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| 1. Portrait of a Peasant Van Gogh, 1888 |
2. Still Life with Musical Instruments
George Braque, 1918 |
3.The Traveler Liubov Popova, 1915 |
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| 4. Portrait of the Artist's Wife Jeanne Hebuterne by Amedeo Modigliani, 1918 |
5. The Entrance to the Port of Le Havre Claude Monet, 1867-68 |
6. Woman with a Book Pablo Picasso, 1932 |
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| 7. At Renoir's Home, rue St-Georges Renoir, 1876 |
8. The Boulevard des Fosses, Pontoise Camille Pissarro, 1872 |
9. Portrait of a Boy Rembrandt van Rijn, 1655-60 |
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| 10. The Happy Lovers Jean-Honore Fragonard, 1760-65 |
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| 11. The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil Claude Monet, 1881 |
12. The Poultry Market at Pontoise Camille Pissarro, 1882 |
13. Self-Portrait Rembrandt van Rijn, 1636-38 |
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| 14. Brittany Landscape, Emile Bernard, 1888-1889 |
Click on any of the large thumbnail images to display a full-screen version in a separate window.
To examine details, click on the full-screen version to display a full-resolution (larger than full-screen) version.
Among the first ten paintings, there is no significance to the numbering of the images.
#1: Although weather-beaten and asymmetric, the face in Van Gogh's Portrait of a Peasant has a magnetic effect that is hard to explain. The sadness and resignation that one sees in the man's eyes perhaps reflect the artist as much as his subject.
#4: Modigiani was an imaginative painter, but not a model for how to live one's life. For more on this subject, see article from the Times of Israel.
#8: Pissarro's The Poultry Market at Pontoise is an interesting piece. The posture of the woman on the left almost suggests a country dance. The perspective, in which the main figures are seen largely from behind, is unusual and daring, but (at least for me) somewhat unsatisfying. I find myself wanting the central figure to turn so that I can better see her face.
#9: There is speculation that the lad in Rembrandt's Portrait of a Boy is the artist's own son. Various bits of evidence support this conjecture. Note, e.g., the pentagonal shapes of the two heads and the similar chins. (Compare numbers 9 and 13).
The appearance of discoloration in number 9 is at least partly the result of reflections from protective glass, but it is also possible that the work is in need of restoration.
#11: The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil by Monet is an attractive piece. In fact, the composition is very similar to a piece in the National Gallery by the same artist. For a side-by-side comparison of the two paintings, click here. The figures in the painting at the National Gallery give that piece a special charm. I believe that Mr. Mellon made the better acquisition.
These photos were made with a hand-held Nikon D7000 camera, using ambient light only.
Last update: 2 Feb., 2018