The night before she handed in her entry depicting a lone World War I veteran for the Veterans Art Show at the Bob Stump Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Betty Long found a photo of injured World War I veterans who moved in a line with their hands on each other's shoulders to get to where they needed to be.
Long, who served as a nurse in the Navy, said she had been working on her fine arts mixed media work "When Johnny Comes Marching Home - Flanders Field 2" for more than a year when she saw the photo.
"We lost so much of what we learned in World War I by the time we were in World War II," Long said. "After World War II, we heard about treatment for what's now called post traumatic stress. Back in World War I, we called it shell shock."
Long, who won Best of Show on Wednesday for her artwork, was one of 83 artists who submitted 167 entries in the Veterans Creative Arts Festival, said Paula Moran, supervisor of recreation therapy at the Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System.
Kenny Wayne, who served on submarines in the Navy, said he used the Raku technique to make his Kopper Kiva Verde pottery that won third place in best in show and first place in pottery and that he modeled the top portion of it on Mesa Verde cliff dwellings.
"It amazes me the talent these men and women have," said Elaine Pohle, a volunteer at the VA as she walked through the show.
The Arts Festival is sponsored by Help Hospitalized Veterans, which has provided more than 27 million arts and crafts kits absolutely free of charge to VA and military medical facilities worldwide since 1971, and the American Legion Auxiliary, which donates thousands of volunteer hours to communities and veterans and raises millions of dollars to support its programs and well known charities.
"Each year we challenge the veterans to go out and tell another veteran about the show and get them involved in this program," Moran said.
John Huebner, who served in the Air Force during the Korean War era, won second place in oil painting for "The Old Prospector and Burro."
"That is absolutely wonderful," said Sukie Floriano, a VA employee, said as she looked at Lori Robinson's mosaic "Field of Flowers" which tied for third place in mosaic kits. "I love sunflowers."
Frank Hamilton, who won first place in pastels for his "Windmills in Amsterdam" and teachers a pastel class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Yavapai College, said he saw a photo of the windmills then "put my own creative stamp on it."
"It's true, there are 40 shades of green in Ireland," said Ken Enright, who served in both the Army and Air Force, and put many of those shades of green into his watercolor painting "Slea Head" that earned second place in watercolors.
John Sheley, who served in the U.S. Navy, said he used to be an electrical lineman and he used 14 karat gold and sterling silver wire in his Wire Wrapped Bracelet and Sweetheart Pendant that won second place in the Jewelry not beads category.
"These people have such talent," said Lilly Miley, who viewed the exhibit with her husband Doug Miley, who won first place in oil painting for "Rocky Mountains." "I think it uplifts them, the same way my husband and I feel like we get taken to another place when we paint."
2012年2月19日星期日
Nature, nurture at Fountain Street Fine Arts
Two local artists reveal their views of the world through form and color in a new exhibit, “Painting, Sculpture: The Art of Michelle Lougee and Bob Grignaffini,” at the Fountain Street Fine Art Gallery in Framingham.
Using bright colors and defined shapes, sculptor Lougee of Cambridge and painter Grignaffini, originally from Wellesley, intend to depict the fragile relationship between humans and nature.
An environmental sculptor and artist, Lougee creates colorful, spiritual sculptures to capture the importance of humans’ responsibility to the earth and the controversial question of nature vs. technology. Her simple, cellular forms expose the reality of the world and relay a clear message to viewers: “What are we going to do?”
“We are in a dangerous place right now,” Lougee said, “The way we live affects us in the future.”
For example, “Plume” is a tubular structure of black, interwoven plastic bags inspired by last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The bags are not tightly woven, which gives the sculpture the appearance of netting.
Grignaffini’s oil paintings reflect his views on places around the world. Using bright colors within solid forms, he captures the movement and light that make a scene come to life. He said his paintings are a “celebration of color and form” within pastoral and small town landscapes.
“Everything has spirit in it,” he said, “I try to be honest with the way I’m laying the paint down.”
Not all of his subjects are real.
Created in Grignaffini’s mind, “Pathway Through a Garden” is meant to be an interactive piece for viewers. He invites us to step into the painting with a long staircase passing through a beautiful garden of bright greens, yellows and blues.
Both artists gain inspiration from nature. Grignaffini’s paintings attempt to show a sense of movement and life in otherwise stationary objects. Lougee loves the otherworldliness of the ocean and bases many of her sculptures on deep-sea life forms.
Grignaffini’s “Old Beech Tree” reveals an ancient Italian forest, in which he uses bright colors and profound shadows to capture the movement of light among the trees. It inspired many of his other paintings displayed in the exhibit.
“Saxonville” depicts a familiar landscape along the Sudbury River. This painting is particularly special to Grignaffini because it is near his former home, and both of his children were born there. It also represents his desire to share the shapes and colors within everyday scenery.
Ocean plankton in the “Eastern Garbage Patch” off the coast of Hawaii inspired Lougee’s “Dinoflagellate.” The sculpture, created with crocheted plastic bags, looks like a vortex of life forms meant to represent the effect of toxins on sea creatures within the patch.
Lougee’s panel pieces give an organic form to inorganic substances. Ironed and fused together, the beige plastic bags give an appearance like worn parchment. Yarn-like strands of plastic bags sewn into the panels create a wall sculpture and give life to the inorganic materials.
Gallery co-founder Cheryl Clinton said she loves the combination of paintings and sculptures. The shapes, composition and palette create a rhythm between the works, which visually connects them to one another and makes an appealing display.
Lougee uses repurposed materials to create her sculptures. Her current favorites are clay and plastic bags, which she began using four years ago. She turns the bags into yarn and crochets them into shapes. The ease and portability of the pieces make it easy to work on anywhere.
Grignaffini likes to use different styles when he paints, usually beginning the process with a charcoal sketch of a scene he wants to paint. He works primarily in his studio at the Fountain Street Gallery, but also enjoys working en plein air.
Using bright colors and defined shapes, sculptor Lougee of Cambridge and painter Grignaffini, originally from Wellesley, intend to depict the fragile relationship between humans and nature.
An environmental sculptor and artist, Lougee creates colorful, spiritual sculptures to capture the importance of humans’ responsibility to the earth and the controversial question of nature vs. technology. Her simple, cellular forms expose the reality of the world and relay a clear message to viewers: “What are we going to do?”
“We are in a dangerous place right now,” Lougee said, “The way we live affects us in the future.”
For example, “Plume” is a tubular structure of black, interwoven plastic bags inspired by last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The bags are not tightly woven, which gives the sculpture the appearance of netting.
Grignaffini’s oil paintings reflect his views on places around the world. Using bright colors within solid forms, he captures the movement and light that make a scene come to life. He said his paintings are a “celebration of color and form” within pastoral and small town landscapes.
“Everything has spirit in it,” he said, “I try to be honest with the way I’m laying the paint down.”
Not all of his subjects are real.
Created in Grignaffini’s mind, “Pathway Through a Garden” is meant to be an interactive piece for viewers. He invites us to step into the painting with a long staircase passing through a beautiful garden of bright greens, yellows and blues.
Both artists gain inspiration from nature. Grignaffini’s paintings attempt to show a sense of movement and life in otherwise stationary objects. Lougee loves the otherworldliness of the ocean and bases many of her sculptures on deep-sea life forms.
Grignaffini’s “Old Beech Tree” reveals an ancient Italian forest, in which he uses bright colors and profound shadows to capture the movement of light among the trees. It inspired many of his other paintings displayed in the exhibit.
“Saxonville” depicts a familiar landscape along the Sudbury River. This painting is particularly special to Grignaffini because it is near his former home, and both of his children were born there. It also represents his desire to share the shapes and colors within everyday scenery.
Ocean plankton in the “Eastern Garbage Patch” off the coast of Hawaii inspired Lougee’s “Dinoflagellate.” The sculpture, created with crocheted plastic bags, looks like a vortex of life forms meant to represent the effect of toxins on sea creatures within the patch.
Lougee’s panel pieces give an organic form to inorganic substances. Ironed and fused together, the beige plastic bags give an appearance like worn parchment. Yarn-like strands of plastic bags sewn into the panels create a wall sculpture and give life to the inorganic materials.
Gallery co-founder Cheryl Clinton said she loves the combination of paintings and sculptures. The shapes, composition and palette create a rhythm between the works, which visually connects them to one another and makes an appealing display.
Lougee uses repurposed materials to create her sculptures. Her current favorites are clay and plastic bags, which she began using four years ago. She turns the bags into yarn and crochets them into shapes. The ease and portability of the pieces make it easy to work on anywhere.
Grignaffini likes to use different styles when he paints, usually beginning the process with a charcoal sketch of a scene he wants to paint. He works primarily in his studio at the Fountain Street Gallery, but also enjoys working en plein air.
2012年2月16日星期四
Vail International Gallery hosts exhibit by oil painter
When people walk into Vail International Gallery in Vail, sometimes they stop mid-step to stare at one of Lu Cong's paintings, hanging on the wall.
“The eyes really grab them,” said Patrick Cassidy, gallery co-owner. “And people are also impressed by the near photographic quality of his work. Sometimes I have people ask if they are photographs, until they look close and see that it's done with a brush and oil paint. And they're even more impressed when they find out he's a self-taught artist.”
The gallery is hosting Cong's second large scale exhibit, with 11 paintings on display, through March 1; a reception with the artist will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Since Cong's last exhibit at the gallery, in 2010, the Denver artist has broken into the national art scene, with exhibits in New York City and Southampton, said Marc LeVarn, who owns the gallery along with Cassidy.
The painter, whose given name is actually Cong Lu, came to the United States from Shanghai China when he was 11 years old. He began working full time as a painter while in his early 20s after moving to Denver. Naturally gifted as both a draftsman and colorist, Cong's early works were “large and sensational, though they were painted with exaggerated melodrama and pathos, his keen insight and sensitivity towards his subjects were nonetheless evident,” LeVarn said.
Between 2003 and 2007, Lu was recognized by a number of art publications as a notable emerging artist.
“Since then, Lu has developed a distinctive look that many regard as an original approach to figurative realism,” LeVarn said. “His portraits do not simply capture the physical or emotional likeness of the subject, rather they beckon to establish an authentic engagement — interaction that ensues when one comes face to face with the sensual, the inexplicable and the unsettling.”
Cong is best known for his paintings of women and his compositions often depict females looking directly out from the painting toward the viewer. While Cong's work is realistic, its also fairly stylized, Cong said. For example, the women's eyes often look bigger than they might in real life.
“It's not that I go measure, and make them big, its just something that happens,” he said during a 2010 interview. “Whenever I try too hard to make something have a formula, they end up like caricatures,” Cong said. “But I like to just look at them like I'm just painting them like they're in front of me. If I do some funky things — eyes get bigger, certain things get streamlined — I just let that happen.”
And its those details that distinguish Cong's work from that of other portrait artists.
“I do have a sensibility and style that I feel is pretty unique and other people respond to,” he said. “But it's nothing I can tell you how it happens, it's just something that comes out in my work.”
The gallery has carried Cong's work since 2006. Over the years, Cassidy has watched Cong's style evolve.
“He has more of a classical Renaissance technique now, Cassidy said. “He stopped painting on canvas because no matter how tight the weave, it didn't provide him the ability to paint the detail he wanted. It's a very Renaissance style of painting to paint on a wood panel on a very flat plane with hardly any texture. He can get extreme levels of detail.”
“The eyes really grab them,” said Patrick Cassidy, gallery co-owner. “And people are also impressed by the near photographic quality of his work. Sometimes I have people ask if they are photographs, until they look close and see that it's done with a brush and oil paint. And they're even more impressed when they find out he's a self-taught artist.”
The gallery is hosting Cong's second large scale exhibit, with 11 paintings on display, through March 1; a reception with the artist will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Since Cong's last exhibit at the gallery, in 2010, the Denver artist has broken into the national art scene, with exhibits in New York City and Southampton, said Marc LeVarn, who owns the gallery along with Cassidy.
The painter, whose given name is actually Cong Lu, came to the United States from Shanghai China when he was 11 years old. He began working full time as a painter while in his early 20s after moving to Denver. Naturally gifted as both a draftsman and colorist, Cong's early works were “large and sensational, though they were painted with exaggerated melodrama and pathos, his keen insight and sensitivity towards his subjects were nonetheless evident,” LeVarn said.
Between 2003 and 2007, Lu was recognized by a number of art publications as a notable emerging artist.
“Since then, Lu has developed a distinctive look that many regard as an original approach to figurative realism,” LeVarn said. “His portraits do not simply capture the physical or emotional likeness of the subject, rather they beckon to establish an authentic engagement — interaction that ensues when one comes face to face with the sensual, the inexplicable and the unsettling.”
Cong is best known for his paintings of women and his compositions often depict females looking directly out from the painting toward the viewer. While Cong's work is realistic, its also fairly stylized, Cong said. For example, the women's eyes often look bigger than they might in real life.
“It's not that I go measure, and make them big, its just something that happens,” he said during a 2010 interview. “Whenever I try too hard to make something have a formula, they end up like caricatures,” Cong said. “But I like to just look at them like I'm just painting them like they're in front of me. If I do some funky things — eyes get bigger, certain things get streamlined — I just let that happen.”
And its those details that distinguish Cong's work from that of other portrait artists.
“I do have a sensibility and style that I feel is pretty unique and other people respond to,” he said. “But it's nothing I can tell you how it happens, it's just something that comes out in my work.”
The gallery has carried Cong's work since 2006. Over the years, Cassidy has watched Cong's style evolve.
“He has more of a classical Renaissance technique now, Cassidy said. “He stopped painting on canvas because no matter how tight the weave, it didn't provide him the ability to paint the detail he wanted. It's a very Renaissance style of painting to paint on a wood panel on a very flat plane with hardly any texture. He can get extreme levels of detail.”
2012年2月15日星期三
Through oil paints, Hall depicts live figures
Moorea Hall '15 is an oil painter, taught to embrace learning through creativity at a young age. Her talent for the arts flourished, and Hall took art classes every year in public school.
There in high school, Hall met who she dubbed her most influential mentor—her art teacher, Tom Holland. "My art teacher, Tom Holland, really pushed me to try new methods," Hall said. "He taught himself how to use glaze first, which is an old master skill that Renaissance painters used to use. He later on taught this skill to me."
Her work began with direct painting, when the paint is transferred directly on to the canvas with brushes. Hall switched her paintbrush for a palette knife, to further manipulate the paints. "Pallete knife painting allows more free expression for the artist," Hall said. "A lot of the stress from painting comes from the need to follow the drawing lines."
Direct painting creates a blurrier image; palette a sharper, well-blended image. Hall often thought about Holland's teachings to help inspire her work, appreciating his outlook on life. "He was funny, a little wry, but very encouraging without being flattering," Hall said. "He always pushed me to be better."
Hall noted the qualities of painting with glazes specifically as a medium. "Glaze is very translucent, so you just layer and layer and layer to get this luminescent glow," Hall explained. "Unlike normal oil paint, painting with glaze is extremely time consuming, so you can only work for an hour a day. You paint a layer, then wait until it dries and layer on top. Otherwise, you would just be pushing paint off the surface each time."
One of Hall's favorite subjects is live figures. "For a while I was interested in doing backs and shoulders. I liked how the muscles catch the light and how the skin's color changes with the light," Hall said. "I'm also interested in painting ballerinas because after taking figure drawing class I want to catch the best part of the figure in action."
Hall enjoys the grace and elegance of ballet, and its accompanying ballerina dancers. "Like me, ballerinas are very detail oriented. I like how they are so dedicated to perfection. Every move they make is calculated, and it's hard to catch one of those moves and immortalize it," Hall said. "So if can capture it through a painting, that one second of perfection from months of training is captured."
Her favorite piece from among her works is Ballerina I. Its subject was based on "Swan Lake." To create the final image, she used stock photos and live models as sources. This was the first time Hall had to create the background from imagination.
"I definitely worked hardest on this piece. It took a total of two months, four hours a week," Hall said. "I was really trying to find my own style, which is difficult when you are using models. The background came out straight out of my mind, and this was a big step, definitely." Hall has used photographs before to compose her images, sometimes taking multiple photos to inspire painted, unique composites.
Hall isn't enrolled in any art classes currently, but still has made time for her passion. "I would love to take a painting class. I don't agree with the drawing requirements. I already had to take three Intro Drawing classes in the past six years because I moved around so much," Hall said.
Hall added, "Art is more of a hobby for me. I plan to major in Art History and want to be an art conservator, particularly for Renaissance and Baroque art."
There in high school, Hall met who she dubbed her most influential mentor—her art teacher, Tom Holland. "My art teacher, Tom Holland, really pushed me to try new methods," Hall said. "He taught himself how to use glaze first, which is an old master skill that Renaissance painters used to use. He later on taught this skill to me."
Her work began with direct painting, when the paint is transferred directly on to the canvas with brushes. Hall switched her paintbrush for a palette knife, to further manipulate the paints. "Pallete knife painting allows more free expression for the artist," Hall said. "A lot of the stress from painting comes from the need to follow the drawing lines."
Direct painting creates a blurrier image; palette a sharper, well-blended image. Hall often thought about Holland's teachings to help inspire her work, appreciating his outlook on life. "He was funny, a little wry, but very encouraging without being flattering," Hall said. "He always pushed me to be better."
Hall noted the qualities of painting with glazes specifically as a medium. "Glaze is very translucent, so you just layer and layer and layer to get this luminescent glow," Hall explained. "Unlike normal oil paint, painting with glaze is extremely time consuming, so you can only work for an hour a day. You paint a layer, then wait until it dries and layer on top. Otherwise, you would just be pushing paint off the surface each time."
One of Hall's favorite subjects is live figures. "For a while I was interested in doing backs and shoulders. I liked how the muscles catch the light and how the skin's color changes with the light," Hall said. "I'm also interested in painting ballerinas because after taking figure drawing class I want to catch the best part of the figure in action."
Hall enjoys the grace and elegance of ballet, and its accompanying ballerina dancers. "Like me, ballerinas are very detail oriented. I like how they are so dedicated to perfection. Every move they make is calculated, and it's hard to catch one of those moves and immortalize it," Hall said. "So if can capture it through a painting, that one second of perfection from months of training is captured."
Her favorite piece from among her works is Ballerina I. Its subject was based on "Swan Lake." To create the final image, she used stock photos and live models as sources. This was the first time Hall had to create the background from imagination.
"I definitely worked hardest on this piece. It took a total of two months, four hours a week," Hall said. "I was really trying to find my own style, which is difficult when you are using models. The background came out straight out of my mind, and this was a big step, definitely." Hall has used photographs before to compose her images, sometimes taking multiple photos to inspire painted, unique composites.
Hall isn't enrolled in any art classes currently, but still has made time for her passion. "I would love to take a painting class. I don't agree with the drawing requirements. I already had to take three Intro Drawing classes in the past six years because I moved around so much," Hall said.
Hall added, "Art is more of a hobby for me. I plan to major in Art History and want to be an art conservator, particularly for Renaissance and Baroque art."
2012年2月14日星期二
Framing business a labour of love
Kathy Manzo walks into the framing store in downtown Kitchener carrying an oil painting that she wants to get framed.
She picks up another painting she had custom framed at King Framing, located on Ontario Street North.
“That is beautiful. I am thrilled to death,” Manzo says, as store owner Nick Sokolovic holds up the reframed painting she inherited from her mother.
Manzo is one of many customers who have been coming to the store regularly since it opened in 1978 at 322 King St. E. in downtown Kitchener.
“This store is an institution,” she says.
“I have second and third generations of families coming,” Sokolovic says. “I have a good reputation.”
Sokolovic got into the business through family ties.
His brother-in-law, Ibro Suljovic, owned the store when it opened in 1978. It was then called Universal Art Shop. The name later changed to King Framing because another business in Toronto operated as Universal Art Shop.
Sokolovic, now 61, emigrated from Yugoslavia when he was 16. He worked at a number of jobs locally, including a stint at automotive frame manufacturer Budd Automotive, and helped his brother-in-law when he was busy at the store.
He then took a course in custom framing at Conestoga College and worked part-time at the store.
“I enjoyed the work and I still do,” Sokolovic says. “It is not just for the money. It is for the pleasure of it.”
In 1987, his brother-in-law bought a motel in Collingwood and put the framing shop up for sale.
“The two of us went out for a drink, and I bought the business,” Sokolovic says. “He offered me a partnership. I refused the partnership. I said it is either yours or mine. I said I didn’t like partnerships. A partnership is a good way to lose a friend.”
In 1998, after 20 years of being located on King Street East., Sokolovic moved the business to its current location on Ontario Street, between King and Duke streets, because he needed more space.
He prides himself on providing quality work at a competitive price.
“My price is the best in the area. I don’t sacrifice quality. I buy in bulk so I can offer the savings. I make the money in volumes of sales, not in markups.”
Manzo says she keeps coming back because of the quality of the workmanship, the price is “great” and the personal service she receives from Sokolovic and his wife, Hanna, who has been working at the store for the past 15 years.
“My customers are like my friends,” says Sokolovic.
Grainne Aitken, a professional photographer who owns Art and Soul in Waterloo, says she brings a lot of family and wedding portraits to Sokolovic to frame.
“He works with us to create something unique,” she says. “The service and quality of work is just amazing.”
She picks up another painting she had custom framed at King Framing, located on Ontario Street North.
“That is beautiful. I am thrilled to death,” Manzo says, as store owner Nick Sokolovic holds up the reframed painting she inherited from her mother.
Manzo is one of many customers who have been coming to the store regularly since it opened in 1978 at 322 King St. E. in downtown Kitchener.
“This store is an institution,” she says.
“I have second and third generations of families coming,” Sokolovic says. “I have a good reputation.”
Sokolovic got into the business through family ties.
His brother-in-law, Ibro Suljovic, owned the store when it opened in 1978. It was then called Universal Art Shop. The name later changed to King Framing because another business in Toronto operated as Universal Art Shop.
Sokolovic, now 61, emigrated from Yugoslavia when he was 16. He worked at a number of jobs locally, including a stint at automotive frame manufacturer Budd Automotive, and helped his brother-in-law when he was busy at the store.
He then took a course in custom framing at Conestoga College and worked part-time at the store.
“I enjoyed the work and I still do,” Sokolovic says. “It is not just for the money. It is for the pleasure of it.”
In 1987, his brother-in-law bought a motel in Collingwood and put the framing shop up for sale.
“The two of us went out for a drink, and I bought the business,” Sokolovic says. “He offered me a partnership. I refused the partnership. I said it is either yours or mine. I said I didn’t like partnerships. A partnership is a good way to lose a friend.”
In 1998, after 20 years of being located on King Street East., Sokolovic moved the business to its current location on Ontario Street, between King and Duke streets, because he needed more space.
He prides himself on providing quality work at a competitive price.
“My price is the best in the area. I don’t sacrifice quality. I buy in bulk so I can offer the savings. I make the money in volumes of sales, not in markups.”
Manzo says she keeps coming back because of the quality of the workmanship, the price is “great” and the personal service she receives from Sokolovic and his wife, Hanna, who has been working at the store for the past 15 years.
“My customers are like my friends,” says Sokolovic.
Grainne Aitken, a professional photographer who owns Art and Soul in Waterloo, says she brings a lot of family and wedding portraits to Sokolovic to frame.
“He works with us to create something unique,” she says. “The service and quality of work is just amazing.”
2012年2月13日星期一
Artist with Maine ties honored at White House
Painter and printmaker Will Barnet received one of the country’s highest honors Monday, when President Obama presented him with a National Medal of Arts.
Barnet, 100, has deep Maine ties. Much of the inspiration for his artistic vision derives from his time in Maine, particularly in and around the midcoast area of Phippsburg.
Barnet, who lives in New York most of the year, received his medal in an East Room ceremony at the White House.
The White House cited Barnet “for his contributions as an American painter, printmaker and teacher. His nuanced and graceful depictions of family and personal scenes, for which he is best known, are meticulously constructed of flat planes that reveal a lifelong exploration of abstraction, expressionism and geometry. For more than 80 years, Mr. Barnet has been a constant force in the visual arts world, marrying sophistication and emotion with beauty and form.”
Among others who received honors Monday were Al Pacino, Mel Tillis and Andre Watts.
In remarks prior to conferring the medals, Obama praised artists for their contributions to society, and characterized those honored as “icons” for their courage to “dwell in possibilities.”
“As much as we need engineers and scientists,” the president said, “we also need artists and scholars ... to disrupt our views and challenge our assumptions.”
Susan Danly, senior curator at the Portland Museum of Art, said the museum has 13 Barnet images in its collection, though none is currently on view.
“We are very proud of him,” Danly said. “This is a top honor bestowed on an artist in the country, and certainly Will Barnet is one of the pre-eminent painters in Maine today. He has a long-standing love of New England and of Maine.”
In an interview with the Maine Sunday Telegram in 2002, Barnet said that painting has been a way of life for as long as he could remember.
“It’s just a pattern of living that has been a part of me that began very early,” he said. “I had a studio in my father’s basement when I was 12 years old. By the time I was 14, I read every book on the history of art that was available. Today ... it’s a continuation of my whole life, of my whole being. It is something that is a natural pattern that flows every day. It’s just a part of me. Every day, I have ideas, thoughts or feelings that I like to express.”
He was born in Beverly, Mass., in May 1911 and first came to Maine in 1953.
He has received many awards in his life, including the first Artist’s Lifetime Achievement Award Medal given on the National Academy of Design’s 175th anniversary; the College Art Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art’s Lippincott Prize; and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters’ Childe Hassam Prize.
His paintings and prints are included in most major public collection in the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Barnet, 100, has deep Maine ties. Much of the inspiration for his artistic vision derives from his time in Maine, particularly in and around the midcoast area of Phippsburg.
Barnet, who lives in New York most of the year, received his medal in an East Room ceremony at the White House.
The White House cited Barnet “for his contributions as an American painter, printmaker and teacher. His nuanced and graceful depictions of family and personal scenes, for which he is best known, are meticulously constructed of flat planes that reveal a lifelong exploration of abstraction, expressionism and geometry. For more than 80 years, Mr. Barnet has been a constant force in the visual arts world, marrying sophistication and emotion with beauty and form.”
Among others who received honors Monday were Al Pacino, Mel Tillis and Andre Watts.
In remarks prior to conferring the medals, Obama praised artists for their contributions to society, and characterized those honored as “icons” for their courage to “dwell in possibilities.”
“As much as we need engineers and scientists,” the president said, “we also need artists and scholars ... to disrupt our views and challenge our assumptions.”
Susan Danly, senior curator at the Portland Museum of Art, said the museum has 13 Barnet images in its collection, though none is currently on view.
“We are very proud of him,” Danly said. “This is a top honor bestowed on an artist in the country, and certainly Will Barnet is one of the pre-eminent painters in Maine today. He has a long-standing love of New England and of Maine.”
In an interview with the Maine Sunday Telegram in 2002, Barnet said that painting has been a way of life for as long as he could remember.
“It’s just a pattern of living that has been a part of me that began very early,” he said. “I had a studio in my father’s basement when I was 12 years old. By the time I was 14, I read every book on the history of art that was available. Today ... it’s a continuation of my whole life, of my whole being. It is something that is a natural pattern that flows every day. It’s just a part of me. Every day, I have ideas, thoughts or feelings that I like to express.”
He was born in Beverly, Mass., in May 1911 and first came to Maine in 1953.
He has received many awards in his life, including the first Artist’s Lifetime Achievement Award Medal given on the National Academy of Design’s 175th anniversary; the College Art Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award; the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art’s Lippincott Prize; and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters’ Childe Hassam Prize.
His paintings and prints are included in most major public collection in the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
2012年2月12日星期日
You could buy Picassos, Dalis and Van Goghs in India
I now have some statistics from the India Art Fair that I can share with you. While individual sales figures have not been made public, Chemold Presscott Road and Chatterjee & Lal located in Mumbai were among the first galleries to make a sale at the fair. The work by the internationally acclaimed Rashid Rana, who is known for his installations of stainless steel combined with UV prints on aluminium, was sold.
It has been further stated that there were “strong sales of Indian and international contemporary art” and unlike other years, “photography, video and installation art works sold well”. The prices of individual art works are said to range from Rs 55,000 to over Rs 60 lakh. Despite the strong representation of buyers from all over the world — the USA, China, South Africa, Israel, Greece, France, Italy, Australia and West Asia — it is also learnt that the majority of buyers were Indian collectors. Corporate houses were also seen as keen buyers. Twenty six world famous museums such as the Tate, Guggenheim, New Museum, Pompidou Centre, San Jose Museum of Art, MoMA and the Singapore Art Museum visited the fair — a sure sign of how successful this art fair has been.
We can now move on to another important art happening that also adds to India’s staure in global art. Coming up on February 15 and 16, 2012, is the first–ever online auction of international art by Indian art auctioneers, Saffronart. The works were previewed at the Saffronart Gallery in Delhi last week and then moved to the Saffronart Gallery in Mumbai. The works that are included in the list being put up for sale includes some of the biggest names from the international art world, such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Leger, Dufy, Miro and acclaimed sculptor Henry Moore, whose preliminary drawings leading to the final sculpture, gives a rare glimpse into the artist’s style and approach to his work. Also included are works by another famous sculptor, Lynn Chadwick.
The press note clears all doubts when it states “With a total of 73 lots, the sale includes a wide variety of paintings, works on paper and sculptures of exceptional provenance and quality by leading Western artists”. Among the impressionist works we have Van Gogh’s oil L’Allee aux deux promeneurs (Lane with two figures), was painted in the Dutch village Neunen, in 1885. This work has been estimated at $1 million. Camille Pissarro’s Lisière du bois (Edge of the Wood), painted with sweeping strokes with the help of a palette knife may be considered an important work by one of the “grand masters of impressionism”
The modern section includes several works by Pablo Picasso, including a 1953 vibrant oil painting titled Le Transformateur, estimated between $400,000 and $450,000. Picasso is represented with the widest range of artworks, including paintings drawings and ceramics.
There is an impressive watercolour by Marc Chagall titled, L’Echelle au ciel (Ladder to the Sky), estimated at US$ 280,000-350,000. There are also works by the immensely popular artists such as Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein.
It has been further stated that there were “strong sales of Indian and international contemporary art” and unlike other years, “photography, video and installation art works sold well”. The prices of individual art works are said to range from Rs 55,000 to over Rs 60 lakh. Despite the strong representation of buyers from all over the world — the USA, China, South Africa, Israel, Greece, France, Italy, Australia and West Asia — it is also learnt that the majority of buyers were Indian collectors. Corporate houses were also seen as keen buyers. Twenty six world famous museums such as the Tate, Guggenheim, New Museum, Pompidou Centre, San Jose Museum of Art, MoMA and the Singapore Art Museum visited the fair — a sure sign of how successful this art fair has been.
We can now move on to another important art happening that also adds to India’s staure in global art. Coming up on February 15 and 16, 2012, is the first–ever online auction of international art by Indian art auctioneers, Saffronart. The works were previewed at the Saffronart Gallery in Delhi last week and then moved to the Saffronart Gallery in Mumbai. The works that are included in the list being put up for sale includes some of the biggest names from the international art world, such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Leger, Dufy, Miro and acclaimed sculptor Henry Moore, whose preliminary drawings leading to the final sculpture, gives a rare glimpse into the artist’s style and approach to his work. Also included are works by another famous sculptor, Lynn Chadwick.
The press note clears all doubts when it states “With a total of 73 lots, the sale includes a wide variety of paintings, works on paper and sculptures of exceptional provenance and quality by leading Western artists”. Among the impressionist works we have Van Gogh’s oil L’Allee aux deux promeneurs (Lane with two figures), was painted in the Dutch village Neunen, in 1885. This work has been estimated at $1 million. Camille Pissarro’s Lisière du bois (Edge of the Wood), painted with sweeping strokes with the help of a palette knife may be considered an important work by one of the “grand masters of impressionism”
The modern section includes several works by Pablo Picasso, including a 1953 vibrant oil painting titled Le Transformateur, estimated between $400,000 and $450,000. Picasso is represented with the widest range of artworks, including paintings drawings and ceramics.
There is an impressive watercolour by Marc Chagall titled, L’Echelle au ciel (Ladder to the Sky), estimated at US$ 280,000-350,000. There are also works by the immensely popular artists such as Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein.
2012年2月9日星期四
Augustus John's paintings owned by Liz Taylor raise 250,000 at auction
WORKS by one of Wales’ most celebrated and controversial artists that were owned by Hollywood superstar Dame Elizabeth Taylor fetched almost 250,000 at auction yesterday.
The works by Augustus John included portraits of former lovers and an oil painting of his daughter Poppet.
The 22 drawings and paintings formed part of the sale of Taylor’s artwork at Christie’s, which included works by Van Gogh, Degas and Pissarro.
Earlier this week the three masterpieces fetched a combined 13,787,750, more than double their pre-sale low estimate of 6.2m.
John, whose works sold for a total of 223,263, made his name painting portraits of leading figures of 1920s Britain like Lawrence of Arabia and George Bernard Shaw.
The portrait of Poppet, one of four children John had with second wife Dorothy McNeill, was the most valuable of the artist’s work to feature and sold for 85,250 against an estimate of 40,000 to 60,000.
Tristan de Vere Cole, who along with his mother Mavis was among John’s subjects and a close friend of Poppet’s, described the work as “very like her”.
Mr Cole, 70, who is believed to be the last of many children John fathered outside his two marriages, said: “I wouldn’t put it down as one of his best portraits – it’s in the mid-range.
“The hat, the face and the chair are very good indeed, though I’m not so sure about the fur.”
Taylor’s father Frank lived in John’s Hampstead home after the artist and inherited works left there by the painter.
The works were eventually passed on to the actress. She died last March.
Dr Paul Joyner, head of purchasing at the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth, which holds several works by John, described the portrait of Poppet as an “absolute classic”.
Dr Joyner said: “He shows the coyness of the woman and it’s so full of sensuality, which is exactly what you’d expect from a fine Augustus John.
“He’s cut off the figure to really enhance the idea of the elegance of the woman.”
Dr Joyner said the 85,250 paid for the painting, dating from 1935, was a little over the 50,000 to 70,000 normally offered for works by the Tenby-born artist.
But he said the new owner was also paying for the painting’s “provenance” as a work previously owned by Taylor.
He said: “When you’ve got an interesting provenance you’re not just buying a picture – you’re buying a history.
“And when you’ve got a history like that – a beautiful woman having a portrait of another beautiful woman you’ve got something which is worth a lot extra.”
Retired film and television director Mr Cole, who spoke about John’s work at the National Library last year, said his son was planning to bid on a portrait of his mother that sold yesterday for 3,750.
His mother met her future husband, the eccentric prankster and poet William Horace de Vere Cole and John in 1928 at the Café Royal on Regent Street, in London.
Her marriage to the poet in 1930 was to be the beginning of an impressive social career as a “bright young thing” that saw her become John’s mistress four years later.
Taylor’s father was an art dealer with a gallery in Bond Street, London, who established a close relationship with the Welsh artist.
After relocating to California during the war, he opened an art gallery at the Chateau Elysée, but quickly moved it to the more impressive Beverly Hills Hotel.
There stars like Howard Duff, Vincent Price, James Mason, Alan Ladd, Hedda Hopper and Greta Garbo could be found picking art for their own collections.
Mr Taylor acted as John’s American agent for many years and was responsible for the artist gaining popularity in the United States.
John’s works sold yesterday featured in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Day sale.
The works by Augustus John included portraits of former lovers and an oil painting of his daughter Poppet.
The 22 drawings and paintings formed part of the sale of Taylor’s artwork at Christie’s, which included works by Van Gogh, Degas and Pissarro.
Earlier this week the three masterpieces fetched a combined 13,787,750, more than double their pre-sale low estimate of 6.2m.
John, whose works sold for a total of 223,263, made his name painting portraits of leading figures of 1920s Britain like Lawrence of Arabia and George Bernard Shaw.
The portrait of Poppet, one of four children John had with second wife Dorothy McNeill, was the most valuable of the artist’s work to feature and sold for 85,250 against an estimate of 40,000 to 60,000.
Tristan de Vere Cole, who along with his mother Mavis was among John’s subjects and a close friend of Poppet’s, described the work as “very like her”.
Mr Cole, 70, who is believed to be the last of many children John fathered outside his two marriages, said: “I wouldn’t put it down as one of his best portraits – it’s in the mid-range.
“The hat, the face and the chair are very good indeed, though I’m not so sure about the fur.”
Taylor’s father Frank lived in John’s Hampstead home after the artist and inherited works left there by the painter.
The works were eventually passed on to the actress. She died last March.
Dr Paul Joyner, head of purchasing at the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth, which holds several works by John, described the portrait of Poppet as an “absolute classic”.
Dr Joyner said: “He shows the coyness of the woman and it’s so full of sensuality, which is exactly what you’d expect from a fine Augustus John.
“He’s cut off the figure to really enhance the idea of the elegance of the woman.”
Dr Joyner said the 85,250 paid for the painting, dating from 1935, was a little over the 50,000 to 70,000 normally offered for works by the Tenby-born artist.
But he said the new owner was also paying for the painting’s “provenance” as a work previously owned by Taylor.
He said: “When you’ve got an interesting provenance you’re not just buying a picture – you’re buying a history.
“And when you’ve got a history like that – a beautiful woman having a portrait of another beautiful woman you’ve got something which is worth a lot extra.”
Retired film and television director Mr Cole, who spoke about John’s work at the National Library last year, said his son was planning to bid on a portrait of his mother that sold yesterday for 3,750.
His mother met her future husband, the eccentric prankster and poet William Horace de Vere Cole and John in 1928 at the Café Royal on Regent Street, in London.
Her marriage to the poet in 1930 was to be the beginning of an impressive social career as a “bright young thing” that saw her become John’s mistress four years later.
Taylor’s father was an art dealer with a gallery in Bond Street, London, who established a close relationship with the Welsh artist.
After relocating to California during the war, he opened an art gallery at the Chateau Elysée, but quickly moved it to the more impressive Beverly Hills Hotel.
There stars like Howard Duff, Vincent Price, James Mason, Alan Ladd, Hedda Hopper and Greta Garbo could be found picking art for their own collections.
Mr Taylor acted as John’s American agent for many years and was responsible for the artist gaining popularity in the United States.
John’s works sold yesterday featured in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Day sale.
2012年2月8日星期三
Local artist offers oil painting class
Anthony Archuleta’s vision is to promote the arts in Monument and he is succeeding in doing just that with the formation of the Monument Arts Association.
Several artists, galleries and local merchants have come together recently to network and work together with the shared vision of bringing people into the area to enjoy what the Tri-Lakes art community has to offer.
“Our goal is to expand the arts in the community and it’s not just limited to the visual arts,” said Archuleta, owner of Secret Window Fine Art Gallery and Floral Studio. “We want the Tri-Lakes area to be known as an art destination.”
People all ready frequent the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts in Palmer Lake and Archuleta said TLCA Executive Director Dr. Michael Maddox shares in his vision of making the whole Tri-Lakes community a destination for the arts.
As part of his vision Archuleta has recently started art classes at his studio, where he gives people the experience of painting with oils. For only $58 the students come into the studio where they will find a canvas and all the oil paints and brushes waiting for them.
“I walk them through a finished oil painting in two hours. They are treated like real artists,” Archuleta said, adding that word of his classes has been spreading by word of mouth and he has already had local residents and those who live in Colorado Springs and Denver participate in his classes.
“I will grab their hand and give them that feel of what the paint feels like on the canvass,” he said.
Archuleta wants to educate people on the arts and also hosts lectures at his studio. More recently there have been events and art shows hosted at Bella Art and Frame and Purple Mountain Jewelry. Additionally, Secret Window just received the 2012 Glass Slipper Ball People’s Choice Award for the creativity they bring to their unique floral arrangements.
The MAA will soon be starting an art night on the second Friday of each month. Archuleta chose Friday nights because it will be easier for people who live in Castle Rock, Denver, Colorado Springs and surrounding areas to attend. That night will go beyond just Monument and include artists in Woodmoor and Palmer Lake as well.
Several artists, galleries and local merchants have come together recently to network and work together with the shared vision of bringing people into the area to enjoy what the Tri-Lakes art community has to offer.
“Our goal is to expand the arts in the community and it’s not just limited to the visual arts,” said Archuleta, owner of Secret Window Fine Art Gallery and Floral Studio. “We want the Tri-Lakes area to be known as an art destination.”
People all ready frequent the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts in Palmer Lake and Archuleta said TLCA Executive Director Dr. Michael Maddox shares in his vision of making the whole Tri-Lakes community a destination for the arts.
As part of his vision Archuleta has recently started art classes at his studio, where he gives people the experience of painting with oils. For only $58 the students come into the studio where they will find a canvas and all the oil paints and brushes waiting for them.
“I walk them through a finished oil painting in two hours. They are treated like real artists,” Archuleta said, adding that word of his classes has been spreading by word of mouth and he has already had local residents and those who live in Colorado Springs and Denver participate in his classes.
“I will grab their hand and give them that feel of what the paint feels like on the canvass,” he said.
Archuleta wants to educate people on the arts and also hosts lectures at his studio. More recently there have been events and art shows hosted at Bella Art and Frame and Purple Mountain Jewelry. Additionally, Secret Window just received the 2012 Glass Slipper Ball People’s Choice Award for the creativity they bring to their unique floral arrangements.
The MAA will soon be starting an art night on the second Friday of each month. Archuleta chose Friday nights because it will be easier for people who live in Castle Rock, Denver, Colorado Springs and surrounding areas to attend. That night will go beyond just Monument and include artists in Woodmoor and Palmer Lake as well.
2012年2月7日星期二
Life drawings isn’t too risque for Wirral – it’s art
PASSION for art is fed through many mediums and this week’s focus is on life drawings and oil painting.
Stripped back art classes with a back to basics approach are undertaken at Melrose Hall on Melrose Avenue, Hoylake.
The centre is run by volunteers and holds regular art classes each week.
The lessons are led by Dennis Spicer, who guides students to do life drawing with nude models and oil painting masterpieces.
Budding artists of any calibre are invited to join the group.
Dennis, who lives in West Kirby, said: “Teaching to draw became unfashionable from the 1970s with the emergence of abstract and conceptual art.
“I have always enjoyed figure drawing so when I moved to Wirral 10 years ago I looked for somewhere to continue my art and teach.
“I had previously taught life drawing in London, so when I was invited to tutor here at Melrose Hall I wanted to continue along with the already successful oil painting classes that took place.
“I wondered if people might think figure drawing was perhaps too risque for Hoylake, but I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and skill shown by people who have taken it up.
“We now have thriving sessions where experienced artists mix with amateurs and beginners, drawing both male and female models. We have a mixed age group who come to the sessions, including people who are retired and finding a new hobby.
“In the oil painting sessions, students are free to explore their own ideas. They produce many beautiful works which are shown at our annual art exhibition.”
Oil paintings classes are at the hall on Monday 10am-12noon, and life drawing is on Tuesdays, at 1pm-3pm and 7pm-9pm.
Stripped back art classes with a back to basics approach are undertaken at Melrose Hall on Melrose Avenue, Hoylake.
The centre is run by volunteers and holds regular art classes each week.
The lessons are led by Dennis Spicer, who guides students to do life drawing with nude models and oil painting masterpieces.
Budding artists of any calibre are invited to join the group.
Dennis, who lives in West Kirby, said: “Teaching to draw became unfashionable from the 1970s with the emergence of abstract and conceptual art.
“I have always enjoyed figure drawing so when I moved to Wirral 10 years ago I looked for somewhere to continue my art and teach.
“I had previously taught life drawing in London, so when I was invited to tutor here at Melrose Hall I wanted to continue along with the already successful oil painting classes that took place.
“I wondered if people might think figure drawing was perhaps too risque for Hoylake, but I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and skill shown by people who have taken it up.
“We now have thriving sessions where experienced artists mix with amateurs and beginners, drawing both male and female models. We have a mixed age group who come to the sessions, including people who are retired and finding a new hobby.
“In the oil painting sessions, students are free to explore their own ideas. They produce many beautiful works which are shown at our annual art exhibition.”
Oil paintings classes are at the hall on Monday 10am-12noon, and life drawing is on Tuesdays, at 1pm-3pm and 7pm-9pm.
2012年2月6日星期一
Artist David Grosvenor swaps his usual watercolours
LIVING on the slopes of the Moelwyns not far from Porthmadog, David Grosvenor is not short of breathtaking scenery.
What’s surprising is that until recently he rarely painted the mountains, preferring instead to produce summery watercolour paintings of flowers.
His latest exhibition, at Cardiff’s Albany Gallery this month, reflects a bold change of direction: there are some flower paintings but the majority of the work depicts the mountains of North Wales, executed in oils.
Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that he has managed to retain many of the fans who originally fell in love with his brighter, floral artwork.
Since changing his style he has had a number of sell-out shows in North Wales, and many of his buyers have collected his work for many years.
“I was very fortunate to take them with me,” he says. “A lot of people have told me, ‘I normally only like watercolours but I like your oils’.
“I wonder if it’s because I bring something of how I paint in watercolour into the oil paintings.”
The son of a missionary, David spent part of his childhood in Madagascar and studied English Literature and Art at Exeter University, where oil was his chosen medium.
His first career was as an illustrator and graphic designer in London but in 1991 he moved to Wales in order to focus on his painting.
His use of watercolour sprang from his background in illustration, and in Wales he found that it suited the summer months, when flowers were blooming in the garden and the light was bright.
Oils gradually emerged as a way to paint through the darker winter months.
“In the winter the light doesn’t suit watercolours,” he says.
“With watercolour you can get really lovely light bright colours because the paint is transparent and the paper shines through; it suits the sunny summer days. Oil isn’t like that; it’s dense, it’s opaque and when you start to mix the colours you’re much more likely to get more sombre colours. I think it suits moodier subjects.”
Nothing could be moodier than a mountain but David admits that he initially found them “a bit frightening” as a subject.
It was only as time went by and he started to walk their paths that he began getting to grips with them on canvas.
“I’m painting far more of the mountains now than I’ve ever tackled in the past – the textural quality of oil suits their ruggedness,” he says.
“I’ve started to walk more and when I get up there I find it completely energising. I wish I could take big canvases with me to work on.
“There’s a feeling about being up in the mountains looking over the edge of a crag that’s almost spooky, so the initial fear I had was probably not just about painting them but also going to some of those places as well.”
A string of wet, gloomy summers strengthened his resolve to paint mountain scenes, which are typically completed in the studio shortly after a mountain walk, while the colours and feelings are still fresh in his mind. Familiarity with his subject is vital.
“It’s rather like portrait painting,” he says.
“If you don’t know somebody and you’re asked to paint a portrait from a photograph, that painting cannot possibly depict that person because you’ve got no idea of their personality.
“It’s the same with mountains and flowers. I love gardening and growing the flowers that I paint. I think that kind of intimacy with your subject is important and that’s probably why I didn’t paint the mountains when I first moved here; I wasn’t intimate enough with them.”
His change of subject matter has gone hand in hand with a switch from brushes to palette knife.
“To start with I didn’t get on with them but I kept persisting and then stumbled across one particular shape of knife which is bliss to paint with, it just suits the way that I work.
“It’s shaped like a chisel and it completely changed my way of working.
“I think the biggest step forward I made in oil painting coincided with the finding of that knife. It has tiny corners so you can work in relatively small detail, but you’ve also got about two inches of blade itself so you can be quite expansive with it, painting not just with the wrist but with the whole arm.
“It’s made a huge difference to the way that I work and the satisfaction that I get from doing it.”
Satisfaction also comes from exhibiting his work at the Albany Gallery.
“Filling up cupboards and rooms with paintings would be quite a fruitless exercise but being able to get lovely feedback from people who’ve bought the paintings is really rewarding.
“I’m very fortunate that I do something I enjoy and can give pleasure to other people through that – I can’t tell you how lucky I feel.”
What’s surprising is that until recently he rarely painted the mountains, preferring instead to produce summery watercolour paintings of flowers.
His latest exhibition, at Cardiff’s Albany Gallery this month, reflects a bold change of direction: there are some flower paintings but the majority of the work depicts the mountains of North Wales, executed in oils.
Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that he has managed to retain many of the fans who originally fell in love with his brighter, floral artwork.
Since changing his style he has had a number of sell-out shows in North Wales, and many of his buyers have collected his work for many years.
“I was very fortunate to take them with me,” he says. “A lot of people have told me, ‘I normally only like watercolours but I like your oils’.
“I wonder if it’s because I bring something of how I paint in watercolour into the oil paintings.”
The son of a missionary, David spent part of his childhood in Madagascar and studied English Literature and Art at Exeter University, where oil was his chosen medium.
His first career was as an illustrator and graphic designer in London but in 1991 he moved to Wales in order to focus on his painting.
His use of watercolour sprang from his background in illustration, and in Wales he found that it suited the summer months, when flowers were blooming in the garden and the light was bright.
Oils gradually emerged as a way to paint through the darker winter months.
“In the winter the light doesn’t suit watercolours,” he says.
“With watercolour you can get really lovely light bright colours because the paint is transparent and the paper shines through; it suits the sunny summer days. Oil isn’t like that; it’s dense, it’s opaque and when you start to mix the colours you’re much more likely to get more sombre colours. I think it suits moodier subjects.”
Nothing could be moodier than a mountain but David admits that he initially found them “a bit frightening” as a subject.
It was only as time went by and he started to walk their paths that he began getting to grips with them on canvas.
“I’m painting far more of the mountains now than I’ve ever tackled in the past – the textural quality of oil suits their ruggedness,” he says.
“I’ve started to walk more and when I get up there I find it completely energising. I wish I could take big canvases with me to work on.
“There’s a feeling about being up in the mountains looking over the edge of a crag that’s almost spooky, so the initial fear I had was probably not just about painting them but also going to some of those places as well.”
A string of wet, gloomy summers strengthened his resolve to paint mountain scenes, which are typically completed in the studio shortly after a mountain walk, while the colours and feelings are still fresh in his mind. Familiarity with his subject is vital.
“It’s rather like portrait painting,” he says.
“If you don’t know somebody and you’re asked to paint a portrait from a photograph, that painting cannot possibly depict that person because you’ve got no idea of their personality.
“It’s the same with mountains and flowers. I love gardening and growing the flowers that I paint. I think that kind of intimacy with your subject is important and that’s probably why I didn’t paint the mountains when I first moved here; I wasn’t intimate enough with them.”
His change of subject matter has gone hand in hand with a switch from brushes to palette knife.
“To start with I didn’t get on with them but I kept persisting and then stumbled across one particular shape of knife which is bliss to paint with, it just suits the way that I work.
“It’s shaped like a chisel and it completely changed my way of working.
“I think the biggest step forward I made in oil painting coincided with the finding of that knife. It has tiny corners so you can work in relatively small detail, but you’ve also got about two inches of blade itself so you can be quite expansive with it, painting not just with the wrist but with the whole arm.
“It’s made a huge difference to the way that I work and the satisfaction that I get from doing it.”
Satisfaction also comes from exhibiting his work at the Albany Gallery.
“Filling up cupboards and rooms with paintings would be quite a fruitless exercise but being able to get lovely feedback from people who’ve bought the paintings is really rewarding.
“I’m very fortunate that I do something I enjoy and can give pleasure to other people through that – I can’t tell you how lucky I feel.”
2012年2月5日星期日
On the crest of a wave
If David Hockney has now been anointed Britain's Greatest Living Treasure, then there is little doubt who is the greatest master of the past.
J M W Turner is beloved not just in his home country as the supreme English water colourist but internationally as one of the true giants of art. We like him here for the extraordinary way in which he pictured the sea and the scenery suffused with light and mist and mood. Abroad, they admire him most for the way that he pushed painting, in oil as in watercolour, to the extreme edges of representation to the point where it became virtually abstract.
You can see that point and Turner's constant experiments with effect in a glorious show of some 80 of his works at the new Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate, built on the spot where Turner came every year to stay in the boarding house run by his mistress, Mrs Booth. Opened last year, it's a space, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, full of light and height. Both are needed for Turner's later work, where space and light themselves become the subject of his art.
So far, Turner Contemporary, a group founded 10 years ago, has concentrated almost exclusively on modern art from here and abroad. This is its first exhibition of its namesake and one, fittingly perhaps, which has been curated not by themselves but by the directors of the Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg and the Muzeum Narodowe in Krakow in Poland, where it has already been shown before arriving here.
All to the good, one might say. The temptation of a home-grown exhibition would have been to concentrate on Turner's work done in Margate and the north Kent Coast, which he loved. But, while this show does include half-a-dozen of his local views, including some brilliant studies of the skies and clouds viewed from the harbour, the curators this time have ignored place and gone for what makes Turner incomparable as an artist: his determination to capture nature itself in all its moods and energy.
Its title, Turner and the Elements, says it all. Turner, so the thesis goes, lived at a time when science was breaking down all the old divisions of nature – in this case the four classical elements of fire, water, earth and air – and replacing them with a nature far more fluid and dynamic. Turner was the artistic expression of it.
That may well be a somewhat over-didactic view of a man so resolutely down to earth and taciturn as Turner, an old grouch if ever there was one and mean to boot, if the recollections of his mistress are anything to go by. Turner knew and was friends with scientists of his day and he was certainly interested in theory, particularly of colour. But it is hard to see him driven by the theories of science. What he set out to do, from his early days of embracing the romantic theories of the "sublime" in nature, was to depict sensation – the sensations experienced at sunrise and sunlight, in storm and dead calm, in rain and mist.
The division of the works into the four elements proves, however, a surprisingly effective way of witnessing his ambition as he develops and pushes his skills. You start with "earth" and the classic watercolour views of mountain and gorges, in which the artist expresses the sublime in the majesty of nature. But as his art progresses, the outlines are blurred and the forms dissolve into each other in the fluidity of the watercolour and the confidence of the brush.
With "fire" it is the same. The paintings start with the depiction of the event, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the burning of the House of Commons. But by the end it is the colour and energy of the fire itself that obsesses the artist, while with "water" and "air" the progression from observation to pure sensation is even more complete.
Move on into the room of "fusion", when Turner abandons all divisions between components, and you are taken into works so far ahead of their time that you have to look twice at the dating to believe them. In watercolours such as Colour Beginning of 1820 and the The Rainbow of the same period or Mont Saint Michel of 1827, you are privy to a mind that is attempting (and succeeding) to find a means for painting to express the essence not the appearance of nature. Of course, these are colour sketches, the workings of a mind experimenting with technique, not the finished products. There is always a danger with Turner in reflecting backwards a modern vision of a man whose aims were often more conventional and backward looking.
But if you doubt Turner's intentions, a final section shows this extraordinary artist translating what he was experimenting with watercolour into the much less malleable medium of oil. Paintings such as Stormy Sea with Dolphins of 1835-40 (spot the dolphins if you can), Shade and Darkness – the Evening of the Deluge from 1843 and Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth of 1842 are just stunning in the clear light of the Turner Contemporary building. They have titles. Turner has even added "the author was in this Storm on the Night the Ariel left Harwich" to his snow storm scene. They have subjects. But in the end they are beyond that. They are as near as you can get to abstraction without going the full hog. No wonder the American abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko, revered him and donated nine of his Four Seasons paintings to the Tate to hang near the Turners.
J M W Turner is beloved not just in his home country as the supreme English water colourist but internationally as one of the true giants of art. We like him here for the extraordinary way in which he pictured the sea and the scenery suffused with light and mist and mood. Abroad, they admire him most for the way that he pushed painting, in oil as in watercolour, to the extreme edges of representation to the point where it became virtually abstract.
You can see that point and Turner's constant experiments with effect in a glorious show of some 80 of his works at the new Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate, built on the spot where Turner came every year to stay in the boarding house run by his mistress, Mrs Booth. Opened last year, it's a space, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, full of light and height. Both are needed for Turner's later work, where space and light themselves become the subject of his art.
So far, Turner Contemporary, a group founded 10 years ago, has concentrated almost exclusively on modern art from here and abroad. This is its first exhibition of its namesake and one, fittingly perhaps, which has been curated not by themselves but by the directors of the Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg and the Muzeum Narodowe in Krakow in Poland, where it has already been shown before arriving here.
All to the good, one might say. The temptation of a home-grown exhibition would have been to concentrate on Turner's work done in Margate and the north Kent Coast, which he loved. But, while this show does include half-a-dozen of his local views, including some brilliant studies of the skies and clouds viewed from the harbour, the curators this time have ignored place and gone for what makes Turner incomparable as an artist: his determination to capture nature itself in all its moods and energy.
Its title, Turner and the Elements, says it all. Turner, so the thesis goes, lived at a time when science was breaking down all the old divisions of nature – in this case the four classical elements of fire, water, earth and air – and replacing them with a nature far more fluid and dynamic. Turner was the artistic expression of it.
That may well be a somewhat over-didactic view of a man so resolutely down to earth and taciturn as Turner, an old grouch if ever there was one and mean to boot, if the recollections of his mistress are anything to go by. Turner knew and was friends with scientists of his day and he was certainly interested in theory, particularly of colour. But it is hard to see him driven by the theories of science. What he set out to do, from his early days of embracing the romantic theories of the "sublime" in nature, was to depict sensation – the sensations experienced at sunrise and sunlight, in storm and dead calm, in rain and mist.
The division of the works into the four elements proves, however, a surprisingly effective way of witnessing his ambition as he develops and pushes his skills. You start with "earth" and the classic watercolour views of mountain and gorges, in which the artist expresses the sublime in the majesty of nature. But as his art progresses, the outlines are blurred and the forms dissolve into each other in the fluidity of the watercolour and the confidence of the brush.
With "fire" it is the same. The paintings start with the depiction of the event, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the burning of the House of Commons. But by the end it is the colour and energy of the fire itself that obsesses the artist, while with "water" and "air" the progression from observation to pure sensation is even more complete.
Move on into the room of "fusion", when Turner abandons all divisions between components, and you are taken into works so far ahead of their time that you have to look twice at the dating to believe them. In watercolours such as Colour Beginning of 1820 and the The Rainbow of the same period or Mont Saint Michel of 1827, you are privy to a mind that is attempting (and succeeding) to find a means for painting to express the essence not the appearance of nature. Of course, these are colour sketches, the workings of a mind experimenting with technique, not the finished products. There is always a danger with Turner in reflecting backwards a modern vision of a man whose aims were often more conventional and backward looking.
But if you doubt Turner's intentions, a final section shows this extraordinary artist translating what he was experimenting with watercolour into the much less malleable medium of oil. Paintings such as Stormy Sea with Dolphins of 1835-40 (spot the dolphins if you can), Shade and Darkness – the Evening of the Deluge from 1843 and Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth of 1842 are just stunning in the clear light of the Turner Contemporary building. They have titles. Turner has even added "the author was in this Storm on the Night the Ariel left Harwich" to his snow storm scene. They have subjects. But in the end they are beyond that. They are as near as you can get to abstraction without going the full hog. No wonder the American abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko, revered him and donated nine of his Four Seasons paintings to the Tate to hang near the Turners.
2012年2月2日星期四
More Kupka at Kampa Museum
The Kampa Museum's already rich collection of artworks by Frantisek Kupka, a seminal Czech abstract painter who spent most of his life in France, will soon be even richer, as the museum has purchased the collection of American art historian Lilli Lonngren Anders.
"In total, it is 41 works of art, including an interesting oil painting, Portrait of Kupka's Step-daughter AndrEe (1906), which foreshadows his later abstract period," says Jii Machalicky, curator of the Kampa Museum.
The museum foundation paid half a million U.S. dollars for the collection, which many consider a very good price for the oil paintings, drawings, studies and documents.
Should a competition for the most influential painter of the 20th-century avant-garde ever be held, only a few names would be considered, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky, all of whom are today some of the most expensive artists on the market.
Though he may not be as internationally recognized as those names, Kupka commands high prices around the world. For instance, in March 2009, Kupka's painting Zhrouceni vertikal (Breakdown of Verticals) from 1935 was sold for nearly 26 million Kc.
"This past summer, Kupka's painting Movement from the Hascoe Collection sold for 43 million Kc, but this painting didn't go to the Czech Republic; the buyer was foreign," says Jan Skivanek, editor-in-chief of Art & Antiques magazine.
"The thing with Kupka is there are only a few oil paintings on the market, and he is not frequently a part of auctions. Kupka's paintings appear rarely. This fact undermines the price rise. This is not the case of, say, Picasso, whose paintings are not rare on the market," Skivanek adds.
Kupka's paintings can easily find buyers on the market, but studies and graphics are a harder sell, as there have been cases of counterfeit pieces in the past, and buyers are now generally cautious.
The authenticity of the collection purchased by the Kampa Museum, however, is not up for dispute. Lonngren Anders met the elderly Czech painter before his death in 1957 as she "was a young art historian sent to Paris by former Museum of Modern Art Director Alfred Barr Jr., who considered Kupka the first abstract painter and wanted to find out what was his basis, starting points, how he got to the abstraction," Machalicky says.
Included in the collection are also some documents and original catalogs of Kupka's exhibitions, some with Kupka's own notes about prices, which are perfect material for further studies. Though the collection contains mainly works on paper and small studies, which are not even watercolors but simply drawings that would be not as easy to sell as large paintings, for a museum it is perfect material.
"It is a superb collection, and one of the reasons Lonngren Anders sold it for such a good price was she wanted to keep the collection together and also pass it on to some museum where Kupka is the main star," Skivanek says.
Kupka was born in 1871 in Opocno, east Bohemia, and first studied to be a saddler. The young man soon established a small painting workshop and then went on to study painting at the Prague Art Academy in 1886. Later, he studied in Vienna, and then he moved to Paris to attend the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1905, he moved to Puteaux, a suburb of Paris, where he died in 1957.
The Kampa Museum opened in September 2001, and since then has become an important part of the Prague art scene. The museum shows the Central European art collection that Jan and Meda Mladek amassed in their American exile, together with the collection of Jii and Běla Kola and works by Jindich Chalupecky as well as temporary exhibitions. Also in the permanent collection are a large number of works by Otto Gutfreund and, of course, Frantisek Kupka.
"In total, it is 41 works of art, including an interesting oil painting, Portrait of Kupka's Step-daughter AndrEe (1906), which foreshadows his later abstract period," says Jii Machalicky, curator of the Kampa Museum.
The museum foundation paid half a million U.S. dollars for the collection, which many consider a very good price for the oil paintings, drawings, studies and documents.
Should a competition for the most influential painter of the 20th-century avant-garde ever be held, only a few names would be considered, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky, all of whom are today some of the most expensive artists on the market.
Though he may not be as internationally recognized as those names, Kupka commands high prices around the world. For instance, in March 2009, Kupka's painting Zhrouceni vertikal (Breakdown of Verticals) from 1935 was sold for nearly 26 million Kc.
"This past summer, Kupka's painting Movement from the Hascoe Collection sold for 43 million Kc, but this painting didn't go to the Czech Republic; the buyer was foreign," says Jan Skivanek, editor-in-chief of Art & Antiques magazine.
"The thing with Kupka is there are only a few oil paintings on the market, and he is not frequently a part of auctions. Kupka's paintings appear rarely. This fact undermines the price rise. This is not the case of, say, Picasso, whose paintings are not rare on the market," Skivanek adds.
Kupka's paintings can easily find buyers on the market, but studies and graphics are a harder sell, as there have been cases of counterfeit pieces in the past, and buyers are now generally cautious.
The authenticity of the collection purchased by the Kampa Museum, however, is not up for dispute. Lonngren Anders met the elderly Czech painter before his death in 1957 as she "was a young art historian sent to Paris by former Museum of Modern Art Director Alfred Barr Jr., who considered Kupka the first abstract painter and wanted to find out what was his basis, starting points, how he got to the abstraction," Machalicky says.
Included in the collection are also some documents and original catalogs of Kupka's exhibitions, some with Kupka's own notes about prices, which are perfect material for further studies. Though the collection contains mainly works on paper and small studies, which are not even watercolors but simply drawings that would be not as easy to sell as large paintings, for a museum it is perfect material.
"It is a superb collection, and one of the reasons Lonngren Anders sold it for such a good price was she wanted to keep the collection together and also pass it on to some museum where Kupka is the main star," Skivanek says.
Kupka was born in 1871 in Opocno, east Bohemia, and first studied to be a saddler. The young man soon established a small painting workshop and then went on to study painting at the Prague Art Academy in 1886. Later, he studied in Vienna, and then he moved to Paris to attend the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1905, he moved to Puteaux, a suburb of Paris, where he died in 1957.
The Kampa Museum opened in September 2001, and since then has become an important part of the Prague art scene. The museum shows the Central European art collection that Jan and Meda Mladek amassed in their American exile, together with the collection of Jii and Běla Kola and works by Jindich Chalupecky as well as temporary exhibitions. Also in the permanent collection are a large number of works by Otto Gutfreund and, of course, Frantisek Kupka.
2012年2月1日星期三
Eager artists get painting lesson at APL
A handful of lucky youth got the chance to put paint brush to canvas this past weekend when local painter Lorne Peterson taught a classroom full of eager artists the fine art of oil painting at the Airdrie Public Library.
The class, which ran from 1 to 2:30 pm, was part of the library’s ongoing Art in the Library program which encourages artists from all mediums and disciplines to share their skills and talents with youth in the community through the teaching of hands-on seminars and workshops. Classes are open to children ages 9 to 12 years of age and cost a total of $3 for supplies.
“I really enjoy teaching art to children because all of my four children, since the age of six, have won first prize in art,” said Peterson. “My 13-year-old daughter was actually accepted into the Calgary Stampede Art Auction and sold her painting for $600 to a collector from Idaho and my eldest daughter was selling numerous pencil portrait sketches to her place of employment when she was only 17.”
Though his own love of painting didn’t take root as early as those of his children and students, Peterson has managed to make up for lost time by creating gorgeous paintings that incorporate his love of tall ships, western landscapes and personal portraits.
“I first began oil painting at about 18-years-old,” noted Peterson. “I applied to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and the school suggested I attend a life class. Not knowing any better I attended the class, which turned out to be a bad decision. I then [enrolled] in a graphic arts class.”
Not satisfied with what he was learning in the classroom, Peterson decided to take his studies to the library where he began reading books about 15th century art and artists. Self-taught, he began to dabble in various mediums, including photography, but eventually settled on oils.
“I paint in oils mainly because of the special effects I can achieve and also the durability
of the finished picture,” explained Peterson. “Great paintings from the past and notable contemporary art are all in oils.”
Though the process of painting a picture can take up to 60 hours to complete, Peterson never tires of the process and remains inspired by the world around him.
“I have always enjoyed learning,” he explained. “Upon leaving school I was a machinist, a marine engineer, an artist, and from there a design draftsman. Art of course is certainly my favourite because it is artistic and painting is capturing light, similar to photography.”
The class, which ran from 1 to 2:30 pm, was part of the library’s ongoing Art in the Library program which encourages artists from all mediums and disciplines to share their skills and talents with youth in the community through the teaching of hands-on seminars and workshops. Classes are open to children ages 9 to 12 years of age and cost a total of $3 for supplies.
“I really enjoy teaching art to children because all of my four children, since the age of six, have won first prize in art,” said Peterson. “My 13-year-old daughter was actually accepted into the Calgary Stampede Art Auction and sold her painting for $600 to a collector from Idaho and my eldest daughter was selling numerous pencil portrait sketches to her place of employment when she was only 17.”
Though his own love of painting didn’t take root as early as those of his children and students, Peterson has managed to make up for lost time by creating gorgeous paintings that incorporate his love of tall ships, western landscapes and personal portraits.
“I first began oil painting at about 18-years-old,” noted Peterson. “I applied to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and the school suggested I attend a life class. Not knowing any better I attended the class, which turned out to be a bad decision. I then [enrolled] in a graphic arts class.”
Not satisfied with what he was learning in the classroom, Peterson decided to take his studies to the library where he began reading books about 15th century art and artists. Self-taught, he began to dabble in various mediums, including photography, but eventually settled on oils.
“I paint in oils mainly because of the special effects I can achieve and also the durability
of the finished picture,” explained Peterson. “Great paintings from the past and notable contemporary art are all in oils.”
Though the process of painting a picture can take up to 60 hours to complete, Peterson never tires of the process and remains inspired by the world around him.
“I have always enjoyed learning,” he explained. “Upon leaving school I was a machinist, a marine engineer, an artist, and from there a design draftsman. Art of course is certainly my favourite because it is artistic and painting is capturing light, similar to photography.”
订阅：
博文 (Atom)