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(CNN)   Headline: "For almost 160 years, a Cézanne painting had a secret hiding in plain sight." Article: by "in plain sight," we mean an old self-portrait that he completely painted over and is only detectable by x-ray   (cnn.com) divider line
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    More: Interesting, Painting, Camille Pissarro, Fluorescence, Paul Czanne painting, Art museum, self-portrait, Self-portrait, portable X-ray machine  
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451 clicks; posted to Entertainment » on 15 Dec 2022 at 12:05 PM (14 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



13 Comments     (+0 »)
View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest
 
buttercat
2022-12-15 12:04:02 PM  
Painters amaze me.

It's like some kind of magic to be able to do what they do.  I feel the same way about people who can write music.

The world would be crappier without art.
 
wingedkat [TotalFark]
2022-12-15 12:20:20 PM  
That is a weird way to use plain sight for sure.

I find it interesting that one theory is that he was "suddenly inspired" to paint and painted over the portrait.

Maybe he was just really hungry?
 
KB202
2022-12-15 12:45:34 PM  
If an established artist paints over something, it's because the artist didn't think it was worth keeping.
It's not like Cezanne was short of art supply money.
 
bisi
2022-12-15 12:57:12 PM  

buttercat: Painters amaze me.

It's like some kind of magic to be able to do what they do.  I feel the same way about people who can write music.

The world would be crappier without art.


I can kind of understand how painting works, and you can always paint over and correct mistakes.
Now sculpture, that's real black magic. And I see it done every day at my job.
 
Minor Catastrophe [OhFark]
2022-12-15 12:58:14 PM  

buttercat: Painters amaze me.

It's like some kind of magic to be able to do what they do.  I feel the same way about people who can write music.

The world would be crappier without art.


Agreed.

And I find it amazing to discover an honest auto mechanic or plumber or carpenter or electrician or dentist or doctor or executioner.

They exist but you have to schedule their services months in advance.
 
shut_it_down
2022-12-15 1:08:12 PM  
y.yarn.coView Full Size
 
tom baker's scarf
2022-12-15 1:13:57 PM  
i much the same way i've cleverly hidden, in plain site, the hideous avocado green backsplash that was in our house when we bought it.
 
kermit the forg [TotalFark]
2022-12-15 1:36:28 PM  

wingedkat: That is a weird way to use plain sight for sure.

I find it interesting that one theory is that he was "suddenly inspired" to paint and painted over the portrait.

Maybe he was just really hungry?


Maybe he just didn't like how he painted it and didn't have enough that month for another canvas
 
wingedkat [TotalFark]
2022-12-15 2:45:06 PM  

kermit the forg: wingedkat: That is a weird way to use plain sight for sure.

I find it interesting that one theory is that he was "suddenly inspired" to paint and painted over the portrait.

Maybe he was just really hungry?

Maybe he just didn't like how he painted it and didn't have enough that month for another canvas


That seems more likely to me.

Although, if he didn't like it, why not scrape it down to provide a better foundation?  Why just paint over it?
 
slantsix
2022-12-15 7:14:17 PM  

wingedkat: That seems more likely to me.

Although, if he didn't like it, why not scrape it down to provide a better foundation?  Why just paint over it?


Because back before the days of instant fame, nobody ever said "this is going to be my masterpiece!"

Instead artists painted over the same canvas because it was cheaper / more convenient / they're just trying something out without the expectation that it'll ever become important or famous. Oh, and art supplies were typically very expensive, unlike today.
 
lilistonic [BareFark]
2022-12-15 8:48:50 PM  
Cézanne has always fascinated me. His studies of Mont Saint-Victoire have influenced me in a couple different ways. Recently I read an article on the BBC website about his particular way of viewing things as there's currently an exhibit of some of his work at the Tate Modern, which sort of freshly inspired me as I looked toward my first cataract surgery (which was two days ago.)
 
wingedkat [TotalFark]
2022-12-15 8:57:07 PM  

slantsix: wingedkat: That seems more likely to me.

Although, if he didn't like it, why not scrape it down to provide a better foundation?  Why just paint over it?

Because back before the days of instant fame, nobody ever said "this is going to be my masterpiece!"

Instead artists painted over the same canvas because it was cheaper / more convenient / they're just trying something out without the expectation that it'll ever become important or famous. Oh, and art supplies were typically very expensive, unlike today.


Yes, that all would be why he reused the canvas.

I was musing specifically about why he didn't take his knife and scrape the canvas clean before reuse.  It was (and is) a common practice and would have left a smoother surface.

The fact he didn't scrape is offered as the reasoning behind the "inspiration to paint immediately" theory, which I question mostly because who is "inspired"  to paint bread?
 
kermit the forg [TotalFark]
2022-12-15 10:17:32 PM  

wingedkat: kermit the forg: wingedkat: That is a weird way to use plain sight for sure.

I find it interesting that one theory is that he was "suddenly inspired" to paint and painted over the portrait.

Maybe he was just really hungry?

Maybe he just didn't like how he painted it and didn't have enough that month for another canvas

That seems more likely to me.

Although, if he didn't like it, why not scrape it down to provide a better foundation?  Why just paint over it?


Scraping was too much work.
 
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