Pre Dreadnought ship from Germany, the Mecklenburg was a Wittlsbach Class vessel, laid down in 1900 and launched the following year. A lovely picture. please log in to view this image
One of my all-time faves Cyc, from your countryman Fred McCubbin - "Down On His Luck" please log in to view this image
I think I've posted before about the Peredvizhniki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peredvizhniki). If anyone is ever in Stockholm, don't miss the exhibition in the National Museum, it is absolutely magnificent. Ivan Shishkin - Winter (1890) (Look hard and this and try to convince yourself it isn't a photograph - it was painted 126 years ago !!!!) please log in to view this image Ivan Kramskoy - Portrait Of A Peasant (1868) please log in to view this image Konstantin Savitsky - To The War (1888) please log in to view this image
I'm not really into my art so much but can't always appreciate a beautiful photo or painting (that one Oddy posted is stunning by the way). I find it strange though how a photo or painting can have an effect on you and most of the time it's hard to explain why. Years ago there was a bar in Huddersfield called The Old Courthouse that used to have paintings on the walls from various artists that you could buy. Anyway one of the photos that they had on the wall I was obsessed with, it was just something I couldn't stop looking at and made me a little bit sad and I don't know why. The painting was nothing special it was of a really bleak coastline somewhere with a pebble beach mostly all in grey but hidden amongst the pebbles was a contorted face looking pained and desperate. I have no idea what it was called or who it was by and everytime I went in the place I sat or stood near it so I could look at it and had to talk myself out of buying it because i was still living at home and my parents would have killed me if I'd brought the thing home (it was pretty big aswell). From what I can remember it was priced up at around £1300. I always regretted not buying it though. The bar shut down years ago and is now a Tokyos so I've no idea what happened to all the art work. Sorry for the boring story but I looked in on your thread and it brought back memories of this painting.
This picture resides at the Courtaulds Institute in London. It was Edouard Manet’s last major work “A bar at the Folies-Bergère” and I have always found it fascinating because it is clearly intended to be from the viewpoint of the patron (in the inaccurate mirror reflection behind the bar girl) but whilst atmospheric it is not the sum of its parts. please log in to view this image Have to say that my favourite artist was architecture specialist Giovanni Canaletto when I was studying A-level art and had to do a project. The Queen has a few of his but they are not available online.
I think the Canaletto works below belong to the Royal Collect at Windsor Castle. Return of the Bucentoro to the Molo on Ascension Day. please log in to view this image
There are a lot more, but Canaletto painted some of his scenes many times over, so it's hard to know which are in the Royal Collection.
For those interested in their racing art, I can highly recommend a visit to The Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket. They've got some fantastic paintings, including a slightly different version of the Stubb's painting of Gimcrack that sold for £22 million in 2011. http://www.jockeyclubrooms.co.uk/about-us/art-collection
For non-racing art I can highly recommend a trip to The Frick Collection in New York. I went there in 2013 on the recommendation of my mother in law and it does not disappoint. Constable's, Holbein's, Gainsborough's, Titian's - the list of masterpieces is endless! http://collections.frick.org
Ciao Bud Spencer, who has passed away. His films were unbelievably popular in Germany over the years, a great guy too. An actor, not really a singer as such, but here he is doing a song he did called "Futtetenne", which means, basically, in the Neapolitan dialect, "don't give a **** (about it)". A few items of trivia about Bud. He studied Law and was an Olympic swimmer for Italy before becoming an actor. He chose his professional name Bud Spencer, 'Bud' because Budweiser was his much-loved beer, and 'Spencer' because Spencer Tracy was far-and-away his favourite actor. R.I.P. Bud
Echo the Frick collection. It has some gorgeous paintings - the Holbeins look as though they were painted yesterday
I'm a huge Claude Monet fan, so please forgive what's about to be inflicted upon you. Twilight, Venice. please log in to view this image