Bouguereau... now there's an artist I would attempt to swim an ocean in a hurricane to study and work with on an ongoing basis. Me, I have trouble doing a spazoole doggy paddle too.

His Satyrs and Nymphs in the Clark Museum in Massachusetts is incredible to see. I've only just discovered it and will be back to see again. You been there, Marvin? The Met's Bouguereau does not compare.

There is a self portrait by Rembrandt (when he was older, poor, and doing not so well) that I go to see often. It emotionally speaks volumes. The attachment doesn't begin to do it justice.

I will look at your choices (think I'll make a list and check out everyone

Hi Carl,

Is that a digital photograph of the Rembrandt? I see colouring in the face that I don't see on most reproductions.

Peter

Carl, that's a good version and frame.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

For those who have not yet had the privilege of going to the met, this is the front door. A fairly imposing structure located on the east side of Central Park in NYC.

Does anyone know of books or other publications showing Raeburn's paintings? I have not made an all out effort to find his work but even museum's like the Philadelphia Museum of art where his work is exhibited has virtually nothing.

I searched on Amazon and there wasn't really much there. I did find this link on a Scottish website that had two interesting books on Raeburn:

http://www.scotlandsource.com/www.sc...books/bl01.htm

Frans Hals: Yonker Ramp & His Sweetheart
 

Call me crazy but I would take this Hals piece. Not because it's his best work but because it's his. I have always been in awe of his brush work (second to none) and his ability to capture "the moment" (second to none). He had the ability to capture with a brush what many photographers today wish they could capture with a lens.

Peter & Tim,
The color may be pushed just a tad, but I don't think very much, if it is. It is a quick digital I took at the Met (you can tell by the crooked framing of the shot). I didn't really think it would come out, but it did quite well. I hit the auto levels in Photoshop, as the photo out of the camera was just a bit dark. Next time I'm there I'll double check and let you know how much extra intensity the camera may have added. If I remember correctly there is a reasonable amount of color in this particular portrait.

I forgot to mention that there is a little Vermeer with a mostly bluish cast there (forgot the title) of a woman in a window (go figure). The values have nice sensitive relationships, and even though it is tiny, it draws me back to it. I'm not a particular fan of the way Vermeer depicts female heads, but the value handling, edges, and color in this particular one is very special.

Of course if we are not talking painting with people... Fredrick Churches "Heart of the Andes" and the Gifford Catskill landscape hanging near it, are very special. There's a Church there that overall is not among the best, however the rainbow painted in it literally glows with it's own light. It

Carl, I saw that Vermeer in 1996 over here. Great painting! You have some great paintings over there imported from our little country. ;)

To get back to the original subject of this thread: I like the Aristotle by Rembrandt.

Peter

Here it is.