Bite 100: Anish Kapoor - When I am Pregnant, 1992

When I am Pregnant, 1992, fibreglass and paint, 198 x 152 x 15 cm"The idea that if I empty out all the content and just make something that is an empty form, I don't empty out the content at all. The content is there in a way that is more surprising than if I tried to make a content."                                              ...

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Bite 99: Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Astarte Syriaca, 1875-77

Astarte Syriaca, 1875-77, oil on canvas, 183 x 107 cm, Manchester Art Gallery"Mystery: lo! betwixt the Sun and MoonAstarte of the Syrians: Venus QueenEre Aphrodite ever was."                - Rossetti (poem on frame)This claustrophobic painting presents a goddess, bathed in golden, lightflanked by angels gazing heavenward. "One face looks out from his canvases," Christina Rossetti, the artist's sister...

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Bite 98: Sir. John Millais - Autumn Leaves, 1855-56

Autumn Leaves, 1855-56, oil on canvas, 104 x 74 cm, Manchester Art Gallery, UK"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods,And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt,And night by night the monitory blastWails in the key-hold, telling how it pass'dO'er empty fields, or upland solitudes,Or grim wide wave; and now the power is feltOf melancholy, tenderer in its moodsThan any joy indulgent summer dealt.Dear friends, together in the glimmering eve,Pensive...

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Bite 97: Francisco de Goya - The Third of May 1808, 1814

The Third of May, 1808, 1814, oil on canvas, 266 x 345 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, MadridAn almost exact contemporary of David, Goya, particularly in his later work, could not be more contrasting of an artist. Working with looser brushwork, he stresses the realistic at the expense of the idealistic or classical. Although Goya defies categorization, in this sense at least, he is a Romantic artist, with elements of the Neo-Baroque. The...

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Bite 96: Jacques-Louis David - The Death of Marat, 1793

The Death of Marat, 1793, oil on canvas, 165 x 128 cm, Musées des Beaux-Arts, BrusselsFollowing the assassination of the radical revolutionary journalist Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday on July 13th 1793, a deputy of the National Convention (along with David) proclaimed “He sacrificed himself for liberty. Our eyes look for him amongst us. O terrible spectacle, he is on his deathbed! Where are you David? You have transmitted to posterity...

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Bite 95: Eugene Delacroix - Liberty Leading the People, 1830

Liberty Leading the People, 1830, oil on canvas, 260 x 325 cm, Louvre, ParisPainted to commemorate the ‘July Revolution’ of July 28th 1830 Liberty Leading the People is a true icon of French Revolutionary art. A new kind of history painting in which allegory is brilliantly combined with the portrayal of an historical event - the ideal and allegorical with the contemporary and real - the subject matter is used to convey a sense of patriotic solidarity,...

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Bite 94: Diego Velázquez - Prince Baltasar Carlos as a Hunter, c. 1636

Prince Baltasar Carlos as a Hunter, c. 1636, oil on canvas, 154 x 91 cm, Bristol Collection, IckworthPhilip IV was never able to firmly secure a royal lineage and his last legitimate son, Charles II of Spain grew to be a sickly man who died at age 38 having never fathered an heir. In the 1630’s however, Prince Baltasar Carlos (who died in 1646 at age 16) was the heir apparent and was thus celebrated in many portraits by Velázquez including Prince...

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Bite 93: Anthony Van Dyck - Charles II as Prince of Wales, in Armour, c. 1637

  Charles II as Prince of Wales, in Armour, c. 1637, oil on canvas, 154 x 131 cm, Royal Collection, Windsor Castle Wearing a gleaming suit of armour much like that worn by his father in Charles I in Armour (c. 1639), the young boy is attired like a military commander, holding a newly fashionable wheel-lock pistol. It was likely painted before his installation as a Knight of the Garter on May 21st 1638 as he is not shown wearing the Lesser George...

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Bite 92: Diego Velázquez - Philip IV as a Hunter, c. 1636

Philip IV as a Hunter, c. 1636, oil on canvas, 189 x 124 cm, PradoVan Dyck’s almost self-conscious display of royal grandeur sits in stark contrast to Velázquez open and deceptively simple composition Philip IV as a Hunter, painted for the Torre de la Parada. Historian Jonathan Brown sees Van Dyck’s portraiture as essentially “programmatic” while Velázquez portrait is “almost off-handed… refusing to insist on the royal majesty.” The entire...

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Bite 91: Anthony Van Dyck - Le Roi à la Chasse, 1635

Le Roi à la Chasse, 1635, oil on canvas, 272 x 212 cm, LouvreThe king turns his head toward the viewer, his body facing the wide landscape which he has been surveying, looking out over the sea, the Isle of Wight in the distance. He looks relaxed and good-humoured, having dismounted to take a healthy stroll in the fresh air of the English countryside, seemingly oblivious to the presence of his two grooms. He is dressed with casual elegance...

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Bite 90: Diego Velázquez - Philip IV in Armour, c. 1628

Philip IV in Armour, c. 1628, oil on canvas, 58 x 45 cm, Prado, Madrid“Habsburg rulers of Spain conceived of portraiture as a way to represent the appearance of the sitters, not to disguise or improve it. As a consequence, portraits made for the Spanish court rarely deployed an elaborate allegorical or symbolical apparatus. The image of the king was the image of royal majesty; no further elaboration was required.”         ...

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Bite 89: Anthony Van Dyck - Charles I in Armour, c. 1639

Charles I in Armour, c. 1639, oil on canvas, 103 x 81 cm, private collectionAnthony Van Dyck depicts King Charles I in opulently shining black armour surrounded by various symbols of his kingship and military power. He is presented as an armoured knight, complete with gold sword at the ready, subtly reflected off the armour plating. He stands beside his crown firmly holding his commander’s baton before him diagonally, compositionally underscoring...

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Bite 88: Piet Mondrian - Trafalgar Square, 1939-43

Trafalgar Square, 1939-43, oil on canvas, 145 x 120 cm, MoMA"This melancholy London - I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air."                                                            - William...

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Bite 87: Joseph M. W. Turner - Van Tromp, Going About to Please His Masters, 1844

Van Tromp, Going About to Please His Masters, 1844, oil on canvas, 91 x 122 cm, Getty Center, LAThe sea is alive with Turner's quick, slanting brushstrokes. A flimsy ship is buffeted by violent waves, emphasised by dark contours in the bottom right.Cornelius Van Tromp, the subject of the title, is a Dutch naval officer who 'submitted' to his superiors. He is shown on the deck of the ship, dressed in white and waving with confidence,...

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Bite 86: John Constable - Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden, 1826

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden, 1826, Frick Collection         "For I have learned          To look on nature, not as in the hour           Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes           The still, sad music of humanity,           Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power   ...

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Bite 85: Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - Self Portrait, 1658

Self Portrait, 1658, Frick CollectionIn the final of many self portraits made throughout his career Rembrandt presents himself, not at work, but in the luxurious garb befitting a truly great artist.The largest of his self portraits, it stops you in your tracks, his hands, face and golden coat glowing ethereally. The trials he has faced can seen in his eyes as Rembrandt confronts the viewer, as well as himself.Kenneth Clark regarded it the...

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Bite 84: Jackson Pollock - Autumn Rhythm (No. 30), 1950

Autumn Rhythm (No. 30), 1950, oil on canvas, 267 x 526 cmThe eye moves around the canvas as Pollock's body did, the canvas on the floor of his studio as opposed to against a gallery wall. I have often wondered what it would be like to view the canvas in this way, looking down on the work. It would be that much easier to reenact the artist's dance around the canvas, Pollock's enacted performance. Our body would be in relation to the work...

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