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)