Comments on: Vanitas paintings http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2007/04/24/vanitas-paintings/ • • • Being a journal by artist and designer John Coulthart, cataloguing interests, obsessions and passing enthusiasms. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:07:56 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: 1234 http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2007/04/24/vanitas-paintings/comment-page-1/#comment-77416 1234 Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:10:14 +0000 http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/?p=1795#comment-77416 The Paintings Are Amazing. i Can Do Them As Good As Them. The Paintings Are Amazing. i Can Do Them As Good As Them.

]]> By: John http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2007/04/24/vanitas-paintings/comment-page-1/#comment-14174 John Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:29:40 +0000 http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/?p=1795#comment-14174 The whole painting is pretty much a show-off piece for Holbein, I reckon, as if it wasn't enough to be one of the best painters in the world. I went to see it in the National Gallery last time I was in London and it really is fantastically impressive, especially since they cleaned it. Very photo-realist. It's funny when you're there because nearly everyone is taking turns standing at the side of the picture to see the skull in its correct proportion. Anamorphosis was quite common at that period, especially for artists who wanted to impress their wealthy clients. I was going to write a blog post about it but that would involve doing an essay which I'd rather avoid. The DVD of films by the Brothers Quay (which I did mention in an earlier post) includes a short film they made about the history of anamorphosis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphosis The whole painting is pretty much a show-off piece for Holbein, I reckon, as if it wasn’t enough to be one of the best painters in the world. I went to see it in the National Gallery last time I was in London and it really is fantastically impressive, especially since they cleaned it. Very photo-realist. It’s funny when you’re there because nearly everyone is taking turns standing at the side of the picture to see the skull in its correct proportion.

Anamorphosis was quite common at that period, especially for artists who wanted to impress their wealthy clients. I was going to write a blog post about it but that would involve doing an essay which I’d rather avoid. The DVD of films by the Brothers Quay (which I did mention in an earlier post) includes a short film they made about the history of anamorphosis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphosis

]]> By: Nathalie http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2007/04/24/vanitas-paintings/comment-page-1/#comment-14102 Nathalie Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:18:24 +0000 http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/?p=1795#comment-14102 For some reason, the optical trick in the Holbein always felt to me like it had been added at a much later stage. It seems too modern to fit in with the style of the painting. Even if I know that such tricks are extremely old. For some reason, the optical trick in the Holbein always felt to me like it had been added at a much later stage. It seems too modern to fit in with the style of the painting.
Even if I know that such tricks are extremely old.

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