minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Birds! Do you enjoy making images of our feathered friends?

Please join us for a discussion of a fascinating artwork that may remind you of one of your images. This bird, however, is almost 400 years old. The painting has intrigued viewers for four centuries.

Carel Fabritius, who studied under Rembrandt and worked in the same art guild as Vermeer, was considered one of the finest artists of the day. He painted The Goldfinch in 1654, just before he was killed at age 32 in an explosion that destroyed half the city of Delft. The painting still bears scars from the explosion.

The Goldfinch garnered a surge of interest when a novel (also named The Goldfinch) based on the painting won the Pulitzer last year, and a movie is being made of it. At the very end of the novel, the lead character, whose life has been interwoven with and driven by the painting, says, “I’ve come to believe that there’s no truth beyond illusion. Because, between ‘reality’ on the one hand, and the point where the mind strikes reality, there’s a middle zone, a rainbow edge where beauty comes into being, where two very different surfaces mingle and blur to provide what life does not: and this is the space where all art exists, and all magic.”

Tell us what YOUR thoughts are about this artwork, and while you’re at it, please share with us your favorite bird image and your thoughts about your image.

When posting your thoughts, think about some of the major elements of any good work of art –Light, Color, Moment, Composition, and of course the Subject. Here’s some more questions to consider:
*What do you see?
*How does it make you feel?
*Do you like it, why or why not?
*If you could, how would you change it?
*What do you think about the quote from the book The Goldfinch, about this painting?

References
http://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/explore/the-collection/artworks/the-goldfinch-605/?gclid=CjwKEAiAo7C2BRDgqODGq5r38DsSJAAv7dTPJCFVU8TrpuTIg3JeMMulC7r97EIqkA2LvZuij1_3nxoChPzw_wcB
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/01/face-to-face-with-the-goldfinch-the-painting-from-donna-tartt-s-novel.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/fabritius-carel-the-goldfinch-1654-744406.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldfinch_(novel)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carel_Fabritius_-_The_Goldfinch_-_WGA7721.jpg

(Download)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

In skimming through the links you provided, there was mention of how you really need to see this artwork in person. I guess so, 'cause this view does nothing for me - lol.

The first thing that bothered me is the off-balance composition - no space to the right - and I can't think of a compelling reason for it to be this way.

Also, I'm saddened by the depiction of a chained bird, with such a tiny bit of space to move around in.

Lastly, this isn't a style I enjoy. I prefer some of the paintings of impressionism style, or soft watercolors with less detail - can't explain any better than that as I never took art history :)

Here is a photo I took this winter: cedar waxwing in the ornamental cherry tree next to my apartment. I pp'd with diffusion, glow and high key because these birds are so delicate and perfect looking, they seem at times to be somewhat unreal/dream like.

(Download)

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Im with Linda here min. Never heard of the guy or the painting so its a all new to me. A prize winning book and a film always awaken interest. Pity the guy cant claim royalties huh.
Not at all convinced old masters transfer well to the screen and certainly not once they have been mangled through the Hog algorithm.
Perhaps one has to be an art buff perhaps one has to see it in real life but as depicted here its underwhelming and the picture alone would not make me rush out and buy movie tickets or pick up the book at Waterstones.
Lindas snap is preferable to this old master.
I do not do birds, damn things poo on my car lol. So an image from way back when, taken by the side of a pond in the UK.

You asked what one feels about the phrase from the book min? Nice use of language for sure but quite meaningless to a non romantic such as I. What do you think of those same words, your more inclined to dream than me?

(Download)

debbie wrazen Loc: Western New York

Excellent photo for someone who doesn't care for birds, Biilyspad; and as always, Linda, an elegant photo worthy of a significant part of wall space.
The bird in this old master's oil painting is symbolic of all of our insignificant worldly cares which chain and condemn us to a lifetime of misery. The painting was created to make us sympathize with its plight and reflect on our own existance. I was lucky to have had a good teacher in this subject many moons ago. Ditto, for this wren photo that I captured last July. It was the last light of the day when I spotted this perching beauty . Thanks, Minnie for initiating good discussion .

Wren in Summer

debbie wrazen Loc: Western New York

I apologize for not answering some of the questions directly, it was a long day at work. I agree, the portrait of a chained bird is depressing. As to the quote, the reality of freedom can indeed be an illusion , and the only real freedom is what exists within ourselves which forces us to be creative.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks Linda! I was startled too when I saw the tiny chain. Apparently it was common in the 1700's to keep finches as pets. And off course you're right that we would rarely compose this way.

I think one thing that struck me so about the painting was its simplicity/simplification, which seemed so much more modern than 1654. It is a bit of an enigma to me too.

Your waxwing is a beauty, and very much a painter's photo!

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Hya Debbie Thank you for the compliment, it was a lucky shot that was all.
I sometimes wish I had the ability to dream but its not there. So back on terra firma How do we know why our artist painted this? He appears to have met his end 400 years ago. Who the heck is chained to a lifetime of misery. If you are I offer you my sympathies but I never have been.
You assume Mr Bird is seriously peeved at his plight? Perhaps he is actually a chirpy little chap with a waiter service bringing him 3 square a day and a cosy place to hangout with a secure roof over his head.
I would have loved to question your teacher about where he got these notions and why he passed them on as facts. Its all imagination and there are two or more ways of looking at it. Non are correct as our artist is pushing up daisies or angelically cloud surfing so we cannot know.
Very nice photo Debbie.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks for sharing Billy. What we want in this series is simply that: your own response! Yah, there is always a question of how to convey what a painting is via a photo of a painting, but who better to discuss that than photographers? All of us have tried to take pictures of paintings, and we know how difficult the transfer can be. I tend to think the more texture is involved, the weaker the transfer.

Online the additional challenge for me, facilitating this series, is choosing which version to use, because there are always many, even with photographs, and they do not look the same.

I loved the words, but I'm a literature nut, and always give a try at the Pulitzer winners (don't always like them). As far as my response to the passage, I hope others will offer before I go too far, but it's mainly along the lines of art (and magic) being the offspring of reality and the human imagination, neither alone being sufficient to bring it into being. Which strikes me as having pertinence to photography too.

debbie wrazen Loc: Western New York

You're correct, Billyspad. The idea of being chained to our own misery is not fact just conjecture. There is a point when we can think 'too deep' about a topic or subject and all sensibility can be lost. 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' . Now, that's reality.
I do like movies that have a particular artwork as part of the plot . It's seemingly a new genre to reach the public's interest.
How about a movie centering on a particular photograph?

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

For me this was an amazing choice for the Monthly Masters Critique. I've had a relationship with this painting by Fabricius since childhood when I had first been stimulated toward (I thought /hoped) a lifelong career as a bird painter by Audubon's "Birds of America". Then I was given a print of this painting and learned the significance of "economy of stroke" which has remained with me as a photographer who is always skeptical of the putative absolute need for "tack sharp". Significant detail need not always be offered sharp-edged to be sharp,y perceived. I still delight in rendering birds in a variety of media (including photography) and "the Goldfinch" is always in my mind as each new image is conceived.
Here are a few, each of which owes a debt to some aspect of "The Goldfinch" by Fabricius.

Dave

bas relief carving -basalt

(Download)

intaglio carving-glass

(Download)

colored pencil

(Download)

watercolor-aquarelle and gouache

(Download)

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

for me the composition works, the bird is at the edge and can go no further. It is trapped. I like the image and the colors and tone very much. It makes me sad that a bird (that knows flight) can no longer fly. It has become a decoration, hopefully cherished and not forgotten, but nevertheless, a possession.

The story it tells me is how we long for beauty, song, and friends. And seek such by putting chains around them. It is a story of ownership and in my mind, the root evil responsible for most of the destruction of our natural world. We always do what we can and what we can get away with. We are consumers - our world, like birds... precious, vulnerable, trapped. (sorry for my rant).

titmouse

(Download)

baby wren

(Download)

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Piet,
Your titmouse is simply a superb portrait of a species I particularly l've to watch!
And your wren let image has incredible impact! The strong contrast of the rich, dark yellow against that wonderfully detailed dark BG is testimony to excellent post-processing!

Dave

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks, Debbie, for your thoughtful comments, your info about your own art education re: this painting, for returning to share more, and for your lovely wren!

And gold light is a component of both the Goldfinch and your wren. I don't do much bird photography so may have a hard time finding one to add but I can appreciate the nice ones we are seeing here.

An image, whether painted or photographed, has power when it makes us think.

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

And lest these thoughts go unsaid - I have seen Linda's wonder in a Japanese museum - I know it! And Billy's fuzzball, I've seen that little thing attack Billy's toes in his worn out sandals. And Debbie came into my yard and stole that Summer Wren - I recognize my fence.

And Dave - that is cool stuff that you do. I have always known that you love your birds. You capture and keep them in a most proper fashion!

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thank you for sharing your amazing talents with this wide variety of artworks. And in case anyone wonders, I had no idea of Dave's affinity for this painting until I announced the Masters thread. I knew I wanted to do a painting this month, and was actually inspired by Pfrancke's cardinal to select a bird painting, and this is one I have liked so... (magic maybe?)

I am glad you pointed out the significance for photographers. For me, when I saw this painting, the thing that came to mind was the simple elegance - only the bird itself and the perch and chain. No other environmental clutter, and truly no detail past what was necessary. There are simple but beautiful styles of photography that embrace these principles, and I am terrible at them.