"Roses, Orange Blossom, and Other Flowers in a Blue Vase," Anna Vallayer-Coster, c. 1800.

Vallayer-Coster (1744-1818) was a French painter best known for her still lifes, which was not a popular genre of painting at the time...but she was, and is, noted as a very skilled artist in that school.

She achieved fame and recognition early on, at the age of 26, and her works (including portraits, florals, and scenes of everyday life as well as still lifes) were in demand by the aristocracy.

Her career was hurt by the French Revolution. A very private and hardworking woman, she was spared the anger and bloodshed, but the market for her work dried up. Reportedly she worked in a tapestry factory for a while, just to make a living, and was still painting up until a few years before her passing at 73.

Today, while not regarded as a genius,, she is admired for her ability to treat just about anything with a certain grandeur, and to make everything seem solid and permanent, even flowers.

Happy Flower Friday!

From a private collection.

#Art #AnnaVallayerCoster #FlowerFriday #WomenArtists #StillLIfe #Neoclassicism

"It All Depends on the Point of View," Franciszka Themerson, c. 1975.

Polish-born Themerson (1907-88) was educated in Warsaw, lived in Paris for a few years, where she met her husband, and lived the rest of her life in London. She was primarily a painter but also was an illustrator, graphic designer, set designer, and filmmaker. She and her photographer husband made a number of experimental films (most of which are now lost) and a documentary about Nazi atrocities in Poland.

One of the more philosophical modern artists, she spoke of how this painting addressed the act of looking, and how what we see is shaped by our viewpoint, our experiences, our expectations, and our habits, and is never truly neutral. One can see that; a face on the left looks out at us, while on the right some faces look at what seems to be both a door and a wall. And you might see other things.

Ultimately, what we see and perceive is subjective, and sometimes sorting out the ultimate truth takes time...and gathering multiple viewpoints. A heady idea for a painting, but it works.

From the Museum of Art, Łódź, Poland.

#Art #FranciszkaThemerson #AbstractArt #WomenArtists #ActOfLooking #EverythingIsSubjective

Lyra is hoping that glitchy brain week (erm, fortnight) is over

#transartist
#abstractart
#mixedmediaart
#artistsofmastodon
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"Source," Erna Rosenstein, 1965.

Painter, poet, and Holocaust survivor Rosenstein (1913-2004) had a highly individual style of art that combined elements of Surrealism, Abstraction, the Young Poland movement, Symbolism, and the Grupa Krakowska. In other words, she's very much her own style

This was painted at a time when she was very interested in the four traditional elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and while it's hard to be sure exactly what she was aiming at here, it's thought that it's meant to be a depiction of the primal source of all life and matter. Some point to the ochre parts and say they're like lava flow....but I see some shapes that might be animals. Maybe both?

Whatever it means, it's all good...Rosenstein remains a respected and collected artist to this day.

From the Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw.

#Art #ErnaRosenstein #WomenArtists #ModernArt #Surrealism #HolocaustSurvivor

Walk, take some photos, sit and art for a bit, then walk

Seraphina is in charge of pen security and biscuit testing

(Photos courtesy of a new to Lyra Olympus XA2, and a Kodak charmera)

#neurographicart
#transartist
#abstractart
#mixedmediaart
#artistsofmastodon
#fediart
#fediartists
#womenartists
#queerartist
#adhdartist
#arttherapy