{"id":292,"date":"2012-11-02T16:51:39","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T20:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=292"},"modified":"2012-12-12T12:56:30","modified_gmt":"2012-12-12T17:56:30","slug":"thumbs-up-thumbs-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/11\/thumbs-up-thumbs-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Thumbs-up: van Ruisdael; Thumbs-down: Renoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve loved art as far back as I can remember.\u00a0 During the summer before First Grade we moved to a farm, and while exploring the barn loft (true story), I was thrilled to discover a bunch of painting gear\u2014half-empty paint cans, rags, and stiff brushes.\u00a0 I loved it!\u00a0 I loved the smell of turpentine! That was \u2018my smell\u2019 I told everyone. \u00a0The smell of turpentine was already familiar to me.\u00a0 How that was possible, I still don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had favorite artists ever since.\u00a0 I studied artists\u2019 biographies with the same intensity I studied fighter pilots\u2019 and baseball players\u2019.\u00a0 My first favorites?\u00a0 Renoir, Monet, van Gogh, and Titian.\u00a0 How did the latter get on an elementary-school student\u2019s list of favorite artists?\u00a0 That\u2019s a tale for another time.<\/p>\n

Artists\u2019 reputations have waxed and waned for me since then.\u00a0 How do some of them fare today?<\/p>\n

Thumbs Down: Renoir<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought about creating this post while viewing the current Marry Cassatt exhibition<\/a> at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which includes a Renoir pastel. \u00a0The Cassatt exhibition is an extremely small one (which I review here<\/a>) comprised of drawings and prints from the museum\u2019s permanent collection.<\/p>\n

Poor Renoir.\u00a0 Renoir went through a mid-life crisis\u2014a conversion on the road to Damascus, so to say\u2014when he decided that his drawing was deficient.\u00a0 He changed direction mid-career in order to correct it.\u00a0 One guesses that while he was young and producing the paintings for which he is remembered, he was satisfied with his discoveries and assumed his path could take him wherever he pleased. \u00a0At some point he determined his technique was insufficient for his changing vision.\u00a0 I salute him for his honesty.\u00a0 A lesser man would have been satisfied to rest on his laurels.<\/p>\n

I largely agree with his self-assessment.\u00a0 Renoir comes off poorly in this exhibition when stacked against his luminous contemporaries, many of whom were master draughtsman\u2014artists such as Degas and Lautrec.\u00a0 Renoir is \u2018merely\u2019 an accomplished draughtsman.\u00a0 Early in his career he had a quick eye and sweet method.\u00a0 His later works, by contrast, are labored and the sweetness devolves to sentimentality.\u00a0 Part of my assessment (reached well before this particular exhibition), I am sure, is a reflection of how highly I initially rated him.<\/p>\n

Finally, Renoir reminds me of the poet\/songwriter Bob Dylan.\u00a0 Both were inspired to brilliant works when young.\u00a0 Both subsequently lost the fount of inspiration and struggled to find their way.\u00a0 I think Renoir did a much better job later on than Dylan, and I also think Renoir is much the better artist.<\/p>\n

Thumbs Up: Jacob van Ruisdael<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once upon a time, I did not care for the \u201cLittle Dutch Landscape Painters.\u201d\u00a0 Their works reminded me of the flat landscape of my native Ohio, and so were always low on my priority list whenever visiting a museum.\u00a0 But since I started my regular visits to the Cleveland Museum last year, I\u2019ve had a chance to study several of Jacob van Ruisdael\u2019s paintings and I\u2019ve completely changed my mind about him.\u00a0 What a clever, master artist!<\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s examples (4) are fairly typical of the artist: domestic landscapes that seem vaguely familiar.\u00a0 A painting like Landscape with a Church by a Torrent<\/a> can easily be identified as a van Ruisdael by even the casual museum-goer.<\/p>\n

Opening oneself to any of his paintings provides tremendous reward.\u00a0 The familiar passes and gives way to the mysterious.\u00a0 The artist\u2019s spirit is playful and delights in teasing the viewer.\u00a0 The common\u2014trees and rocks\u2014are dignified and given dramatic personas, yet the particulars fit smoothly into a harmonious whole, producing intense delight.<\/p>\n

I like all of the museum\u2019s examples, but my favorite is \u00a0Landscape with a Windmill<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0The reproduction is poor and one suspects that the paint surface has suffered at the hands of the restorer. \u00a0Be that as it may, this work is a feast for the eyes.\u00a0 The color, as in most of his work, is subdued.\u00a0 The windmill is silhouetted by waning afternoon light.\u00a0 The painting perfectly captures that most melancholy time of day.\u00a0 A masterful painting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve loved art as far back as I can remember.\u00a0 During the summer before First Grade we moved to a farm, and while exploring the barn loft (true story), I was thrilled to discover a bunch of painting gear\u2014half-empty paint cans, rags, and stiff brushes.\u00a0 I loved it!\u00a0 I loved the smell of turpentine! That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,5,46,87,1],"tags":[61,59,58,62,65,57,60,64,63],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-museum","category-artists","category-reviews","category-thumbs-up-down","category-uncategorized","tag-bob-dylan","tag-cleveland-museum-of-art","tag-jacob-van-ruisdael","tag-mary-cassatt","tag-monet","tag-renoir","tag-reviews-2","tag-titian","tag-van-gogh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13953,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2025\/06\/video-jacob-van-ruisdael\/","url_meta":{"origin":292,"position":0},"title":"Video: Jacob van Ruisdael","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"My new video about Jacob van Ruisdael is up on my YouTube channel, Turpentine Diaries.","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/landscape-windmill-thumb.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/landscape-windmill-thumb.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/landscape-windmill-thumb.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/landscape-windmill-thumb.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11238,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/09\/next-youtube-video-jacob-van-ruisdael\/","url_meta":{"origin":292,"position":1},"title":"Next YouTube video, Jacob van Ruisdael","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoyed preparing my last video so much, I am charged-up to do another. In my last video about Jan van Goyen, I mentioned his fellow Dutch Golden Ager, van Ruisdael. I've got a lot of material about this artist so I've already started the next video. One benefit of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art history"","block_context":{"text":"Art history","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/landscape-windmill.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/landscape-windmill.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/landscape-windmill.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/landscape-windmill.jpg?fit=998%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5499,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/10\/god-hates-renoir\/","url_meta":{"origin":292,"position":2},"title":"God Hates Renoir","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I had to laugh when I read this article in the Independent. \u00a0The story is about the group calling themselves\u00a0Renoir Sucks\u00a0protesting in front of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Renoir Sucks'\u00a0main tenant is, well, that Renoir sucks. The group\u00a0maintains that they are tired of the 'irredeemable treacle of Pierre-Auguste Renoir\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "aesthetics"","block_context":{"text":"aesthetics","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/aesthetics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/diana.jpg?fit=463%2C698&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":466,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/12\/thumbs-up-bonnard-thumbs-sidewaysvuillard\/","url_meta":{"origin":292,"position":3},"title":"Thumbs-up: Bonnard; Thumbs-sideways:Vuillard","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Vuillard Have you dated someone whose online profile scored highly, only to be\u00a0disappointed\u00a0upon\u00a0meeting her\/him? \u00a0I've never used an online dating service (my wife has strong opinions on this subject), but my relationship with Vuillard feels like a\u00a0disappointing\u00a0blind date. \u00a0At different times I've studied him closely. \u00a0He has a beguiling profile\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vuillard: White Room","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/the-white-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/the-white-room.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/the-white-room.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3322,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/van-gogh-repetitions\/","url_meta":{"origin":292,"position":4},"title":"van Gogh Repetitions","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"March 26, 2014","format":"status","excerpt":"I plan on visiting the Cleveland Museum of Art's exhibition\u00a0van Gogh Repetitions\u00a0later today. It will be my third visit to see it. The show has a number of first rate van Gogh's and the theme--the artist copying himself--is interesting. I will write more about it later.","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10782,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/07\/protectors\/","url_meta":{"origin":292,"position":5},"title":"Protectors","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Some artists have goals similar to my own. Among these artists are some I find especially sympathetic--my protectors. My protectors are the artists from whom I learn the most. My protector list is different from the artists that influenced me when I was young. My youthful influences include Rodin, Monet,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "aesthetics"","block_context":{"text":"aesthetics","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/aesthetics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dav-2.jpg?fit=679%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dav-2.jpg?fit=679%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dav-2.jpg?fit=679%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-4I","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}