I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. (Martin Luther King Jr.)
In a week when Americans pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., I'm reposting a painting by Carl Dixon of…
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The unclean spirits came out [of the demoniac] and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea...Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac… more >>
God our pilgrimage impels,
To cross sea-waste or scale life-fells;
A further shore,
One hill brow more,
Draws on the feet, or arm-plied oars,
As the…
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Georges Rouault reflected on his life as an artist in a preface, composed in the style of Pascal's Pensees, to Stella Vespertina, a portfolio of 12 heliogravures of original gouache and oil sketches published in 1947. As always, Rouault pushed the limits of the printing process by mixing techniques to enhance the quality…
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Georges Rouault believed we lived our lives in "an anguised world of shadows and pretences," and the greatness of humanity in its fallen state came by emulating Christ in the acceptance of redemptive suffering. This religious world view was shaped by the writings of the 17th Century French Philosopher Blaise Pascal. Rouault kept a copy of Pascal's Pensees alongside…
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In our year end celebration of the life and work of French Artist Georges Rouault, we are showcasing a trio of color aquatints this week from Passion, a sacred-themed print suite Rouault created for Art Impresario Ambroise Vollard in collaboration with Poet Andre Suares, published in 1939. Rouault provided 99 illustrations--17 color aquatints and 82 wood engravings cut from…
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In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I will be showcasing new works in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection by Georges Rouault, who we remember this year on the 150th anniversary of his birth. The French artist holds a very special place in my own art history. In acquiring his oil painting of…
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Then [the Rich Man] said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send [Lazarus] to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the… more >>
[The Rich Man] cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things,… more >>
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich… more >>
[The goodman of the house] answered one of [the complaining workers], and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not… more >>
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when… more >>
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went… more >>
[The Samaritan] went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care… more >>
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he… more >>
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted [Jesus], saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they… more >>
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in they sight, and am no more worthy to be… more >>
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in the land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine… more >>
A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance… more >>
Kreg Yingst joins my listings this week as a printmaker of parables. The Florida-based graphic artist has a special interest in imagery that tells a story, taking inspiration from the 20th century creators of wordless woodcut novels like Belgian Artist Frans Masereel. The Gospel narratives of Jesus have been a rich source of material for Yingst, who worked on…
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This Sunday marks the launch of a new series, Picturing the Parables, looking at artworks in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection devoted to the illustrative stories of Jesus in the Gospels, which will take us into the season of Advent. We begin with a profile of Texas-based Artist James Janknegt, who worked for over fifteen years creating 40 contemporary…
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To complete my brief survey of the contemporary religious art of France, I'm showcasing a recent acquisition of special importance for the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection by Georges Rouault, the unrivalled master of French contemporary sacred art. The color aquatint of an elegent woman of sorrowful features in profile is the missing print needed to complete a suite in…
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Michel Ciry has been described as an artist of solitude, whose figures seem to be lone actors on a stage empty of all but essential props. This final figure in my quartet of French sacred artists certainly stands alone among his contemporaries in devoting most of his work to religious themes. He also chose to live in self-imposed exile…
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Bernard Buffet is best known these days for affordable prints of morose clowns and spindly flowers, signed with his trademark spidery scrawl, but there was a time when he was considered one of the leading lights of post war French art, nipping at the heels of Picasso. His paintings of gauntly elongated, angular figures in minimal settings captured the…
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In my survey of sacred artists of the modern era from France, newly added to the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, we turn this week to Jean Cocteau, the multi-talented enfant terrible of 20th century French culture. Best known as the director of the 1946 visionary film version of Beauty and the Beast, Cocteau made his mark in an extraordinary…
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As France celebrates its national holiday on Bastille Day, I am beginning a new series celebrating the French contribution to contemporary sacred art, beginning this week with the first of four portraits of French artists with a significant body of religious work who are joining my on-line Collection. Max Jacob is best known as the poet who revolutionized modern…
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Rudy Bostic, who died in June two months short of his 80th birthday, was one of a small group of artists in the Collection, whom I count as a friend. I remember well helping him one warm summer day to organize dozens of painted cardboard panels, gathering dust in the attic of his…
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The cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the… more >>
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.(Isaiah 11: 6, KJV)
Humanity has long dreamed of a paradise lost that we hope will be regained. The Eleventh Chapter of Isaiah foresees…
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And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.And the eyes of them both were opened, and… more >>
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: (Genesis 1: 27-28, KJV)
In this charming acrylic on panel painting in a naive style, British…
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And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25, KJV)
As we enter the summer season, hoping to put the pandemic behind us, I'll be presenting new art pieces from the Sacred…
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He hath helped his servant Israel,
In remembrance of his mercy;
As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham,
And to his seed for ever.
(Luke 1:53-55, KJV)
This concluding passage from the Magnificat presents the Virgin Mary's role as mother of the Christ Child as the culmination of God's plan to redeem the…
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[The Lord] hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
(Luke 1:53, KJV)
We look this week at an image of the Virgin Mary as a protector of the poor that is the most beloved representation of the Mother of Christ in the Western Hemisphere: Our Lady of Guadalupe.…
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[The Lord] hath shewed strength with his arm;
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
And exalted them of low degree.
(Luke 1:51-52, KJV)
In a reversal of fortune of the kind described in this passage from Magnificat, the humble "handmaid…
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For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
And holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him
From generation to generation.
(Luke 1:49-50, KJV)
Those of us fortunate enough to be on Tyrus Clutter's Christmas card list receive an original print from the Florida-based artist each…
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And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:
For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
(Luke 1:46-48, KJV)
May is the month of the Virgin Mary. The Mother of Christ has…
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Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. (John 20: 27-28, KJV)
We have the Apostle known as Doubting Thomas to thank for the…
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And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. (Luke 24: 30-31)
Two grieving followers of the Crucified Christ are returning from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus,…
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Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away, Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.… more >>
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is… more >>
A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. (Jeremiah 31:15, KJV)
This passage from the Hebrew Scriptures, cited in the Nativity narrative of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Gospel…
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And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46, KJV)
It is hard to find a more heart-rending passage of Scripture than this outcry from the Crucified Christ, one of his Seven Last…
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Mississippi Visionary Artist Carl Dixon has been a longtime friend of the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection. In the more than ten years I have known Carl, he has created close to thirty commissioned works for me in a whimsical folk art style on topics as intriguingly diverse as spiritual warfare in the heavens and the earthbound journeys of liberation…
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Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that… more >>
Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it." (Luke 9:23-27, NRSV)
Taking Up the Cross is a…
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And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt… more >>
He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our… more >>
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good… more >>
To mark the Feast of Epiphany in Eastern Orthodox communties in northern climes, brave believers commemorate the Baptism of Christ by taking a freezing plunge through cross-shaped holes cut into ice-covered bodies of water. The biblical event is seen as a celebration of the Trinity, where God the Father in a voice from heaven reveals the divine sonship of…
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For the next two weeks, I will be showing art for the Feast of the Epiphany from the Eastern Churches, where the holy day celebrates the revelation of Christ as the Messiah and second person of the Trinity, when he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. This new icon from the Life of Christ cycle of Cypriot…
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