Happy New Year!

Still Life with Fruit and Champagne Glass, c. 1872 by Severin Roesen, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Merry Masked Men

Gift Rapt by Charley Harper

Mid 20th century artist and illustrator Charley Harper's work can be found in everything from posters, calendars, and books of all kinds. He felt an affinity toward nature and animals and both figured prominently in his work.

A Favorite

The Wilton Diptych, c. 1394 for King Richard the II, artist unknown, National Gallery, London.

One of my favorite of the Madonna and Child images. The blues are so vivid especially against the gold. It is the size of a regular book when closed. Diptych refers to the two parts of the painting.

Odd in a Good Way

The Return of the Sun by Odd Nerdrum, 1985, Location Unknown.

When I was working at the Joslyn Art Museum in the 1991 I saw the work of Odd Nerdrum for the first time and was struck at how it seemed old and new at the same time. I recognized references to artists of the Northern school and Caravaggio, but it was also so contemporary as art seemed to be moving toward a return to Realism.