Art « Country House Essays

The Legacy of Felix de Weldon

April 10th, 2019

U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial by Felix de Weldon

Felix Weihs de Weldon, age 96, died broke in the year 2003 after successive bankruptcies and accumulating $4 million dollars worth of debt. Most of the debt was related to the high cost of love for a wife living with Alzheimer’s. Health […]

The Restoration of Rosa Bonheurs Horse Fair

July 31st, 2018

Home Top of Pg. Archives

Money Saving Recipe for Gold Leaf Sizing

July 16th, 2018

Artisans world-wide spend a fortune on commercial brand oil-based gold leaf sizing. The most popular brands include Luco, Dux, and L.A. Gold Leaf. Pricing for quart size containers range from $35 to $55 depending upon retailer pricing.

Fast drying sizing sets up in 2-4 hours depending upon environmental conditions, humidity […]

The Field of the Cloth of Gold

July 4th, 2018

Reprint from the Royal Collection Trust Website

The meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, took place between 7 to 24 June 1520 in a valley subsequently called the Val d’Or, near Guisnes to the south of Calais. The […]

King William III on Horseback by Sir Godfrey Kneller

July 3rd, 2018

Reprint from The Royal Collection Trust website:

Kneller was born in Lubeck, studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam and by 1676 was working in England as a fashionable portrait painter. He painted seven British monarchs (Charles II, James II, William III, Mary II, Anne, George I and George II), though his […]

Herman de Vries at Venice Biennale 2015 – Going Caveman With Anti-Matter Fragmentation Art – A Tribute

June 29th, 2018

Dutch artist Herman de Vries – Photo taken by son Vince

The two videos below of Herman de Vries at work at the Venice Bienalle 2015 are quite inspiring.

So inspiring in fact that I moved into a cave for two weeks and wrote Shakespearean tragedy with charcoal. Filled with great […]

How to Paint a Vermeer

June 25th, 2018

http://www.vermeerscamera.co.uk/home.htm

Home Top of Pg. Archives

The Intaglio Processes for Audubon’s Birds of America

May 9th, 2018

Notes on the intaglio processes of the most expensive book on birds available for sale in the world today.

The Audubon prints in “The Birds of America” were all made from copper plates utilizing four of the so called “intaglio” processes, engraving, etching, aquatint, and drypoint. Intaglio processes […]

Audubon’s Art Method and Techniques

May 9th, 2018

Wild Turkeys – John James Audubon

Audubon started to develop a special technique for drawing birds in 1806 a Miill Grove, Pennsylvania. He perfected it during the long river trip from Cincinnati to New Orleans and in New Orleans, 1821.

Home Top of Pg. Archives […]

Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois and the Dulwich Picture Gallery

April 27th, 2018

Noel Desenfans and Sir Francis Bourgeois, circa 1805 by Paul Sandby, watercolour on paper

The Dulwich Picture Gallery was England’s first purpose-built art gallery and considered by some to be England’s first national gallery. Founded by the bequest of Sir Peter Francis Bourgois, dandy, the gallery was built to display his […]