Happy New Year!

To possess Nature . . .

Today is the birthday of Henri Matisse (December 31, 1869 – November 3, 1954), master draughtsman, printmaker, sculptor, and painter. He was known for his use of colour and his fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship

"Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us." - Henri Matisse

"A picture must possess a real power to generate light, and for a long time now I've been conscious of expressing myself through light, or rather in light." - Henri Matisse

"Creativity takes courage." - Henri Matisse


"An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language." - Henri Matisse

Matisse image source (1)

To see things differently . . .

Today is the birthday of Paul Klee (December 18, 1879 – June 29, 1940), painter, draughtsman, printmaker, teacher and writer. He wrote extensively about color theory.

"The more horrifying this world becomes, the more art becomes abstract; while a world at peace produces realistic art." - Paul Klee

"I cannot be grasped in the here and now. For I reside just as much with the dead as with the unborn. Somewhat closer to the heart of creation than usual. But not nearly close enough." - Paul Klee



"Art should be like a holiday: something to give a man the opportunity to see things differently and to change his point of view." - Paul Klee

Klee image source (1)

To explain to myself life and its meaning . . .

Today is the birthday of Edvard Munch (December 12, 1863 – January 23, 1944), Symbolist painter and printmaker.

Edvard Munch is best known for The Scream. It is one of the most recognizable paintings in the art world and has been widely interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern man.

Edvard Munch created several versions of The Scream in various media. The Munch Museum holds one of two painted versions (1910) and one pastel. The National Gallery of Norway holds the other painted version (1893). A fourth version, in pastel, is owned by Norwegian billionaire Petter Olsen.

The Scream
Edvard Munch
1893
Oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard
91 cm × 73.5 cm (36 in × 29 in)
National Gallery Oslo
Oslo, Norway

"Nature is not only what is visible to the eye – it also shows the inner images of the soul – the images on the back side of the eyes." - Edvard Munch

"Death is pitch-dark, but colors are light. To be a painter, one must work with rays of light." - Edvard Munch

"In my art I have tried to explain to myself life and its meaning. I have also tried to help others to clarify their lives." - Edvard Munch

To convey social and political messages . . .

Today is the birthday of Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez (December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), better known as Diego Rivera, painter.

Diego Rivera's paintings included large wall murals that very often contained social and political messages in them.

In 1932, Diego Rivera had been contracted to paint a mural in the RCA building (Rockfeller Center) in New York City, NY. He was given the theme: Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future and he entitled the work simply Man at the Crossroads. Before he was able to complete the mural, Nelson Rockfeller, concerned with the revolutionary connotations in the mural demanded that Diego Rivera remove Lenin from the painting. Diego Rivera refused to censor his work, and the entire mural was destroyed.

Man, Controller of the Universe
Diego Rivera
Fresco (1934)
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Mexico City, Mexico

Diego Rivera would later create a smaller version of Man at the Crossroads in Mexico City. He entitled the new version of the mural Man, Controller of the Universe or Man in the Time Machine.

"The artist must try to raise the level of taste of the masses, not debase himself to the level of unformed and impoverished taste." - Diego Rivera


"Only the work of art itself can raise the standard of taste." - Diego Rivera

To travel to heaven . . .

Today is the birthday of William Blake (November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827), poet, painter, and printmaker.

Ancient of Days (God as an Architect)
William Blake
1794
relief etching with watercolor
23 x 17 cm
(9 x 7 inches)
British Museum
London, England

"What has reasoning to do with painting?" - William Blake

"Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death." - William Blake

"The man who never in his mind and thoughts travel'd to heaven is no artist." - William Blake

Blake image source (1)

To seize the light . . .

Today is the birthday of Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (November 18, 1787 – July 10, 1851), artist and chemist. He is best known for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography.

"On January 7, 1839, members of the French Académie des Sciences were shown products of an invention that would forever change the nature of visual representation: photography. The astonishingly precise pictures they saw were the work of Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787–1851), a Romantic painter and printmaker most famous until then as the proprietor of the Diorama, a popular Parisian spectacle featuring theatrical painting and lighting effects. Each daguerreotype (as Daguerre dubbed his invention) was a one-of-a-kind image on a highly polished, silver-plated sheet of copper. . . . From the moment of its birth, photography had a dual character—as a medium of artistic expression and as a powerful scientific tool—and Daguerre promoted his invention on both fronts." quote source (1)

"I have seized the light. I have arrested its flight." - Louis Daguerre

Daguerre image source (1)

For contemplation . . .

Today is the birthday of François-Auguste-René Rodin (November 12, 1840 – November 17, 1917), better known simply as Auguste Rodin, sculptor.

The Thinker, a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin is one of his most memorable works. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle. It is often used to represent philosophy. There are over twenty casts of the sculpture in museums around the world.

The Thinker
Auguste Rodin
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
San Francisco, California

"The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him." - Auguste Rodin

"The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation." - Auguste Rodin



"To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth." - Auguste Rodin

"Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which nature herself is animated." - Auguste Rodin

The Thinker image source (1)

To get a grip on reality . . .

Today is the birthday of Alberto Giacometti (October 10, 1901 – January 11, 1966), sculptor, painter, draftsman, and printmaker. He is best known for his sculptures of thin, elongated human figures.


"That's the terrible thing: the more one works on a picture, the more impossible it becomes to finish it." - Alberto Giacometti

"It is impossible to do a thing the way I see it because the closer I get the more differently I see." - Alberto Giacometti

"I paint and sculpt to get a grip on reality . . . to protect myself." - Alberto Giacometti

To record facts around me . . .

Today is the birthday of Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 - December 26, 1909), painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West.

The Scout: Friends or Foes

Frederic Remington

Oil on canvas (c. 1900-05)

68.6 x 101.6 cm

(27 x 40 in.)

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

Williamstown, Massachusetts

"Art is a she-devil of a mistress, and if at times in earlier days she would not even stoop to my way of thinking, I have persevered and will so continue." - Frederic Remington


"I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were about to vanish forever... and the more I considered the subject, the bigger the forever loomed. Without knowing how to do it, I began to record some facts around me, and the more I looked the more the panorama unfolded." - Frederic Remington

Remington painting image source (1)

To have an adventure . . .

Today is the birthday of Mark Rothko (September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) born Marcus Rothkowitz, painter and printmaker.


"To us art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take the risks." - Mark Rothko

To create new appearances . . .

Today is the birthday of Jean Hans Arp (September 16, 1886 – June 7, 1966), sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist. He was one of the founding members of the Dada movement or Dadaism in Zürich, Switzerland (1916) and is considered a pioneer of abstract art. Jean Hans Arp was a prominent experimentor of automatic drawing and developed this technique to create his sculptures.

Cloud Shepherd
Jean Hans Arp
Bronze Sculpture (1953)
Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
*Photo by Alejandro Bárcenas

"The important thing about Dada, it seems to me, is that the Dadaists despised what is commonly regarded as art, but put the whole universe on the lofty throne of art. We declared that everything that comes into being or is made by man is art. Art can be evil, boring, wild, sweet, dangerous, euphonious, ugly, or a feast to the eyes. The whole earth is art. To draw well is art . . . . The nightingale is a great artist. Michelangelo's Moses: Bravo! But at the sight of an inspired snow man, the Dadaist also cried bravo." - Jean Hans Arp

"Art is a fruit that grows in man, like a fruit on a plant, or a child in its mother's womb." - Jean Hans Arp

"I wanted to create new appearances, to extract new forms from man." - Jean Hans Arp

*Sculpture image source (1)

To keep busy . . .

Today is the birthday of Anna Mary Robertson Moses better known as "Grandma Moses" (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), folk artist.

Grandma Moses began painting in her late seventies and by the time of her death in 1961 at the age of 101, she had created over 1500 works of art.

Early Skating

Anna Mary Robertson Moses

Oil and tempera on Masonite (1951)

45.6 x 61 cm

(17 15/16 x 24 in.)

Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn, New York

"What a strange thing is memory, and hope; one looks backward, the other forward; one is of today, the other of tomorrow. Memory is history recorded in our brain, memory is a painter, it paints pictures of the past and of the day." - Grandma Moses

"Painting's not important. The important thing is keeping busy." - Grandma Moses

To capture a minute part of reality . . .

Today is the birthday of Henri Cartier-Bresson (August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004), photographer and artist. He was considered a master of candid photography and the father of modern photojournalism.

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a Magnum founder and a full Member since 1947.


"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

"For the world is movement, and you cannot be stationary in your attitude toward something that is moving." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

"The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

To express our inner life . . .

Today is the birthday of Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967), realist painter and printmaker.

Nighthawks
Edward Hopper
Oil on canvas (1942)
84.1 cm × 152.4 cm
(33.1 in × 60 in)
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois (USA)

"If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint." - Edward Hopper

"Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." - Edward Hopper


See the entire screening Edward Hopper at the National Gallery of Art.

Nighthawks image source (1)

To make others see . . .

Today is the birthday of Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas (July 19, 1834 – September 27, 1917), best known as the artist Edgar Degas, one of the founders of Impressionism.

• "Edgar Degas is usually classed with the impressionists, and he exhibited with them in seven of the eight impressionist exhibitions. However, his training in classical drafting and his dislike of painting directly from nature produced a style that represented a related alternative to impressionism." direct quote source (1)

Dance Class at the Opera on Le Peletier Str.

Edgar Degas

oil on canvas (1872)

33 × 46 cm

Musee d'Orsay

Paris, France

"Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do." - Edgar Degas

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things." - Edgar Degas

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." - Edgar Degas


Stamp image source (1)

To make clear what you do not know . . .

Today is the birthday of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669), painter and etcher, best known simply as Rembrandt. He was a popular portrait painter and is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history.

Self-Portrait

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

oil on canvas (1658)

133.7 × 103.8 cm

Frick Collection

New York, NY

"Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God." - Rembrandt

"Choose only one master - Nature." - Rembrandt

"Practise what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know." - Rembrandt

Stamp image source (1)

To find a kindred soul . . .

Today is the birthday of Camille Pissarro (July 10, 1830 - November 13, 1903), Impressionist painter. He was known as the Father of Impressionism, an inspiration to many young artists during his life and especially, as a mentor to Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin.

Boulevard Monmartre in Paris

Camille Pissarro

oil on canvas (1897)

29 1/8 x 36 1/2 in. (74 x 92.8 cm)

Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg, Russia

"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." - Camille Pissarro

"Everything is beautiful, all that matters is to be able to interpret." - Camille Pissarro

"Painting, art in general, enchants me. It is my life. What else matters? When you put all your soul into a work, all that is noble in you, you cannot fail to find a kindred soul who understands you, and you do not need a host of such spirits. Is not that all an artist should wish for?" - Camille Pissarro

To say something . . .

A Happy Birthday salute to Maurits Cornelis Escher (June 17/18, 1898 – March 27, 1972), graphic artist, best known as M.C. Escher. His artistic genius appears in mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints that feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, and architecture.

International Copyright laws protect all of the work of M.C. Escher. Any reproduction of his work, including downloading, is prohibited without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for reproduction should be directed to Cordon Art's copyright department. Send your request to their copyright department at copyright@mcescher.com with as much background information as possible, if you wish to use his work. In the meantime, click on the links in this blog to see his images on websites that have obtained copyright permission.

One can meditate on M. C. Escher's artwork, so do take a peek thru the web links, and enjoy some of his thoughts in the following quotes.

"The result of the struggle between the thought and the ability to express it, between dream and reality, is seldom more than a compromise or an approximation." - M. C. Escher

"We live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though this is how it sometimes appears." - M. C. Escher

"We adore chaos because we love to restore order." - M. C. Escher

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M. C. Escher

"It is human nature to want to exchange ideas, and I believe that, at bottom, every artist wants no more than to tell the world what he has to say. I have sometimes heard painters say that they paint 'for themselves': but I think they would soon have painted their fill if they lived on a desert island. The primary purpose of all art forms, whether it’s music, literature, or the visual arts, is to say something to the outside world; in other words, to make a personal thought, a striking idea, an inner emotion perceptible to other people’s senses in such a way that there is no uncertainty about the maker's intentions." - M. C. Escher

"What I give form to in daylight is only one per cent of what I have seen in darkness." - M. C. Escher

"He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder." - M. C. Escher

Escher image source (1)

To make knowledge visible . . .

Today is the birthday of Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (June 10, 1819 – December 31, 1877), painter. He is oft referred to as the leading representative of the Realist movement in French painting and is credited with coining the term Realism to describe the artistic movement.

Gustave Courbet(French, 1819–1877)
The Desperate Man, 1844–45
Oil on canvas17 3/4 x 21 5/8 in. (45 x 55 cm)
"The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it." - Gustave Courbet

"Beauty, like truth, is relative to the time when one lives and to the individual who can grasp it. The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of conception the artist has acquired." - Gustave Courbet

"Painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things." - Gustave Courbet

"I hope to live all my life for my art, without abandoning my principles one iota." - Gustave Courbet

"Fine art is knowledge made visible." - Gustave Courbet

Image source (1)

To baffle the public . . .

Today is the birthday of Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 – May 8, 1903), painter and sculptor.


Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
Paul Gauguin, 1897–1898
oil on canvas, 139.1 × 374.6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
"Paul Gauguin was a financially successful stockbroker and self-taught amateur artist when he began collecting works by the impressionists in the 1870s. Inspired by their example, he took up the study of painting under Camille Pissarro. Pissarro and Edgar Degas arranged for him to show his early painting efforts in the fourth impressionist exhibition in 1879 (as well as the annual impressionist exhibitions held through 1882). In 1882, after a stock market crash and recession rendered him unemployed and broke, Gauguin decided to abandon the business world to pursue life as an artist full-time." direct quote source (1)

He is considered a leading Post-Impressionist painter.

"I shut my eyes in order to see. "
- Paul Gauguin

"Life is merely a fraction of a second.
An infinitely small amount of time to fulfill
our desires, our dreams, our passions."
- Paul Gauguin

"The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art's audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public." - Paul Gauguin

To feel a sense of art . . .

Today is the birthday of Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926), painter and printmaker. 

Mary Cassatt lived much of her adult life in France and she was the only American invited to exhibit with a group of independent artists later known as the Impressionists.

The Boating Party, 1893-94 

Oil on canvas 

35 7/16 x 46 1/8 in. (90 x 117.3 cm)

Mary Cassatt 

Chester Dale Collection

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C.

"If painting is no longer needed, it seems a pity that some of us are born into the world with such a passion for line and color." - Mary Cassatt

"Acceptence, under someone elses' terms, is worse than rejection." - Mary Cassatt

"I have touched with a sense of art some people – they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist?" - Mary Cassatt

Cassatt images source (1)

To make what pleases you . . .

Happy Birthday to the artist, Jasper Johns, Jr.! He was born May 15, 1930 in Augusta, Georgia (USA). He is best known for his painting Flag (1954-55), which he painted after having a dream of the American flag.

"I make what it pleases me to make.. ..I have no ideas about what the paintings imply about the world. I don’t think that’s a painter’s business. He just paints paintings without a conscious reason. I intuitively paint flags." - Jasper Johns

"Sometimes I see it and then paint it. Other times I paint it and then see it. Both are impure situations, and I prefer neither. At every point in nature there is something to see. My work contains similar possibilities for the changing focus of the eye." - Jasper Johns

Flag 1954–55 

Jasper Johns

Encaustic, oil, and collage on fabric 

mounted on plywood (three panels)

42 1/4 x 60 5/8" (107.3 x 154 cm)

The Museum of Modern Art

New York, NY (USA)

Jasper Johns is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery.

Flag image source (1)

Some ideas from the web . . .

Why Study Art?

Here are some ideas from the web.

Why Study Art?

"The arts have served to connect our imagination with the history of human existance. Studying civilization and creative expression throughout history and across cultures enables students to experience diversity and is multiculturalism in practice. The arts are a fundamental part of the cultural heritage of every student and as such, enhance the quality of life. They bring joy, enrichment, and fulfillment to every human being. Art allows students to acquire the tools and knowledge necessary to create individual responses to a variety of issues and is essential, not only in understanding life, but in living fully."

- direct quote source (1)

Why Study Art?

"To enjoy beautiful creations of artists who shape the world.

To learn about ourselves - our feelings, our ideas of what is beautiful and what values and beliefs we like to see in artworks.

To learn about other people - their feelings, their ideas of what is beautiful and what values and beliefs they liked to see in their art.

To learn about other cultures - the values and beliefs that shaped their visual arts."

- direct quote source (1)

Why Study Art?

"The arts have served to connect our imaginations with the history of human existence . . . Art is a basic component of a complete education. Art experience fosters aesthetic development; the ability to construct, create, decode, and describe. It provides avenues of communication, paves the way for reading, and motivates written expression. Art is a product, a process, and an essential element for creative thought and experience."

- direct quote source (1)

Dealing with monsters . . .

The Third of May
El Tres de Mayo

Francisco De Goya

1814

Oil on canvas
104 1/2 inches by 135 3/4 inches
266cm x 345cm
Prado Museum, Madrid

“Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.” Francisco De Goya

Perhaps we study art to reveal/tame the monsters of the world . . .

Image source (1)

To capture the inner flashes . . .

Today is the birthday of Gustave Moreau (April 6, 1826 – April 18, 1898), a French Symbolist painter, sculptor and watercolorist famous for his illustration of biblical and mythological figures.

He preferred to paint mythological subjects, symbolist work that is thought to be a forerunner of surrealism.

Gustave Moreau was the recipient of many honors, yet refused to sell his paintings except to friends. In 1892, he was given a painting professor position at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where his pupils included Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault. After his death, his house in Paris (now the Musée Moreau), with his fine art collection, was bequeathed to the nation.

"I believe neither in what I touch nor what I see. I only believe in what I do not see, and solely in what I feel." - Gustave Moreau

"I have never looked for dream in reality or reality in dream. I have allowed my imagination free play, and I have not been led astray by it." - Gustave Moreau

The Rape of Europa 1869

Gustave Moreau

Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France

"No one could have less faith in the absolute and definitive importance of the work created by man, because I believe that this world is nothing but a dream." - Gustave Moreau

"I am less concerned with expressing the motions of the soul and mind than to render visible, so to speak, the inner flashes of intuition which have something divine in their apparent insignificance . . ." - Gustave Moreau

Moreau image source (1)

Art trivia . . .

On April 1, 1867, the Paris Exposition Universelle de 1867 opened and proved to be a historic event for the 19th century art movement known as Impressionism. The exposition drew over eleven million visitors, including exhibitors and employees. This exposition was the greatest up to its time of all international expositions, both with respect to its extent and to the scope of its plan.

Paris Exposition Universelle

(1867)

It was during the 1867 Paris Expo that a plan was first suggested for a group Impressionist exhibition and as a result of that plan, the first Impressionist exhibition was held in Paris in 1874. The Impressionists managed to hold seven subsequent shows until their final show in 1886.

Édouard Manet, rejected by the same 1867 exhibition, held his own retrospective nearby and painted a panoramic cityscape, Paris Exposition Universelle de 1867, which is considered one of the founding works of Impressionism.

Exposition Universelle de Paris

Édouard Manet

1867

Most references to Impressionist painting refers to the work produced between about 1867 and 1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques known as Impressionism. (Impressionism also describes art created in this style, but outside of the late 19th century time period.)

The central figures in the development of Impressionism in France were:

Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870)
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894)
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Armand Guillaumin (1841-1927)
Édouard Manet (1832-1883)
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

Exposition Universelle image source (1)

Manet painting source (1)

To paint my dream . . .

A Happy Birthday salute to the artists Francisco Goya and Vincent van Gogh.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (March 30, 1746 – April 16, 1828), painter and printmaker.

"Goya was a Spanish court painter whose best work was done apart from his official duties. He is known for his scenes of violence, especially those prompted by the French invasion of Spain. The series of etchings 'The Disasters of War, 1810-14', records the horrors of the Napoleonic invasion. His masterpieces in painting include 'The Naked Maja' and 'The Clothed Maja' (c. 1800-05). He also painted charming portraits such as 'Senora Sabasa Garcia'.

For the bold technique of his paintings, the haunting satire of his etchings, and his belief that the artist's vision is more important than tradition, Goya is often called 'the first of the moderns.' His uncompromising portrayal of his times marks the beginning of 19th-century realism." direct quote source (1)

“Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.” - Francisco de Goya

La familia de Carlos IV (1800-1801)Franciso de Goya
Museo del Prado

*****

Vincent Willem van Gogh (March 30, 1853 – July 29, 1890), Post-Impressionist artist.

To many art afficionados, Vincent van Gogh is considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt; however, he had little success during his lifetime and sold only one painting, Red Vineyard at Arles. In a period of ten years Vincent van Gogh produced some 900 paintings and 1100 drawings before he succumbed to mental illness and committed suicide. His fame grew rapidly after his death especially following a showing of 71 of Vincent van Gogh's paintings in Paris on March 17, 1901 (11 years after his death).

Several paintings by Vincent van Gogh rank among the most expensive paintings in the world. On March 30, 1987 Vincent van Gogh's painting Irises was sold for a record $53.9 million at Southeby's, New York. On May 15, 1990 his Portrait of Doctor Gachet was sold for $82.5 million at Christie's, thus establishing a new price record.

"I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream." - Vincent Van Gogh

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream." - Vincent Van Gogh

"If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." - Vincent Van Gogh

The Red Vineyard, 1888
Vincent van Gogh
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
*****
Goya Self-Portrait Image (1), Goya Painting (1)

Van Gogh Self-Portrait Image (1), Van Gogh Painting (1)

To see, so I can feel . . .

If you are in New York March 26-29 be sure to visit my FB friend Alex Novak at the AIPAD Show. You can visit with him at the Contemporary Works/Vintage Works booth #221. The AIPAD show is at the Park Ave. Armory in NYC, USA. Please take a few moments to visit at his websites www.iphotocentral.com  and www.vintageworks.net - you may be pleasantly surprised.

Today is the birthday of Edward Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973), photographer and painter.

In 1902 a group of photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Myra Wiggins, Clarence White, Gertrude Kasebier and Alvin Longdon Coburn, broke away from the Camera Club of New York, to establish what became known as the Photosecession Group.

Members of the group were involved in the production of the photography journal, Camera Work (1903-17) and in 1910 sponsored an international show of more than 500 photographs. 

The Pond-Moonlight (1904)
Edward Steichen
In February 2006, a copy of Edward Steichen's early pictorialist photograph, The Pond-Moonlight (1904), sold for what was then the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction, U.S. $2.9 million.

"Once you really commence to see things, then you really commence to feel things." - Edward Steichen

Image source (1)

For the excitement . . .

Today is the birthday of Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) photographer, and co-founder of Group f/64.

Most of Edward Weston's photographic work was accomplished using an 8 by 10 inch view camera. In 1937 he became the first photographer to receive the Guggenheim Foundation artist's fellowship. The New York Times newspaper reported on April 14, 2008 that Sotheby’s sold an Edward Weston photograph to a New York art dealer for $1.6 Million.

"Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual." - Edward Weston

If you are in New York, join in the excitement at the AIPAD show. Hope to see you there.

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To go where you've never been . . .

Today is the birthday of Diane Arbus (March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971), photographer. She was one of the most original and influential American artists of the 20th century.

Diane Arbus, 1968
Getty Images

"Arbus's gift for rendering strange those things we consider most familiar continues to challenge our assumptions about the nature of everyday life and compels us to look at the world in a new way. By the same token, her ability to uncover the familiar within the exotic enlarges our understanding of ourselves." direct quote source (1)

"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know." - Diane Arbus

"I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." - Diane Arbus

"The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way." - Diane Arbus

"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been." - Diane Arbus

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Perhaps, so not to waste time . . .

Today is the birthday of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564), Italian painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer. He is known by most of the world, simply as Michelangelo and is considered a founder High Renaissance.

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” - Michelangelo

“The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has” - Michelangelo

"I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish." - Michelangelo

"There is no greater harm than that of time wasted." - Michelangelo

The Creation of AdamSistine Chapel Vatican City
Michelangelo1508-1512
Perhaps, we study art so as not to waste time and/or perhaps, we study art so as to do no harm . . .

To learn the laws of nature . . .

Today is the birthday of Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841–December 3, 1919), French painter, printer and sculptor associated with the Impressionist movement.  He is known for his vibrant use of color and often referred to as the Happy Painter.

By the Water
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Art Institue of Chicago

"Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world." - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"The only way to understand painting is to go and look at it. And if out of a million visitors there is even one to whom art means something, that is enough to justify museums." - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"To be an artist you must learn the laws of nature." - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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