In our series on images of the Virgin Mary by Polish Artists in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, we turn this week to a minimally modern Mary and Baby Jesus on a travel poster from Graphic Artist Ryszard Kaja, celebrating the Jasna Gora (Bright Mountain) Monastery in Czestochowa, where millions of pilgrims come each year to view the painting…
more >>
May is a time to remember the Virgin Mary, and what better place to find Marian-themed works of art than in Poland, where devotion to the Mother of Christ is especially fervent. For the next three weeks, I will be featuring new works by Polish artists in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection depicting the Virgin Mary in a variety…
more >>
During the weeks when I have been posting images of the Passion of Christ by Ukrainian artists, I had the chance to revise and expand the New Iconography of Lviv page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. This week, the listing returns on-line as two entries. The first page will focus, as before, on the many women artists…
more >>
Two of [the disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him...
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.
[The Prophet] Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:34-35,… more >>
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? ...Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but… more >>
And [Jesus] came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be… more >>
The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the… more >>
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9, KJV)
We begin our Lenten series on artworks from Ukraine illustrating key moments in the Passion of Christ with…
more >>
As a longtime collector of contemporary religious artworks, I have been watching with great interest as a new school of iconography has emerged among Ukrainian Greek Catholic artists, fostered and promoted by the ICONART Contemporary Sacred Art Gallery in the city of Lviv in West Ukraine. This talented group of young men and women are at the forefront of…
more >>
In this week's featured carved wood panel painting from Carl Dixon, the Mississippi Folk Artist offers illustrations of the six acts of mercy that touch the heart of God and merit eternal life in the Last Judgment narrative found in Matthew 25:31-46. As Christ returns in glory with a retinue of angels to usher in the end… more >>
We look this week at Carl Dixon's depiction of one of Christ's clearest messages about our responsibility for others in need--the Parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. The Mississippi outsider artist adds typical touches of humor to his mixed media, carved wood panel painting of this Gospel tale of a great reversal, where a wealthly…
more >>
Mississippi Folk Artist Carl Dixon takes a look at modern-day churches in this week's featured artwork, based on the well-known biblical passage in Isaiah 40:3 about the "voice crying in the wilderness" to "prepare the way of the Lord." The "wilderness" in Dixon's sculpted wood panel piece is a typical Ameican church, filled for Sunday worship, and the "voice…
more >>
As we see in this week's featured artwork, "I Can't Breathe," Mississippi Folk Artist Carl Dixon seeks to create images putting today's headlines in a biblical perspective. In this mixed media painting on carved wood panel, he interpretes in three different ways the last words of George Floyd, depicted to the left dying from suffocation when a law enforcement…
more >>
Martin Luther King Jr. appears again in this week's featured artwork from Mississippi Folk Artist Carl Dixon alongside Barak Obama and Rosa Parks in homage to their roles in advancing the civil rights of African Americans in a work commissioned from Dixon in 2018 for a Lenten exhibition on the theme, Exodus: Journeys of Liberation. The three-part painting on…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
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…
more >>
