{"id":4100,"date":"2014-09-15T12:01:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T16:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=4100"},"modified":"2014-10-16T16:46:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T20:46:28","slug":"poussin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/09\/poussin\/","title":{"rendered":"Poussin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poussin is something of an acquired taste–an artist’s artist.  Cezanne adored him, characterizing his own art as ‘making Impressionism something solid, like Poussin.’<\/p>\n

Poussin has a very great artistic imagination and easily holds his own with other gifted designers, such as Rubens and David. In addition, and almost unique in the history of art, he has a deep love for nature and a tremendous eye for it, which enables him to integrate his figures seamlessly into wonderfully realized natural settings. The combination of lively design and eye for nature explains how both the Classicists and Impressionists looked to him for inspiration.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth by Poussin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Read more<\/span>Cleveland Museum of Art Opens Renovations<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Today, many of Poussin’s paintings are in bad shape, which presents a serious roadblock to those attempting to engage the artist.  The Cleveland Museum of Art has an example of just how bad the problem is. Many areas in The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth<\/em> have faded beyond recognition, such as area 1 in the accompanying illustration. The lower-left area is so faded that conservators haven’t attempted to restore it, which might not be a bad thing. The figure of Mary, area 2, is so poorly restored that it looks garish and wholly out of place. The dark shadowing has obliterated all signs of modeling seen in the other figures.  Obviously, the figure of Mary is not by Poussin.<\/p>\n

The other figures, such as the one in area 3, show the fading that is typical in many of the artist’s paintings. Although faded, the restored has left it alone and one can get a sense of the artist’s intent.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Overall the painting is gray and dull: the lights are dimmed and the darks faded, except for the plastered-on and garish Mary.  Sadly, this is seen all too often in Poussin’s paintings, even in those not mangled by restorers. Poussin either impulsively painted over passages that were not properly dry or his materials were faulty. Given the artist’s careful and methodical approach, I am sure the problem results from faulty material. Even today it’s not unusual–indeed, it’s normal–for art materials to be falsely or misleadingly labeled.<\/p>\n

Even with all its problems,The Return of the Holy Family to Nazareth<\/em> is a wonderful painting. The design is dynamic; its ’empty’ middle contravenes several rules-of-thumb for classical design and demonstrates how inventive and self-assured the artist is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poussin is something of an acquired taste–an artist’s artist.  Cezanne adored him, characterizing his own art as ‘making Impressionism something solid, like Poussin.’ Poussin has a very great artistic imagination and easily holds his own with other gifted designers, such as Rubens and David. In addition, and almost unique in the history of art, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":4098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,5,46,24,1],"tags":[211],"class_list":["post-4100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-museum","category-artists","category-reviews","category-shop_talk","category-uncategorized","tag-poussin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/poussin.jpg?fit=390%2C530&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10782,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/07\/protectors\/","url_meta":{"origin":4100,"position":0},"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":[]},{"id":7030,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2017\/04\/studio-journal-42217\/","url_meta":{"origin":4100,"position":1},"title":"Studio journal 4\/22\/17","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"April 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I worked on The Picnic and nothing else for the past few days. The Picnic has a painting surface that is difficult. \u00a0This doesn't happen often anymore but it's annoying when it does happen. \u00a0It slows everything down. \u00a0Luckily, an intermediate varnish solved the problem and things are more to\u2026","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\/2017\/04\/studio-2017-4-22.png?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/studio-2017-4-22.png?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/studio-2017-4-22.png?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/studio-2017-4-22.png?fit=800%2C531&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2161,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/06\/why-do-you-visit-the-museum-so-often\/","url_meta":{"origin":4100,"position":2},"title":"“Why?” (do you visit the museum so often)","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A professional from\u00a0Guadalajara visiting Cleveland for the first time was enthusing about the city's many attractions, especially the art museum. \"It's magnificent--world class,\" she exclaimed! \"The Rubens, the Velasquez, the Goya...,\"\u00a0 she rattled-off several more masterpieces she'd seen. \"I know,\" I nodded, \"I visit the museum every week.\" \"Every week?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"poussin","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/poussin.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5345,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/08\/in-the-studio-82915\/","url_meta":{"origin":4100,"position":3},"title":"In the studio 8\/29\/15","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"August 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished Taking Note this morning. This was my 15th session with the 42\" x 56\" oil. I don't know the sitter. She is (I think) on the staff of the Cleveland Museum of Art. To me, this painting is pretty abstract, but all my paintings seem that way to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/studio-2015-8-29.jpg?fit=500%2C759&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5203,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/06\/in-the-studio-61415\/","url_meta":{"origin":4100,"position":4},"title":"In the studio 6\/14\/15","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I had\u00a0two more painting sessions on Washington Square. \u00a0I finally got the pigeons in there (can you see all 7 of them*?). \u00a0Washington Square has a hole in the middle which is supposedly a no-no. \u00a0Cleveland has a painting by Poussin with the same empty center, and it's very effective.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/studio-2015-6-14.jpg?fit=500%2C340&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4007,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/durer-prints-at-the-cleveland-museum-of-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":4100,"position":5},"title":"Durer prints at the Cleveland Museum of Art","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"August 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Cleveland's\u00a0exhibition, housed in two small rooms off the atrium,\u00a0is small put potent. Durer is one of the towering figures in Western art. His drawing prowess is unrivaled--some few have matched him but none have surpassed him. As the forty or so odd prints in this exhibition make clear, his mastery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Melancholia, engraving by Durer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/melen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s2Gw6F-poussin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100","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=4100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}