July 11th, 2008
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijin, is one of the greatest painters in art history and probably the most important painter in Dutch history. He was an artist that stylized to perfection the Baroque art movement. He became especially well know for his portrait work.
In his religious and portrait work he uses every aspect to portray his classic style and Baroque realism, which was the popular movement of the time. But his religious work is noted for the humanity and empathy he showed all human beings. This emotional empathy showed through in all of his biblical themed work. During his lifetime as a painter, he not only produced some of the most important pieces we have of the period, but he also taught every important Dutch painter during his twenty year height as a painter.
He was born in 1606, the ninth child to a miller and a baker’s daughter. As a youth he became apprenticed to a Leiden history painter and later with Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. After he left his apprenticeship, he opened his own studio in 1624 and in 1627 he began to accept students.
Big commissions did not begin to come in for him until 1629, when he was discovered by a statesman named Constantijn Huygens, who began to bring him important commissions in portraiture. In 1631 he moved to Amsterdam, and quickly became well known. Among one of his most moving works was the painting he did of his wife, on her death bed in 1642.
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July 9th, 2008
It appears that many artists don’t feel inspired by biblical scenes anymore, although I don’t see why. It would appear that the Bible has many inspirational elements, and many that artists can draw on.
Artists that still work with biblical scenes find ways of reaching all of us through the subjects they paint, even though the subject has been painted by others thousands of times before. The point is that artists can inspire through biblical paintings, or any other thing that inspires them. It is important that the artist feel inspired by anything and whatever it is that he finds inspiring he will be able to transpose those feelings into his work.
There are few modern day artists that have been inspired by biblical related themes, after the government and Church separated and most religious churches stopped supporting artists, they began to take on themes that were more secular. But there is one modern artist that was inspired much by religious themes, even though there are paintings, where it is difficult to distinguish this influence. He is well known by admirers for his biblical inspiration and Paris has even dedicated an entire museum to his work. It is Marc Chagall that I am talking about.
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July 7th, 2008
Artists find their inspiration from many different places. Some from other artists, some from modern day life and some from nature. But just because they take their inspiration from nature does not necesarily mean that they paint or portray exactly what they see in nature in their work. Lets take as an example the work of Jaison Cianelli. In his work he portrays a squirrel in boots, eating a sandwich.
The artist has created a type of whimsical self portrait, where he represents a connection with the spiritual and the mundane world. The antlers represent spirituality and nature, the boots, a tired and resting person, and the sandwich is the enjoyment of life.
It is truly amazing how an artist can find inspiration in things that we would never think of, things we may not even see until an artist, shows it to us.
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July 4th, 2008
John Opie was once known to have said,
“Art is more godlike than science. Science discovers but art creates.”
This quote tries to answer the question that most artists are asked. What is it that gives them their inspiration? Sometimes we can easily see what the inspiration is. Sometimes the answer is as simple as the people and situations that surround the artist become his inspiration. But other times we don’t really know how the artist got his idea. Did Jesus and his disciples just appear to Da Vinci? Of course, not! So how did he come up with the idea?
Most artists use people, surroundings, and areas they are familiar with, even for works that are abstract or fantasy art. Sometimes the people in an art work are even a composite of many different people. Some artists are inspired by their dreams and even their life goals, that’s why I say that each piece is a part of the soul of the artist. So to really understand what inspires the artist, you need to know about the artist, his history and what interests him as a person.
It is really difficult to understand what inspires creativity, and that may be what makes it so interesting. Artists use many things to inspire the, a conversation, another piece of art, nature, and many different things.
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July 2nd, 2008
The Baroque period affected Architecture in the 17th century and began in Italy. This style developed from Renaissance architecture, and developed into a more theatrical style. The objective was to express the triumph of the Catholic Church. Architects became concerned for color, lighting and grandeur in the Baroque style.
The Baroque came about because of the Catholic Church reformation in response to the protestant reformation. The point was to be more emotionally accessibly and yet, portray the grandeur and the power of the Catholic Church. Later this architectural movement went on to affect the architecture within the nobility too. First it affected the grand palaces of France, and then followed throughout Europe.
Features of Baroque movement include, dramatic use of light, chiaroscuro effects, large scale ceilings on which frescoes are painted, long narrow naves, Ostentatious decorations including gilded ones, and the use of marble, and other faux finishes.
Often the interior of Baroque building were just large areas, which were only to be used to house more painting and sculpture of the period. The Baroque movement spread quickly throughout Europe and Latin America. This movement was a way of presenting grandeur for both the church and for the nobility, and today we have many beautiful representations that still exist of the movement.
Photo: Courtesy of R.Duran
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June 30th, 2008
One of the most noted portrait artist of the Baroque period was Anthony van Dyck, who was born in 1599 and died in 1641. This artist was Flemish by birth but became the leading court painter in England. He is best known for the portraits of English royalty like King Charles I and members of his family. Van Dyck, and other portrait artists of the time changed and influenced the art of portrait work for the next 150 years. His paintings were noted for the relaxed style in which the subject was placed, and the contrast between the shadow and the light on the subjects faces.
Each individual is painted in a way in which their personality stands out, The Baroque artists that worked in portraiture were concerned with the inner being and soul of the subject, and tried to portray that in their painting. Paintings were more intense and every detail was observed, and you can see this in the way cloth is rendered and skin is painted with the very texture being seen. This was a very compelling period of art.
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June 27th, 2008
Romare Bearden Famous American Modern Artist Inspired by Music, Sounds in Nature
Artists are inspired by many different things. I want to talk a little bit about Romare Bearden, an unusual American artist. Bearden was an African American born in the first part of the 20th century. He came from the Bronx and graduated from New York University with a degree in education. What makes Bearden so distinct is his interests in so many different things.
He was a professional baseball player in the Negro leagues, but in between his sports sessions he always found time to take courses in art and became a lead cartoonist for the Eucleian Society. He was also a writer, a costume designer for the theatre, a composer.
He became well known as an artist for a piece he did in 1970 where he combined polymer paint on composition board, with cloth and paper. The piece called Patchwork Quit stands today in the museum of Modern Art.
He studied art in Germany and took much of his influence from Mexican Muralists Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. When the war broke out, he joined and afterward went to France to study philosophy. He also took up composing and helped write “Sea Breeze.” This artist took his inspiration from many different interest and many different things, but primarily form music, and sounds. His art was universal, because he was well read, well educated and his friends were artists, poets, musicians, and writers.
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June 26th, 2008
When people have a weak sense of what they like or dislike in as far as art, and these people tend to go with fads, styles, popularity or color schemes, this is known as the meme factor. The meme effect can take away an individuals’ true taste and can be so powerful that even true art connoisseurs decide that any art piece and loves anything and everything. This is the inability to decide between a piece of work that is appealing and one that is not. This is where the fads, fashions, and symbols begin and true art appreciation ends.
This creates the subjectivity of art, where the greatness and liking of art have nothing to do with whether the piece is actually good, but with popularity, consensus, and the market, all facets that are moldable in our society.
The truth is that famous artists, musicians, novelists, painters who have created a large quantity of art work , will in all likelihood create a great deal of work that is not up to par, after all it is illogical to think that all of their work will be masterpieces.
The meme factor explains why artists such as Van Gogh, were not appreciated at all at certain times. Today they are considered among the best artists of humankind. It is interesting to see that during his lifetime, Van Gogh sold only one painting, while today, his painting Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1905) has sold by as much as 82,5 million dollars.
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June 25th, 2008
Edward Hicks was a famous American Folk art painter that took his inspiration from stories, mostly biblical stories, but many of local stories, farms and landscapes of New York and Pennsylvannia. Hicks was a Quaker and believed in the prophecy of Isaiah, and many of his paintings reflect that. His paintings reflect justice and gentleness of men and beasts, just as prophesied.
What is strange, that as well known as his paintings became, art was only secondary to Hicks. He considered himself more of a preacher than an artist and only started painting late in life. He started painting when he was mid aged and at one point almost thought that it was contrary to his religion, but at the same time he felt that it brought meaning to his life. When he passed away, those that mourned him mourned him as a preacher, and not as a pastor. It wasn’t until much later that his art became sought after by great collectors. This is a man that took his inspiration from the life around him, from his natural surroundings and from his strong religious beliefs.
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June 24th, 2008
llustration, and especially referring to the world of computer illustration, has brought aspects of many different styles back to life, including that of primitive art. Many computer illustrators use a lot of principles from primitive, or folk art. Primitive art, or naïve art is best known for its bright colors, and simplicity, almost as if a child had done it. The form is known for its two dimensional drawings, no single principle of composition, and usually colors are placed simply as they come with little or no shading. Most primitive art is done by artists that had little or no art training.
It is contrary to every principle in the art world, and yet many of today’s artists are relying on some of the principles of naïve art. For instance in naïve art color is not shaded or used in hues, it’s generally applied directly without much mixture. It is known for it’s almost stick like figures and strong colors. It is so different and much simpler than regular art that, many artists have taken qualities from this charming art and integrated it into their work as you can tell by the work of Emila Yusof.
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