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Music in the Tuileries Garden by Édouard Manet, 1862, National Gallery (London, UK) #Art##ModernArt#Impressionism More in alt text

One of Manet's earlier paintings, Music in the Tuileries shows the influence of Frans Hals and Diego Velázquez on Manet's artistic style. The quick visible brush strokes seemed to some to indicate that the painting was not finished, but it is a true representation of what the Tuilerie gardens were like,
crowded and full of noise. Manet, whose paintings often depicted scenes of leisurely activities, has included many of his friends as well as a self portrait in this work. Among the figures you can find Charles Baudelaire, Theophile Gautier, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jacques Offenbach, Manet's brother Eugene, and a self
portrait of the artist himself.
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Girl with Chrysanthemums by Olga Boznańska, 1894, The National Museum in Kraków (Kraków, Poland #Art#ModernArt#Impressionism More in alt text

In 1894 in Munich, Boznańska's Girl with Chrysanthemums, one of her best pieces, was created - a true display of color limited to subtle shades of silver-grey hues, captured in the form of delicate brush strokes. In the image of the girl, shown against the background of the neutral, white and greyish wall, the artist created a new type of children's portrait that breaks with the convention of presenting small models in elegant outfits, in refined and stylish interiors.

Unusually serious for her age, thelonely girl dressed in a modest dress is holding lightly-coloured
chrysanthemums with her entwined hands, she attracts attention with her pale face with large eyes that are amazing in their blackness, shining like in a fever. The expression of these eyes looking directly, with tension, curiosity and boldness makes the girl, like a hypnotist, establish a psychological connection
with the viewer.

The portrait exudes a pensive, sad mysterious and vague aura, similar to the aura of the poems of Maurice Maeterlinck, known and appreciated by Boznańska. This similarity was noticed by William Ritter in 1896 in the Parisian Gazette des Beaux-Arts. In his opinion, in this portrait "a girl with strange disquieting eyes, as if two drops of ink spilling out onto the morbidly pale face, a contemporary ideal of Maeterlinck's character. It is an enigmatic child that will drive mad those who scrutinise her for too long(.). The girl is so frightening, so pale and so white that
she sends shivers up the spine."
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Haida Totems, Cha-atl, Queen Charlotte Island by Emily Carr, 1912, Royal BC Museum (Victoria, Canada) #Art#ModernArt#PostImpressionism

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