I received a kind reply giving details about the preparations for the Christmas Competition that Tom used to set. Marion Coutts told me that traces of the work still exist in the art books which he used, containing Post-It notes, etc. Marion Coutts also confirmed that the first charity that I had identified had been supported and also that the family continued to support the Royal Trinity Hospice.
https://www.royaltrinityhospice.london/
I amended the original blog post and added this to the first charity I cited, the Brain Tumour Charity.
https://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/understanding-brain-tumours/types-of-brain-tumour-adult/glioblastoma/
I was very pleased to hear from Marion Coutts who was delighted with the idea of an ongoing blog in memory of Tom Lubbock's Competition.
I still read Tom Lubbock's critical work, particularly the posthumous collection "Great Works - 50 paintings explored"*. It was always brilliantly original and challenging. For example, in the first review of "Boy Lighting a Candle" by El Greco, Tom Lubbock starts his discussion as follows,
"Imagine three short films."
First he asks us to imagine a film of a kitchen sink. There follows a paragraph about the imaginary kitchen sink and your perception of it.
The next paragraph begins by asking us to imagine a film of a man in mid-air, falling. The detail of the falling man is given, its duration and your possible response to it.
The third paragraph starts by asking us to imagine a film of a man on a bicycle. We are told it is a stationary bike and the man's action and the lighting in the room(?) are described and your train of thought is imagined by the writer.
The fourth paragraph asks us to imagine these three films turned into still images and how that might affect us. Then Tom Lubbock asks us to imagine the three effects in a single picture. Only then does he turn to the picture which he is discussing.
This essay is a perfect example of his originality and creativity as a writer about art, a profound critic who should be read by anyone who wants to explore visual art. He will change your perception, understanding and enjoyment of well known works of art, however erudite you might imagine yourself to be. At least that's what I think, based on my own experience of reading his work.
* Great Works: 50 Paintings Explored copyright Frances Lincoln Limited 2011 Text copyright Tom Lubbock 2011
The answers to this year's Puzzle and the Winners
The Puzzle that I set brought several emails from previous competition entrants who were looking forward to studying it over the Christmas and New Year. There were, in the end, two entries by the deadline. Neither of these identified all the details. However, the winner was David Rutledge.
David identified 24 of the 32 details. David Rutledge won the Details Competition many times. David gets the gold medal this year.
The runner up was Maggie who identified 15 details, with one near miss - correct artist, but wrong title. Maggie receives the silver medal.
To all those who had a go, but did not manage an entry, I hope you enjoyed it..
Both Maggie and David appreciated the competition, with Maggie stating that, "it gave me hours of joy." David said "I'm getting rusty now, sadly".
The details that eluded both David and Maggie were as follows,
Number 7 Jan Steen's Adoration of the Shepherds
Number 21 John Singer Sargeant - The Boit Daughters
Number 22 Jacopo Bassano - The Good Samaritan
Number 23 Taddeo Gaddi - The Annunciation to the Shepherds
Number 27 David Teniers the Younger - An Old Peasant caresses a Kitchen Maid in the Stable
Number 30 Francesco Furini - Lot and his Daughters
I was concerned that I had not made some of the details sufficiently clear, or that they were too small. I think of the ones that were not found, the last one, the Francesco Furini, probably suffers most from a lack of definition.
Of the above, I was surprised that the John Singer Sargeant proved elusive. Possibly the size of the vase has something to do with it.
Overall, I think there were too many details to find in the puzzle.
I shall not make promises about next Christmas. I hope that I was able to create a little of the old magic. Any comments about this year's puzzle would be welcome.
I could put up a weekly puzzle if there is demand for it?
I am sorry there are no prizes to award.
Best wishes to all for the New Year.
Details Puzzle 2017 Answers
1. Henri Rousseau - Flowers in a Vase - 1909 - Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York
2. Hugo van Der Goes - Adoration of the Shepherds -The Portinari Altarpiece (central panel) - Uffizi, Florence
3. Fra Lippo Lippi - Annunciation - 1440s - San Lorenzo, Florence
4. Titian - Sacred and Profane Love -1514 - Galleria Borghese, Rome
5. Paul Cezanne - The Lady with a Coffee Pot - 1890-1894 - Musee d'Orsay, Paris
6. William Holman Hunt - Isabella and the Pot of Basil - 1867 - Delaware Art Museum, USA
7. Jan Steen - The Adoration of the Shepherds - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
8. Thomas Cole - The Giant's Chalice - 1833 - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
9. Peter Paul Rubens - The Union of Earth and Water - 1618- Hermitage - St Petersburg
10. James Abbot McNeill Whistler - Purple and Rose: The The Lange Leizen of the six Marks - 1864 - Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
11. Philippe de Champaigne - Le Songe d'Elié 1655 - Museé de Tessé, Le Mans
12. Albrecht Durer - Erasme de Rotterdam - 1526 - Cabinet Edmond de Rothschild, Musée de Louvre, Paris
13. Nicolas Poussin - Eliezer et Rebecca - 1648 - Musée de Louvre, Paris
14. Camille Pisarro - bouquet de fleurs dans un vase chinois - National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
15. J B S Chardin - Le Garcon Cabaretier - University of Glasgow - Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery
16. Jean-Edouard Vuillard - Vase de Fleurs - 1903 - Private Collection
17. Vincent Van Gogh - Still Life with Coffee Mill, Pipe Case and Jug - 1884 - Rijksmuseum, Knoller-Mitter
18. Claude Monet - The Luncheon - 1873 - Musée d'Orsay, Paris
19. Gustave Caillebotte - In a Cafe - 1880 - Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen
20. Paul Signac - Breakfast/The Dining Room - 1886 - Rijksmuseum - Knoller-Mitter
21. John Singer Sargeant - The Boit Daughters - 1882 - Boston Museum of Fine Arts
22. Jacopo Bassano - The Good Samaritan - 1550-1570 - National Gallery, London
23 Taddeo Gaddi - The Annunciation to the Shepherds - (fresco) Baroncelli Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence
24. Paul Gauguin - The Meal - 1891 - Musée d'Orsay, Paris
25. Laurent de la Hyre - Allegorical Figure of Grammar - 1650 - National Gallery, London
26. Luis Melendez - Still Life with salmon, a Lemon and Three Vessels - 1772 - Museo del Prado, Madrid
27. David Teniers the Younger - An Old Peasant caresses a Kitchen Maid in the Stable - 1650 - National Gallery, London
28. Edgar Degas - The Tub - 1886 - Musée d'Orsay, Paris
29. Mary Cassatt - Lady at the Tea Table - 1885 - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
30. Francesco Furini - Lot and his Daughters - Museo del Prado, Madrid
31. Diego Velasquez - The Water Seller of Seville - 1621 - Fondatione Contini, Bonacossi, Florence
32. Johann Erdmann Hummel - The Granite Dish in the Berlin Lustgarten - 1831 - National Gallery, Berlin
