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They're back
Two months ago, during wrangling over the Chrysler bailout plan. Original item
here.
Today, after the GM bankruptcy declaration. Both photos by Doug Mills of the NYT.
This gives me the overdue opportunity to announce the results of the "which Old Master tableau does the Obama team portrait remind us of?" competition, as previously conducted
here. Also to see if even two months in public service has had any of the famous hyper-speed aging effects so famous from past administrations. (I started working in the Jimmy Carter administration at age 27; I was in my late 40s when I left two years later.) Also, to reflect on the change in visual dramatic tension caused by Larry Summers's absence from a group portrait.
But none of this just now, as I am breaking the #1 survival rule for the correspondent 12 time zones away from the head office: never turn on the cell phone or look at the computer if you wake up at 2:30am. More later.
Last crop of political-art nominees
Starting with a late favorite in the polling, Rembrandt's
The Night Watch (two other Rembrandts among previous nominees, here). The main resonance is of course between the central figure in one scene and his counterpart in the other.
A few more after the jump.
Continue reading "Last crop of political-art nominees" »
More political artwork
We're nearing the end here. Four more proposed Old Master precursors for the memorable Obama group portrait. Previous candidates
here. Probably one more crop to come, then the exciting lessons of our brief look at art.
First,
Governors of the Wine Merchants Guild, by Ferdinand Bol. I won't pretend that this was the Old Master I was thinking of, since I'd not aware of having seen it before. But still:
Next, a
detail from Raphael's
School of Athens, featuring the raised-finger gesture we see from Obama.
After the jump, two more with the raised-finger motif.
Continue reading "More political artwork" »
Three from Frans Hals
I'm going to start moving through these more briskly now. A pattern is emerging in the elements that make the Obama group portrait seem Old Masterish. Previously
here. For now, three from Frans Hals. First,
Regents of the Old Men's Almshouse -- as with
The Anatomy Lesson, thematically strangely appropriate for the Chrysler-bankruptcy team.
If all but six people were removed from the Obama portrait, leaving only (from left) Geithner, Summers, Obama, Browner, Rattner, and Bernstein, they would match the positions and angles of the six Regents surprisingly well.* Though Carol Browner probably wouldn't be wild about the one matched with her.
Next,
Officers and Sergeants of the St. Hadrian Civic Guard
And, the famous
Meagre Company, apparently so named because the figures are all thin. On this basis, the Obama group portrait should be called
Somber Company.
More coming.
__
* Geithner, Summers, and Obama you know. The woman is Carol Browner; Steve Rattner is behind her with round glasses; Jared Bernstein is just in front of him with gray hair.
News as art, continued
Back to the "what does this scene remind me of?" category, previously
here, while still looking into further
flu news in China. Many nominations for this painting, usually with apologies for the larger Messianic implications:
After the jump, for greater clarity of detail, an early non-Leonardo copy of the painting as it once may have looked. Plus another version not by Leonardo. More to come, with eventual wrap-up thanks to all contributors.
Continue reading "News as art, continued" »
Another nominee from Rembrandt...
...in the "art prefigures" life category, previously
here and
here.
The Anatomy Lesson of Professor Nicolaes Tulp, 1632. Some obvious differences in composition. But some nice similarities. In the role of the instructive Prof. Tulp we have the instructive Pres. Obama. In the role of the cadaver, we have the Chrysler Corporation, though out of view. (Yes, yes, I have owned several Chrysler cars and know it will be stronger than ever after the restructuring, etc.) More to come.
The Syndics of Pennsylvania Avenue
The nominees are coming in for the Fine Arts precursor to yesterday's news photo of the Obama auto-industry task force, as explained
here, with several plausible contenders. First up: Rembrandt, with
Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild, 1662. More nominees on their way. And in the meantime, on the general phenomenon of Fine Arts precursors to current images, see Lawrence Weschler's
Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences, with excerpt
here.
I like some of the matchups of Tim Geithner and Gary Locke with their Amsterdam counterparts. Also, a fact worth mentioning to viewers of the second picture: surprising as it might seem given this picture, Lawrence Summers is actually quite a good athlete. The more I look at this picture, the richer it is.
News as art
From my misspent years in DC, I believe I can identify every person in this photo (just now, from Doug Mills of
the NYT):
But why didn't I take more Fine Arts classes in college? Then I would know exactly which Old Master tableau this lineup so powerfully reminds me of. The human dramas suggested by these faces. This is an impromptu work of art.
