The Art of Hans Dahl

Alpine Landscape

by Hans Dahl

Returning From the Fields

by Hans Dahl

The Fjord

by Hans Dahl

Hans Dahl 1849-1937

Norway

The paintings of this man are amazing. I enjoy looking at the misty mountains in the backgrounds, and the delicate wildflowers in the foreground.  From his photograph he appears to be a dignified, stately, masculine sort of man, and his paintings of women show them in just the opposite light: feminine and soft. He captured an air of innocent happiness in their faces, kissed by the cooler northern temperatures into a sweet rosy glow.

The clothings is also interesting. From the hand-embroidered vests to the bright skirts and the billowing blouses. I look at paintings like this for sewing inspiration, too.  One reason for this is that these women are depicted doing rigorous outdoor work in that clothing, and so, it must not have hindered them in their daily lives, as moderns are inclined to believe. Indeed, some of the current styles hardly allow normal household movement, compared to the garments in the old paintings. There are patterns available today for making clothes like this, from major pattern catalogs and from Neue Mode, a German pattern company.

After a century, these paintings are still vivid and looking like new, as if the girls just came in from a brisk walk in the fresh summer air. 

Paintings of the Past and the Artists

Lady Palmer

by Frank Bernard Dicksee

English, 1853-1928

(Note: I am placing a painting and the photograph of the artist to show the dignity of these artists and the subjects that they admired enough to paint. I like the contrasts of the women's soft, feminine appearance, and the artists rugged, yet neat and orderly; dignified masculine demeanor.)

The artist, Frank Dicksee

The Lord of Burleigh

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Edmund Blair Leighton

Soul of the Rose

by John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse, British, 1849-1917

Portia Kate Dolan

by John Everett Millais, Jersey, 1829-1896

John Everett Millais

Walk at a Lighthouse

by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida

Joaquin Sorolla

Desdemona

by Frederick Leighton

Frederick Leighton, 1830-1896

Idle Days

by William Merritt Chase, American 1849-1916

William Merritt Chase

Girls Arranging Roses by Sir George Clausen

Sir George Clausen

English, 1852-1954

Mother's Darling

by Frederick Morgan, 

English, 1847-1927

Frederick Morgan

The Artist and His Wife

by Peder Severin Kroyer, Danish, 1851-1909

Self Portrait

Peder Severin Kroyer

The Shell (the artist's wife)

by William Adolphe Bouguereau

French, 1825-1905

William Adolphe Bouguereau

Nordic Summer Evening

by Richard Bergh Sven 

Richard Berg, Swedish, 1858-1919

Lady Agnew

by John Singer Seargent

John Singer Seargent

1856-1925

Lady in a Boat 

by James Tissot

James Tissot 

Italian/French, 1836-1902

 A Pensive Moment

by Daniel Ridgeway Knight

Daniel Ridgeway Knight

1839-1924

The School of Nature

by William Holman Hunt

William Holman Hunt

1827-1910

I

Reading, by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

Russian 1837-1887

Gathering Poppies

by Henry John Yeend-King

1855-1924

Henry John Yeend-King

British

Cottages of Love - A Tribute to Thomas Kinkade

Foxglove Cottage

by Thomas Kinkade

This is a tribute to a great artist who painted from his heart. He believed in painting to the glory of God.  He had a lovely wife and family, whose initials he painted on the doors of his many Victorian homes and cottages. His paintings showed the love and kindness of the home.  I will be writing more later, when I have more paintings to display here.

 He was relatively young, in my opinion. Both he, and another favorite artist of mine, Alan Maley, died in their early 50's.  Like most things we are familiar with, we tend to think they are going to be around forever, and neglect to save them. I have none of his art, except a tea pot I got at a florist shop, which shows a house that looks almost identical to an old farmhouse of a relative in the wheat fields of Kansas.

  My heart truly goes out to his lovely family. He drew himself up from a broken home by losing himself in his art.  I will find an old Victorian Sampler that featured him when his art first became public, and scan in pages for you.

His cottages reminded me of this song: "A cottage small is all I'm after/ Not one that's spacious wide/ A house that rings with joy and laughter/ with the one you love inside."  I have added this to my playlist, and you can listen to it right now by clicking on the arrow on the video below:



A Wise Woman Builds Her House  has also written a fine tribute with his lovely paintings featured , so I hope you'll click the link and go see.

We are in mourning today and my flag is at half mast. He reminded Americans of the simple life: a cottage and a family enjoying God's blessings.

It has been reported that one in twenty American households display a Thomas Kinkade painting, but I think probably nearly every American has had some kind of Thomas Kinkade art in their home via the books he wrote and the catalogs and advertisements which featured his art. I have more than I originally thought, as I just noticed several greeting cards I saved, hoping one day to frame, plus innumerable cups and mugs with his paintings on them, from gift packages that contained tea and cookies at Christmas. I bought Thomas Kinkade monthly calendars and the daily tear-off calendar pictures, and I hope these will still be produced in the future. 

These paintings gave Americans back their America as some people remember it and others wanted it to be. In fact, some designers created houses based on his paintings. His brush is still, but his works live on and hopefully will give joy and inspiration to future generations. As in all good art, there is nothing jarring or profane in Thomas Kindade's paintings, and nothing has to be explained. No deep study is needed to "understand" his paintings, because his art speaks for itself. The only mystery in the cottage scenes was in trying to find the initials of his loved ones.

His art was made available to the average person. Anyone could order a book, a mug, a wall hanging, or even a blanket with his art printed on it. Prints were available at very reasonable prices, so that anyone who loved good art could afford it. He had his own galleries and his own control over how his art was distributed, making it possible for even the poorest person to have some kind of Thomas Kinkade art in their homes. 

Susan Rios, another fine artist, was a friend of Thomas Kinkade and once teamed up with him to create fine art for special occasions, wrote books together and created beautiful art beloved by everyone from the very rich to the very poor.

This scene seemed to depict my life, as my father's homestead and the boat and the little dock look just the same as I remember. Other people thought that the Kinkade art represented life of long ago that they remembered.

If you click on for a larger view, you might be able to see some of the initials of his loved ones that he painted into his pictures.

I particularly liked his lighthouse series, and the symbolism they carried. I used several of the lighthouse paintings in posts I wrote about the power and importance of the home.

The following article is scanned in from the 1993 Victorian Spring Sampler.

Click on for a larger view, and then click on the magnifier to read the article.

The Victorian Sampler magazine is now called "Romantic Homes."

Enjoy more paintings on this video: