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| image via reddit |
I was just going to tweet about this, but then I decided it deserved its own post.
Someone out there is a frosting master! And, this just so happens to be my very favorite Van Gogh. I’m looking at the paper version on my wall right now:)
Happy Wednesday!
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| Oil on canvas. Part of the Frick Collection, see it on the Frick website for more info. |
A fairy-like pink-haired mother sits with her two young children standing beside her. Her little daughter looks up at her, wearing a white cotton dress, matching hat and blue-bowed shoes, her blonde hair shining and cheeks flushed. The little boy stands separate on the left, in his navy colonial-looking jacket with it’s white frill collar. His blonde hair looks just like his sister’s and he stares out at us with the same blue eyes as his mother.
Their features are perfectly synchronized, the family resemblance expertly rendered. The withdrawal behind their expressions makes it seem as if they’re trying to keep the secret of their beauty from getting out.
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| Henri Matisse’s “Odalisque in Red Pant,” 1925 (left) and the fake used to replace it. (Sofia Imber Contemporary Art Museum, via Associated Press) |
The Henri Matisse painting, “Odalisque in Red Pants” was stolen a decade ago from a museum in Venezuela. On Tuesday, a man and woman allegedly tried to sell the $3 million artwork for $740,000 to an undercover FBI agent in Miami. The couple has been charged with transporting and possessing stolen property, and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The stolen work was replaced with a look-a-like that ended up being on view for five years before anyone noticed the original was gone. They do look similar, but I think it goes without saying that the museum curators and staff should have caught the impostor much earlier. Which I suppose just goes to show that it’s the name we pay to see, and unfortunately the subtleties of even the most renowned artists can go unnoticed by the people who supposedly know them best.
Read the whole story from the LATimes here.
