Ancient Greece at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has a fine collection of Ancient Greek art. Here are just a few examples.

Shield
Greece, Archaic period

Wine cup (kantharos) in the form of two male heads, attributed to Osborne House Painter
Samos, Late Archaic period, about 550-500 B.C.

Pitcher (oinochoe) in the Wild Goat style, with bands of flowers, animals, and birds
Rhodes, Orientalizing period, late 7th century B.C.
Ceramic

Griffin protome (forepart) from a cauldron
Samos, Orientalizing period, about 600 B.C.

The Euergides Painter, Fragment of a cup (kylix) with a youth washing

Greece (Athens). Probably found at Tarquinia, Italy

Archaic period, about 510-500 B.C. 

Animals

Kore figures

Barber, Greece (Boiotia), Late Archaic period, about 500-475 B.C. 

Satyrs

An oil flask (lekythos) and two amphorae by the Pan Painter

Douris, Drinking cup with a nude youth washing at a basin
Inscription:  "Hippodamas is handsome"
Greece (Athens), Classical period, about 480 B.C.
Said to have been found in Orvieto, Italy

Douris, Woman washing her hands
Greece (Athens). Said to have been found at Falerii, Italy
Early Classical period, about 470 B.C.
Ceramic; red-figure technique

The Brygos Painter, Fragment of a cup (kylix) with Apollo
Greece (Athens). Probably found in Italy
Early Classical period, about 480-470 B.C.
Ceramic; red-figure technique

Note:  See more from my day at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #394

Here is my latest entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for September 9, 2013. The cartoon is the work of John Klossner. The caption is mine.

"I find the days drag."

An alternate caption I chose not to go with:

"You can't say Zeus doesn't have a sense of humor."

September 16, 2013 Update: The Finalists

September 30, 2013 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  My entry in The New Yorker's Caption Contest #393 is here. Unfortunately my caption lost its timeliness within 24 hours of my submitting it. That's the way it sometimes goes when you try to use contemporary events for gag humor.

John Klossner's work appears on this blog in a previous Caption Contest here.

Do you like the Classical world? I have some blog entries on Ancient Greece here.

Tomorrow will be the twelfth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack. My blog posts on this topic are here.

The football season is upon us. I almost missed it!  See my football posts here.

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Head of a Goddess

My favorite period of ancient Greek art is the Hellenistic, which is both the most realistic and the most ornate. This Greek marble head of a goddess is quite striking even today. It is being offered at Christie's New York on June 8. It might be worth some consideration, as no new Hellenistic heads have been carved for a couple of millennia now.

A GREEK MARBLE HEAD OF A GODDESS 

HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND-1ST CENTURY B.C.

Her head turned to her right, on a long slender neck with pronounced Venus-lines, her wavy center-parted hair bound in a fillet, pulled back over her ears and fastened into a chignon, the almond-shaped eyes with heavy lids below modelled brows, with a long slender nose, a small mouth with the lips pressed together, and a rounded chin, the crown of the head likely finished in a separate material
3½ in. (8.9 cm.) high 

Estimate

$10,000 - $15,000

June 8, 2012:  Unsold

Sale Information

Sale 2565 Lot 110

Antiquities 
8 June 2012
New York, Rockefeller Plaza 

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/ancient-art-antiquities/a-greek-marble-head-of-a-goddess-5567250-details.aspx?from=salesummary&pos=10&intObjectID=5567250&sid=d6809aa9-5920-4829-b210-f5d80ec46161&page=11

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Panorama of Athens

This six-part panorama of Athens featuring the Acropolis dates from the 1870's. It strikes me as a unique and interesting image, yet it failed to find a buyer at Swann Galleries in 2002.

Sale 1947 Lot 47

- Oct 21 2002 14:00

(PANORAMAS)<>
Six-part panorama of Athens showing the Acropolis and Parthenon. Albumen prints, 7½x58 inches (19x147 cm.) total, mounted and framed. Early 1870s
Estimate $2,500-3,500

Unsold

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=1947++++++47+&refno=++513672&saletype=

 - Oct 21 2002 14:00 

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Edward Lear's The Temple of Olympian Zeus

Edward Lear, known today largely for his nonsense verse and drawings, also did serious plain air painting during his travels. Here is his view of the Temple of Olympian Zeus with the Acropolis in the background.

Edward Lear (1812-1888) 

The Temple of Olympian Zeus with the Acropolis beyond, Athens 

inscribed and dated 'Athens./14 June. 1848.' and numbered '30' (lower right) and further inscribed 'The Acropolis at least/1/2 a mile further off/I .../put blue smoke from the city/& more ochre on pillar bases' (lower left)
pencil, pen and brown ink and watercolour, heightened with touches of bodycolour
10½ x 19½ in. (26.7 x 49.5 cm.) 

Price Realized 

£26,290
• ($38,226)
• Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and do not reflect costs, financing fees or application of buyer’s or seller’s credits.

Estimate

£15,000 - £20,000
• ($21,810 - $29,080)

Provenance

Canon Charles M. Church.
H.M.N. Hollis and by descent until 1985. 

Literature

Vivian Noakes, Edward Lear 1812-1888, 1985, illustrated p. 49.
Susan Hyman, Edward Lear in the Levant, 1988, illustrated p. 44. 

Exhibited

Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery, Edward Lear, 1964, catalogue untraced.
London, Royal Academy, Edward Lear 1812-1888, 1985, no. 20b, reproduced p. 49. 

Sale Information

Sale 6578 Lot 113

BRITISH ART ON PAPER

 6 June 2002 

London, King Street

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/edward-lear-the-temple-of-olympian-zeus-3928474-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=3928474&sid=0d3260a3-1622-4d35-a55f-8868815e7b75

0267

The Belvedere Torso by Heemskerck

Maerten van Heemskerck brings a fluid pen technique to his study of The Belvedere Torso. His hatching and crosshatching technique strikes me as quite fine. He seems to have exaggerated the spinal flexion and rotation of the Torso, making for a very dynamic drawing.

Maerten van Heemskerck (ca. 1498, Heemskerck, Netherlands - ca. 1574)
Haarlem, Netherlands
School: Dutch

The Belvedere Torso 1532 - 1537

Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany
Graphics: Pen and ink on paper

The Belvedere Torso

Note:  My post entitled Study of the Belvedere Torso by Rubens can be found here.

The drawing:  http://www.friendsofart.net/en/art/maerten-van-heemskerck/the-belvedere-torso 

The photo:  http://www.myartprints.com/a/greco-roman/belvedere-torso.html

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Study of the Belvedere Torso by Rubens

The Belvedere Torso, a profoundly influential Hellenistic sculpture by Apollonius the Athenian, is on display in the Vatican Museums:

Apollonius the Athenian, The Belvedere Torso, The Vatican Museums

Here is Study of the Belvedere Torso by Peter Paul Rubens from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Study of the Belvedere Torso, ca. 1601–2

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)

Red chalk

15 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. (39.5 x 26 cm)
Inscribed at lower left: P Rubens, 342
Recto:The Virgin Adored by Saints, pen and brown ink, ca. 1627
Purchase, 2001 Benefit Fund, 2002 (2002.12b)

NOT ON VIEW  Last Updated August 25, 2011

This drawing was made by Rubens as a young man on his first trip to Rome, in 1601–2. It is a study of the back view of the Belvedere Torso, an antique sculpture dating to the first century B.C., which belonged to the Colonna family in the seventeenth century and is today in the Vatican Museums. Using red chalk and a technique of soft overlapping hatching, Rubens produced lifelike results that belie the marble material of his subject.

Apollonius the Athenian, The Belvedere Torso, The Vatican Museums

Source: Peter Paul Rubens: Study of the Belvedere Torso (2002.12b) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The photo:  http://witcombe.sbc.edu/high-ren-mann/images/belvedere-torso-back.jpg


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