TripImprover

Little Spooners (1926) by Norman Rockwell was the cover of the Saturday Evening Post of April 24.

It captures the idea of young love and innocence. The kids were fishing, but take a moment to enjoy the sunset, ignoring their dog (though I'm sure he will soon get attention again).

This painting is also known as 'Sunset,' 'Puppy Love,' 'First Love,' and 'Boy and Girl Gazing at the Moon.'

Flaming June (1895) was painted by the British artist Frederic Leighton (1830-1896).

It shows a sleeping lady in an orange dress. We can see some flowers and the sea in the background, suggesting that she fell asleep on the patio. And that’s about all I can say about this painting. The reason is that there is no deeper story to this painting, as Leighton painted it with the idea of creating art for art’s sake. In other words, it’s just a pretty painting.

Some people have suggested that the oleander branch on the top right has a symbolic meaning, but I’m not completely sure that it does. Oleander is toxic, and so people have suggested that this symbolized the link between sleep and death. Curious to hear what you think about this…

Which scene is your favorite?

Apartment Dwellers on New Year's Eve (1948) was painted by the American artist John Philip Falter (1910-1982) and it was the cover of the Saturday Evening Post of January 3.

Through the windows, we can see a lot of different ways in which New Year is celebrated, ranging from fancy dance parties, to a lonely old man looking out of the window, to a romantic moment on the rooftop.

The Vo**ur (1944) by Norman Rockwell was the cover of the Saturday Evening Post of August 12.

Also known as Little Girl Observing Lovers on a Train, it shows a scene from a busy passenger train car. Two young (and faceless) lovers are cuddling, with their legs intertwined on the luggage on the seat in front of them. The jacket hanging on the left tells us that the man is from the air force, and as this was painted during WWII, it may have been a long time since these two lovers had seen each other. But the 6-year old girl watching unashamed takes center stage here, and I can't help wondering what is going through her head.

Shipwreck Scene (1850) was painted by the French artist Philippe Tanneur (1795-1878).

Devoid of people and full of drama, this scene emphasizes that in the face of shipwreck, people lose all control, and their fate is up to nature. Tanneur has created a dramatic nightly scene full of strong contrasts, about a ship hitting the rocks, while some of its cargo has already gone overboard.

The main question I ask myself is what the light in the left background represents. Given the reflection of it, it’s unlikely to be some light or fire from the land, so my guess is that it’s the sunrise of sunset (and depending on which of the two it is, there may be some hope for any potential survivors).

Prince William Nil Nortey Dowuona (1897) was painted by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918).

This painting was rediscovered in 2023 and first exhibited in 2025. It shows Prince William from the Ga people in West Africa.

The story of how Klimt actually met this prince is an awful one. He met the man in a zoo with human exhibitions in Vienna. These were presented in the West as ethnographic exhibitions with indigenous people from around the world.

I doubted whether to post this work, but decided to do so as it is part of world history, and should serve as a reminder that any form of racism should be opposed.

What are they plotting?

Three Black Cats was painted during the end of the 19th century by the Austrian artist Carl Kahler (1856-1906).

It's impossible to see from this image, but the painting measures 154 x 112.4 cm, making the cats larger than life. Seated on top of an ornate table, and they stare with their piercing eyes at the viewer, as if we interrupted them.

Notice how he captured the cats from three different angels, giving us almost a full view of the cat. The painting was earlier this year for sale for about 100,000 to 150,000 USD.

Walking to Church (1953) by Norman Rockwell was an illustration for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post of April 4.

For this work he was inspired by the famous painting The Little Street (1658) by Johannes Vermeer, showing a calming street scene in his hometown of Delft.

In Rockwell's version, a family walks to church on a quiet Sunday morning in Vermont. The kids perfectly match their parents, and Rockwell took great care in making them appear mid stride and in sync. He did that by having them pose with the front and back of their feet on top of books. Rockwell wanted to honor Vermeer by painting it on a same size canvas as him, but he wasn't able to do that properly, so he compromised by using a larger canvas (admitting that he couldn't mimic the skills of Vermeer).

Dying your hair was already a thing 500 years ago.

Flora was painted between 1520 and 1525 by the Italian artist Palma Vecchio (1480-1528).

It is the bouquet of flowers that the blonde woman is holding that has led many to identify her as Flora. But the National Gallery, where the painting is on display, lists the title as A Blonde Woman. Neither of the titles were given by the artist himself. He just painted it for one of the rich Venetians who notoriously enjoyed the more “sinful” parts of life, and so no title was necessary.

It was painted during a period when Venetian art was changing rapidly from public to private artworks, under the lead of artists like Giorgione and Titian. The outfit of the woman is painted with beautiful white and green colors, characteristic for the Venetian school of artists.

Rather than being a representation of the goddess Flora, she may represent a courtesan, based on the combination of her died blond hair, golden bracelet, exposed breast, and the offer of flowers to the viewer.