My Mini Museum - Goodwin Art of the Ages Thread

[BuffiBlowout]

If anyone has any that they would like to move, please let me know!

Here are the 30 I've acquired over the years in order from my least favorite to my most favority-est.


#30. The Houses at L'estaque by Georges Braque
- Some cubism paintings I like, this one, meh




#29. Dynamism of a Woman's Head by Umberto Boccioni
- I enjoy some of his dynamism paintings that apply the groundwork for Futurism, but like the painting above, this is not my favorite.




#28. Anna Zborowska by Amedeo Modigliani
- I'm not a general fan of commissioned portraits and the ones I do like are generally very realistic in natural or have some significant meaning to the artist. While this painting has a small personal connection to Modigliani through his friend Leopold Zborowski, I would rather have one of the series of nudes created for Leopold rather than this. One of those nudes, Nu Couche, set the record price for a Modigliani at over $170 million in 2015.




#27. Landscape in the Midi by Amedeo Modigliani
- I LOVE landscapes. Despite having that word in the title, this is not the type of landscape I enjoy. Those are to come...




#26. Mill in Sunlight by Piet Mondrian
- While the Art of the Ages version leaves a bit to be desired, this is probably the premier work of all the Luminist paintings done by Mondrian. The entire painting is done with only 3 colors and the vibrancy of the shading makes for an intense image. Cool stuff.




#25. Vision After the Sermon by Paul Gauguin
- This one is more interesting due to the significance of the work. From my understanding, it was Gauguin's first painting interpreting religion which later became recognized as the premier Synthesism painting.




#24. Taking the Count by Thomas Eakins
- Cool painting with cool subject matter. Would probably rank higher, albeit be less interesting, if the main fighter wasn't depicted in what I consider to be an adult diaper




#23. Portrait of Marguerite Charlotte-David by Jacques Louis-David
- I really just love the dress. As weird as that may sound, I just feel like any woman would look beautiful in it. The wry smile and folded arms in a submissive nature makes the subject seem approachable yet distant or mysterious. Or maybe not? That's what art is cool




#22. Children in the Sea by Joquin Sorolla y Bastida
- I grew up on the water so this just brings back memories of being a kid on the beach. The vibrant blue waters also speak to me. That the subjects are shown from behind draws focus away from who the people are and instead puts focus on the simplistic beauty of the innocence of two young siblings playing in clear blue waters. Again, just my interpretation




#21. Church in Cassone by Gustav Klimt
- I've never really traveled much which is why this painting interests me. Everyone has fond memories of places that are so insignificant to the rest of the world so I wonder what it was about this specific view, of this church, in this town that made it worth putting brush to canvas. Who knows




#20. Nicolaes Ruts by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
- Dude has a dope suit and badass facial hair. And it was my first Rembrandt




#19. Monkeys in the Jungle by Henri Rousseau
- I love animals and it's not overly common to see them as the main focus of paintings from some of the more "famous" painters. Also, the back monkey is either tiny or that is a bowling ball sized fruit he about to eat or launch at someone




#18. Marooned by Howard Pyle
- One that I could have easily placed higher because the colors are so well done that I feel desperate and desolate just from looking at it. However, the simplicity of the painting, while I admit is partly why I like it so much, also knocks it down a few pegs on my personal list (if that makes any sense lol)




#17. Lady With A Fan by Pablo Picasso
- Don't really care at all for the actual painting. It could have been done by a local 9th grader for all I know. It's my only Picasso though. Recognize the name brand!




#16. View of Toledo by El Greco
- The contrast of the ominous sky over the bright green hills is what appeals to me. It reminds me of Blue Streak when Martin Lawrence asks "how can so much bad s*** happen on such a beautiful day". Except it's bad weather on such a beautiful landscape. You get it...




#15. Large Blue Horses by Marc Franz
- Love the color, the subject matter, and that it is an important early work for Franz. Another simple painting on the surface that I seem to enjoy.




#14. The Artist's Father Reading L'Evenement by Paul Cezanne
- Despite being over a century old, there is just something meaningful about the image of your dad sitting in a chair reading the paper. Maybe it was a grandparent or maybe it wasn't the newspaper, but the general sentiment behind this is very relatable. And I like the color scheme and detail.




#13. Club Night (Stag at Sharkey's) by George Bellows
- Obviously sports subject matter gets a thumbs up from me. Factor in the old-school, underground fight club feel this painting invokes and this one lands higher up on my list that I would have predicted before sitting down and actually making said list.




#12. Cuadro No. 2 by Piet Mondrian
- I love all of Mondrian's compositions and this would be ranked a bit higher if it was "Composition 2 With Red and Yellow" but I'm not losing sleep over it. I do like how colorful this one is in comparison to some of the others.




#11. Old Man In Sorrow (On the Threshold of Eternity) by Vincent van Gogh
- I don't know what it is exactly about this that I enjoy aside from the fact that it is a VVG. I think it's just one of those works where I look at the photo, look at the title of the painting, and say to myself "Yeah, that's about right". I'm such a dope of an art critic. Or maybe a dope art critic?




#10. The Dance by Henri Matisse
- I enjoy the careless nature and sense of freedom this painting kicks up. Literally (okay, figuratively) makes my worries melt away. A very important painting for Matisse and also in Modernism movement as well.




#9. Orchard in Bloom at Louveciennes by Camille Pissarro
- One of the few true landscapes I've been able to acquire over the years. If there was another large blooming tree on the right hand side I would probably have this ranked higher. I love nature in the sunlight. The more vibrant, the better.




#8. The Quarry by Henri Rousseau
- Another one that fuels my desire to travel. Where is this and why is it important? The bright green grass and stonework lead me to believe this is a place I want to see in real life. Sometimes that has to be the desired goal of the artist right?













Before I get into my top Kyle Lowry (that is seven for all you uninformed folk), I'll say a lot of these are interchangeable on any given day. I love all of them. Each one has at least one distinct feature that I fixate on and am in awe of. Without further ado...




#7. Haystacks: Autumn by Jean-Francois Millet
- Look at the use of color. My goodness! From the intertwined blue/white/purple sky down to the green/white/yellow/brown/orange/gold in the grass, the aesthetics of this painting demand recognition. To me, it highlights so many of the beauties of nature - the light in the sky, the earth, and the animals who call it home. It is one of a series of four paintings, one from each season, done by Millet. It is worth nothing that the Art of the Ages version is much more vibrant than the gloomier original.




#6. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent
- So this one is higher than it would be simply because this is the one that started it all for me. #STORYTIME!!!

When I first started running The Fantastic Store, I opened a bunch of boxes for packs. Eventually we slowly moved away from that but there was a solid two year span where we had a section of $2-5 packs available. When I finally decided to ditch the packs in 2015, there were about 10 total packs left over from 4 different products. They literally sat there for OVER A YEAR. I could not sell them for $1 per pack. Trust me, I tried (I did get someone to buy a few though - he left 1 pack of the product he bought... foreshadowing...)!!

I decided to say F it, I'll just buy them for myself and open them on a Saturday night while watching some sports and having a few beers. Problem solved! There were 3 packs of 2013 Bowman Chrome Baseball, the last pack of 2013 Elite FB which the customer didn't want, and 2 Packs of 2013 Goodwin left. I assumed I just pissed $20 away but I didn't really care. Little did I know I was about to have one of the best breaks of my life.

13 Bowman Chrome = Raul (Adalaberto) Mondesi Refractor Auto /500. Graded BGS 10/10 - Sold for almost $300
13 Elite FB = Passing the Torch Dual Auto of Patrick Peterson & Devin Hester - Sold for $75 or so

I opened Goodwin last and in the final pack saw something in a penny sleeve. I slowly revealed Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose and immediately started googling and Ebaying. I was deep down the rabbit hole within minutes. So I guess this is just a big long thank you to everyone who passed on those $1 Goodwin packs oh so long ago!





#5. The Nation Makers by Howard Pyle
- I can not believe this isn't higher. Blows my mind. Such amazing subject matter. The soldiers looks so young and knowing they are marching into battle (again, as evidenced by the torn flag) to risk their lives for freedom is awe inspiring. This one also bring us to #BACKTOBACKSTORYTIME!!

After I had started buying a couple of the singles off Ebay, I had told myself I'm going to open up to a Master Case of 2015 Goodwin until I hit an Art of the Ages. At the time I had no idea they weren't 1 per case.... Uh oh....

I got through about 6 boxes before doing a little more in depth research on the checklist. Now that I realized that there were only 300 cards in the entire product, I was thinking this was a terrible idea and a waste of money. I said I'll do one more box. My 7th box has to be lucky because Kyle Lowry will obviously lead me to the promise land.

About halfway through the box, boom! Soft sleeve with gold paint on the border!!! I was so excited I screamed "I bleeping pulled one!" and ran around from behind the display cases. The only problem was the plastic office chair mat at the edge of the counter. My chair wasn't on the mat so when I tore a** around the corner, I stepped on the mat which slide out from under me and I went down, hard, card in hand.

Now everyone is laughing at me but I immediately pointed out that I did not put my hand down to break the fall. I went down arms bent holding the card up high to make sure I didn't damage it. Instead, I damaged my tricep....





So freaking worth it







#4. The Large Willow at Giverny by Claude Monet
- The only Monet I've even been able to snag. He is one of my absolute favorites and any of his works that depict his garden in Giverny are stunning. This was my unquestioned #1 painting in the early stages of my collection and still resides in my top 5.








I can't decided between the top 3 so I'm going to call them 1a, 1b, and 1c....






#1c. Lady With a Fan by Gustav Klimt
- Okay... so like myself, Klimt was a huge fan of the female form (sorry dudes, we are nice but women are next level in terms of beauty). In fact, he was so infatuated by the sexuality of women, many of his works were considered pornographic at the time.

He is generally categorized as a symbolist painter in the Art Nouveau era but was later influenced heavily by Japonism. Lady With A Fan is such an important piece for me because it perfectly wraps up everything Klimt was. The gorgeous woman, in a non-sexual setting (especially for Klimt), in the Kimono with the japanese fan, surrounded by the abstract colors and symbols (most noticeably the aqua bird) make for such an amazing work.

Adding to the intrigue for me is that this is one of the last, possibly THE last work Klimt ever produced before suffering a stroke that killed him in 1918. Some people believe this work is unfinished which only adds to the mystique. I absolutely love it.





#1b. I and The Village by Marc Chagall
- To give you an idea of how much I flip flop my rankings of these paintings, I had this as number 1a until about 20 seconds ago. I and the Village was another painting I acquired early in my quest. I was surprised when I won it as I was low on funds that day and didn't expect to win the auction as it was on the lower side of what these cards sold for at the time. Hooray me though!

What I love about this painting aside from the colors (I'm sure you guys have noticed a pattern there) is how effortlessly all the different concepts blend together. Seriously, just take a long look at the painting and make a list of all the different things you see. Then ask yourself, what would a painting look like with all these things in it. Your answer would probably be "A weird pile of crap". In truth, it's just the opposite. A visually stunning masterpiece and one of Chagall's seminal works.






And finally, we've reached the pinnacle......





...the apex....






...the top of the mountain....







....number one with a bullet....







.....the best of the best......







...the creme de la creme.....






#1a. Storm in the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
- UGH! WHERE DO I EVEN START.... aside from the amazing quality of artwork which I don't think needs any explanation, the story of the painting is probably why it lands at number 1a on my list.

The painting itself depicts Jesus calming the storm in the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35 - 4:41). While I'm not overly interested in any specific religious themed works, the combination of brilliant interpretation of one of the miracles of Jesus depicted in such high quality by one of the greatest artist's of all time brings enough clout to put this at the top of the list.

However, the painting's involvement in modern pop culture is what really sets it apart for me. It was one of thirteen paintings stolen from Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum in 1990. The painting, which was Rembrandt's only surviving seascape, has never been recovered.

It has also been mentioned a couple of times in my favorite crime drama, The Blacklist, including having an entire episode centered around it in season five, episode 2 (Greyson Blaise).

I could go on and on about this one but this thread has been long enough and I appreciate anyone who has made it this far. So here she is, in XXL size, the only known surviving original copy (kind of lol) of The Storm in the Sea of Galilee...





I hope everyone enjoyed the thread. Feel free to post your own mini museums if you got em

-Buff