iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

By Claude Monet (1840-1926), Autumn Effect at Argenteuil , 1873, The Courtauld, London. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #impressionism

From the museum: “He painted this view of the river Seine and the town from his specially designed studio boat, moored on a quiet side channel. Although parts of Argenteuil’s townscape can be recognised in the background, the real subjects of this work are the flamboyant autumn colours and the effect of light and wind on water. The fluttering orange leaves contrast with the blue water, rendered as thick parallel lines. Monet added texture to the trees by scratching into the paint with the handle of his brush. Autumn Effect at Argenteuil was included in the Second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. When shown in London in the 1880s, critics praised the freshness and vibrancy of its colour.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

By the first African American artist to receive national & international recognition: Robert S. Duncanson (1821–1872), Minneopa Falls, 1862, oil on canvas, Cincinnati Art Museum. A nearly identical work is in the Milwaukee Art Museum. #blackart #blackartist #blackartists #BlackHistory #art

From Fine Art America: “Painted in 1862, Minneopa Falls, Minnesota is a captivating example of Robert S. Duncanson's ability to capture the hidden gems of the American frontier. This work features the double waterfall of Minneopa Creek, nestled within a lush, densely wooded limestone valley. Duncanson expertly depicts the sheer drop of the primary falls in the foreground, with its curtain of white water contrasting against the dark, cool shadows of the rocky gorge. A smaller, secondary cascade is visible in the distance, partially veiled by the thick forest canopy. In the lower left, a solitary Indigenous figure stands in quiet observation, a common Romantic trope used to emphasize the scale and untouched purity of the wilderness. The interplay of dappled sunlight filtering through the trees and the soft mist rising from the basin creates a tranquil, atmospheric scene that highlights Duncanson's mastery of the Hudson River School style.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

By Zinaida Serebriakova (1884-1967), Green Autumn Landscape, 1908, oil on canvas, 43.4 x 45 cm, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. #art #womanartist #womenartists #painting #oilpainting

From Byron’s Muse on Wordpress: ‘“Green Autumn Landscape”, shows an early autumn scene. Nearly the entire canvas shows a vast field stretching on and on in long, neverending vertical lines. Three windmills break up the space for the moment but then the fields spread on more and more in the distance. The sky is light grey and quiet. No crows are restlessly, nervously flying low above the fields, but still there is a sense of foreboding because we know that the fogs will soon descent and hover above the fields, that the green that is so pleasant to the eyes will turn to brown soil. To me, this painting represents autumn’s sense of desolation, painted in a very simple but beautiful way. It also brings to mind many landscapes by Vincent Van Gogh.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I fear that scenario as well. 🫂🙏🏼

Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

By Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010), Autumn onto the Wall, 1991, oil on board, 30 x 55 cm (11 ¾ x 21 5/8 inches), photo: Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 May 2018. #art #arthistory #chineseart

From the lot essay: The canvas is populated by a dense swathe of chrome orange and earthy red; the application of colour is performed with an immediacy, whereas unbridled abstract lines roam the canvas. By creating a dynamic between the correlations of each subject -- the lines of white birches, the shape of flattened sky, and the rubbing brushstrokes of the wall -- all subjects aspire to invite the viewers to imagine reality through the subjective tones of orange-red.

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

By Shiro Kasamatsu (1898-1992), Mountain Cottage in Autumn, woodblock print. #arthistory #woodblockprint #woodblock #japaneseart #printmaking

In the foreground a cottage with a small outbuilding. Beside it, a water wheel. Behind it, trees with yellow and orange leaves. Behind them trees with green leaves. In the far background a mountain.

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By Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), Gravemarker Moon, 1886, color woodblock print. As a print, it appears in many collections, both public and private. This image is from the British museum, London. #arthistory #art #printmaking #woodblockprints #japaneseart

From the University of Oregon, The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints: “The old woman seated on the fallen grave marker is the celebrated beauty and poetess Ono no Komachi (9th century). Komachi lost her beauty, position, and wealth, but after wandering destitute for many years, gained enlightenment.”

One of Komachi’s poems:

“The autumn night
is long only in name—
We’ve done no more
than gaze at each other
and it’s already dawn.”

Translated by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Arantani

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My latest sketch. Portrait of Toni S. Based on a photo the subject posted on the Museum by Sktchy app. Drawn freehand on my iPad Pro using the Sketch Club app. #sketchclubapp #digitalart #ipadart #artapp #drawingapp

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Thank you. ❤️ It’s actually an artful tangled finger-combed come-over about to collapse. The color however is indeed my natural color now. Back in the day I was a brunette. People who have only known me with gray hair are very surprised to see old pics of me.

And the unfiltered version.

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

You are fetchingly lovely, as always. Here’s my Sunday Selfie. Shot with my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Edited in Hipstamatic (Jack London/DC/Apollo filters). #hipstamatic #iphonography #iphoneonly #selfportraitsunday #instagram

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By Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), “Ozark Autumn, 1949, oil and tempera on board, photo: Christie's New York, 21 May 2015. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #art From the lot essay: “Benton’s sympathetic depictions of the toiling farmer are perhaps his most celebrated works.”

From the lot essay: "Ozark Autumn presents a group of farmers laboriously harvesting corn by hand. Benton focuses on the dignity and exertion of the men as they endure backbreaking labor without the aid of machinery... Benton integrates the figures into the landscape, with the human form mimicking the curves of the rolling hills and the ominous sky... The dynamism of the work can also be credited to Benton's study of the twisting compositions of Mannerist and Baroque artists like Jacopo Pontormo and El Greco. The impression of the sculpture-like painted figures in Michelangelo's paintings he saw at the Louvre would also remain with Benton and inspire the almost tactile elements in his paintings... Benton imbues Ozark Autumn with a sense of motion through his use of sinuous line, expressive brushwork and rich color, and as is typical of Benton's paintings, the composition has a spiraling configuration, which pulls each individual element into a unifying scheme of visual rhythm. Ozark Autumn is a masterwork of Benton's signature Regionalist style depicting the picturesque landscape and the inhabitants of his native Midwest.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Oh, I see. Well, it’s still cool!

Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

You helped co-founder the Blue Star Arts Complex? That’s soooooo cool!

Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

blackartmagazine.com/insights/bla...

blackartmagazine.com

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

By 19th century African-American/Canadian artist Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828-1901), Walking Through a Field, ca. 1870–1880’s, oil on canvas, 22x42 inches, photo: Lincoln Glenn Gallery, New York. #art #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistory

From the museum: ‘The painting's bucolic imagery of agricultural workers walking along picturesque paths, tracks and roads~ across crop fields and pasture land, up gentle hills, by rivers, or through shaded woodland is a constant throughout all phases of the artists career, reflecting not only his long-term aesthetic allegiance to American and French Barbizon, but also his childhood roots in Canada, where he helped with livestock on the Hatch farm in the timber town of Saint Andrews, and his close artistic, en plein air engagement with the New England agrarian landscape. In this work Bannister employs a compositional theme of the rural track, depicting both groups and solitary farm workers, and other country folk, some driving sheep or cows. The artist depicts his figures with wood cutting tools to identify characters' hands to identify their specific type of labor and to underline their rusticity.
Edward Mitchell Bannister was one of the few African American painters of the nineteenth century to win significant recognition. He grew up on the coast in New Brunswick, and spent several months working as a ship's cook. He lost both his parents when he was young and moved to Boston, where he took sculpture classes and learned photography. Bannister faced an uphill battle to become a professional artist. In 1867 the New York Herald stated that "the Negro seems to have an appreciation of art" but went on to assert that blacks were "manifestly unable to produce it" (Driskell, Two Centuries of Black American Art, 1976). Bannister decided to prove the article wrong and in 1876 achieved his goal when one of his paintings won a medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. When he arrived to claim his prize, however, he was refused entry because he was black. Bannister was a founder and member of the Providence Art Club and was an original board member of the Rhode Island School of Design.‘

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

By African-American artist William Scott (1884-1964), “The Maker of Goblins,” 1919, oil on canvas, 32 1/8 × 26 1/8 inches, The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, SC. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #BlackArt #blackartists

From the museum: "Characteristic of William Edouard Scott's depictions of African American life, The Maker of Goblins is a playful rendering of the autumnal tradition of pumpkin carving."
And 'In the groundbreaking anthology, The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925), educator and philosopher Alain Locke wrote of the need for African American visual artists to raise "the Negro subject from the level of trivial or sentimental genre to that of serious type study . . . and furnish the fullest and most revealing portrayal of Negro life." Citing the work of Henry O. Tanner, Hale Woodruff, and William Eduoard Scott, Locke hailed the "advent of a representatively racial school of expression, and an important new contribution, therefore, to the whole body of American.”’

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Langston Hughes: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” Here is a copy of the book “The Weary Blues,” by Langston Hughes. Cover art: Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957). Photo: Sotheby’s. #art #poetry #BlackHistory #hispanicart

A tattered, ripped book cover with the words “The Weary Blues” (the word The mostly ripped off), and “by Langston Hughes” (the “S” torn away). A stylized Black man plays the piano. A lamp above the keys radiates a stylized burst of yellow light.

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

By Abu'l-Qasim, "A Court Musician Playing the Kemancheh, Qajar, Iran, early 19th-century, oil on canvas, 55½ x 31 5/8 inches (140.8 x 80.4cm.), photo: Christie's London, 26 Apr 2012. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting #iranart

From the website: "a young musician wearing a red floral embroidered skirt and jewelled yellow jacket kneels on a floral carpet playing a kemanche, before her a white floral tray with two glasses, very small areas of repainting, unlined, in gilt-wood frame with identification inscription below.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

By African-American printmaker Raymond Steth (1917–1997), Evolution of Swing, 1939, lithograph, image: 12 11/16 x 16 3/4 in. (32.2 x 42.6 cm). #art #arthistory #BlackArt #BlackArtist #BlackHistory

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: “Evolution of Swing illustrates the development of swing music from its origins in rural Africa, represented by the scene at lower right, through the enslavement of Africans by white Americans, to the urban centers of the twentieth century. The subject is representative of the centrality of black American history and culture in Steth’s work. He took cues from the three primary leaders of the Mexican muralism movement—his contemporaries José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros—in producing a flowing, allover composition that conveys an intelligible narrative. The print is based on a drawing that Steth used in his application to the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program that financially supported unemployed artists. He was placed in the Graphics Division of the Federal Art Project in Philadelphia, where he worked for a little over two years and developed the drawing into a lithograph.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

And the unfiltered me. Boring!

Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

You are adorably winsome, as always. ❤️ Here’s me. iPhone 15 Pro Max. Edited in Hipstamatic (filters: Jack London/DC/Jolly Rainbo 2X). #iphonography #hipstamatic

Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

By Ìgùn Ẹ́rọ̀nwwọ̀n (brass-casting guild) artists, Nigeria, Court of Benin, Horn Player, ca. 1550–1680, brass & iron, 24 3/4 × 11 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (62.9 × 29.2 × 17.2 cm), looted by the British army, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. More in ALT. #arthistory #art #africanart #africaart #Sculpture

From the museum: “This figure of a court musician playing a side-blown trumpet attests to the technical virtuosity of the Benin bronze-casters. The figure's elaborately textured garment depicts the hide of a leopard, an animal associated with the power of the Oba. Similarly, the strands of coral around his neck and chest reaffirm this musician's status in the Benin court, since coral, like bronze and ivory, is a royal prerogative in Benin.”

Also from the museum: “The British invasion of the capital of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 was part of a campaign waged from 1892 through 1902 to forcibly bring most of the inland territory of modern-day Nigeria under British rule. With the British conquest of Benin City, Oba Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar and soldiers plundered the palace. The brutality of the removal of its contents has forever decoupled altars dedicated to each individual oba dating from 1300 to Benin’s conquest with the specific works conceived to commemorate them…

Subsequent to the nineteenth century dispersal of Benin works, awareness of their extraordinary aesthetic power, beauty, and complexity profoundly influenced Black public intellectuals. Notable among these in the U.S. were W.E.B. Dubois, Alain Locke and artists from the Harlem Renaissance on. At the same time, their relegation to ethnographic museums during the colonial era continues to reflect the legacy of their forceful removal and segregation from comparable cultural achievements by Western creators.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

By Antoni Clavé (1913-2005), Harlequin, 1948, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm (31 7/8 x 25 5/8 inches), photo: Christie’s Paris, 6 Dec 2017. More info in ALT. #arthistory #paintimg #oilpainting

A painting of a harlequin (not the DC character), playing a guitar. Very Picasso-esque. From Artnet: “Antoni Clavé was a Spanish painter, printmaker, and set designer celebrated for his dark and lyrical abstractions. Largely influenced by French impressionists like Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, Clavé developed his own style of collage using paint along with materials such as wood and metal to create richly textured and layered compositions. He frequently employed newspapers and other printed materials in his works in a manner reminiscent of the French artist movement of affichistes. Born in Barcelona, Spain on April 5, 1913, Clavé received his formal training at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona under artists such as Angel Ferrant and Félix Mestres Borrel. He was notably also a theatrical designer, creating sets for opera and ballet, and was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, for his work on the film Hans Christian Andersen (1952). Today, his work can be found in the collections of the Paris Museum of Modern Art, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others. The Catalan artist died on August 31, 2005 in Saint Tropez, France.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

By Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951), A Moonlight Music Party, woodcut (chromoxylograph) printed in color, 6 ¾ x 9 ¼ in. (17.1 x 23.4 cm.), photo: Sotheby’s New York, 16 March 2021. #arthistory #art #printmaking #woodcut

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Woman at the Piano, 1875-1876, oil on canvas, 93 × 74 cm (36 9/16 × 29 1/8 inches), The Art Institute of Chicago. #arthistory #oilpainting #painting #impressionism

A young white woman at the piano, painted in Impressionist style, very loose, lovely colors. Info about the artist, from Sotheby’s, “21 Facts About Pierre-Auguste Renoir,” January 26, 2026: ‘Renoir began his artistic career as a porcelain painter… He displayed a quick talent for the work (which principally involved copying floral designs to decorate plates and dish-ware) but found himself eager to expand his horizons. He began frequenting the galleries of the Louvre, where he applied his skills as a copyist to studying the great masterworks…

Later in life, he suffered from debilitating rheumatoid arthritis, causing him to make creative adaptations to his painting technique.

Renoir began to develop arthritis around 1892, causing progressive deformities of the hands, ankylosis of his shoulders and elbows, and eventually severely limiting his mobility. Naturally, his condition made it necessary for Renoir to adapt his methods. He relocated to the warmer climes of Cagnes-sur-Mer, near the Mediterranean coast, and took frequent spa treatments. Photographs of the artist reveal his hands wrapped in bandages to prevent skin irritation as he held his paintbrush; a palette was affixed to his wheelchair, allowing it to swivel from side to side; and a system of horizontal cylinders and a crank would enable access to different sections of larger canvases while he remained seated. Despite his deteriorating physical condition, Renoir remained committed to painting, noting: “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.”’

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Excerpt: “After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Congress passed a law that named the center for him and required it to operate as a living memorial. The governing framework that developed aimed to insulate the institution from partisanship.“ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/u...

nytimes.com

How President Trump Broke the Kennedy Center (Gift Article)

Internal emails and documents demonstrate the political capture of the institution, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection.

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

By Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), The Twist, 1964, private collection. I found very little information about this painting, not unusual for works in private collections. One source did say the medium is oil on Masonite. More info in ALT. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting

A painting of a group of young white people dancing, doing the twist, as a man (maybe a bit brown?) plays a bongo.

From the artist’s obituary in The New York Times, January 20, 1975: ‘Mr. Benton was a painter of enormous talent who believed that only by turning art to meaningful subject matter could America have an art that was not a bald imitation of the symbolic and abstract paintings that were then the vogue in Europe…

With such fellow Midwesterners as John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood, Mr. Benton became a practitioner of what became known in the Thirties as “regionalism.” It was a time when the nation concentrated on its own image. The regionalists’ art mirrored what the majority of Americans had in mind— America itself.’

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

By Colombian artist Fernando Botero (1932-2023), The Musicians, 1979, oil on canvas, 85 ½ x 74 ¾ in. (217.2 x 189.9 cm.), ©️Fernando Botero, photo: Christie’s New York, 9 Nov 2023. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting

Excerpts from the lot essay: “Lit from above by a constellation of lights, a group of musicians are neatly arranged, each poised at the ready, in picture-perfect position, about to impress their audience with an undoubtedly well-rehearsed tune. Musicians take pride of place in Botero’s oeuvre as one of the artist’s most celebrated subjects…

Drawing from a range of artistic influences, Botero approaches the time-honored theme of the musical performance from both local and international perspectives…

With The Musicians, Botero finds the perfect melody between past and present, humor and celebration, reflecting on the enduring pastimes that sustain community.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

By Okada Saburōsuke (1869-1939), Portrait of a Lady, 1907, oil, 733x615 cm, Artizon Museum, Tokyo. #arthistory #oilpainting #painting #japaneseart #asianart More info in ALT.

From the museum: “Okada Saburosuke won first prize at the 1907 Tokyo Industrial Exhibition for this painting, which initially was entitled Study in Purple, a reference to the purple cords that lace the drum. The woman wearing a Genroku-style kimono and her hair in a chignon seem about to strike the drum. In the background is a Rimpa-style folding screen with a design of fringed pinks and flowing water. This painting was commissioned by Takahashi Yoshio, who was involved in the management of Mitsukoshi Drapery Store and had touched off the Genroku motif boom. The subject is his wife, Chiyoko. This familiar painting was used in a poster for the Mitsukoshi’s Spring New Pattern Show and later as a postage stamp.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

By Caravaggio (1571-1610), The Musicians, 1597, oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 46 5/8 inches (92.1 x 118.4 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. #arthistory #painting #oilpainting The museum: “Caravaggio was one of the most revolutionary figures of European art.” More info in ALT.

From the blog The Artistic Adventures of Mankind: “The painting is supposed to represent an allegory to music as sustenance of love in the same way that, for example, food is the sustenance of life. The composition of the Musicians is one of the most challenging Caravaggio achieved during his life as he was able to harmoniously place four figures so close together in a very small space. The four young boys of the painting were painted from life. We see four boys wearing classical-style robes: three of them play a musical instrument or sing, while the fourth, to the left and dressed as Cupid, looks for some grapes. The music sheets are actually madrigals, short composition celebrating love, and we can notice that the eyes of the lutenist, the main central boy, are in tears. The violin placed in the foreground can imply the presence either of a fifth participant, thus including the viewer (?) or that the boy giving the back to us just left the violin to focus on the music sheet he’s holding. It seems that Caravaggio used two models for this painting: the central figure with the lute has been identified as Caravaggio’s friend Mario Minniti, and the boy next to him looking at the viewer is possibly a self-portrait. The ‘Cupid’-boy at the left looks similar to the boy in Boy Peeling Fruit painted ca. 3 years before.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I was glad to see both The New York Times and The Washington Post ran obituaries. He was a significant figure in popular culture and shouldn’t be overlooked.

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

By Peter Max (October 19, 1937 – September 14, 2026), “Cosmic Music City,” designed as a tribute to Nashville. The artist, known for his Pop Art psychedelic style, passed away earlier this week. #arthistory #popart #psychedelicart

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

By Nigerian artist Tosin Oyeniyi (born 1987), “Hold on 2," mixed media and acrylic on canvas. More info in ALT. #printmaking #linocut #linocutprint #linoleumblockprint #africanart

A Black man, seated, cello (or bass) between his knees. From the artist's About Me on Etsy (link in comments): "I'm a self-taught Nigerian printmaker creating hand-carved, large-scale reduction linocuts on canvas from Ibadan, Nigeria. My work blends naturalism with post-expressionism to share African beauty, culture, and real Black stories with the world - one painstaking layer at a time... My art preserves, protects, and projects African culture globally. It heals wounds, calls out injustice, celebrates our legends, and speaks for the poor, the African woman, the out-of-school child, and the homeless. It's rooted in love, dignity, patience, bravery, and industry. From portraits and landscapes to abstracts and seascapes, every print carries history, hope, and humanity.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Female Dancers and Musicians in Funeral Procession, limestone bas relief, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, reign of Rameses II, ca. 1250 BC, Egypt Museum, Cairo. Reminds me of a New Orleans Jazz Funeral! #art #sculpture #egyptianart #ancient

From the museum: “A jubilation scene, probably from a funeral procession, it depicts a group of women dancing and drumming opposite rows of soldiers, priests, and dignitaries.”

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Laura JG @laurajg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Forgot ALT! From the museum: “A female chanter for a Jōruri puppet theater is captured in a quiet moment, enjoying a cup of tea in her dressing room, while she prepares for an upcoming performance… the portrait is imbued with a solemnity and psychological subtlety.”