Great Art Explained

December 4, 2021 2:49 AM

The face that started a revolution. The Sistine Chapel of impressionism. A new kind of hero. A troubled vision. More explorations of what make other famous works of art great from James Payne's YouTube channel.
posted by blue shadows (5 comments total)

Great links, thanks for sharing. I would never have found these myself.
posted by rpfields at 7:49 AM on December 4, 2021

The intro to the Mona Lisa video reminds me of an actor I heard talking about how to convey great depth of emotion. Apparently the secret is to look off into the distance and think about deck renovations or what you had for lunch, and viewers will read everything into it.

I wonder if Mona Lisa was thinking about deck renovations.
posted by clawsoon at 8:18 AM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is very extremely my thing, thank you!
posted by Space Kitty at 12:11 PM on December 4, 2021

I like that the Van Gogh video takes pains to point out that he worked in spite of his mental illness, and particularly that it was through the support of friends and a particularly progressive (for the time) attitude towards patient needs at the particular asylum he was in that enabled him to continue his work. A far cry from the traditional tortured genius narrative that is so often trotted out whenever his work is discussed; that in some sick irony his mental illness became his muse and that if it weren't for his "madness," his work would have come up lacking in some way.
posted by Aleyn at 4:49 PM on December 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

Thank you. I love stuff like this.
posted by loveandhappiness at 8:20 AM on December 5, 2021