BEAUTY AND TERROR: ESSAYS ON THE POWER OF PAINTING

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian A. Oard attended the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University, graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. in English. He has traveled widely and studied art in the galleries, museums and collections of North America and Europe. Beauty and Terror is the fruit of those studies. He is also the creator of the literary blog Mindful Pleasures and the daily epigrammatical blog Epigrams for Atheists and the author of the art historical mystery novel The Degas Manuscript. His email address is baoard@aol.com.

BEAUTY AND TERROR

ESSAYS ON THE POWER OF PAINTING

BY

BRIAN A. OARD

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(Click on the titles below to read the essays)

PART ONE: OLD MASTERS

1. Preface: How to Look at a Painting

2. The Terror of Beauty: Titian, The Death of Actaeon

3. Forget the Code, Look at the Painting: Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de Benci

4. Saint Francis in Sunlight and Shadow: Giovanni Bellini, Saint Francis in Ecstasy and Francisco de Zurbaran, Saint Francis in Meditation

5. Torture and Compassion: Mathis Grunewald, The Small Crucifixion

6. The Mirror of Mannerism: Agnolo Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid

7. City on a Hill: El Greco, View of Toledo

8. Family Values: Artemisia Gentileschi, Lot and his Daughters

9. A Perfect Painting: Johannes Vermeer, Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

10. Meanings in a Landscape: Rembrandt van Rijn, The Mill

11. The Performance Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait

12. Thinking on a Tabletop: Jean-Simeon Chardin, Still Life with Plums

13. Reason Asleep: Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare

PART TWO: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

14. Henry Clay Frick's Troublesome Trophy: Francisco de Goya, The Forge

15. Death and the Painting: J. M. W. Turner, The Campo Santo, Venice

16. A Closet Decadent: J. A. D. Ingres, Princesse de Broglie

17. Realism Unclothed: Gustave Courbet, Woman With a Parrot

18. Bourgeoisie and Proletariat: Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day

19. The Lure of Lotus-Eating: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party

20. Capitalism and the Death of the Soul: Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere

21. A Melting Vision: Berthe Morisot, Woman at Her Toilette

22. The Furious Energy of Age: Claude Monet, Weeping Willow

23. Bringing Darkness to Light: Vincent van Gogh, Cypresses

24. The Unknowable Sea: Winslow Homer, Maine Coast

25. Parallel Harmony, Beautiful Synthesis: Paul Cezanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire

PART THREE: THE MODERNS

26. Picasso's Eyes: Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles D'Avignon

27. The Most Difficult Painting in the World: Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Glass and Lemon

28. Lying to Tell the Truth: Georges Braque, The Round Table

29. A Beautiful Trap: Pierre Bonnard, The Open Window

30. A Window on Matisse: Henri Matisse, Interior with Egyptian Curtain

31. Triumph Over The Will: Max Beckmann, Departure

32. Thirteen Ways of Looking at an Eye: Rene Magritte, The Eye

33. The Viewer as Voyeur: Balthus, Therese Dreaming

34. American Emptiness: Edward Hopper, High Noon

35. One Day in the Park with Georges and Willem: Willem de Kooning, Excavation and Georges Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

36. The Dancing Master: Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist: Number 1, 1950

37. Altarpiece for an Atheist: Francis Bacon, Triptych--August 1972

38. Closing in on Close: Chuck Close, Alex

39. A Body of Paint: Lucian Freud, Naked Man, Back View

40. The Necessity of Looking Back: Anselm Kiefer, Lot's Wife

Sources and Works Cited

All contents of this website copyright 2009 by Brian A. Oard. All rights reserved.

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