Caravaggio and the Corpse

More titillating facts from the book, The Secret Lives of Great Artists by Elizabeth Lunday.  

Caravaggio and the Corpse

Caravaggio was a naturalist and his personality often lent toward extremes.  Painting in Lazarus Returning from the Dead, he decided to make it as realistic as possible, so he had two men dig up a fresh corpse and instructed them to hold the dead body while he painted.  The men were overcome by the smell of death and dropped the body. They had intended to run, but Caravaggio drew a dagger and told them to stay and continue.  The men did so, as Caravaggio already had quite an infamous reputation for temperament and violence!
(source, Secrets of Great Artists)

Lazarus Return from the Dead by Caravaggio  from google image        for educational uses only

MARK MESSERSMITH(click)

Florida Artist

King Fishers             Mark Messersmith  2011
photo by elizabeth gordon

detail from King Fishers

Ogden Gallery Show 

detail from king fishers

 "Mark Messersmith moved to Florida in the 1980's. He began teaching at Florida State University.  He was immediately stuck by the wildness of the surrounding landscape, a wilderness gone from much of America.  In Mark Messersmith: Maximalist and Naturalist, he continues his exploration of the tension between this wild, living place and ever increasing human expansion.  Drawing on inspirations ranging from the Pre-Raphaelites(click), Martin Johnson Heade, Southern Folk Art and mediaeval manuscripts, the painting of Messersmith are dense, radiant and sculptural depictions of the flora and flauna of Northern Florida struggling to survive."  An excerpt from the Ogden Museum description of Messersmith's work.

Wild as Angels   Mark Messersmith   photo by elizabeth gordon
from the Ogden Museum collection

Florida birds by Messersmith   photo by elizabeth gordon

Wild Florida by Mark Messersmith   photo by elizabeth gordon

The dense swamp of Northern Florida                        photo by elizabeth gordon from the Ogden collection

An Artist of Nature and Flight

John James Audubon

John James Audubon     Flamingo                         from google image

Roseate Spoonbill                                            google image

Audubon(click) was born in the French colony which is now Haiti.  His Mother was of Creole birth.  He was a French/American.  His family moved from the Islands to Philadelphia.  For a period of time Audubon lived and worked in New Orleans tutoring and painting. There is a park and zoo named after him.  His legacy of a lover of birds and naturalist live on in the New Orleans, as well as, Key West and Philadelphia. He love of nature and birds were paramount and his talent unparalleled as a naturalist.  

"From his earliest days, Audubon had an affinity for birds. "I felt an intimacy with them...bordering on frenzy [that] must accompany my steps through life." His father encouraged his interest in nature:

"he would point out the elegant movement of the birds, and the beauty and softness of their plumage. He called my attention to their show of pleasure or sense of danger, their perfect forms and splendid attire. He would speak of their departure and return with the seasons."  ^{from wikipedia} 

New Orleans is a city has been touched by many artists, writers, poets, musicians, and actors.  Edgar Degas also lived and painted in New Orleans.  He also had a Mother of Creole birth.  His time in New Orleans helped to re-orient himself as an artist...he found his way and went back to France to become a world famous artist and do the best work of his career.