Rec
could also talk about Marisolās Love, Jasper Johnās Painting with Two Balls, David Hammons snow balls, or Ensorās Entry of Christ but Iāve been thinking about this one more lately, mostly because the work began as Meret Oppenheim being silly and committing to the bit
From MOMA: It began with a joke over lunch. In 1936, Meret Oppenheim was at a Paris cafĆ© with Dora Maar and Pablo Picasso, who noticed the fur-lined, polished metal bracelet she was wearing and joked that anything could be covered with fur. āEven this cup and saucer,ā Oppenheim replied and, carrying the merriment further, called out, āWaiter, a little more fur!ā Her devilish imagination duly sparked, the artist went to a department store not long after this meal, bought a white teacup, saucer, and spoon, wrapped them in the speckled tan fur of a Chinese gazelle, and titled this ensembleĀ Object.Ā
From MOMA: It began with a joke over lunch. In 1936, Meret Oppenheim was at a Paris cafĆ© with Dora Maar and Pablo Picasso, who noticed the fur-lined, polished metal bracelet she was wearing and joked that anything could be covered with fur. āEven this cup and saucer,ā Oppenheim replied and, carrying the merriment further, called out, āWaiter, a little more fur!ā Her devilish imagination duly sparked, the artist went to a department store not long after this meal, bought a white teacup, saucer, and spoon, wrapped them in the speckled tan fur of a Chinese gazelle, and titled this ensembleĀ Object.Ā
Jul 20, 2025
Related Recs
Rec
Silly/serious sensual round bodies in calming colours and I have been obsessed since day dot. Um he had a style, this can be said. I am her. She is us. We are them. I will ride a bull naked but for my pearls, right into the sunset. The gentle breeze tickling my bush the blue tide swishing below me.
Rec
Milton Avery,Ā Bathers, Coney Island, 1934, oil on canvas
the first time i saw this painting in the Portland art museum, walking through the American art section with my free student ticket, i think i hated it a little. it was weird and the colors were queasy and i probably could have painted it myself.
well, i guess it grew on me over the next dozen of visits, because now i have to pay $20 to enter the museum and this is one of my favorite paintings ever. thereās something so unconsciously skillful about it to me, and extremely funny, as if the painter put me in on a joke. i even bought a museum postcard of it from eBay and framed it on my wall. on a particularly bad day in San Francisco i found myself in the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, and the sight of another Milton Avery painting brought me to tears like i had encountered a close friend. Avery lived a fairly quiet life; he didnāt find success as a painter until later in life. when he did, he wasnāt particularly financially successful. but he created art every day and taught his daughter to do the same, he used color and shape in strange and oddly transformative ways, and he had a friendship with Mark Rothko, a fellow Portland native who i admire very much, that consisted of long nights of tea and talking.
how does any of this relate to how much i love this painting? maybe i just saw it enough times during a transformative period of my life. but i love it for its vague impressions of hot dog vendors, and tough but tender hearted italian dudes, and a working class new-york dream, and imperfect people enjoying themselves at the beach regardless of the queasiness and horrors of everyday life, regardless of strange shadows and monkey people. i love it for being so weird and progressive for 1930 and kind of goth and surreal. i hope you love strange paintings too, but if you donāt, thatās alright.
the first time i saw this painting in the Portland art museum, walking through the American art section with my free student ticket, i think i hated it a little. it was weird and the colors were queasy and i probably could have painted it myself.
well, i guess it grew on me over the next dozen of visits, because now i have to pay $20 to enter the museum and this is one of my favorite paintings ever. thereās something so unconsciously skillful about it to me, and extremely funny, as if the painter put me in on a joke. i even bought a museum postcard of it from eBay and framed it on my wall. on a particularly bad day in San Francisco i found myself in the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, and the sight of another Milton Avery painting brought me to tears like i had encountered a close friend. Avery lived a fairly quiet life; he didnāt find success as a painter until later in life. when he did, he wasnāt particularly financially successful. but he created art every day and taught his daughter to do the same, he used color and shape in strange and oddly transformative ways, and he had a friendship with Mark Rothko, a fellow Portland native who i admire very much, that consisted of long nights of tea and talking.
how does any of this relate to how much i love this painting? maybe i just saw it enough times during a transformative period of my life. but i love it for its vague impressions of hot dog vendors, and tough but tender hearted italian dudes, and a working class new-york dream, and imperfect people enjoying themselves at the beach regardless of the queasiness and horrors of everyday life, regardless of strange shadows and monkey people. i love it for being so weird and progressive for 1930 and kind of goth and surreal. i hope you love strange paintings too, but if you donāt, thatās alright.
Jan 30, 2025
Rec
Another Green World, 2015, Nicole Eisenman, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.Ā
Jan 19, 2025
Top Recs from @hhtthhtthhttht
Apr 17, 2025
Rec
šOk stay with me here. Too much public filming. This is going to discourage good weird public activity. We need people being weird in public. Odd dancing, carrying around insane items, freaked out fits, etc. Instead of a quick vid to show your friends, or, god forbid, *get internet clout*, people should be sketching the scene and describing it in colorful language. Now you have to take accountability for your opinion on the matter, your draftsmanship and writing gets better, and the public freaks have plausible deniability in the job interview. This goes for drunk man on the street tik tok videos as well. Put on a newsboy cap and start jotting. There should be exceptions like intentional performances or heinous crimes of course. Iām open to other exceptions I just canāt think of any rn. This will never be a reality but i can try
Feb 25, 2025
Mar 10, 2025