Masher

Kitchen Art — Zurbaran

• by Nancy, April 16, 2009

“mystic intensity combined with physical paint and an ordinary fruit . . .  quiet.  overwhelming.” Peter Schjeldahl for the New Yorker, April 6, 2009.

I paint pictures. That said, I’ve been thinking a lot about painting and not the pictures. A painting is so much more than the image depicted. It’s also about the artist’s intention, the reality of the painted surface itself. It’s about the way the artist has referred to other paintings by picking up threads from the past and making decisions to continue or break from those threads. It’s about, more than anything, well, paint. This painting, one of my favorites, is now on view at the Frick in NYC. It was painted in 1633 by Francisco de Zurbaran (Spanish 1598 - 1664.) Laura sent me this link to a podcast about this painting by the art critic Peter Schjeldahl for the New Yorker who talks about all these things and more. It’s probably one of the best ways to spend ten minutes of your life as you have your morning coffee or tea, not the least to hear Schjeldahl’s take on why this painting and many others is akin to the experience of having a loaded gun pointed in your face. You’ll also be privy to a surprising fact about Schjeldahl’s education in art. Have a listen, see through Zubaran’s eyes, and if you’re really inspired hike on over to the Frick, where, as Schjeldahl points out, nothing beats seeing a painting, made of the “real stuff” of paint, firsthand.

see also: My Kitchen Door