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Subject Matter

Abstract Landscape Adolescence Advertising and Brands African Diaspora Allegory Alter Egos and Avatars Americana Anatomy Animal Portrait Animals Anthropomorphism Antiquity as Subject Architecture's Effects Arrivals/Departures Artist as Ethnographer Atmospheric Landscapes Attenuated Figure Bars and Restaurants Bathers Bedrooms and Bathrooms Bible Story Body Parts Caricatures and Parody Celebrity Censorship Childhood Circus/Carnival City Scenes Cityscapes Cityscapes and City Scenes Classical Figure Classical Mythology Collective History Conflict Consumerism Contrapposto Crime Cross-Cultural Dialogue Crowds Cultural Commentary Decay Deep Time Deities and Holy Figures Delegated Art Diaristic Digital Culture Disaster Dreams / Altered States of Consciousness Engaged with Byzantine and Medieval Art Engaged with Communist Visual Culture Engaged with European Old Masters Engaged with Pre-Columbian Art Engaged with Traditional African Art Engaged with Traditional Chinese Art Engaged with Traditional Islamic Art Engaged with Traditional Japanese Art Engaged with Traditional Korean Art Engagement with Mass Media Equestrian Erotic Eye Contact Face Failure Family Femininity Fertility/Pregnancy/Birth Figure Studies Figure from the Back (Rückenfigur) Figures in Nature Figures of the Art World Flora Focus on the Social Margins Food Gender Glamour Globalization Grotesque Group Portrait Group of Objects Group of Portraits Haze Hugs and Kisses Human Figure Humor Hybrids and Imaginary Creatures Implied Narrative Improbable Physics Individual Portrait Industry Infographics and Diagrams Institutional Critique Interiors Interlaced Bodies Intersectionality Isolation/Alienation Kawaii Kitsch Landscape and Nature Photography Landscapes Landscapes and Waterscapes Language Leisure Light as Subject Line, Form, and Color Love Machines Madonna and Child Manga Maps/Networks Masculinity Math Medical/Health Migration Modes of Transportation Mortality Mourning and Commemoration Movement Mutated Bodies Mysticism, Shamanism, and the Occult Mythology and Religion Narrative Natural History Nature Nautical Nostalgia Nude Obsolescence Outer Space Parties and Celebrations People at Home Performing Arts Personal Histories Personal Writing Systems Personification Political Political Events Political Figures Portrait Portraits without a Face Provocative Psychoanalysis Racial and Ethnic Identity References to Art History Reflections Related to Fashion Related to Film Related to Games Related to Hip-Hop Related to Literature Related to Music Related to Punk Related to Religion Related to Toys Shadows Representations of Everyday Objects Royal/Court Commission Royalty and Aristocracy Rural Life Saints Scenes of Everyday Life Science Science Fiction Seduction and Courtship Self as Subject Self-Portrait Sex Sexual Identity Silhouettes Southern Gothic Spaces of the Art World Sports/Athletics Still Life Stolen Moments Suburbia Surveillance Symbolic Composition Talismanic Technology Text The Abject The Afterlife The American West The Art Market The Artist's Studio The Body The City The Domestic and Domesticity The Elements The Environment The Fantastic The Mundane The Seasons The Senses The Sublime Time Times of Day Traces, Indexes, and Implied Presence Trauma and Struggle Travel/Tourism Unsettling Urbanization Utopia Vacant and Vacated Spaces Violence Virtue and Vice Visual Perception War and Military Water Waterscapes Work and Workers Zoomorphism

Styles and Movements

"Bad Painting" '85 New Wave 19th Century American Art 19th Century American Paintings and Works on Paper 19th Century French Academy 19th Century German Realism 20th Century Art Abstract Art Abstract Expressionism Abstract Painting Abstract Photography Abstract Sculpture Abstract versus Figurative Art Abstraction-Création Action Painting Afrofuturism American Impressionism American Modernism American Prints 1880–1950 American Realism American Regionalism American Sculpture 1830–1950 American Tonalism American Works on Paper 1880–1950 Art Brut Art Deco Art Informel Art Nouveau Arte Povera Ashcan School Barbizon School Baroque Bauhaus Bay Area Figurative Art Beijing East Village Bengal School of Art Black Arts Movement Black Mountain College Body Art CalArts Capitalist Realism Chicago Imagists Chicano Art Cluj School CoBrA Colab Collaborations and Collectives Color Field Painting Conceptual Art Conceptual Art and Contemporary Conceptualism Concrete Art Constructivism Contemporary Academic Realism Contemporary Archaeological Contemporary Art Contemporary Asian Art Contemporary British Art Contemporary Canadian Art Contemporary Color Fields Contemporary Conceptualism Contemporary DIY Contemporary Fact versus Fiction Contemporary Fauvist Contemporary Faux Naïf Contemporary Feminist Contemporary Figurative Drawing Contemporary Figurative Painting Contemporary Gestural Abstraction Contemporary Glass Contemporary Gothic Contemporary Graphic Realism Contemporary Grotesque Contemporary Impressionist Contemporary Indian Art Contemporary Latin American Art Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African Art Contemporary Minimalist Contemporary Modernist-Type Photography Contemporary Op Art Contemporary Participation Contemporary Portrait Painting Contemporary Re-creations Contemporary Realist Portrait Photography Contemporary Scandinavian Art Contemporary Surrealistic Contemporary Traces of Memory Contemporary Turkish Art Contemporary Use of Textiles Contemporary Vintage Photography Cubism Cynical Realism Dada Dansaekhwa Danube School Dau Al Set De Stijl Deconstructivism Deutscher Werkbund Die Brücke Documentary Film Documentary Travel Photography Dusseldorf School of Photography Dutch and Flemish Early Computer Art Early Renaissance East Village Art Expressionism Fashion Photography Fauvism Faux Naïf Feminist Art Feminist Art and Contemporary Feminist Figurative Art Figurative Painting Figurative Sculpture Fluxus Folk Art Funk Art Futurism Geometric Abstraction German Expressionism Gestural Abstraction Gothic Art Graffiti and Street Art Grand Manner Group Material Group Zero Group f/64 Gutai Happenings Harlem Renaissance Helsinki School of Photography High Renaissance Hudson River School Hyperrealism and Photorealism Iconic Works of Art History Identity Politics Impressionism Impressionism and Contemporary Impressionist Japanese Erotic Prints Japanese Photography Japonisme Kanō School Land Art Landscape Photography Light and Space Movement Luminism Mannerism Medieval Art Mexican Muralism Minimalism Minimalism and Contemporary Minimalist Modern Jewelry Modern Photography Modern and Impressionist Art Modern and Impressionist Prints Mono-ha Nabis Neo-Conceptualism Neo-Concrete Art Neo-Dada Neo-Expressionism Neo-Geo Neo-Impressionism Neo-Plasticism Neoclassicism Net Art Neue Sachlichkeit New American Color Photography New American Documentary Photography New British Sculpture New Leipzig School New Topographics New York School Nineteenth Century French Realism Northern Renaissance Nouveau Réalisme Nul Group Old Master Drawings and Prints Old Master Influenced Fantasy Old Masters Op Art Orientalism Orphism Pattern and Decoration Movement Pictorialism Pittura Metafisica Pointillism Political Minimalism Political Pop Pop Art Pop and Contemporary Pop Post-'70s Ego Generation Post-Impressionism Post-Internet Art Post-Painterly Abstraction Post-War American Art Post-War European Art Post-World War I European Classicism Post-World War II School of Paris Postminimalism Pre-Raphaelites Pre-World War II School of Paris Precisionism Process Art Progressive Artists' Movement Purism Relational Aesthetics Renaissance Art Rinpa School Rococo Art and Design Romanticism School of London Self-Taught, Folk, and Outsider Art Shin Hanga Social Action Social Realism Socialist Realism Soviet Nonconformist Art Spatialism Spiral Group Street Photography Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Program Suprematism Surrealism Surrealistic Symbolism Synchromism The Aesthetic Movement The Anthropocene The Blue Rider The New Fauves The Pictures Generation The Stars Art Group (Xing Xing) Traditional Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Transavanguardia Ukiyo-e Venetian School Vienna Secession Viennese Actionism Washington Color School Works Progress Administration (WPA) Yale University School of Art Young British Artists (YBAs) Zaire School of Popular Painting

Design Movements

20th Century Furniture and Design American Furniture and Design American Mid-Century Design American Studio Craft Movement Art Deco Furniture and Design Art Nouveau Furniture and Design Arts and Crafts Movement Brazilian Furniture and Design British Furniture and Design Brutalism Contemporary Furniture and Design Danish Furniture and Design Dutch Furniture and Design French Furniture and Design International Style Italian Furniture and Design Memphis Design Mid-Century Modern Design Modern Design Modern and Contemporary Design Modern and Contemporary Fashion Design Post-War French Design Postmodern Architecture and Design Scandinavian Furniture and Design Union des Artistes Modernes Wiener Werkstätte

Visual Qualities

Abstract Illusionism Allover Composition Angular Arabesque/Scroll Asymmetrical Balance Biomorphic Black and White Blown-Off-Roof Perspective Blurred Bright and Vivid Colors Bulbous Calligraphic Color Gradient Columns and Totems Contour Line Cracked Creased Crinkled Wrinkled Crystalline and Geological Forms Curvilinear Forms Dark Colors Dense Composition Divisionist Dotted Dynamism Earth Tones Emphasis on Linear Perspective Extreme Angle Flatness Fractal-like / Kaleidoscopic Fragmented Geometry Geometric Glittery Grid Hard-Edged Highly Detailed Highly Ornamented Iridescence/Opalescence Irregular Curvilinear Forms Irregular Linear Forms Layered Images Linear Forms Marbleized Metallic Mimicking Ruined Materials Mirrored Molecular Mr Doodle: Pop Heart Collection Pastel Colors Patinated and Oxidized Patterns Piles/Stacks Pixelated Primary Abstraction Primary Colors Psychedelic Radiating Lines Raw versus Finished Rough Scattered Composition Sharp/Prickly Shiny/Glossy Single Object Slender Slumped/Draped Smooth Surface Sparse Stained Glass Effect Striped Symmetrical Tangled Forms Transparent/Translucent Medium Viscous Forms Woven/Perforated Wrapped

Medium and Techniques

Camera Obscura Album, Folio and Fan Formats Altarpiece Altered and Substituted Canvases Analogue Filmmaking Animation Appropriation Arabic/Farsi Calligraphy Archaeological Object Art That Plays With Scale Artist's Frame Artists’ Books Automatism Bentwood Black-and-White Photography Body Casts/Body Prints Books and Portfolios Burned/Charred Caravaggesque Carving Chance Chiaroscuro Cinematic Close-Up Collage Collecting and Modes of Display Color Photography Color Theory Comic/Cartoon Computer-Aided Manufacturing Copies and Emulations Cut/Ripped Dance Delicate Materials Densely Textured or Haptic Surface Design/Architecture Study Digital Art Digital Painting and Drawing Digital Print Digital as Manual Digitally Manipulated Divinatory Objects, Talismans, and Amulets Documentary Photography Drawing East Asian Calligraphy East Asian Ink-and-Wash Painting Embossed Paper En plein air Encaustic Endurance Art Ephemera Erased and Obscured Etching/Engraving Extruded Design Film/Video Focus on Materials Folded Planes Found Footage and Found Video Fresco Frontal Perspective Generative Art Gestural Glass and Ceramics Glitch Aesthetic Gold Leaf and Gilding Handscroll Hanging Scroll Hatching History Painting Hyperrealism Illustration Imitated Material Immersive Impasto Installation Art Intaglio Intentionally Exposed Canvas Interactive Intricately Sculpted Kinetic Sculpture Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Large-Scale Painting Large-Scale Photography Large-Scale Sculpture Light Art Lightbox Lithograph Long Distance and Deep Distance Long Exposure Mail Art Manipulated Photography Manuscript Maquette Mediated View Miniature and Small-Scale Paintings Mixed-Media Monochrome Painting Monotype/Monoprint Multiple Exposure Multiple Screens Multiple Styles Murals and Wall Drawings NFT Negative Image Oil Painting Oil on Copper Oil on Panel Open Form Organic Material Outdoor Art Painting Painting and Writing Tools Panorama Paper Cut-Outs Passage Pastel Performance Art Photogram Photograph as Material Photographic Source Photographs of Surfaces Photography Photojournalism Photomontage Photorealistic Picassoesque Polychrome Sculpture Poster Poured Printed Matter Prints Process-Oriented Projection Pulled, Scraped, and Scratched Recycled Reduced-Scale Architecture Relief Rembrandtesque Repetition Research as Art Restored and Repurposed Screen Format Sculptural Use of Paint Sculpture Sculpture-Based Photography Sfumato Shallow Depth of Field Silkscreen Site-Specific Art Snapshot Aesthetic Soft Sculpture Sound Art Splattered/Dripped Spray Paint Staged Photography Stains/Washes Study Suspended/Hanging Tempera Time-Lapse Photography and Film Tondo Topographic Photography Traditional Photographic Techniques Traditional Scroll Painting Transfer Trompe l’oeil Typography Typologies Use of Traditional Techniques Vintage Photo Prints Virtual and Augmented Reality Wall Sculpture and Installation Watercolor Website Woodcut and Linocut Work on Paper

Time Periods

1000 - 1400 CE Art 15th Century Art 16th Century Art 17th Century Art 18th Century Art 1900 - 1917 Art 1918 - 1939 (Interwar) Art 1940s-1950s Art 19th Century Art 21st Century Art 500 - 1000 CE Art Ancient Art Art of the 1960s Art of the 1970s Art of the 1980s Art of the 1990s Contemporary Impressionist and Modern Hub Late 19th Century Art Modern Post-War Hub Pre-20th Century Art Prehistoric Art

Geographic Regions

African Art American Art Andes Region Art Angolan Art Art of Latin America and the Caribbean Asian Art Australian and New Zealand Art Austrian Art Beijing Artists Belgian Art Berlin Artists Brazilian Art British and Irish Art Brooklyn Artists California Art Canadian Art Caribbean Art Caucasus Art Central American Art Central Asian Art Chinese Art Cuban Art Dutch Art East African Art East European Art East German Art Eastern Mediterranean Egyptian Art Flanders and Luxembourg French Art French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname German Art Greek Art Hong Kong Artists Indian Art Iranian Art Iraqi Art Israeli Art Italian Art Japanese Art Korean Art Latin American Art Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine London Artists Los Angeles Artists Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian Art Mexican Art Middle African Art Middle Eastern and North African Art New York Artists North African Art Pakistani Art Paris Artists Portugese Art Russian Art San Francisco Artists Scandinavian Art South African Art South Asian Art Southeast Asian Art Southeast European Art Southern Cone Art Spanish Art Swiss Art Taiwanese Art Tibetan Art Tokyo Artists Turkish Art West African Art

Materials

Aluminum Assemblage Bone Brass Bronze Cardboard Ceramic Chalk Chrome-Plated Concrete Enamel Found Objects Gemstone Glass as Material Gold Inlay Ivory Leather/Hide Marble Metal Mosaics Natural Fibers Neon and Fluorescent Light Plaster Plastic Porcelain Resin Silver Stained Glass Steel Stone Taxidermy Terracotta Use of Common Materials Use of Ephemeral Materials Use of Paper Use of Precious Materials Use of Vintage Imagery Wood

Design Concepts and Techniques

CAD (Computer Aided Design) Children's Furniture and Design Design by Architects Design by Artists Engineering/Construction and Design Focus on Joints/Connections Handcrafted Furniture and Design Iconic Works of Design Industrial and Product Design Jewelry by Painters and Sculptors Masonry Construction Modular Design Non-Functional Design Reinforced Concrete Construction Religious Building Restrained Forms Steel/Iron Frame Construction Sustainable Design Timber Frame Construction Whimsical Design Women Designers

Cultural and Religious Styles

Aboriginal Art Ancient Egypt Art of Burma Art of Tonga Art of the Congo Art of the Ivory Coast Art of the Upper Paleolithic Asante Art Aztec Art Bamileke Art Benin Art Buddhist Art and Architecture Byzantine Art Cambodian Art Celtic Art Cheyenne Art Christian Art and Architecture Early Medieval Art Eastern Zhou Dynasty Edo Art Etruscan Art Greek Art and Architecture Greek and Roman Art and Architecture Guatemalan Art Han Dynasty Heian Period Hellenistic Art Himalayan Art Hindu Art and Architecture Hopi Art Iban Art Igbo (Ibo) Art Indonesian Art Islamic Art and Architecture Kushan Empire Maranao Art Mayan Art and Architecture Mbole Art Meiji Art Mende Art Mesopotamian Art Ming Dynasty Minoan Art Moche Art Mughal Art Mycenaean Art Native American, First Nations, and Alaska Native Art Northern and Southern Dynasties Oku Art Ottoman Art Papua New Guinea Art Phoenician Art Pre-Columbian Art Qing Dynasty Roman Art and Architecture Romanesque Art Shang Dynasty Song Dynasty Sui Dynasty Tang Dynasty Thai Art Traditional African Art Traditional Oceanic Art Western Zhou Dynasty Yaka Art Yombe Art Yoruba Art Yuan Dynasty Yup'ik Art

Furniture and Lighting

Armchair Bed Bench Ceiling Light Chair Chaise Lounge Chandelier Coffee Table Console Desk Dining Table Floor Lamp Furniture Lighting Mirror Sconce Seating Shelving Side Chair Side Table Sideboard Sofa Stool Storage Table Table Lamp Upholstered Furniture

Textiles

Embroidery Knitted and Crocheted Rug Tapestry and Wall Hanging Textile Arts Use of Fabric

Jewelry and Fashion Object Types

Bracelets Brooches Costume Accessory Earrings Necklaces Rings Watches

Tableware, Vessels, and Objects

Artist Merchandise and Multiples Autograph Blanket Bowl Clock Container Door Exhibition Poster Figurine Flatware Frame Glass Objects Household Objects Keychain Letter Objets de Vertu Plate Postcard Skateboard Tableware Tool Towel Toy Tray Vase Vessel Wallpaper

Antiquities, Artifacts, and Religious Objects

Arms and Armor Ceremonial Object Funerary/Commemorative Object Mask Musical Instrument Reliquary Tablet/Stele

Browse all 1,035 terms The Art Genome Project ↗

Art Genome Visual Qualities

Dark Colors

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This applies Dark Colors as an exact Art Genome filter.

Tagged works

Edward Sheriff Curtis Self-Portrait

Cosmetics Box with Chrysanthemums

Woman Reading a Letter

Shown from the waist up, a young woman with pale, peachy skin faces and looks directly at us in this vertical portrait painting. The subtly upturned corners of her mouth and the outer corners of her eyes are touched with shadows. Her delicate eyebrows are faintly painted over dark brown eyes. She has a long straight nose and an oval-shaped face framed by large teardrop pearl earrings. Her dark brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back under a wide, gold-colored headdress, which creates a halo-like ring around her head. Precisely formed curls rest against her forehead over each temple. Her black dress has voluminous, puffy sleeves framing a sheer, butter-yellow panel covering her chest. White ruffles emerge at her neck and cuffs. A gold Maltese cross, which flares at the end of each arm, hangs from a thick gold chain that falls over her chest and down to her waist. She touches the chain with her left hand, on our right, and with the other she holds the body of a small furry brown animal with bared teeth. The background behind the woman is black down the center and a dark emerald-green curtain falls to either side.

This vertical portrait painting shows a pale-skinned older woman wearing a full, long-sleeved black dress with a wide white ruff at her neck and white lace cuffs at her wrists. She sits in a curving, low-backed wood chair against a pale brown background. Her body and the chair are angled slightly to our left, and she looks directly at us. She has small eyes, pink, rounded cheeks, and a wide chin. Her lips are parted in a slight smile, and her hair is covered by a starched, sheer white cap that flares at the sides. The ruff around her neck is gathered in accordion-like, narrow figure-eight folds, and it extends flat and stiff, nearly to her shoulders. Close inspection reveals that the dress is woven with a black-on-black brocade pattern and has a line of small black buttons down the front. She holds a small brown leather book tooled with gold ornament in her right hand, on our left, and her other hand rests on the arm of the chair. She wears a gold ring on each hand. An inscription is painted to our left of her head: “AETAT SVAE 60 ANo 1633.”

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"

Walking ensemble

Shown from the shoulders up, a man with peachy skin looks off to our left as he holds the feathered end of an arrow up in a hand resting along the bottom edge of this vertical portrait painting. Shown against a marine-blue background, he looks into the distance with hazel eyes under bushy eyebrows. He has a long, bumped nose, and his full, pale pink lips are closed. His round cheeks are tinged with pink, and there is a hint of a five-o-clock shadow around his mouth and jawline. Chestnut-brown, curly hair hangs to the base of his neck, and wispy curls fall across his forehead from under his tall, chocolate-brown cap. The cap has a small gold pin high over the ear we can see. The man wears a garnet-red jacket with a black collar over a white collarless shirt decorated with five black, narrow bands below the neckline. The fingers of his right hand, to our left, rest with the fingertips braced along on the bottom edge of the painting, as if along a ledge. He pinches the shaft of an arrow with his index finger and thumb, so we see the sienna-brown feathers. He wears a gold ring embedded with a small blue gem near the first knuckle of his ring finger.

Shown from the waist up, a woman with pale skin and brown hair, wearing a dark corset and white fabric over her shoulders, looks down at needlework in her hands in this vertical painting. Her cheeks are rosy and her dark hair is pulled back, though it seems looser down the sides of her face. A small, coral-red, crescent shape at the back of her head could be covering her hair or holding it in place. White, nearly translucent fabric lies loosely across her shoulders over a dark, moss-brown, long-sleeved dress. Her breasts swell over the squared, lace-trimmed neckline. She holds white fabric and perhaps a needle in her hands, which rest on a tan cushion on her lap. The scene is loosely painted throughout so some of the details are difficult to make out. A darker spot along her right index finger could be a thimble. The background is the same olive-tan of the cushion.

The Connoisseur

A pale-skinned woman sits on a red velvet chair, which is almost entirely hidden by her voluminous, dark emerald-green and gold gown, in this vertical portrait painting. The woman sits in the center of a shadowed, cavernous space, and her body and dress nearly fill the composition. Her body is turned slightly to our right, and she looks at us from the corners of her large, dark eyes. She has a round face, slightly flushed cheeks, and her full, rose-pink lips are closed. Her tawny-brown hair is pulled back under a headband that glints silver over her right ear, to our left. A goldenrod-yellow flower is tucked into her hair near that spot. Her tall, gossamer lace ruff collar is pleated into figure-eights, and it spans the width of her shoulders. Dots of white paint suggest detailing along the pleated edges. The fabric of her gown is so dark green that it appears black in some places, and it is decorated with bands of gold embroidery down the front of the bodice and full skirt, and around the bottom hem. A cape-like garment splits over long, puffy sleeves, which end with pleated, fog-gray fabric at the wrist. The cape and sleeves are densely ornamented with vegetal designs in glimmering gold. She rests her left elbow, on our right, on the arm of her chair so her hand rests palm up, near her waist. The other hand hangs off the end of the other arm of the chair, which is covered by her sleeve. A closed, black and gold fan hangs on a gold chain near that hand. Her skirt brushes the carpet, which is patterned with floral designs in ruby red, mustard yellow, and charcoal gray. The only parts of the chair that we see are a gold orb finial over her right shoulder, to our left, and the velvet-covered arm of the chair on the opposite side. Above the woman to our right hangs the edge of a muted gold curtain. The woman is lit from behind us, and the space around her is largely swallowed in shadow. Another curtain is lifted in the room behind her. Through it, we look out onto a landscape with a stone tower and buildings under a sky swirled with parchment brown, steel gray, and a sweep of brick red.

Shown from the chest up, a young man with a plump, pale-skinned face hooks one elbow over the back of a wooden chair and looks at us in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s body faces our right as he turns his head over his right shoulder, closer to us, to gaze out with brown eyes under lifted brows. His nose ends with a round bump, and his round cheeks are flushed. He has a wispy mustache over full pink lips, which are parted. He wears a tall-crowned, brimmed black hat over a cloud of wavy, shoulder-length black hair. A lace-edged white collar spreads over an ink-black, satin coat. His right elbow is planted across the back of the chair, which has carved finials to either side. That hand is closed in a fist, which may hold something. The man’s hat casts a shadow on the right side of the taupe-gray wall behind him, where the artist has signed the painting with two monograms of his initials, “HF.” The brushwork is loose throughout, especially so in the man’s clothing.

No 1. From "The Parsifal Series", painted 1916. From an exhibition at Moderna Museet, Stockholm.

Hilma af Klint - Group IX/SUW, The Swan, No. 7, 1915

Shown from the waist up, a cleanshaven man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a black cap and a voluminous fur-lined, black cloak, is positioned behind a crimson-red ledge or tabletop in this vertical portrait painting. His head and torso nearly fills the composition. His body is angled to our left, and he looks off in that direction with dark brown eyes under faint eyebrows. His high cheeks are lightly flushed, and he has a pointed nose and a hint of a five o-clock shadow. His soft black cap has flaps that cover his ears. The wide, fur lapels of his black cloak nearly reach his shoulders. The sleeves of the garment beneath has a tan and black checked pattern, and a white undershirt peeks out at his neck and cuffs. A cross hanging from a heavy gold chain has black pearls in the cross of each arm and a teardrop-shaped black pearl hangs from the bottom. The cross has a hand on each short arm, two feet on the long leg, and a red circle at the center. The sitter’s left hand, on our right, rests on the red ledge holding a pair of gloves that are ivory white around the wrist and charcoal gray at the fingers. His right hand, father from us, rests in a loose fist near his other wrist. A folded piece of white paper with black writing lies to our left of the hands. It reads, “NVNQVID NON PAVCITAS DIERVM MEORVM FINIETVR BREVIS.” The background behind the man is mottled with rust brown and steel gray. Gold writing spans the background to either side of the man’s head, reading, “BRIANVS TVKS, MILES, ANO ETATIS EVAE LVII” along the top and “DROIT ET AVANT” below.

The Devil Speaks (Mahna No Varua Ino) (recto); Women Washing Clothes (verso)

Krishna and Balarama Fight the Evil King Kamsa’s Wrestlers: Page from a Dispersed Bhagavata Purana

Portrait of Isabella Brant

Church Bells Ringing, Rainy Winter Night

A young girl stands next to and holds the hand of an elegantly dressed woman sitting in a wooden armchair near stone columns, in front of a crimson-red curtain pulled up to reveal a distant landscape view in this vertical portrait painting. The child and woman have smooth, light skin, and the fabric of their dresses has a silken sheen. To our right, the woman sits with her knees angled slightly to our left, and she looks at us with dark blue eyes under faint brows. Her brown hair is pulled back from her high forehead under a hair covering set with pearls. Her pointed chin is slightly pulled back, and her pale pink lips are closed. A teardrop-shaped pearl hangs from the ear we can see, and she wears two strands of pearls like a choker, above a thick, pleated lace ruff. The fabric of the long-sleeved bodice has a gold-on-gold pattern, and is lined with a row of buttons down the front. Filmy lace cuffs extend back over her forearms from her wrists. Her full, floor-length skirt is scarlet red with a gold, brocade-like pattern, and has silvery-gray stripes down the front and around the lower hem. The cloak she wears over the dress has a black-on-black floral pattern. Three thick gold chains hang across her bodice, and she wears a square-cut, gray stone set in a gold ring on the third finger of her left hand. To our left, the young girl stands next to the wooden arm of the chair and holds the woman’s hands with both of hers. The child looks at us with gray eyes, and her pale pink lips are parted in a slight smile. Her light brown hair is pulled back under a gray band, perhaps of fur, around her head, over an apricot-colored head covering that matches her dress. The tight-fitting, long-sleeved bodice is striped with bands of alternating gold and pink geometric designs against the apricot-peach background. A lace-edged collar lies across her shoulders. A red, oval pendant hangs from her three-standed pearl necklace, and she wears three pearl bracelets on one wrist. A thick gold chain falls across her chest and around one hip. The floor-length, full skirt has buttercup-yellow and shell-pink highlights on the coral-colored background. Behind the pair, the red curtain has been pulled up so it seems to flutter behind the woman’s head, in front of stone columns that frame a distant landscape view with trees. A blocky structure, presumably a building, sits on the far distant, hazy horizon. Light pours down in streaks from steel-gray clouds against a pale blue sky.

Shown from the hips up, a man with peachy skin and long, brown curly hair and goatee stands in front of a window opening onto a moonlit sky in this vertical portrait painting. His body faces our right and his right fist, closer to us, rests on his hip so his elbow juts toward us. Wearing a dark, wide brimmed hat, he turns his head to look over his right shoulder directly at us. His eyebrows are slightly raised over brown eyes, and he has a bumpy nose, a slight double chin, and pale pink lips that curve in the suggestion of a smile. He wears a golden yellow jacket with buttons along the sleeve we can see. The wrist of the jacket is trimmed with a wide, lace-edged cuff and a similarly wide, lace-trimmed collar lies over the armor breastplate that covers his chest. A marigold-orange sash is tied around the breastplate as well near the waist, and the goldenrod-yellow jacket drapes from a portly belly over his hips. He stands in front of a gray wall pierced with a rectangular window. The view has a veil of dark gray clouds over the moonlit sky.

Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl

A young, pale-skinned woman with reddish-blond hair sits with a nearly nude, chubby toddler standing in her lap in this vertical painting. She looks down at him, her body and face angled to our left. Thin lines creating a gold halo fan out from the back of her head. An ivory-white scarf wraps around her head and trails down the back of her neck where it is tucked into a dark, teal-blue cloak covering her shoulders and draping across her lap. Under the robe, she wears a loose, cherry-red gown with vertical pleats over her chest. The baby, also with pale skin, reddish blond hair, and a delicate gold halo, looks up at her face with light brown eyes. He stands on the woman’s right thigh, to our left. One of the woman's hands wraps around his body and supports his legs, while she props up his chest with her other. A length of pale gray fabric wraps over one shoulder and around his stomach. The two are situated in front of a column and pillar supporting a horizontal lintel overhead. The view beyond is of a blue sky over a golden field with dark green conical cypress trees in the distance.

John Milton Hay

Cupboard

A pale-skinned woman wearing a long, rose-pink gown sits amid a lush landscape in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body is angled to our left, but she turns her head to look at us with green eyes under dark brows. She has a long, straight nose, smooth, flushed cheeks, and her carnation-pink lips are closed. Her long, curly, ash-brown hair is loosely pulled back in an emerald-green ribbon, but tendrils floating around her face seem to lift as in a breeze. A ponytail or thick tendril drapes over her far shoulder, almost reaching her waist. The low neckline of her gown is wrapped with translucent, gold cloth, and the elbow-length sleeves are gauzy white. The gown has a pale pink bodice and long, full skirt. Ribbons the same green as the one in her hair wrap around her waist and around the elbow we can see. She crosses her ankles so delicate, high-heeled, charcoal-gray slippers peek out from the bottom hem of her skirt. She sits on a gray boulder, her hands folded in her lap as she holds the ends of her translucent scarf. A tall tree grows along the right edge of the composition to arc up and over with olive-green and harvest-gold leaves. Beyond the woman, the land dips down to our left back into a tree-filled valley. Swipes of slate blue in the distance could be mountains. A short distance from us, to our left, one tree with a narrow, pale green canopy grows up against the sky. Behind that tree, yellow sunlight breaks through light blue, lavender-purple, and silver clouds that fill the rest of the sky. Parts of the scene are loosely painted with swirling, fluttering strokes, especially in the woman’s costume and the trees around her.

This painting shows a man standing upright, his body slightly turned to the right. He has pale skin and curled white hair under a large black hat, and he wears a long brown jacket over a yellow vest with a white ruffled neck and a wide blue-and-white striped sash over his torso. His pants are black, and he wears tall black boots with brown tops. His hands are covered by yellow gloves, and he is holding a tall, thin rifle on the left, its bottom on the ground. Next to him on the right is a white dog with brown spots and large brown ears. The dog is sitting, looking up at the man. The background features an outdoor setting, with a landscape of hazy hills in shades of pale green and blue below a white and gray sky. There is a tall, dark green tree behind the man, and the ground he stands on is brown.

The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John

Shown from the lap up against a dark background, a pale-skinned woman wearing a black dress looks out at us in this vertical portrait. Soft light coming from our left highlights her oval face, the peach blush on her cheeks, and her crisp white collar, cap, and cuffs. Her brown hair is pulled back under the cap that flares slightly over her ears and the wide, lace-trimmed collar covers her shoulders. She has dark eyes, a straight nose, and her pink lips are slightly parted. Her left arm, on our right, rests on a table covered with a rose-red patterned carpet next to two pieces of fruit, perhaps apples, and a book fastened with metal clasps. She rests her other arm on the arm of the wooden chair and holds a deep pink carnation the same color as the carpet. She wears a ring on the third finger of each hand. The artist signed the work with black paint against the dark background near the upper right corner: “Rembrandt. f.1656.”

Mural Fragment Depicting a Maguey Bloodletting Ritual

Gian Lodovico Madruzzo

A partially nude woman with pale, peachy skin sits to our left looking into a mirror held up by a nearly nude, winged child to our right in this vertical painting. The woman’s body is angled to our left but she looks across her body to our right. She holds her left hand to her chest, and her right hand grips the fur-lined edge of the scarlet-red, velvet fabric that drapes over that upper arm and around her hips. Her blond hair is coiled up in rows of pearls, and she has dark eyes, a straight nose, and her pale pink lips turn up in a subtle smile. A teardrop pearl earring hangs from the ear we can see, and she wears rings and gold bracelets. The child-like figure to the right stands on a gold-striped cushion facing away from us as he holds up the rectangular, black-framed mirror. He has small silver wings and a sash of golden yellow hangs from one shoulder around the opposite hip. A second child reaches from behind the mirror to hold up a ring of laurel leaves. A forest-green curtain is gathered in the upper left corner and the beige wall beyond falls into shadow to our right.

Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses'

La Femme au miroir

Invocation to Love

After the Hurricane, Bahamas

Winter Trees Reflected in a Pond

Coat

The Adoration of the Magi

Shown from the waist up on the other side of a strawberry-red table, an elderly, pale-skinned woman sits facing us, sleeping with her head propped on her hand in this vertical painting. She is brightly lit from our upper left, which creates deep shadows across her face, and behind and around her. The woman rests her cheek against her closed left fist, to our right. That elbow is propped on a gold and amber-yellow cushion tucked into the corner where the table meets the wall to our right. Her brows are slightly furrowed over deep-set eyes. She has loose jowls, thin lips, and wrinkles line the corners of her eyes and her mouth. Almost lost in shadow, her other hand rests on the large book lying open before her. She wears a black coat draped over a parchment-white garment. Her hair is covered by a ginger-brown and black striped veil that hangs to her shoulders. Three iron-gray keys hang from a rail running across the wall next to her at head height. The wall is sage green and mustard yellow in the light, and the corners and left edge are swallowed in shadow. The artist signed the painting in capital letters on the right, just above the rail, “N. Maes.”

Shown from the shoulders up, a man with a flushed complexion, wearing a crimson-red cap and garment, looks at us from the corners of his eyes in this vertical portrait painting. He is brightly lit from behind us and the mahogany-brown background is deep in shadow. The man’s shoulders angle to our right, and he turns his head slightly to look at us with brown, deep-set eyes under arched brows. His wispy, auburn-brown goatee is tinged in silvery gray. His nose is slightly bulbous, and his thin lips are tightly closed in a straight line. Wrinkles and jowls give his face a paunchy look. His tall, flat-topped, fez-shaped hat covers his hair. A white, nearly translucent collar curls up along his neck and flares out to points at his collar. Rose-pink highlights on his red cape suggest it is a shiny material, like silk, and it is fastened with several small, dark buttons down the front.

Dozens of people form a line starting from an opening in a city wall or building in the background to a rustic shed-like structure close to us, to kneel before a seated woman holding a baby on her lap in this vertical painting. All of the people have pale skin tinged faintly with green. The top edge of the panel is shaped so it has two rounded sections like shoulders leading to a stepped, crown-like form with an inward curving triangle at the top. A nickel-gray, crenelated stone wall of a distant city is nestled into the top, stepped section, with a glimmering gold sky above filling the uppermost triangle. Tile-roofed and domed buildings and a few towers appear densely packed beyond the wall. People on foot and horseback create a line from an arched opening in the wall toward us and to our right. Three of the people on horseback in the distance wear long robes and have gold halos. The line of people winds behind a tall, narrow hill to our right and it continues close to us. Two horses, two camels, and several people wait to the right but our attention is drawn to the trio in the foreground, Mary, Jesus, and Joseph, and the three men near the infant, the Magi. Mary wears a lapis-blue mantle covering her head and shoulders over a petal-pink dress, and she sits on a wooden or stone chest in the center of the painting. Her body faces us but she turns her face to look with pale blue eyes off to our right. In one hand she holds a hexagonal gold vessel that tapers to a flame-like finial. With the other hand, on our left, she supports the blond infant sitting in her lap. He is covered only with a white cloth around his waist, and he looks toward the vessel as he holds up the index and middle fingers of his right hand. To our left and slightly behind Mary, a balding man with white hair and beard and wearing a blue garment under a red robe sits with his head propped in his hand, looking down. His other hand rests on what might be the handle of a crutch or staff. The man, woman, and child have gold halos with what appears to be writing. The three Magi also have gold halos and they all wear scarlet-red shoes. The oldest kneels before Mary and kisses Jesus's feet. He has a long, light gray beard and is balding. He wears a brocade-like gold robe over pale brick-red sleeves. A cleanshaven man with dark brown hair and wrinkles around his mouth kneels to our left as he raises a jewel-encrusted gold crown from his head. He wears a gold and red floral-patterned garment and holds a rounded vessel, also with a flame-like finial. A younger, cleanshaven man with smooth features and shoulder-length, curling blond hair to our right also wears a gold crown. A dagger hangs from the waist of his sky-blue tunic, and his leggings are pale plum purple. Both arms are bent to his hands are held up, and in his right hand, he holds another tabernacle-like gold vessel. The structure to our left houses a donkey and bull munching hay. A gold sunburst floats above the roof, which seems to be built up against the stone wall of a building. The hills and trees beyond the people is painted with pine and moss greens and brown.

George Washington

A pale-skinned young girl leaning over a low fence and holding a broom gazes in our direction in this vertical painting. Her red hair is pulled back from her round face, and she has large hazel eyes under thin brows, a petite nose, and her coral-red mouth is slightly open. She is shown from the chest up, behind a wooden partition that spans the width of the painting. She wears a loose, ivory-white shirt under a garment with pumpkin-orange straps on the shoulders and chest. She leans forward with her elbows hooked over the partition as she holds a long-handled broom to her chest. A wooden pail with a bronze handle is overturned to the right of the broom. A blocky brown object to our left is difficult to make out. A dark brown semicircular object close to us in the center of the composition resembles the mouth of a well. Soft light from the upper left illuminates the girl and the left side of the caramel-brown wall behind her and throws the right side into shadow. A signature near the lower left looks like it had been painted on the inner edge of the well. It reads, “Rembrandt f. 1651.”

Shown from the waist up, a light-skinned man sits sideways in a wooden chair so the arm closer to us rests along the chair’s back in this vertical portrait painting. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, especially in the clothing and hair. The man’s right arm, to our left, drapes across the back of the chair. His face turns slightly to our right, and he looks at us with gray eyes under black, curving brows. He has an oval face with high cheekbones and a snub nose. His coral-pink lips are closed and framed by a mustache and pointed patch of hair under his lower lip. He is lit from our left so the far side of his face is in shadow. His loose, curly brown hair cascades over his shoulders. He wears a tall black hat with a stiff, wide brim with a black rosette or pompom on the brim to our right side. The hat is tipped slightly to one side so it angles away from us. A flat, stiff, white collar extends from his chin down to his shoulders, and two tassels hang at this throat. The voluminous sleeve along the back of the chair has a gold pattern picked out in loosely painted, swirling, feathered, and flaring lines against a black background. The jacket is unbuttoned along the forearm to reveal a stark white undershirt that is gathered with a narrow ruffle at the wrist. The chair has a crimson-red center framed by wooden rails to each side and along the top. The background is earth brown to our right of the man, and deepens to dark shadows along the left. A coat of arms, the size of the man’s palm, hangs from the back wall. Three black cow heads create an inverted triangle on a gold field. Under the coat of arms the artist inscribed, “AETA SVAE.22 1645.”

Margaret Fuller

Stag at Sharkey's

Shown from the waist up, an older man with pale, peachy skin looks out at us with deep-set, gray eyes under a furrowed brow, in front of a sable-brown background in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our left, and his face turns to us. He has a faintly pink, bulbous nose, and his slightly sunken cheeks are shaded with gray. His peach-colored lips are framed with a wispy, gray mustache and goatee. Bronze-orange lines are incised within the battleship gray of his hair to create soft curls under his brown beret, which has gold trim around the base. The dark collar of his fawn-brown coat is turned up so his neck is covered. He is lit from the upper left, so his body and the right side of the painting are deeply shadowed. On our left, the canvas is painted with blended strokes of tawny and dark brown. His dark coat blends into the background, and his folded hands are in shadow in the lower left corner. The brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the man’s face. The painting is signed and dated next to his shoulder, to our left, “Rembrandt f. 1659.”

Philip Key

Evening, Melancholy I

The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede

A woman with pale white skin and her blond hair covered by a wide veil is shown from the waist up in this vertical portrait painting. Her folded hands rest on the lower edge of the panel, suggesting that she sits just on the other side, close to us. The transparent white veil covers her blond hair and falls in stiff, wide panes down in front of her shoulders. Her hair is pulled back behind a black ribbon over a high forehead. Her light brown eyes are downcast and she has a straight nose and full, pale pink lips. Her chest is covered by another veil and is tucked into the deep V-neck of her long-sleeved, black dress. A wide scarlet-red belt adorned with an ornately filigreed gold belt buckle encircles her narrow waist. Her skin, white veils, and red belt contrast sharply with her velvety black dress and the dark pine green of the background.

The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew

More in Visual Qualities

Abstract Illusionism
Allover Composition
Angular
Arabesque/Scroll
Asymmetrical
Balance
Biomorphic
Black and White
Blown-Off-Roof Perspective
Blurred
Bright and Vivid Colors
Bulbous

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