Moran’s Art Blog

  Gerrit Dou - The Painter in His Studio In this 1647 self-portrait by Rembrandt’s student Gerrit Dou, the first thing you might notice is that he’s doing everything *but* paint. Aside from expressing a general interest in the life of the mind popular to the art of its day, his cluttered workspace, with dramatic elements like a sculpture of wrestlers and sheet music left in disarray (note the still life or vanitas influence: these objects are in a transient state) suggests severe “artist’s block.” Surely we’ve all had times when we're stuck on a hobby and would rather, say, experiment with every musical instrument ever made. Notice that behind the artist there’s a blank, washed out, fairly unrealistic background, a facet of Baroque art, which represents less reality and more the painter’s mental state. Also take note of the strong diagonals and how the most vivid parts of the painting seem to pull away from the artist, leaving only the void behind. Finally, see the broken classical...

  Leda, painted by Gail Potocki (b. 1961, American) is a provocative painting depicting a moment from Greek myth. In the myth, Leda, a queen of Sparta, was desired by the god Zeus and was seduced by him in the form of a swan. Most interpretations of the Leda myth today treat the encounter as nonconsensual, at very least by deception.  In Potocki’s depiction, the rhythm of the composition draws the eye to Leda’s enigmatic expression - she seems to be disengaged, but at the same time, we see her cracking open the egg that, in the myth, would have allowed Leda to give birth to Zeus’s progeny. The egg is not the focal point and although the red tone highlights the violence of both the swan’s act and Leda’s retaliation, it’s largely held apart from Leda’s body, and from the rest of the image through shadow. In other words, this painting depicts a woman who knows something Zeus doesn’t, whose personhood is unimpeachable and undisturbed. I also feel that the swan is depicted in a pin...