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Stained Glass Panel in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Style at Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix.
Frank Lloyd Wright always liked to create an entire environment in his buildings and homes. He designed furniture, rugs, light fixtures, stained glass, pottery, fabrics - whatever a home would need. His student Albert McArthur, who collaborated with Wright on the design, included a glass panel typical of his teacher's style that now serves as a beautiful focal point at the entrance.
Gateway, Tangier by Henry Ossawa Tanner, c. 1912, The St. Louis Art Museum.
Tanner studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which was highly unusual for an African American at this time. He was also lucky enough to study under Thomas Eakins, who revolutionized the way that art was taught and influenced many. Robert Henri, founder of the Ashcan School, was also a student at the same time. Tanner felt the burden of post-slavery racism (his mother was a slave who had escaped through the Underground Railroad, even in the north, and decided to strike-out for France, where he spent most of his life. He continued his studies at The Louvre where the great French masters, such as Gustave Courbet, influenced his work further.
Jesus Loves Me by Varnette Honeywood, 1983
A good friend first introduced me to the art of Varnette Honeywood about the time this work was made. I have always been fond of the way Honeywood combined, colors and shapes to perfectly capture her scenes. Sadly, she passed away in 2010.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude "Lower Manhattan Packed Buildings" (Project) (2 Broadway and 20 Exchange Place) Collage 1964-66.
This proposal for a project in Lower Manhattan was rejected but Christo and Jeanne-Claude did get a NYC project called “The Gates” done in 2005. They put orange “gates” in Central Park and the citizens were sorry to see them go when they were taken down.
Group, ©1963 by Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak Archives, Rosenbach Museum and Library, Philadelphia
One of the most popular books of my generation has proven to be among the most imaginative children's books ever written. Where the Wild Things Are is a remarkable story with amazing illustrations.
White and Pink Roses by Henri Fantin-Latour, Private Collection.
A friend of the Impressionists Manet and Bazille, in his early career Fantin-Latour was part of the traditional academic salon. He loosened his brush strokes after he came to know the Impressionists and their techniques.
Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (aka Chicago World's Fair) Designed by a panel led by architect Danial Burnham and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition made Chicago the leading force in architecture, a prominence the city is still known for today. The style is classically influenced by the Greeks and Romans, but the designed on a faux city built onto the lake. More than 27 million people came to see the sights, among them, the first use of electric lighting designed and installed by George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesl , using his invention of AC current.
Flamingoes by Sydney Long, c. 1905-06, The National Gallery of Australia
Long's work was often controversial because of the subject matter he chose to portray in his languid art nouveau style. He was fond of nudes and tranquil scenes. He often chose flamingos as a subject matter and this is perhaps his most stylistic version of the subject matter, where colors and curves become the focus rather than a realistic portrayal. After 1918 he concentrated on print making translating many of his most popular paintings into prints.
Louis Comfort Tiffany artwork at the University of Michigan. Peacock mosaic.
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Between Heaven and Earth by El Anatsui, 2006. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
From Ghana, artist El Anatsui uses found object to create beautiful works of art that drape and hang within the spaces in which they are shown. He also uses more traditional mediums like wood, clay and paint, but you can find bottle caps, metal cans, aluminum wrapping, etc.
Three Flags by Jasper Johns, 1958, Whitney Museum of American Art
The Poisoned Cup (aka "Carrying a Peacock") by John Dawson-Watson, 1869
Another artist discovered via Pinterest.
John Dawson-Watson was a British Impressionist whose early work seems very similar to John Everett Millais of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood fame. The rich colors and attention to detail found in this work becomes looser and more pastel after he studies Impressionism at Monet's home in Giverny.
Gas Giant by Jacob Hashimoto at MOCA, Los Angeles
Jacob Hashimoto creates large installation pieces made up of many small parts that are constructed, quite often by utilizing kite making techniques. You can see in the photo the individual pieces, some in boxes, some circles that look like small kites.
Video:
http://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/design/100000002782070/gas-giant-by-jacob-hashimoto.html
Miss Dora Wheeler, William Merritt Chase, 1882-83, The Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting is one of the rel gems of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. They have access to a large part of their collection and a lot of other interesting things to see and do on their website.
This work by William Merritt Chase is a particular favorite and features two fighting cats hidden in the background.
Peacock tiles by William De Morgan and Co., c. 1888-97, The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, UK.
William De Morgan was closely associated with William Morris the British Arts and Crafts movement, like Morris, De Morgan believed that looking to the skilled crafts of the past would greater enrich the lives of the people of Victorian Britain, as the hand-made work was both fulfilling and beautiful. His work was influenced by the ornate and colorful ceramics of the Middle East.
The Boulders by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, c. 1923-26, Hunterian Art Gallery, U of Glasgow.
This C.R. Mackintosh watercolor was done after he had arrived in the south of France on the Mediterranean coast where he was struck by the natural rock formations and sets them up in this painting as a contrast to the roofs of the buildings.
Conditions for Water by Karen Kunc, 2012.
I have always been a fan of Nebraska print maker Karen Kunc. I first became acquainted with Kunc's work while a curatorial intern at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha. Her work is beautiful, composed of color and shape and her printing technique of woodcut layers is masterful. I was also honored to work with her parents Ray and Ila Kunc when I ran the Joslyn Museum Shop, their jewelry combined excellent lapidary work with refined design.
The Cradle, 1872 by Berthe Morisot, Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
Morisot was the great-granddaughter of Jean-Honore Fragonard and studied art under her bother-in-law Edouard Manet and later Pierre Auguste Renoir. She exhibited at almost all of the Impressionist exhibitions.
Violette Heymann by Odilon Redon, 1910, The Cleveland Museum of Art
Symbolism is a genre that often is over-looked for Surrealism or Impressionism. It has roots in literature, the author Baudelaireis credited with its formation and being influenced by Poe. Many of the 19th century artists whose work is having a renaissance recently: Klimt, Moreau, Munch, to name a few, are considered to be part of the Symbolist category.
Odilon Redon, is best known for his prints and pastels, and his work is full of symbolism and he is quoted as having said he wanted to "place the visible at the service of the invisible." This is a portrait, so much more straight forward than some of his other works, but the sitter seems to be surrounded by floating flowers, who make her seem dour in comparison.
Spring in Town by Grant Wood, 1942
Two of my favorite Iowa artists,
Grant Wood and William Bailey.
Both of them capture brilliantly the straight-forward simplicity Iowa stands for, to me. Simplicity, with under-layers of pride, truthfulness, and appreciation for life. Take care and stay safe Iowa.
Red Wall by William Bailey, 2007.