RECENT NYT ARTICLES OF INTEREST … The Review section of June 17's New York Times had several interesting art-related articles … You need to know that I am very technology-challenged, and this is my first attempt at blog posting … so if this is entirely unreadable, I apologize … and will try again ... "The Art of Adventure" by R.M. Peck … is a review of "Explorers' Sketchbooks", a new book by Lewis-Jones and Herbert. Mr. Peck quotes William Beebe, an American naturalist and explorer of the early 20th century: "All about us, nature puts on the most thrilling adventure stories ever written." Included in the book are a handful of female artist/explorers: Maria Sybilla Merian is a name familiar to many; but unfamiliar to me were Gertrude Bell (who drew shards of found pottery) and Marianne North. Ms. North, a friend of Darwin, circle the globe - twice! - in the early 1800s on a 'mission to paint as many different species of plants as she could find.' I'm not sure I will read the whole book, but I will try to learn more about Ms. North and her work.

"On the Trail of Art Looters" by Amanda Foreman … is a brief exploration of looting art for profit and propaganda. A photo (above) of part of the Arch of Titus in Rome show a menorah looted from the Temple in Jerusalem during Rome's sack of that city in 70 A.D. It is mind-boggling to imagine that this might be an actual and accurate depiction of the menorah taken from the great Temple. Another bit of art history mentioned in this article: In his looting of Italian art works, Napoleon took the four horses from the front of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. He intended to mount them on his Arc de Triomphe in Paris. However, when he was defeated at Waterloo, a condition of surrender was that France return the horses to Italy. And they were returned. Restitution.

And, finally, "When Two Hands Were Better Than One" by John Wilmerding claims there is strong evidence to prove that Degas actually painted part of the background (the windows) of Mary Cassatt's painting "Little Girl in a Blue Chair". He says the two artists openly shared ideas and compared paintings. To Cassatt's surprise, the painting was not accepted to a major show. I, personally, wonder if it wasn't accepted because she was a woman (please know that the article doesn't actually say this). Cassatt and Degas were very open about their interaction … but I also wonder whether 'two hands' might not be better than one when it comes to getting art accepted into a show. Worth thinking and wondering about ... And that's all … just some food for thought … P.S. The painting WAS accepted into later shows.

Explaining Differences in Paint Colors with the Same Pigment Number

Linda Working on a Color Chart

Thanks again to all who attended our Jan. 30 meeting!

A question came up about paints with the same pigment number that are different colors. Linda Koffenberger, (who teaches art at NCBG and has a professional background in paint color mixing), answered our question here:

"The first example is Ultramarine Blue, which comes either with a red bias or a green bias.  Both are coded as PB29.  The reddish-toned Ultramarine is usually sold as French Ultramarine and the cooler, greenish-toned one is sold just as Ultramarine Blue.  Originally Ultramarine was a mined pigment made from Lapis Lazuli and was the most expensive pigment there was.  Then in the 1800's, a way to manufacture it was invented.  The process uses silica (or sand) and "Ultramarine poor in silica" has the greenish-tone and the "Ultramarine rich in silica" as the red tinge.

The second example is Yellow Oxide, a naturally occurring mineral.  Its chemical name is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide.  It is sold under the name Yellow Oxide, however, and the code on the tube is PY42.  The thing is this mineral can be any where from yellow to dark-brown and even black.  So the pigment manufacture tries to blend batches to make the color uniform from one tube to the next.  But another manufacture may have a slight different blend so the color varies from manufacture to manufacture."