Paintings that captivate you

[Alexei_Kirillov]

Use this thread to post any paintings/art that have particularly captivated you or spoken to you.

Here's one I encountered recently:


It's apparently of Captain Oates of the ill-fated Scott's Expedition to the South Pole. He is depicted here walking into a blizzard that he knew would kill him, but he chose to go so that his crewmates would have a better chance of survival.

 

[TheHolySword]

anything with the most beautifully painted flowers. they make me feel peaceful, in a way.

 

[SVEN]

This is the famous painting of a Roman soldier remaining at his post during the erruption of Vesuvius ,whilst the general populace panic in the background.
"Faithfull Unto Death."

 

[EternalLight]

It's called Birdman Trainer by an artist called Joe Light. For Light, the Birdman was a kind of ego surrogate that undergoes a gradual metamorphosis from a wayward vagrant, ignorant and at the mercy of the world, to a falconer of sorts, at peace with nature and master over himself. The story behind the painting makes it resonate deeply with me.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

It's an old Russian painting. It captures how it feels for me to emotionally move through life.except I lack a team of people to assist me in pulling the barge.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

View attachment 157780

It's an old Russian painting. It captures how it feels for me to emotionally move through life.except I lack a team of people to assist me in pulling the barge.

Thanks for the share, this one resonates deeply with me too (for anyone interested it's called Barge Haulers on the Volga by Ilya Repin). You can just feel the tiredness emanating off them.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Thanks for the share, this one resonates deeply with me too (for anyone interested it's called Barge Haulers on the Volga by Ilya Repin). You can just feel the tiredness emanating off them.

It definitely makes me feel bad that life in a modern place and time has to suck so much and be unworthwhile while that was what some people had to experience.

 

[sinfonia]

View attachment Sacrifice_of_Isaac-Caravaggio_(Uffizi).jpg
The sacrifice of Isaac by Merisi de Caravaggio

No matter how often I look at this painting I will always find a new way to interpret it or notice some new detail that hasn't come to my attention before. Like how all the figures in this painting have blackened eyes, not just Abraham, but his son and the angel as well, which gives it a completely new meaning. Or how the burning bush the angel is pointing to, which is supposed to be a sign from God that saves Isaac from his cruel fate, isn't even in the frame, which presents this archaic scene in it's original harshness and unwavering brutality.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

It definitely makes me feel bad that life in a modern place and time has to suck so much and be unworthwhile while that was what some people had to experience.

If there's one thing I've learned from reading history, it's that the default human condition is suffering.

 

[Pluto]

A Friend in Need (1903) by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.

Spoiler: My reaction

 

[LaVieEnRose]

If there's one thing I've learned from reading history, it's that the default human condition is suffering.

Maybe but there are still very real degrees of difference in terms of material comfort and just general facility in life in many regards and I just feel it is a great shame for me not to have an existence that takes full advantage of that.

 

[Pluto]

 

[whitetaildeer]

this is definitely one of the more well known ones, but unequal marriage by vasili pukirev (i think). i found out this painting existed a couple hours ago and it's been rent-free in my mind since then.

my favorite detail of this is the flower crown, where the flowers haven't even bloomed yet... this painting is so disturbing but i can't tear my mind away from it.