Bad paintings by good artists

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

Or Delacroix? I've seen some undistinguished small painting in the Wallace with a pallet like that.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Bad paintings by good artists

Wilkie's a good guess. It looks more like him than Millais, who it's actually by.

I'm still stumped.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

Millais?! Is it finished?

The bad picture by a not universally loved artist is a Guido Reni.

The second, fluffy one is a late David. Cupid taking the sandal off and looking at the "camera" is the icing on the cake, isn't it?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Bad paintings by good artists

Millais?! Is it finished?

Apparently. It's very small — 9'x10" — which may account for something. Unsurprisingly it was withdrawn from auction when first offered, but sold a year later (with a substantially reduced estimate.) It's Lear and Cordelia by the way.

Rats! I nearly guessed David too. The fluffiness put me off.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

We were talking about the apparent lack of good art inspired by Shakespeare before. This would certainly have been germane.

I saw James Barry's Lear/Cordelia today. Very good, I think:

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

I liked this thread. Here's Benjamin Robert Haydon. "You guys just don't appreciate history painting!"

[Amor de Cosmos]

Bad paintings by good artists

He had a way with horses didn't he? The front of that poor creature looks like the rear end of a roast turkey.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

We don't usually use the expression on here, but LOL.

Poor Haydon was unlucky horses and not stuffed turkeys are considered heroic. Is it me or is the rider's leg too long? I'm not sure it isn't going to hit the ground before the horse's.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

Here's some bad art by a good painter. Lord Frederick Leighton (whose house in Kensington is well worth a visit) did this of Clytemnestra:



As someone who kills her husband, she isn't perhaps the type to be depicted in a flowery dress. But neither is she likely to have been a second row forward.

And that background looks like a toy fort cut out of a cardboard box.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

And here he is winning a "bad drapery" competition:

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

Lorenzo Lotto:

[Amor de Cosmos]

Bad paintings by good artists

Is the Lotto a Christ & Mary, the small coffin doesn't fit? The red blouse is also a bit of an oddity which is why I ask. The geezer on the left (Joseph?) seems to be weighing up how much the crucifix will bring at the local pop shop.

Where in Kensington was Lord Leighton's house?

[WOM]

Bad paintings by good artists

Tubby Isaacs wrote:

And here he is winning a "bad drapery" competition:

That looks like people standing in front of one of those bad wall murals you see in Greek restaurants.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bad paintings by good artists

WOM, it was the crepe paper for drapery that got me in that.

I thought the sleeve was the real joke in there, Amor. But the chap looking at the crucifix is funny as well- he looks a bit like "the old Jew".

Leighton House is still there and open. It contains this rather nice hall:



Believe it or not, that is the picture from the official website. Whichever Shoreditch-typee decided not to use colour, should have been made to write out "I am not a better artist than Lord Leighton" a hundred times.