portraits and cultural history

Yesterday when I was drawing my self-portrait, and really looking and drawing my nose... I kept thinking of this painting "The Whistling Boy" by Frank Duveneck. It is at the Cincinnati Art Museum and I grew up looking at it up close. It's hard to see here, but the way he painted the shape of the nose, with the red... I kept seeing that yesterday in my head. I didn't even recognize that fact until later but it was clearly this painting. I think that's why I think exposing young children to good art is so important... these aesthetics stay with you, whether you realize it or not. Like good music... the Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven. It's all in there and provides a springboard for thought.

Frank Duveneck was a favorite in Cincinnati because he was born in Covington, Kentucky which is right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, and then painted in Cincinnati before studying abroad. He is one of the great American painters of his time. I wish you could see this in real life, up close. This is also why book learning never can replace seeing the real thing.