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.
Category: Artists
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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.
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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….
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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.
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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.
This work is a dam design for Mesa, AZ. It really resembles what you imagine a dissected ant hill might look like. Soleri founded two schools/art residences around Phoenix which are both still functioning, Cosanti and Arcosanti.
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Your Daily Art 