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)