat, you would have seen Woman in a Hat, Blue Nude and several Collioure landscapes, all by Matisse, as well as Picassos sublime Boy Leading a Horse, his 1906 portrait of Gertrude, 10 or so studies for Les Demoiselles dAvignon and some cubist still lives. Soon the weekly receptions at Rue de Fleurus became a mandatory rite of passage for anyone wishing to understand modern art and literature. Amazed visitors might recognise a few Cézannes – a still life, the Bathers and a portrait of Madame Cézanne in an armchair– Bonnards Siesta, and a large Vallotton nude. Two works by Gauguin and a Manet complete the section devoted to the early days, because the collection was built as a history of modern art.

via Matisse, Cézanne and Picasso: The Stein Family – review | Art and design | Guardian Weekly.

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None of the members attracted as much public attention as Sir Anthony Carlisle, the Academy’s professor of anatomy from 1808-1824. A police guard was called out to restrain the crowds whenever Sir Anthony lectured; but what stirred the mob was not so much the academic content of the lectures as the auxiliary matter with which he diversified them. Often, for instance, he would have human remains handed round on dinner plates, to better make his point; and for a time he illustrated the operation of the muscular system with the help of eight private soldiers of the Foot Guards who exercised stark naked on the lecture platform.

via george stubbs tears: putting a good face upon trade | Madame Pickwick Art Blog.

About

Madame Pickwick Art Blog is an art and media blog of the unexpected. The purpose is to entertain, inform and amuse (or bemuse) on diverse subject matter that is essentially arts related. The blog hopes to encourage the creative side of our readers.

The Madame Pickwick approach has been that a society that is creative constitutes the basis for a non-aggresive,  just and economically viable civilization. Hope you enjoy!

Dave

via About | Madame Pickwick Art Blog.

There is a story, regrettably apocryphal, about Napoleon and the Great Pyramid. When Bonaparte visited Giza during his Nile expedition of 1798 (it goes), he determined to spend a night alone inside the King’s Chamber, the granite-lined vault that lies precisely in the center of the pyramid.

via Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza | Past Imperfect.

In May of 1894, a young anarchist named Emile Henry travelled from his small apartment in Montmartre to the fashionable boulevards near the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris. Unemployed and angry, he entered the elegant Café Terminus with a bomb under his coat. Inside, he lit the fuse and threw the explosive into the middle of the café. It blasted through the conversations and drinks of the patrons, killing one and severely injuring nearly two dozen others. While Belle Époque Paris had experienced a number of anarchists’ bombings, this attack was unprecedented, as it targeted civilians and not the police or government officials. Henry was wrestled to the ground, quickly tried, and sentenced to the guillotine. According to historian Mary McAuliffe, author of Dawn of the Belle Époque, Henry was unapologetic about the bombing. When the judge reprimanded him for harming innocent people, Henry retorted, “There are no innocent bourgeois.”

via The Smart Set: Tiny Dancer – August 17, 2011.

Stone age toddlers may have attended a form of prehistoric nursery where they were encouraged to develop their creative skills in cave art, say archaeologists.

Research indicates young children expressed themselves in an ancient form of finger-painting. And, just as in modern homes, their early efforts were given pride of place on the living room wall.

via Stone-age toddlers had art lessons, study says | Science | The Guardian.