The Birch Grove, 1915-16 by Tom Thomson.
A unofficial member of the Group of Seven artists but only because he passed away before the group was established. He was an avid outdoors man whose work reflects his love of nature.
Bountiful
Fruits and Vegetables, 1938 by Grant Wood.
Another publication from Associated American Artists. Wood hired his sister Nan and her husband to hand-tint the flower and fruits watercolors.
Foresight
Wild Flowers, 1938 by Grant Wood, Assorted collections.
During the Depression many artists were not able to make a living so two New York Art Dealers commissioned working artists such as Wood to do a series of lithographs that they sold in the back of magazines for $5-$10 each. Today some of them go for around $10,000.
The colored images were done in watercolor by Wood’s sister Nan who was also the model for the daughter in American Gothic.
If only I could travel back in time....
Crater Art
Roden Crater by James Turrell, under construction.
Kanye West has brought a lot of attention to light and space artist James Turrell whom he worked with and filmed Jesus is King at Turrell’s Roden Crater in Arizona. Roden Crater is expected to open to the public in 2024.
Paolo Soleri in Arizona
Artist/architect Paolo Soleri studied at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and with the famous architect himself, although Soleri's designs took on a more amorphic and almost insect-like look about them. The photos were taken by me at a retrospective of the artist at The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018.
Soleri and his students started making bronze bells as a source of income and an artistic outlet. The bells can still be purchased at Cosanti.
Architectural model for Arcosanti, Mayer, AZ
The Frame is Also Art
In Preparation, She Cached A Guidebook Near the River of Oblivion, 2008 by Holly Lane, Forum Gallery, Inc.
A working artist whose fantastic artwork is fit into her intricate hand-made frames. Her frame style is so rich and detailed, while her paintings have a distinctly surreal look. Lane was born in Cleveland and went to school in California.
Honoring Traditions
Thanksgiving by John Currin, 2003, The Tate Collection, London.
John Currin's artwork brings to mind the naturally lit rooms of Vermeer and the realistic, beautiful, yet often grotesque figures of Odd Nerdrum. What I see here are three women, obviously related, preparing a huge turkey for Thanksgiving, but the turkey is really the star. It is impossibly fat and huge, I have a hard time believing they will be able to fit it into an oven.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, 1536-1541 by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
Michelangelo and the Vatican butted heads over the nudity in this colossal fresco of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse. All of the souls are being judged and either ascending to heaven or falling down into hell. Some of the figures are coming to grips with their fates based on how they lived they lives.
Recording Nature
Nymphea 'Bagdad,' 2006 by Leslie Berge, for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
A Florilegium is a collection of flora, most often garden flowers. The earliest known examples date to about the 15th century, but as you can see from this example, they continue to be produced in the present day. The Victorians were very fond of gardening and many Florilegia were produced in the 19th century.
The Florist and Pomologist. London: Journal of Horticulture Office, Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections.
Flora and Fauna
Allegory of Spring by Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1563, The Louvre, Paris.
Arcimboldo created some of the most fascinating paintings of the 16th century. He began his career making stained glass windows and eventually worked for royalty where he created portraits made of fruits, vegetables, flowers, leaves and even books.
Spring, detail
Artist and Poet
Pity, c. 1795 by William Blake.
From Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act I, Scene VII when Macbeth what would happen after Duncan is murdered "And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air."
Blake's unique style developed from his training as an illustrator and his unbounded imagination.
Uglification
The Mock Turtle's Story, 1907 illustrations by Arthur Rackham for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
...They had not gone far before they saw the Mock Turtle in the distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and, as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break. She pitied him deeply. "What is his sorrow?" she asked the Gryphon, and the Gryphon answered, "very nearly in the same words as before, It's all his fancy, that: he hasn't got no sorrow, you know. Come on!"....
Painting What You Know
Cook’s Barn, 1939 by Marvin Cone.
A friend and fellow teacher of Grant Wood, when you look at Cone's work you can tell the two artists were working together and sharing techniques. He and Wood collaborated at the Stone City Art Colony.
Gaze
Seated Woman with Bent Knee, 1917 by Egon Schiele
Schiele was arrested and imprisoned for immoral artwork. His work was often more explicit than this example; his work is raw and uncompromising. He died at 28 from influenza.
More Puppies
String of Puppies, 1988 by Jeff Koons, various collections.
Koons took this image off a card licensed by the photographer and reproduced it. He was sued and the court found that it was copyright infringement. Koons claimed it was an image of everyday life that he reproduced. More "fair use" info.
Blocks of Color
Composition by Piet Mondrian, Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York.
Working to build his paintings from the simplest elements of lines and basic colors, Mondrian believed that he could control the line and color and control the art. He was the leader of the De Stijl movement in art.
Blue Heaven
IKB 79,c.1959 by Yves Klein, Tate Gallery, London.
Klein created his own color called IKB (International Klein Blue) and he devotes the entire canvas to the color. He wrote the Chelsea Hotel Manifesto about his art. He died at age 34.
Down the Drain
What the Water Gave Me, 1938 by Frida Kahlo.
Kahlo's work is always very personal. This one exposes the thoughts and dreams of the artist whose feet stick out of the water at the end of the tub. She was married to Diego Rivera whose career eclipsed her own, however there has been a revival of her work in the last 15 years which has made her very popular.
Dapples of Sunlight
Sunlight and Shadow, 1884 by William Merrit Chase, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
This work by another American artist who studied and had great success in Europe as well as in the US, was originally entitled The Tiff by the artist. That title gives us a little more insight into what is going on between the man and the woman peeking over the edge of the hammock.
Drama
An Experiment on a Bird in the Airpump, 1768 by Joseph Wright of Derby.
Wright of Derby studied under Sir Joshua Reynolds however his work is more experimental as he was fascinated with light and painting the effects of light and darkness. This work even features the moonlight so it is a combination of artificial and natural light.