Exploring the beauty of lemons through painting

Exploring the beauty of lemons through painting

Alexandre Antoine Ernest Journault (1836-1924), widower of Mme. Louise Henriette Aline Ferris Journault, nee Aline Kraft (d. 9 July 1921) (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 26 May 1922, lot 18, as Plat de cédrats, corbeille d’oranges, fleur et gobelet sur une table), sold for 2600 frs. to;
Legrand.
Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi, Florence, by 1930, by descent to;
Heirs of the Contini-Bonacossi Estate, Florence, to;
The Norton Simon Foundation.

Exhibitions

• Granada, 1953-06 to

Publication History

• Young, E., The Burlington Magazine, pp. 207-208
• Jordan, W. B. and P. Cherry, An Eye on Nature: Spanish Still Life from Velasquez to Goya,fig. 12.1 pp. 93-95, 101
• Rothkopf, Scott, Owens, Laura,2017, pp. 478-479
• Guinard, P.; and J. Baticle, Histoire de la peinture espagnole, p. 167
• Madoff, Steven Henry; and David Mamet, Donald Sultan: In the Still-Life Tradition,fig. 2 p. 12
• Kass, K., Morris Graves, Vision of the Inner Eye, p. 74
• Moss, Stanley, The History of Color,2003, Cover
• Taggard, M., Pantheon, pp. 76-80
• Paulette Tavormina, Paulette Tavormina: Seizing Beauty,2016, p. #14
• Frankenstein, A., San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
• Moore, J., The Eastern Gate: An Invitation to the Arts of China and Japan, pp. 191-193
• Amorós, J., Boletin Sociedad Espanola de Excursiones, pp. 133-142
• Morphet, Richard, Encounters: New Art from Old,fig. 7 pp. 80, 86-87
• Aronson, Steven M., Architectural Digest reprint,200, pp. 56-58
• Torres Martin, R., La Naturaleza Muerta en la Pintura Espagnola, pp. 69-72, 125
• Fernando Montes de Oca, L’age d’or du verve en France (The Golden Age of Glass in France),fig. 34 p. 32
• Wilson, W., Los Angeles Times, pp. 101-102
• Nicolson, B., The Burlington Magazine, p. 536
• The National Gallery Report April 1996-March 1997, pp. 20-21
• Weber, Dr. Gregor, Rembrandt-Velázquez : Dutch and Spanish Masters,2019, Fig. 1 p. 138; p. 139 (ill.)
• Luginbuhl, Gregg, Teaching Peace: Nonviolence and the Liberal Arts,2003, fig. 8 p. 156
• Soria, Martin S., The Paintings of Zurbaran,no. 71, fig. 47 pp. 14, 149-150
• Heilmeyer, Marina, The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths, pp. 89, 93
• Alpers, Svetlana, The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century, p. 91
• Mallory, N., El Greco to Murillo, pp. 118-119
• Rafael Romero Asenjo, The Unique Qualities of an Extraordinary Still Life in the Naseiro Collection: A Contribution to its Technical Analysis,2015, Figures 9 and 10 p. #16, 17
• San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle,
• Armstrong, R., Portfolio, p. 99
• Mayer, August L., Apollo, p. 7
• IVAM Centre Julio González, Filippo de Pisis, pp. 18, 180
• Bazin, G., Les fleurs vues par les peintres, pp. 87-88
• Harris, Ann Sutherland, 17th Century Art & Architecture (2nd edition),2008, fig. 3.26 p. 222-3, 248
• Held, Julius; and Donald Posner, 17th and 18th Century Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, p. 178
• Loebel, Suzanne, America’s Art Museums: A Traveler’s Guide to Great Collections Large and Small, pp. 15, 68 -71
• Laclotte, M.; and A. Perez Sanchez, Le larousse de grands peintres, pp. 439-440
• Museo Nacional d’Art, Catalon, Zurbaran, p. 32
• Harris, Ann Sutherland, 17th Century Art & Architecture,fig. 3.20 p. 215
• Sterling, Charles, Still Life Painting from Antiquity to the Present Time, pp. 49, 71-72
• De’ Giorgio, Elsa, L’eredità Contini Bonacossi: L’ambiguo rigore del vero,fig. 40 pp. 311, 348
• Perez Sanchez, A., Pintura Española de Bodegones y Floreros de 1600 a Goya, pp. 75-76
• Bryson, Norman, Critical Inquiry, p. 239
• Various authors, edited by Mark Rogián, Spanish Art in America,2016, pp. 192-193 ; p. [188] (ill.), p. 190 (ill.), p. 193 (ill.)
• Seldis, Henry, Los Angeles Times, pp. 50, 52
• Mullins, E., Great Paintings, pp. 18-23
• Soria, Martin S., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, pp. 45-46
• Nature Morte, p. 65, jacket
• Burda, H., Pan, pp. 7-21
• Neuman, Robert, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture,2012, Fig. 5.10 p. 156
• Gendel, M., Art News, p. 23
• Nationalmuseum, Spanish Masters and their Followers,fig. 4 p. 76
• Trafalgar Galleries, In Light of Caravaggio, pp. 29, 34
• Museo de Bellas Artes, El Bodegón Español [de Zurbarán a Picasso], pp. 37-39
• Welzel, Heike, Michail Semjakin: Malerei und Graphik Von der inoffiziellen sowjetischen Kunst zur russischen Kunst im Exil,2006, fig. 18 p. 141
• Gaya Nuno, J., La pintura española fuera de España,no. 3010 pp. 338-339
• Longhi, Roberto; and August L. Meyer, Gli Antichi Pittori Spagnoli della collezione Contini Bonacossi,no. 65, pl. LXIV
• Janés, C., Los Genios de la Pintura Española: Zurbaran, pp. 8, 52, 93
• Brown, Jonathan, The Golden Age of Painting in Spain, p. 99
• Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 769 p. 337
• Gudiol, J., Los Angeles Times, pp. 50, 52
• Young, Eric, The Connoisseur, p. 176-185
• Brommer, Gerald, Discovering Art History, pp. 18-23
• Catturla, Maria Luisa, The Burlington Magazine, p. 303
• Perez Sanchez, A., La nature morte espagnole du XVIIe siècle à Goya, p. 93
• Wilmerding, John, The Pop Object: The Still Life Tradition in Pop Art,2013, p. 19
• Dominique, F., Jardin des Arts, p. 44
• Royal Academy of Arts, The Golden Age of Painting,no. 39
• Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum,1989, pp. 46-47
• Friedl, Bettina, Negotiations of America’s National Identity,fig. 1 pp. 56, 73, 75
• Aronson, Steven M., Architectural Digest,2006, pp. 56-58
• Kubler, George and Martin Soria, Art and Architecture of Spain and Portugal, 1500-1800, p. 246
• Langmuir, Erika, Pocket Guides: Still Life,fig. 48 pp. 63, 80
• Brown, H., American Artist Magazine, p. 38
• Brown, J., Francisco de Zurbaran,pl. 16
• essay by Susan Galassi, Zurbarán: Jacob and His Twelve Sons, Paintings from Auckland Castle,2017, Fig. 54 pp. 102-103, 182
• The Connoisseur, p. 307
• Seckel, Helmut P. G., Gazette des Beaux-Arts,fig. 2 pp. 281-286
• Understanding Paintings: Themes in Art Explored and Explained, p. 230; jacket cover (detail)
• Young, E., Apollo, pp. 435, 437
• Baticle, J., Connaissance des Arts, pp. 30-43
• Aterido, Ángel, Juan Fernández el Labrador, Naturalezas muertas,2013, Fig.19 p. 57
• Brown, Jonathan, Francisco de Zurbaran, pp. 98-99
• Gallego, J. and J. Gudiol, Zurbaran,no. 83 pp. 34, 49, 56, 82
• Cohen, A.; R. Cohen, E. Young and E. Cohen, Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy II,1979, pp. 64-66
• Gröschel, Claudia, Oranien-Orangen-Oranienbaum,fig. 13 p. 145
• Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Still Life: A History,1999, Fig. 132 p. 183
• Guinard, P., Zurbaran et les peintres espagnols de la vie monastique,no. 594 p. 280
• Minor, Vernon Hyde, Baroque & Rococo: Art & Culture,fig. 6.27 p. 247
• Sullivan, E., Catalogue of Spanish Paintings: North Carolina Museum of Art, p. 92
• Caturla, M. L.; and O. Delenda, Francisco de Zurbaran,n. 96, 97 pp. 110-101, 108, 248
• Lane Relyea, Adam McEwen, Heidi Zuckerman, Wayne Koestenbaum, etal., Adam McEwen: I Think I’m in Love,2017, Fig. 3 p. 61 ; p. 63 (ill.)
• Artscanada, p. 44
• Seckel, Helmut P. G., Gazette des Beaux-Arts, p. 61
• Keck, Ray M., Love’s Dialectic: Mimesis and Allegory in the Romances of Lope de Vega,
• Ades, Dawn, Dali,no. 23 pp. 33, 210
• Campbell, Katie, Marmalade Season,2003, Cover
• Bryson, Norman, Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting, pp. 72-74
• Odile Delenda and Mar Borobia, Zurbarán: una nueva mirada,2015, fig. 5 p. 22
• Frati, T.; and M. Gregori, L’opera completa di Zurbaran,no. 101
• DeWeese-Wehen, J., Antique Monthly, p. 20C
• Mayer, August L., The Burlington Magazine, pp. 54, 55
• Lyons, Lisa, Departures: 11 Artists at the Getty, p. 10
• Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Important Old Master Painting Part I Including J.M.W. Turner’s “Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio” Thursday 6 April 2006,2006, fig. 17 p. 127
• Levey, Michael, A Concise History of Painting from Giotto to Cézanne, p. 193
• Wieke Schrover, et al., M e M o, p. 74
• Ritschard, C., Pietro Sarto, perspectives empiriques, p. 127

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NARRATOR:
Although painted with meticulous naturalism, there is something unique and mysterious about this group of commonplace objects. Silhouetted against the darkness by a brilliant, almost unearthly light, the motifs seem suspended before us like objects of meditation. Placed with infinite care, they lead our eyes rhythmically from left to right: the tip of one lemon points up to the flowering sprig that crowns the beautifully delineated basket of oranges. Blossoms and leaves guide us across to the pewter plate with its white cup and single rose.

This remarkable painting by the 17th-century Spanish artist Francisco de Zurburán is his only signed and dated still life. It may actually be intended as a mystical evocation of the Virgin Mary. Oranges and orange blossoms symbolize her purity and chastity. The cup of water and smooth-stemmed rose also allude to her purity and love. The Virgin was often referred to as a “rose without thorns.” The cup, filled with water, symbolizes her role as the pure and sinless vessel worthy to bear the son of God.

This symbolism would have been understood instantly in the monastic communities that usually commissioned Zurburán’s works. The painting’s greatness lies, however, in the artist’s ability to endow these humble objects with an aura of profound spirituality.

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NARRADOR: A pesar de haber sido pintada con un naturalismo meticuloso, hay algo singular y misterioso en este grupo de objetos comunes. Perfilados contra la oscuridad por una luz brillante y casi celestial, los motivos parecen estar suspendidos ante nosotros como objetos de meditación. Colocados con un cuidado infinito, guían nuestros ojos rítmicamente de izquierda a derecha: la punta de un limón apunta hacia el ramito en flor que corona la canasta de naranjas, hermosamente delineada. Las flores y las hojas nos conducen hacia el plato de peltre con su taza blanca y su única rosa. Esta extraordinaria pintura del artista español del siglo 17, Francisco Zurbarán, es la única naturaleza muerta que él firmó con nombre y fecha. Puede incluso haberse pensado como una evocación mística de la Virgen María. Las naranjas y los azahares simbolizan su pureza y castidad. La taza de agua y la rosa de tallo liso también hacen alusión a su pureza y amor. Se solía referir a la Virgen como “una rosa sin espinas”. La taza llena de agua simboliza su papel como el recipiente puro y libre de pecado, digno de dar a luz al hijo de Dios. Este simbolismo hubiera sido comprendido de inmediato en las comunidades monásticas que normalmente encargaban la obra de Zurbarán. Sin embargo, la grandeza de la pintura yace en la habilidad del artista para infundir un aura de profunda espiritualidad a estos humildes objetos.

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OLD-TIME RADIO ANNOUNCER (ACTOR):
And now it’s time for the adventures of…Sam Spectacle, Art Detective!

DETECTIVE (ACTOR):
It was just another day of musing at the museum when all of a sudden…

FEMME FATALE (ACTOR):
Sam Spectacle, Art Detective?

DETECTIVE:
Who wants to know?

FEMME FATALE:
My name is Victoria Viewer, and I’m in an awful art fix! I know that this painting by Zurbarán is a still life—

DETECTIVE:
You mean one o’ them fruit and flower pictures?

FEMME FATALE:
Exactly. But Zurbarán usually painted religious subjects, like saints and the birth of the Virgin Mary. Why would he do a simple still life of lemons, oranges, and a rose?!

DETECTIVE:
Hmm…lemons, oranges and a rose. Three things. Kinda like the holy trinity….

FEMME FATALE:
You mean The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit?

DETECTIVE:
Bingo, baby! And look! Just as I suspected, the rose has no thorns, the lemons are ‘citrons’ which are associated with the celebration of Easter, and…there’s a cup of pure water next to the rose.

FEMME FATAL:
So?

DETECTIVE:
So—these objects are Christian symbols! The oranges, the rose and the water all stand for the Virgin Mary.

FEMME FATALE:
So this still-life is really a religious painting after all! Oh, Sam, you are so smart…

DETECTIVE:
That’s my art, sweetheart.

ANNOUNCER:
And so another art mystery is solved, thanks to…

Sam Spectacle, Art Detective!

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LOCUTOR DE RADIO ANTIGUO (ACTOR): Y ahora con ustedes las aventuras de. Sherlock Óleos, ¡Detective del Arte! DETECTIVE (ACTOR): Era un día común y corriente. Yo estaba paseando por el museo, cuando de repente. MUJER FATAL (ACTRIZ): ¿Es usted Sherlock Óleos, Detective del Arte? DETECTIVE (ACTOR): ¿Quién quiere saberlo? MUJER FATAL (ACTOR): Me llamo Victoria. Espectadora ¡y estoy en terribles aprietos artísticos! Sé que esta pintura de Zurbarán es una naturaleza muerta— DETECTIVE (ACTOR): ¿Quieres decir, uno de esos cuadros con frutas y flores? MUJER FATAL (ACTRIZ): Exacto. Pero Zurbarán normalmente pintaba temas religiosos, como los santos y el nacimiento de la Virgen María. ¡¿Por qué habrá pintado una simple naturaleza muerta con limones, naranjas y una rosa?! DETECTIVE (ACTOR): Hmm… limones, naranjas y una rosa. Tres cosas. Como la Santísima Trinidad. MUJER FATAL (ACTRIZ): ¿Te refieres al Padre, al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo? DETECTIVE (ACTOR): ¡Correcto, linda! Y mira—al como me lo sospechaba, la rosa no tiene espinas, los limones son ‘citrones’, que se asocian con la celebración de Pascua, y. hay una taza de agua pura junto a la rosa. MUJER FATAL (ACTRIZ): ¿Y eso qué? DETECTIVE (ACTOR): ¡¿Y eso qué?!—¡estos objetos son símbolos cristianos! Las naranjas, la rosa y el agua, todos simbolizan a la Virgen María. MUJER FATAL (ACTRIZ): Entonces. ¡después de todo, en realidad esta naturaleza muerta sí es una pintura religiosa! Ay, Sherlock, eres tan inteligente. DETECTIVE (ACTOR): Exactamente, querida. Por eso me dicen El Agente Artista de la Mente. LOCUTOR (ACTOR): Y así se resuelve otro misterio del arte, gracias a. ¡Sherlock Óleos, Detective del Arte!

Additional Artwork by Artist

Portrait of Fray Diego Deza Francisco de Zurbarán c. 1630
Saint Francis in Prayer Francisco de Zurbarán c. 1638-1639
The Birth of the Virgin Francisco de Zurbarán c. 1627

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Quil Lemons Is Showcasing The Beauty Of Blackness And Queerness In His Art

The young photographer’s work shifts the visual narrative of identity in the art world ― and the world in general.

Black Voices Editor, HuffPost

Jun 2, 2018, 08:00 AM EDT
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For LGBTQ Pride 2018, HuffPost is highlighting 30 cultural influencers who have shifted the narrative when it comes to queer issues and whose work has contributed to building a more inclusive and equitable future for us all.

Quil Lemons is here to stay.

The 20-year-old photographer made waves in 2017 when he released “Glitter Boy,” a photo series challenging the norms of masculinity that society places on black men. His project, originally published in I-D magazine, went viral and afforded Lemons a bigger platform to showcase his art.

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Since then, the Philadelphia native has created work that shifts the narrative of what it means to be black and queer in the art world ― and the world in general.

“We don’t have to be invisible anymore,” the New School journalism student said.

Through his work, Lemons is creating space and using his voice to amplify the voices of those who often go unheard, especially for those who are queer and/or black. His message is clear: Black and queer individuals’ identities are solely up to them to define.

Lemons spoke to HuffPost about his work as a part of our #TheFutureIsQueer profile series. He discussed how he uplifts his communities and why the hood is a work of art.

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How did you get into photography, and what informs your art?

I think it started when I was in high school when I really started taking it seriously for myself and I got into it as documentation of my life and the narrative I want to leave behind. It started when I was in high school because I would go to concerts and I would take pictures of me and my friends just hanging out.

I think going to the New School definitely allowed me to expand my mind in ways I’ve never expanded it, and just in taking all the courses I’ve taken, even like African American history, I know so much about my own history and I was always involved. My mom would always sign me up for camp and stuff that was geared towards that and learning that, so I grew up on Malcolm X and I think that also informs my art, so there and going to school and just learning about everything else in the black sphere but also learning about the art sphere and also learning about white culture and like all. What that is and the fluid movement is and just like combining all of that world and still coming from my lens definitely changed a lot of my work, and I just became very mindful about the images I created.

Why did you feel it was important to create this platform for black men to express themselves more freely?

I think I reached a point where I was in school and learning all of this information that I planned to give back to my community, but I had to do it in ways that made sense for me and made sense for how I see the world and how I can get people to understand things. I think in a lot of ways visually. Even when I was doing the “Glitter Boy” series, I was like, “I’ve never seen a black boy in glitter, or like I’ve never seen a space for a black boy to be feminine and just express femininity.” And it’s like definitely there. And I even talked about it to my friends that are black and straight, and they’re like, “Yeah, bro, I’m pretty. I think these things.” But they never feel like they have the space to truly live in it. And so now, I feel like, with my generation, we’re definitely combating like a lot of ideas.

What are some misconceptions other have about you as an artist or your work based on your identity?

Me and my friends, we have an informal queer art pact, and we just think it’s so funny when we do these articles or when we do interviews and [we’re called] “the queer photographer.” I’m just a photographer. And then it’s also really funny that a lot of people who critique my work just assume the “Glitter Boy” project was something that was queer. It actually isn’t about queerness at all. It’s about my black identity. And I definitely am queer, and I always will be vocal in everything that I embody, but that project is very ambiguous, and I just think it’s funny how people always made it about something being queer and it’s actually more so about being black and having the space to present yourself however you want to without those stigmas being placed upon you. It was also to combat the stigma of being a thug. I think that’s another stereotype in the black community. If you’re not this stereotypical masculine thug, then you’re either considered white because you’re educated or you’re considered queer because you’re educated, and it’s just like, what the fuck, that makes no sense.

How did you come out? Do you think society unfairly pressures people who identify as LGBTQ to come out?

Coming out was really funny, because I remember when I was like 12 and my mom was like, “Ah, wait, no, you’re too young to be figuring that out,” and I feel like, even looking back now, I was always really self-aware, and so like, I always knew. I think I probably knew from like a young age I was queer, and I remember coming out and she was like, you’re too young to make that decision. And I was just like OK, but she also always gave me the space to be me. I had a therapist that wanted me to talk about just what queerness means. I feel like it was really useful, especially being adolescent where everything is like “Degrassi,” like the end of the world.

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And so then I came out again when I was 18. My mom is really dramatic, so she texted me and was like, “Are you gay?” It took me an hour to respond because she’s so dramatic, and I was like, I don’t know how this is gonna go. It’s always like this fear coming out, and we really gotta get rid of that as a society. I feel like you shouldn’t have to come out. You should be able to behave and do whatever you want to do. But I just remember that was such a fear, and then I told her. My mom never really cared what it was, she just wanted me to be happy.

What’s been your experience as a gay black man publicly shining a light on these issues you identify with?

It’s really interesting being at that intersection of queerness and blackness, because for a while I felt like those things couldn’t exist. Especially publicly. And then if it did exist, it was like I don’t even know that many black queer people from like early on. Only person I can think of: Frank Ocean. That was literally it. I think that’s why I made a series in homage to him because that’s the one person that I had to like feel like some type of solace with, and I’m just happy that now we have the internet and it’s so many people out there putting out their narratives.

My friend Raymon was telling me that this 12-year-old boy that follows him on Instagram… messaged him like, “Oh, my God, you’re gay. Oh, my God, that’s so cool. I feel more comfortable being queer,” and that’s really cool. We have the internet, and it’s become this space of shared experience, and it’s like a community. No one can feel alone because there’s so many people you have access to and there’s like pros and cons to that. I think it’s a pro for the queer community cause you don’t know who’s queer around you but now online, even if someone isn’t in a 30-mile radius, you can talk to someone across the world and be like, “Oh, I have a friend that understands me, that gets me,” and you don’t have to feel like you can’t talk about things.

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How do you use your narrative to shift the culture when approaching your photography?

I just recently had the opportunity to speak to Stephen Shore, and he’s like one of the first great photographers in American history. And he was basically saying that photography is a visual language and it’s how you talk, and he was urging us to speak freely, you should speak how you talk to your friends. I agree with that, but I think when you’re talking about black issues and also queer issues, this is a language that hasn’t been heard about or hasn’t been voiced, so I need to be super mindful. I need to treat this like a research paper. I need to hit out every point.

We’ve seen images of white bodies, and we explore the white world and we explore the white feminist gaze. I think now there are creatives that are like me really shifting the culture and putting our narratives out there, which are of color and even queerness. There are so many queer photographers and queer people who are out here telling their story, but it’s the story of many. Also, shoutout to him for even giving me that idea of just photography as visual language because that’s really how I approach my craft and sometimes I do approach it as how I’m talking to you right now. But when I’m doing bigger projects, like “Glitter Boy” and like “Purple,” these are things that haven’t been said. So I treat that as I’m writing these entire 10-page papers [in college], and so I need to be super mindful.

Let’s talk about “Purple.” It features the women and girls of your family, and it ran in Vogue. How important is it for you as a young artist to infiltrate these traditionally white spaces with your work?

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Someone just asked me why did I shoot “Purple” in the way I did, and did I have intentions for it to be in Vogue from the start. It’s like, no, I shot “Purple” because my family kept bugging me to shoot them, which is really funny. [Last year,] I had the opportunity to be in Vogue, and I know how much that meant to me. Now my mother is seeing herself in Vogue. My grandmother is seeing herself in Vogue. My little sister has seen herself twice in one year. It adds validity to this experience as a woman, and it also is adding validity to black women everywhere, that we can exist on Vogue in any shape and size. I kind of want to convert that whole lens of black people can exist in those spaces.

My overall goal, as an artist, is to just show that there’s so much greatness in being black. There’s so much untapped creativity in the hood that gets overlooked. I shot that, literally, where I grew up. Those lawns, that’s an abandoned lot that hasn’t been touched for 20 years, and now they want to touch it and make it into a beer garden. I also shot it because gentrification is definitely happening, and I don’t know what that place might be. I go back in a year and it might be a whole fucking Walmart. People overlook it and be like, “Oh, that’s so ghetto. They did nothing to this lot.” I just know people used to play in that lot, and it’s like, now you see it, and it’s beautiful.

I think, a lot of times, for black people, even though we aren’t given much, we really make do. It’s a lot, but people have planted flowers there. Black people have always, even when we have nothing, we can find beauty in it. I think that’s another narrative I wanted to tell.