https://chestertownspy.org Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown Thu, 08 May 2025 12:00:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/08/looking-at-the-masters-renoir/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/08/looking-at-the-masters-renoir/#respond Thu, 08 May 2025 12:00:54 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=184059 Pierre August Renoir was born in 1841 in Limoges, France. The town of Limoges was the center of the famous hand-painted porcelain works. Renoir’s parents were members of an active artist and artisan community. His father was a tailor and his mother a seamstress.  The family moved to Paris in 1845, and they lived near […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/08/looking-at-the-masters-renoir/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/01/looking-at-the-masters-mizue-sawano/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/01/looking-at-the-masters-mizue-sawano/#respond Thu, 01 May 2025 12:00:24 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183927 Mizue Sawano, born in Osaka, Japan, in 1941 became interested in making art at age five. She now lives in New York City. Her father was a novelist and journalist for the Asahi newspaper. After World War II, her family had to move often. They lived in the beach town of Oiso from 1949 until […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/01/looking-at-the-masters-mizue-sawano/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/24/looking-at-the-masters-tree-of-life/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/24/looking-at-the-masters-tree-of-life/#respond Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:00:53 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183809 “Trees are Terrific…and Forests are Too” is the national theme this year for Arbor Day. Since ancient times trees have held a significant place in cultures worldwide. Trees have been considered sacred, offering immortality, and the axis mundi, the cosmic axis connecting heaven, earth, and the underworld.  This image of the sacred Tree of Life (883-859 […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/24/looking-at-the-masters-tree-of-life/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/17/looking-at-the-masters-the-limbourg-brothers-illustrate-the-story-of-easter/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/17/looking-at-the-masters-the-limbourg-brothers-illustrate-the-story-of-easter/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2025 12:00:15 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183652 The Limbourg brothers, Herman, Paul, and Jean, born between 1385 and 1388, were Dutch painters from Nijmegen, but they were active in Burgundy and other parts of France. King Philip the Bold of France employed Paul and Jean to paint manuscripts in February 1402. When Philip died in 1404, his brother Jean du France, Duke […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/17/looking-at-the-masters-the-limbourg-brothers-illustrate-the-story-of-easter/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/10/looking-at-the-masters-madonna-and-child-in-a-garden/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/10/looking-at-the-masters-madonna-and-child-in-a-garden/#respond Thu, 10 Apr 2025 12:00:22 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183508 Images of Mary and Christ are plentiful, as are images of them sitting in a rose garden. Since most of the population from the Middle Ages onward through the 17th and 18th centuries could not read, religious painting and sculpture served to educate the congregation of believers. Iconography was a significant aspect of painting and […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/10/looking-at-the-masters-madonna-and-child-in-a-garden/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/03/looking-at-the-masters-primavera/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/03/looking-at-the-masters-primavera/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:00:45 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183353 It is Primavera, or Spring in English. The term is derived from the Latin primus tempus. Spring began this year on March 20, and it will come to an end on June 20. Jonquils, forsythia, and cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom in Chestertown and surrounds.   Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), born in Florence, Italy, became […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/03/looking-at-the-masters-primavera/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/looking-at-the-masters-utagawa-hiroshige-2/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/looking-at-the-masters-utagawa-hiroshige-2/#comments Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:00:01 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=182448 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was one of the most prolific and popular Ukiyo-e artists in Japan. The word Ukiyo-e means pictures of the floating world. They were woodblock prints developed during the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo [Tokyo] period. A time of increased wealth, the Edo period embraced kabuki theatre, geishas, and courtesans. The early Ukiyo-e […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/looking-at-the-masters-utagawa-hiroshige-2/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/23/looking-at-the-masters-hendrick-avercamp/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/23/looking-at-the-masters-hendrick-avercamp/#respond Thu, 23 Jan 2025 13:00:02 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=182008 A 17th Century Dutch artist, born in Amsterdam, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634) specialized in winter landscapes.  His father Barent Avercamp was the town apothecary of Kempen.  Hendrick was deaf, and he may not have been able to speak. He was known as the Mute of Kampen. He suffered frequent illnesses. Winter landscape became his most popular […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/23/looking-at-the-masters-hendrick-avercamp/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/19/looking-at-the-masters-a-victorian-christmas/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/19/looking-at-the-masters-a-victorian-christmas/#respond Thu, 19 Dec 2024 13:00:59 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=181490 Christmas traditions we cherish were established during Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901).  Others are as old as the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration held on December 17, still others were traditions from the time of the Tudors. Decorating Christmas trees was one of the earliest and most important traditions.  Germans brought cut fir branches into the house […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/19/looking-at-the-masters-a-victorian-christmas/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/12/looking-at-the-masters-st-lucy/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/12/looking-at-the-masters-st-lucy/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2024 13:00:59 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/12/looking-at-the-masters-st-lucy/ The Feast of St Lucy is celebrated on December 13 in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other places where there are Scandinavian immigrants. St Lucy is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches. She lived from 238 until 304 CE in Syracuse, Sicily. Her parents were wealthy, was […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/12/looking-at-the-masters-st-lucy/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/05/looking-at-the-masters-a-christmas-carol/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/05/looking-at-the-masters-a-christmas-carol/#comments Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:00:55 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/05/looking-at-the-masters-a-christmas-carol/ Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol was published by Chapman and Hall in London in1843. The first illustrator John Leech created four hand-colored etched plates and four black and white wood engravings. His first illustration was “Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball” from Ebenezer Scrooge’s early life when he was in love and happy. By Christmas Eve, the first […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/12/05/looking-at-the-masters-a-christmas-carol/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/14/looking-at-the-masters-pablita-velarde/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/14/looking-at-the-masters-pablita-velarde/#comments Thu, 14 Nov 2024 16:00:58 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=180835 Pablita Velarde (1918-2006) was born in the Santa Clara Pueblo in Espanola, New Mexico.  Her Indian name Tse Tsan means Golden Dawn in the Tewa language. Velarde is one of America’s foremost Native American painters. She and her sister attended St Catherine’s Indian School in Sante Fe. At age fourteen Pablita was one of the […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/14/looking-at-the-masters-pablita-velarde/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/07/looking-at-the-masters-kay-walkingstick/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/07/looking-at-the-masters-kay-walkingstick/#respond Thu, 07 Nov 2024 13:00:15 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/07/looking-at-the-masters-kay-walkingstick/ Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick was born in 1935 in Syracuse, New York. Her father was Scots/Irish and her mother was of the Cherokee tribe in Oklahoma. WalkingStick began making art at an early age. She graduated in 1959 from Beaver College in Pennsylvania where she earned her BFA degree. She completed her MFA degree at […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/11/07/looking-at-the-masters-kay-walkingstick/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/31/looking-at-the-masters-george-caleb-bingham/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/31/looking-at-the-masters-george-caleb-bingham/#respond Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:00:28 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=180546 George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) is a well-known American painter of jolly boatmen who transported furs and other cargo on rafts along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. He also painted several portraits. He is lesser-known as a politician and soldier. His political paintings convey his strong belief in Democracy with all its flaws and that slavery […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/31/looking-at-the-masters-george-caleb-bingham/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/24/looking-at-the-masters-winslow-homer/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/24/looking-at-the-masters-winslow-homer/#respond Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:00:37 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=180175 American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was the son of Bostonians Charles and Henrietta Homer. She was an amateur watercolor painter and Winslow’s primary teacher. His youth was spent mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he graduated from high school. His artistic talent was obvious. Apprenticed to a Boston commercial lithographer, he produced numerous sheet music covers […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/24/looking-at-the-masters-winslow-homer/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/04/looking-at-the-masters-autumn-in-europe/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/04/looking-at-the-masters-autumn-in-europe/#respond Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:00:08 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=179774 “Autumn Frost” (1874) (18”x22”), by Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley (1830-1899), is a depiction of what French travel advisors describe as “one of the loveliest times of the year.” During the day, the weather is mild, and at night there is a chill. Painted en plein air (outdoors), the work captures the bright oranges of fallen […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/10/04/looking-at-the-masters-autumn-in-europe/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/26/looking-at-the-masters-american-autumn/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/26/looking-at-the-masters-american-autumn/#respond Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:00:19 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=179546 Autumn began on Sunday, September 22 this year. In Greek mythology, Persephone, the daughter of the goddess of the harvest Demeter, had returned to live in the Underworld. She had been abducted in the Spring by Hades, God of the Underworld. In response, Demeter stopped everything from growing on Earth until she found out where […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/26/looking-at-the-masters-american-autumn/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/19/looking-at-the-masters-sonia-terk-delaunay/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/19/looking-at-the-masters-sonia-terk-delaunay/#respond Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:46:30 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=179397 Artist and fashion maven Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) was born in the Ukraine to a Jewish family. Her uncle Henri Terk and his wife adopted her when she was a child. He was a lawyer in St Petersburg, and his home was full of French art. Sonia had a governess who taught her English, French, and […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/19/looking-at-the-masters-sonia-terk-delaunay/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/12/looking-at-the-masters-gustav-klimt/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/12/looking-at-the-masters-gustav-klimt/#respond Thu, 12 Sep 2024 12:00:40 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=179228 Internationally known artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) grew up in Baumgarten, a town near Vienna. His father was an engraver of gold and silver items, a occupation that made a strong impression on Gustav. Klimt studied at the Vienna College of Applied Arts, where he excelled. He and other students were assigned mural projects in newly […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/12/looking-at-the-masters-gustav-klimt/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/05/looking-at-the-masters-max-liebermann/ https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/05/looking-at-the-masters-max-liebermann/#respond Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:00:28 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/05/looking-at-the-masters-max-liebermann/ Max Liebermann (1847-1935) introduced Impressionism to Germany. His parents owned a leading cotton factory in Berlin. Liebermann studied art at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School in Weimar, Germany. He moved to Paris in 1873 and set up a studio in Montmartre.  He spent the summer of 1874 in Barbizon, outside of Paris, where he discovered […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2024/09/05/looking-at-the-masters-max-liebermann/feed/ 0