Posted on 06/01/2025 5:39:14 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Flaming June triumphed at exhibition in 1895, but its moment in the sun was short. Leighton's death the following year heralded the end of an era. As Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and abstraction gained prominence in Europe and the United States, the artistic vision that he proposed came to be seen by many curators, scholars, and critics as outmoded and sentimental. Flaming June seemed superficial and vapid, an invocation of sensibilities that no longer rang true; the painting fell into obscurity. We do not know where it was from 1930 until 1962, when it resurfaced on the art market without its original frame. The painting was bought from London dealer Jeremy Maas by Luis A. Ferré in 1963, for £2,000, or about $5,600. By comparison, Cézanne's Bathers, now at The Met, sold the same year for $105,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at metmuseum.org ...
Now we have LGBTQ month .... flaming June
Wow, what an incredible painting! I’ve never seen it before nor even heard of it before. It raises so many different musings. Even the name is mysterious and evocative. Why is the pretty young lass in the beautiful diaphanous “dress”? Why did she fall asleep.? Is she actually asleep or just closing her eyes? What is she pondering? Is her name “Flaming June”? Or is it a flaming hot June afternoon?
And how did the artist paint that fabric with all the folds, creases and texture with the hint of her skin beneath?
Thanks for posting!
The “L” is actually for Leighton. /s
It ain’t no soup can.
Yes, it is beautiful.
It’s a longtime fave here. Waterhouse’s “My Sweet Rose” (it has several titles I think) is another.
I wonder how much of the modern art movement is nothing more than a century-plus long case of sour grapes about photography. Lots of artists made a living painting portraits for people. Once photography came, the middle and upper middle classes saw it was far cheaper and almost as good to get a photo. Boom, the art business is gone. No town portrait painter, no art schools and apprenticeships for trainee artists, and no more realism seen as the ideal because realism is what destroyed them. Realism is scoffed at as "superficial and vapid" while a single red square on a canvas is worshipped as true art.
LOL
I wholeheartedly agree.
The Finding of Moses | Fred Ross | 2010 [Alma-Tadema]Sotheby's
A woman’s giant butt and thighs, with a man’s big foot. The only thing fascinating is all that is topped with an out of proportioned tiny man’s head. Unless that is the joke in the painting. I wouldn’t give 2 cents for it.
Those are very good insights into how the invention of photography impacted art and related businesses. It sure led to the rise of horrifically bad “art” by no-talent people (cannot call them “artists”).
“ It ain’t no soup can.”
Heh, heh. Indeed.
I love Leighton. He did some nice bible illustrations that I have used on the Jerusalem Thread.
His heightened realism and detai, combined with a dreamy romanticism, is very appealing to me. :-)
My FB profile wallpaper is, as usual, currently a bowl of rainbow colored Froot Loops.
Let’s see if the mods catch it this time.
And he left over 550 paintings (the AI sez 568).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
.jpg?mode=max){kind=link}