Art Revived - Dummies Art Blog

Three Different Uses for Easels

2011-08-31T15:12:50-04:00

Just as there are countless ways to create art, there are a number of different ways to use easels as well. Easels can be big or small, tall or short, wide or very narrow. There is such diversity across the easel spectrum because art and other creative pursuits don’t typically have limits on dimensions either. If for some reason you have an extra easel lying around, or perhaps even have an abundance of easels but no current use for them, you can consider trying any of the following ways of taking advantage of such a versatile piece of equipment.

Free Painting

One way to encourage use of an easel is to leave a blank canvas on it at all times. Stock some art supplies of any kind around the easel, even leftovers if that’s all you have. Then, you’ll always have a space in your house to indulge any creative impulses. Perhaps you are waiting for the laundry to dry and want to throw some watercolors down on paper to keep you busy. Or maybe you had an idea that just popped into your head and you don’t want to lose it, so you pick up a brush and put it on paper really quickly. When art is forced, it doesn’t always work, so encouraging free art impulses is a great way to utilize an extra easel (or two).

Displaying Art

An easel doesn’t have to be used for your own creative impulses either. You can use one to display a painting or a print of one that really draws you in. Using an easel for the purpose of displaying art, rather than just hanging a picture on a wall, is a great way to bring the art down to a more personal level. In some ways, it can almost feel as though the painter himself is working on the piece of art in your own living room, which is cool in its own right.

Note Taking

If art isn’t really on your mind as of late, the easel can serve yet another major purpose. Easels are large and can hold canvases or giant sheets of paper, all materials that are perfectly sized for keeping notes and thoughts. Need to remember an appointment but never check your calendar? A giant note written in red marker on a blank canvas can hardly be missed, particularly if you keep your easel in a fairly prominent area of the house. And who knows… perhaps when you’re ready to stop taking notes and start painting, you’ll turn to the easel again and unleash your creativity upon it.

The 3 Most Famous Renaissance Artists Series Part 3: Raphael

2010-07-16T10:08:10-04:00

Madonna of the Meadow 1506

1. Madonna of the Meadow

Raphael's Madonna of the Meadow shows three figures; Mary, baby Jesus, and a baby St. John in a traditional triangular composition, and are linked through touch and their gazes. It is important to note that in this triangular composition, the three are symbolically linked to the “Holy Trinity”. Mary's pose is traditionally known as “contrapposto”, which was an important development in art during the Renaissance. Essentially, it describes a body in a twisting movement, or with the figure's weight shifted.

The peaceful and hazy background landscape shows the influence of Leonardo da Vinci on Raphael, as this background recalls landscapes such as that in the Mona Lisa.

Marriage of the Virgin 1504

2. Marriage of the Virgin

Marriage of the Virgin, an influential perspective painting by Raphael, shows Mary and Joseph's marriage. Joseph is placing a ring on Mary's finger, while Mary's other suitors are shown breaking their staffs (Joseph's staff is blossoming).

Directly behind the marriage scene is a round temple centrally placed in the background, with the tiles of the pavement showing the receding perspective lines of the painting. The viewer can see through the open door of the temple to the open landscape in the background.

The composition is reminiscent of Perugino's Christ Delivering the Keys to St. Peter, which was painted for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to accompany Michelangelo's series. However, critics have argued that Raphael's technical skills in portraying perspective exceed those of Perugino, as Raphael effectively shows the figures gradually diminshing in size to show their distance. In his painting, Perugino portrays the figures in limited planes of distance.

The Triumph of Galatea 1512

3. The Triumph of Galatea

The Triumph of Galatea was commissioned by Agostino Chigi, for his palace, devoted entirely to love in honor of his mistress. The palace later took on the name Villa Farnesina when it was acquired by the Farnese family.

The painting represents Galatea from the mythological story of Galatea and Polyphemus. Polyphemus was a one-eyed giant who had fallen in love with Galatea, yet Galatea was in love with a peasant shepherd. In this scene, the boorish Polyphemus sings a love song to Galatea, yet she rides away in her chariot laughing. It is interesting to note that in the Villa Farnesina, The Triumph of Galatea is placed next to a painting of Polyphemus by Sebastiano del Piombo, which allows Galatea's gaze to line up directly with Polyphemus.

The sea creatures surrounding Galatea reflect the influence of Michelangelo, through their highly muscular forms. This iconography also influenced Botticelli in his Birth of Venus painting.

The 3 Most Famous Renaissance Artists Series Part 2: Michelangelo

2010-05-18T13:17:36-04:00

In this second edition of The 3 Most Famous Renaissance Artists Series, our featured artist is Michelangelo. Like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo is an iconic Renaissance Man; he gained expertise in many fields of the arts, earning the nickname “Il Divino”.

Michelangelo was known for his “terribilità”, referring to his ability to inspire awe. This was reflected in his paintings, which were known to be momentous and grand. Some of his best paintings were the Creation of Adam, the Persian Sibyl (both part of the Sistine Chapel series), and the Holy Family.

1. Creation of Adam

Creation of Adam c.1511

The Creation of Adam is a large scale fresco in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Michelangelo created these frescoes by painting on wet plaster, essentially locking the pigment into the fabric of the wall itself when the plaster dried.

The painting depicts a scene from the Book of Genesis in which God creates Adam. He is seen sending life into Adam through their fingertips, which are stretching to reach each other. It is interesting to note the figure carrying God is in the shape of a human brain.

This iconography was later seen in the movie “ET”!

2. Holy Family

Holy Family (Doni Tondo) c.1507

This Holy Family painting by Michelangelo is often referred to as the Doni Tondo, named for its patron. The painting was commissioned by Agnolo Doni to commemorate his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi, and “tondo” refers to the round frame. The painting was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with St. Anne.

The figures of the Holy Family foreshadow the look of the Sistine Chapel frescoes; Michelangelo employs the use of bright colors and massive, sculptural figures responsible for giving his paintings such monumental qualities. This is true even for Mary, yet is due to Michelangelo's use of male models even for female figures.

Michelangelo also utilized “cangiante”, a technique used for shading form through using entirely different colors at times instead of a lighter or darker shade of the same color. By using this method, Michelangelo could create darker shadows and lighter highlights without being constrained by the limits of a particular hue.

3. The Libyan Sibyl

The Libyan Sibyl c.1512

The Libyan Sibyl is another fresco from the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, and is part of a series of Sibyls which depict famous women that are said to have prophesied the birth of Christ. The Libyan Sibyl is turned away from the viewer, increasing even further her sense of mystery and power.

Again, the Libyan Sibyl figure has large, masculine muscles from the use of male models. Also, there is the need for the figure to look momentous from ground as some impact of the painting is lost from the distance. This is also the reason for the particularly bright colors of the painting; some impact and richness of the hues are lost in the distance from the viewer on the ground.

Van Gogh cake!

2010-04-07T22:23:38-04:00

Care of forgetfoo.com:

"The Scream" and Art Theft

2010-04-05T20:05:28-04:00

Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's famous series, The Scream, has been the target of numerous art thefts in recent years. The series, created from 1893 to 1910, includes two oil paintings, two pastels, and a lithograph. One of the painted versions, as well as one of the pastels, hangs in the Munch Museum in Oslo. The National Gallery of Norway -- also in Oslo -- houses the other painting, and the second pastel belongs to the Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen.

The first major theft concerning the series occurred on February 12, 1994 at the National Gallery. Two men broke into the museum by smashing a window, then proceeded to cut the painting from the wall using wire cutters, and escaped out the same window and into a getaway vehicle in just 50 seconds! They left behind the wire cutters and a note that read: "Thanks for the poor security". The painting had been moved down from the more secure second floor to the ground floor for an exhibition celebrating the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics held in neighboring Lillehammer.

The theft became a sensation almost immediately, as the international press already in Norway for the Olympic games rushed to cover the crime. The museum received a $1 million ransom demand in March of the same year, but did not honor the ransom because it was thought to be a hoax. In May of 1994, British and Norwegian police joined forces in an undercover hunt to recover the painting. Within a few weeks, they discovered the painting, undamaged, in a seaside town outside Oslo where Munch had often painted.

Armed gunmen stealing paintings from the Munch Museum on August 22nd, 2004. Photo taken by unidentified witness.

The other painted version of The Scream was stolen from the Munch Museum in 2004. On August 22nd, Masked gunmen entered the museum in broad daylight and stole both The Scream and another Munch work entitled Madonna. Three men were convicted with armed robbery in May of 2006, and sentenced to between four and eight years of prison. The paintings remained at large until the Norwegian police recovered them under undisclosed circumstances on August 31, 2006. The paintings had minimal damage, and the slight water damage in the lower left corner of The Scream was able to be repaired.

The Bridal Pair with the Eiffel Tower

2010-04-02T13:51:00-04:00

Marc Chagall, a Russian-French artist, is one of the most well-known and universally admired painters of the twentieth century, as well as one of the most famous Jewish artists of all time. During his long and productive lifetime (he lived to be 98 years old!), Chagall explored many different forms of art. In addition to painting, he also produced innovative work in the fields of stained glass, ceramics, tapestry, illustration, and print.

Marc Chagall, The Bridal Pair with The Eiffel Tower, 1939.

Chagall's paintings have a dream-like feel, and often include both realistic and fantastical elements. A very famous example of this is his painting, The Bridal Pair with The Eiffel Tower. The subject of the work is grounded in reality, a bride and groom embrace in front of The Eiffel Tower, however, the couple are positioned at an unnatural angle with the ground. They almost appear to be floating, an illusion that is enhanced by the small size of the town in the distance, and the distance that seems to exist between their feet and the ground.

In the top right corner of the painting, one can see a cow that morphs into a fiddle. Chagall is referencing popular nursery rhymes, and here combines the "cat and the fiddle" with "the cow jumped over the moon." The other figures found in the painting, including the large rooster, the man with the book, and the two winged figures, are also thought to come from nursery rhymes. Chagall does not make his references overly obvious, allowing the viewer to think of whichever childhood favorite he or she chooses.

The "Wild Beasts" - Fauvism influence on modern art

2010-03-26T14:07:51-04:00

A group of artists known as "The Wild Beasts," or Les Fauvres, in French, took the art world by storm at the beginning of the twentieth century. Though the art movement only lasted three short years, Fauvism has has a huge influence on modern art.

Of the artists associated with the Fauvist movement, Henri Matisse is the most well known today. Like the other Fauvists, Matisse often painted with very bright, unrealistic colors. This was a major departure from the work of the impressionists like Claude Monet, as the impressionist artists still painted realistic scenes and used natural colors. Other artists associated with the Fauvist movement include French painter Andre Derain, and cubist painter Georges Braques.

Les Fauvres acquired their name at the 1905 Autumn Salon in Paris. An art critic who was particularly shocked when he saw the wild brush strokes, garish colors, and abstraction of these paintings exclaimed, "Donatello among the wild beasts!" This comment was printed in the newspaper the next day, and the name caught on.

Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat, 1905.

The painting at the Autumn Salon that the critics attacked most ruthlessly was Matisse's Woman With a Hat. Matisse did not take the criticism well, and was very disheartened by the many negative reviews. Thankfully, the famous art collectors Gertrude and Leo Stein purchased Woman with a Hat, and Matisse's career was saved.

The Eccentric Behavior of Salvador Dali

2010-03-23T20:57:19-04:00

Spanish artist Salvador Dali is perhaps the most famous Surrealist painter in the history of art. He is best known for the bizarre, unrealistic qualities of his paintings and sculpture. In Explosion, for example, he paints a melting clock. Beyond his unconventional artwork, Dali was also famous for his strange behavior. He enjoyed drawing attention to himself by spending money extravagantly, and making outrageous statements to the press.

With regards to appearance, Dali's pointy moustache became an icon. Dali used wax to arrange it in different positions. He usually kept his dark hair slicked back with copious amounts of hair product. With regard to Dali's clothing, he was rumored to wear shoes that were two sizes too small because it "kept him alert."

Dali rolled his "r's" in an exaggerated fashion when he spoke, and often referred to himself in the third person. He had a very large ego, and often boasted of how much money his paintings were worth. In one of his most famous quotes, he told the press: “There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad." Dali liked making grand entrances, and did such things as arriving to an exhibition opening in a limousine full of turnips.

Dali and his wife Gala threw elaborate parties at their castle in Cadaques, a small Spanish sea side town. Among other oddities, Dali's house contains a stuffed polar bear wearing necklaces, and a partially-enclosed lap pool. The house has since been opened to the public as a museum.

The 3 Most Famous Renaissance Artists Series: Part 1 - Leonardo da Vinci

2010-03-19T14:09:42-04:00

During the Renaissance, the classical cannon of artistic techniques and subject matter, that we today may take for granted, became established- forever changing art as we now know it. The Renaissance today is know for an explosion of knowledge and progress in many fields, including art, culture, science, mathematics, and politics. Many people even view the Renaissance as the era that transformed the Middle Ages into the Modern era.

In the entire context of Renaissance art, there are three artists that define the era. As the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, it should not be surprising these revolutionary artists were Italian. Leonardo da Vinci is single-handedly known as the iconic Renaissance Man. Outside of his artistic pursuits, he is well known for his scientific and militaristic inventions.

Leonardo da Vinci’s 3 Most Famous Paintings:

1. Virgin of the Rocks:

In his Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo works with modeling his forms through light and shadows. This particularly shows through the dark and craggy setting of the rocks, in which many details are revealed and obscured by the mystical light in this Leonardesque landscape.

This technique of blending and smudging the edges of forms is known as “sfumato” in Italian, which translates to “smoky”, and Leonardo has become famous for these types of landscapes. The landscape is important, because it creates a deliberate frame around the pyramidal figure setting, consisting of the Madonna, Child, and Saint John the Baptist.

Virgin of the Rocks 1485

2. Mona Lisa:

The painting of the Mona Lisa is probably his most famous painting, well known for her mysterious facial expression. In this painting, Leonardo is well appreciated for his innovative use of atmospheric perspective, subtle modeling of forms, and the feminine mystique it portrays. He creates this effect through his stereotypical Leonardesque landscape, again employing the “sfumato” technique.

The Mona Lisa has survived 500 years, including one theft in 1911, and numerous attacks on the painting. Most recently, in August 2009, a woman angry over being denied French citizenship threw red paint onto the case holding the painting.

Mona Lisa 1505

3. Last Supper:

The Last Supper is one of Leonardo’s most impressive works. The condition of this painting is quite frail, as he experimented quite drastically with the mediums he used. Instead of painting onto a wet plaster wall with tempera paint as in a true “fresco”, Leonardo painted onto a dry wall. The painting soon began to deteriorate just a few years after he finished the painting.

The painting depicts the 12 disciples of Jesus in a stark architectural setting, during their “last supper” in which Jesus informs them that one of them will soon betray him. This painting was also the center of many conspiracy theories, due its role in “The DaVinci Code”, but these theories have been invalidated by art historians.

Last Supper 1498

The Stolen Artwork of Gustav Klimt

2010-03-18T16:25:21-04:00

Austrian painter Gustav Klimt is best known for his ‘Golden Phase’ – a time when he used gold leaf in many of his paintings. He created his most famous works during this phase, including The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. The latter sold for a record price of $135 million dollars in 2006!

In addition to the high demand for his artwork, Klimt has also been in the news for the controversy surrounding paintings stolen by the Nazis in World War II. Hitler, himself a failed artist who was rejected from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, imposed his artistic preferences on the Nazi party, and the nation as a whole. He supported classical portraits, landscapes, and history paintings, and considered modern art to be “degenerate.”

The Nazi party confiscated this “degenerate” art, including many works by Klimt. Hitler organized a traveling exhibition of this stolen artwork in the summer of 1937, in which the artwork was intentionally displayed to cause mockery.

Adolf Hitler visits the Degenerate Art exhibition, 1937.

At the end of the exhibition, most of the works were sold in auction in Switzerland. Thousands of works were burned. Some of the stolen artwork that still survives has been returned to the rightful owners, but the recovery process is far from over – more than 100,000 pieces have yet to be returned.

In 2006, the Austrian town of Linz returned five stolen Klimt paintings to their rightful heirs after eight years of legal battle. Among the returned paintings was the record-breaking Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

5 of the Most Innovative Paintings of All Time

2010-03-17T00:06:42-04:00

1. Masaccio, The Holy Trinity, 1467-27

Today, we take for granted an artist’s ability to render objects realistically in space. Painters, however, did not have an accurate method to display perspective until the early Renaissance when Italian architect Brunelleschi invented the idea of linear perspective. Masaccio’s Holy Trinity is thought to be the earliest painting to apply these theories, which can be seen in the lines of the barrel vault the artist has used.

2. Georges Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884-86

French post-impressionist painter Georges Seurat invented the painting style known as 'pointillism.' His new painting technique involved using little dots of color, small enough for the eye to blend with surrounding dots, to form the figures and landscape in his paintings. Seurat's most famous work, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, took him over two years to paint and was the culmination of over sixty studies.

3. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907

Perhaps Picasso’s most famous work, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, played a huge role in the creation of cubism, and modern art in general. The painting was revolutionary in the way in which Picasso painted the female figures in a flattened, angular manner. The work also conveys Picasso’s interest in African artwork, as two of the women have facial features that directly reference African masks.

4. Yves Klein, Living Paintbrush, 1958

Avante-garde artist Yves Klein is perhaps best known for his Living Paintbrush works. In creating these paintings, Klein never actually made direct contact with the canvas, or the paint. He instructed models to cover their bodies in blue paint, and then where to lay on the canvas to create the desired effect. The paintings are also performance pieces, as he created them before an audience.

5. Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962

Warhol displayed his iconic silkscreens of thirty-two Campbell’s soup cans in his first solo gallery exhibition, held at Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. The canvases were displayed in a row along the wall, almost like products on a shelf. Warhol’s exhibition created such a stir that his name became almost synonymous with the image of a Campbell’s soup can.

Rembrandt, or Not?

2010-03-05T21:31:21-05:00

The Dutch painter Rembrandt is one of the most famous painters of all time, and also one of the biggest names in the field of art authentication. In fact, the Smithsonian founded the Rembrandt Research Project in 1968 to try to identify mislabeled paintings. Many fake ‘Rembrandt’ works exist, for a variety of reasons.

For one, Rembrandt had a large workshop, with many apprentices. Some artwork was incorrectly identified as Rembrandt’s, and later found to be painted by his students. Also, Rembrandt produced many paintings throughout his life, which makes it more difficult to create a definitive catalog of his artwork. The most important reason, of course, is Rembrandt’s reputation. Artists and dealers alike have imitated his work in hopes of capturing value.

The Rembrandt Research Project began with aims of solving this problem. The team of art historians and researchers working on the project have been using various authentication techniques on questionable paintings, comparing them with works that are definitely Rembrandt’s, like The Night Watch and Descent from the Cross. The project continues to raise controversy in the art world, as no owners want to believe a ‘Rembrandt’ in their collection is a fake.

A Brief History of the Art Market

2010-03-03T13:20:09-05:00

Historically, artists used to work almost solely by commission. A patron, often a wealthy individual or a religious group, would contact an artist or craftsman, and specify the type of artwork desired. The price of the work was typically agreed upon ahead of time, and the art created was not intended for resale. In fact, commissioned artwork was often site-specific and incorporated into an existing building.

Before an art market could emerge in its modern-day form, three main things had to develop: portable artwork, ways to sell this art, and collectors. The earliest forms of portable art that became popular were tapestries and linen paintings. Most of these were produced in workshops in the Netherlands. By 1460, an exchange building was opened in the port city of Antwerp and the top floor was dedicated to the sale of paintings and prints. As advances in sea travel continued, art was transported from the Netherlands to other European cities, and eventually to the Americas.

Engraving of the Antwerp Stock Exchange (1650).

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, paintings were mostly seen as a way to adorn the walls of one’s home. Most people at this time saw paintings as more or less substitutable – the value of a painting was based largely on its size. In the seventeenth century, however, art collecting became more fashionable. By the early eighteenth century, a whole culture had evolved around the idea of a Salon where the learned and social elite could gather and discuss paintings.

Cezanne's 7 Most Famous Paintings

2010-03-02T19:08:05-05:00

Paul Cezanne influenced countless artists through many of his groundbreaking ideas and techniques, including simplification of the form into more basic geometric shapes, novel subject matter, and an innovative use of color. Many famous artists claim to be inspired and highly influenced by Cezanne, including Matisse and Picasso. He even managed to change the course of two whole art movements!

1. Mont St. Victoire

Cezanne’s Mont St. Victoire is a traditional landscape, yet completely revolutionary in technique. He takes impressionism to the extreme, with patches of color conveying the atmosphere of the mountainscape. In fact, in this painting Cezanne does amazing work portraying a thick atmosphere with the use of the blue-ish tint in the painting. Through Cezanne’s “impression” of Mont St Victoire, he moves towards a more architectural image, along with a flatter plane. This paves the way for the abstraction movement towards cubism.

2. Bathers

Cezanne’s Bathers is often considered his most important work, and is sometimes better known for the work it inspired. Picasso’s Demoiselles D’Avignon takes direct cues from this work through the grouping of nude women and their stances. Cezanne's influence can also be seen in Matisse's La Danse. This painting also reflects Cezanne’s struggle with his sexuality, and his difficulty in achieving intimacy with women. The Philadelphia Museum of Art bought the painting in 1937 for $110,000, where it now resides.

3. Compotier, Pitcher, and Fruit

Cezanne painted many still lifes in his studio, and they often involved fruit and glassware. In this painting, we see how he uses color to create his objects, rather than line. The folded cloth on the table and in the background allowed Cezanne to play with texture and shadows. Cezanne was one of the first artists to abandon the use of realistic perspective, as seen in the way the fruit looks as though it might fall off the table.

Compotier, Pitcher, and Fruit (1892-94)

4. Apples and Oranges

Cezanne revolutionized the art industry through his use of still lifes as subject matter, which at the time was considered to be banal and trivial. Through paintings such as Apples and Oranges Cezanne carved out a niche in the art world. This painting also shows his movement toward geometrization of his subject matter, which works toward abstraction of the form. He also uses slight distortion of the plane. Together, this heavily influences artists such as Picasso and Braque to invent cubism.

5. Harlequin

The harlequin subject matter appearing in one of Cezanne’s great paintings, Harlequin, reappears quite famously in Picasso’s rose period. A great comparison can be seen here in Picasso's Harlequin Leaning on His Elbow. Cezanne’s painting foreshadows Picasso’s gloomy, “blue” mood.

6. Les grandes baigneuses

Bathing scenes were another of Cezanne’s main themes. His bathers are usually arranged in a wide variety of different positions, allowing him to paint the human body from all angles. In his paintings with multiple people, like this one, each bather somehow seems isolated and alone. He paints the figures with varying levels of detail, and some figures seem to blend into the background.

Les grandes baigneuses  (1900-05)

7. The Lake at Annecy

Cezanne painted this work on holiday in the foothills of the French Alps. He initially resisted the temptation to paint the scene, as he thought it too trite and obvious. In the end, Cezanne painted this view from his hotel room and it has become one of his most famous works. His simplification of objects into geometric forms is evident here, as seen in the boxy buildings and the cylindrical tree.

The Lake at Annecy (1896)

Major Movements in Modern Art

2010-02-08T15:33:25-05:00

“Modern Art” can be a confusing term, as it refers to the artwork of many different movements, countries, and time periods. One characteristic that most modern art shares, however, is freedom from tradition, in favor of experimentation and invention. Art Revived has put together a list of some of the key movements in modern art.

Impressionism

Impressionist artists like Claude Monet painted with thick, visible brushstrokes and created paintings that had a rather “unfinished” look. These artists focused upon capturing the effects of light and the passing of time, rather than painting in a realistic and detailed manner.

Claude Monet, Impression Sunrise, 1872.

Cubism

Artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques worked together in Paris to invent Cubism. The movement is characterized by intersecting angles, loss of realistic perspective, and simplification of forms. Cubist artists often tried to show many different views of an object at the same time.

Dada and Surrealism

The Dada movement began during World War I, in part as a reaction against the destruction of the war. Its artists, such as Marchel Duchamp, created work that they considered “anti-art.” Dada eventually led to the creation of Surrealism, a movement that focused on dreams, chance, and the unconscious.

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Time, 1931.

Abstract Expressionism

The Abstract Expressionist movement shifted the center of the art world from Paris to New York City. The movement itself is hard to define, as it’s main artists –including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko – all worked in very different styles. Often, these artists produced work that was very large and conveyed a sense of energy.

Minimalism

The Minimalist movement can be seen as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism. Minimalist artists tried to strip art down to its essential forms. They often worked with industrial materials, neutral colors, and repetition.

Pop Art
Pop artists like Andy Warhol incorporated elements of popular culture, and often advertisements, into their work. They were interested in mass production and consumer culture.

Sol LeWitt, Incomplete Open Cube, 7/18, 1974.

5 Most Famous Landscape Paintings

2010-02-02T13:39:03-05:00

Landscape painting has been a major genre in art since the sixteen hundreds. The landscape tradition in art didn’t take-off overnight, however – it slowly developed as artists began to focus more on the background of their paintings. Dutch artists were the first to paint works in which the setting – the landscape – actually became the subject of the painting. We have compiled a list of some of the most famous landscape artists of all time.

1. Thomas Cole, The Last of the Mohicans (1826)

American artist Thomas Cole painted four works inspired by James Feinmore Cooper’s famous novel The Last of the Mohicans, published in the same year. Although the paintings all depict specific scenes of interactions with the Native Americans from the novel, the real focus of the painting is the American wilderness.

Thomas Cole, The Last of the Mohicans (1826)

2. Claude Monet, Water Lillies (1914-1926)

In his later years, impressionist artist Claude Monet painted a series of paintings of his water lily pond. Monet’s water lily paintings all share a pastel palette, and are done in his signature loose brushstrokes. Over the years, this series of works has become one of the most reproduced images of landscape art in history.

Claude Monet, Water Lillies (1914-1926)

3. Paul Cézanne, Mount Sainte-Victoire (1894-1900)

Mount Sainte-Victoire lied to the east of Cézanne’s home in Aix-en-Provence, France. Over the years, he painted the mountain many times, in various painting styles. This painting in particular has become so famous because it has been labeled by some as one of the earliest works of cubism.

Paul Cézanne, Mount Sainte-Victoire (1894-1900)

4. JMW Turner, The Slave Ship (1840)

Turner painted many famous landscape paintings over the course of his career, but none so evocative or politically-charged as his Slave Ship. The painting depicts a slave ship sinking in a storm, and the passengers drowning in the choppy waters. He painted the work with the abolitionist campaign in mind.

JMW Turner, The Slave Ship (1840)

5. Claude Lorrain, The Return of Odysseus (1644)

Claude Lorrain was the most sought after landscape painter in seventeenth and eighteenth century France. He is famous for the soft haze he gives to the background of his idyllic landscapes. This painting, like most of his works, references Greek mythology and incorporates classical Greek architecture.

Claude Lorrain, The Return of Odysseus (1644)

Vincent Van Gogh’s 7 Most Famous Paintings

2010-01-29T01:16:57-05:00

Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) produced around 900 paintings in his lifetime, yet only sold one. In the years since 1890, however, Van Gogh’s fame has skyrocketed – securing him a position as one of the most reproduced artists of all time. The team at Art Revived has assembled a list of Van Gogh’s most famous works.

1. The Starry Night (at Saint Remy), 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Easily Van Gogh’s most famous work, the iconic Starry Night has become one of the most well known paintings in history, as well as one of the most sought after prints.

Van Gogh’s wild, swirling brushstrokes and the unidentified dark object in the foreground together shroud the work in an irresistible sense of mystery. The bright stars in the sky reach out to the viewer, while the night sky and the sleeping town recede into the distance, pulling the viewer in.

Van Gogh painted the work while in an asylum in Saint-Rémy – a small village in the Southern France. The painting depicts the view from his sanatorium window.

2. The Bedroom, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

The Bedroom, also known as Bedroom in Arles, depicts the artist’s bedroom in his “Yellow House,” such named after a description of the house that Van Gogh wrote to his brother.

Painted in bright, contrasting colors, we see the artist’s pine furniture and his own paintings adorning the walls. The back wall of the room was skewed, making the room a trapezoid rather than rectangular in shape. Van Gogh has abandoned any attempt at realistic perspective, and succeeds in “flattening” many of the elements. He outlines the objects in bold, black lines.

3. Sunflowers, 1889, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh painted countless depictions of sunflowers in his lifetime, though no two are identical. Many artists have attempted to replicate these famous works, and they continue to grow in popularity with the help of prints. Van Gogh’s Sunflower paintings all share a very similar composition – a vase, resting on a table, with a solid background.

Van Gogh uses bright, vivid colors that bring the flowers to life. He provides a contrast to these bright tones by including dying sunflowers in the paintings. In this way, Van Gogh references the entire life cycle of the flowers.

4. The Night Café, 1888, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven:

Van Gogh’s Night Café depicts the late-night crowd at a café in Arles. He contrasts the vivid red of the walls with a bright green ceiling and a yellow floor. The ceiling lights emit an eerie yellow glow, and cause the pool table to cast a dark shadow on the floor. The overall feeling of isolation is amplified by the standing waiter, who appears to stare directly out at the viewer. During this time period, the all-night café served as a refuge for derelicts and prostitutes and, as such, Van Gogh wanted to express the underbelly of society in a visceral manner with his use of extreme color contrast and rough brush strokes.

5. Café Terrace at Night (Café Terrace, Place du Forum), 1888 Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo:

Like in Starry Night, Van Gogh succeeds in making the stars in the dark sky pop out at the viewer in his Café Terrace at Night. He again contrasts bright yellows and oranges with darker colors to create depth. Van Gogh achieves the effect of glowing light by interspersing the cobble stone road with flecks of yellow, blue, and orange tones. The painting depicts the terrace of the Place du Forum, a popular coffee house.

6. The Dance Hall in Arles, 1888, Musee d’Orsay, Paris:

Van Gogh created The Dance Hall in Arles during his time of close collaboration with the artist Paul Gauguin. The influence of Japanese art can be seen in Van Gogh’s depiction of hair, as well as the floating circles of light.

Van Gogh again uses bold, black lines to outline his figures and creates flatness by using solid colors. The way in which the figures overlap, and their features become unidentifiable in the distance, gives the work a feeling of crowdedness and movement.

7. Irises, 1890, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh’s Irises is perhaps most famous for its stint as the most expensive painting ever sold, when it went for $53.9 million in 1987. The painting exudes a cheerful mood with its palette of blues and greens, and interspersed yellows.

He painted this work while in the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole, but before he experienced his first attack. He once again uses the bold lines and angles typical of Japanese artwork.

The Origins of Oil Painting

2010-01-26T09:04:05-05:00

When discussing painting, the standard that comes to mind is usually oil paint on canvas. Oil painting, however, is a relatively new medium when considering the history of art.

Oil painting was not used in the traditional sense until the fifteenth century. Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck popularized oil painting with famous works such as The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait (1434). Oil paint allowed Van Eyck and other Flemish artists to paint with much more detail than ever before, and achieve a much higher level of realism than previously possible. Oil paint is transparent and slow-drying, so it can be layered and blended to create depth and realistic color.

Jan Van Eyck, The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, 1434, oil on panel

Leonardo da Vinci brought the new technique to Italy later on in the fifteenth century, and made some improvements to Van Eyck’s method. He added beeswax to the paint to keep it from darkening in color.

Oil painting soon replaced the techniques most often associated with Italian art – tempera painting and fresco. Tempera paint is a fast-drying paint that usually consists of pigment and egg yolk. Unlike oil paint, tempera paint cannot be layered or blended, so the colors usually appear very vivid.

Giotto, Crucifixion, 1304-1306, fresco.

Raphael’s Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints provides an example of the distinct, bold colors typical of a tempera painting – notably the red and blue. Frescoes, on the other hand, are created by painting into wet plaster, and must be completed before the plaster dries. This results in a more spontaneous, less detailed work of art. Evidence of this can be seen in works like Giotto’s Crucifixion.

Raphael, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1504-1505, tempera on wood.

Art Theft Report: January 2010

2010-01-22T13:15:08-05:00

The Bad News:

- Over the holiday season, Edgar Degas’ painting Le Choristes was stolen from the Musée Cantini in Marseille, France. The painting’s value is placed between 1.15 and 42.2 million- quite a wide discrepancy! The 13 × 10 inch painting seemed to be easily unscrewed from the wall, leading police to suspect an inside job- and are currently interviewing a night watchman.

- One day after the Degas painting was stolen, an entire collection was taken from a villa in La Cadiere d’Azur in the south of France, and estimated to be worth over $2 million dollars. The caretaker of the estate discovered the missing pieces, including works by Picasso and Henri Rousseau.

- Art Loss Register has found the UK has the most art thefts in the world- with the US coming in second! Although, Norway takes the prize for the most expensive work of art stolen, with Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

The Good News:

- Claude Monet’s “Beach in Pourville” was found by Polish police, and is now at the National Museum in Poland with experts confirming its authenticity. Ten years ago, “Beach in Pourville” had been sliced from its frame and replaced with a fake done on cardboard! Of course, this didn’t fool anyone for very long.

- A Miami thief, who was inspired by “Antiques Roadshow”, has been caught for the theft of a Chagall lithograph and a Picasso etching. The works were stolen from a gallery in Washington DC in 2007, and the thief attempted to resell the works to a gallery in Palm Beach, Florida. The man was caught through a federal sting, with an agent posing as a gallery employee after the Palm Beach gallery notified police.

Cubist Painters to Know

2010-01-06T04:06:37-05:00

The Cubist movement was highly influential in modern art, forever changing the way we think about art in terms of its purpose and what art should look like. Cubism paved the way for abstract art and allowed artists to move away from extreme naturalism; without it, we would never see art such as Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup or the work of Jackson Pollock.

For such a significant art movement, one might be surprised to learn that the artists that developed Cubism all lived in Paris and were colleagues, and continued on to be some of the most important artists of the Cubist movement. This includes of course Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, the two most significant artists of the Cubism period, but also Juan Gris, Ferdinand Leger, and Robert Delaunay.

Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are known for the invention of cubism, and therefore are the two most significant Cubism artists. They first started working in the style of Analytic Cubism, which broke down forms into simpler geometric shapes and then distorted images to the point it created a broken glass panel effect on paintings.

These paintings were often monochromatic as well, as seen in Braque’s Violin and Candlestick. The two then started working in a style called Synthetic Cubism, which was a form of collage. A great example of this style is seen in Picasso’s Still Life with Chair Caning

While Picasso and Braque are known for inventing cubism, Juan Gris is known as the third most important Cubist painter. Picasso and Braque worked in neutral colors, often dark grays, yet Gris introduced the use of much brighter colors in his paintings. He is quite famous for his portrait of Picasso, although it is rumored that Picasso was not quite fond of Gris! Yet Juan Gris’ record sale price was for his Livre, pipe et verres, which sold for 20.8 million in November 2008 at Christie’s, and was the first time Gris’ paintings sold for prices on par with Picasso.

Also quite important in the Cubism movement was Ferdinand Leger, who actually was first trained as an architect. He began working in a very interesting style of Cubism in which he formed most figures with cylindrical shapes, which became known as “Tubism”, a play on the word Cubism. Leger only worked in the “Tubist” style, and did not experiment with collage as Picasso and Braque did. His prior experience as an architectural draftsman influenced his art, which took on mechanical characteristics.

A great example of one of his Tubism paintings is Nudes in the Forest. Just last year, it was announced that one of Leger’s paintings titled Mother and Child went missing from the Wellesley College Davis Museum, and is a current scandal in the art world. It is thought that the painting was accidentally thrown out!

Robert Delaunay also worked in Paris alongside these influential Cubist artists. He mainly worked in other styles such as Neo-Impressionism and Orphism, but was influenced heavily by Cubism and used Cubism at the peak of its invention just prior to 1910. He made significant contributions to the movement, as Delaunay introduced architecture as subject matter into cubism, as seen in his Eiffel Tower paintings. His paintings usually sell in the hundreds of thousands of dollars at top auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

Places to learn more about Cubism

Cubism article from Lilith Gallery

Picasso's 5 Most Famous Paintings

2009-12-29T02:44:04-05:00

1. Guernica, 1937, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Guernica is a blue, black, and white anti-war mural showing the emotional ravages of war. The painting refers to the German and Italian bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War; most of the men were fighting in the war and not in the town, and therefore most of the victims were women and children.

It is a chaotic scene showing the pain and suffering of people and animals, and was commissioned by the Spanish government for the 1937 World Fair in Paris to show the rest of the world the effects of the war. Later on, while living in Paris during World War II, Picasso suffered much harassment from the Nazis for his creation of this painting.

Even as recently as 2003, this painting has been the subject of controversy when the Bush Administration had a tapestry copy of the painting covered up during press conferences covering the Iraq War, as the anti-war ideals of the painting clashed with the subject being discussed.

2. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was a highly controversial painting that effectively replaced Matisse with Picasso as the leader of the Modern Art movement; afterwards, they continued to be bitter rivals.

This painting shows five masculine prostitutes in a brothel with highly distorted and fragmented figures, broken down into simple geometric shapes. This distortion of perspective and form paves the way for cubism, which continues to further abstract images into an unrecognizable image. Two of the women’s’ faces are influenced by African masks, while the other three are influenced by native Iberian art.

Picasso was also influence by El Greco, Paul Gaugin, and Paul Cezanne in this painting. In 1937, the MOMA purchased Les Demoiselles for $24,000- it is unimaginable how many millions of dollars the painting would sell for today!

3. Gertrude Stein, 1906, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Gertrude Stein was an important and influential supporter of Picasso, along with many other artists and writers of the time. The monumental quality of her figure in the painting shows the extent of her influence on Picasso.

Her early support of Picasso was instrumental in his development as an artist. Gertrude Stein posed for this portrait 90 times, and Picasso grew so frustrated with trying to portray her face that he completely departed from realism and ultimately painted the face separately.

In fact, the face does not represent a likeness of Gertrude Stein, but is instead influenced by the style of African masks, which was an enormous influence on Picasso in this period, most especially seen in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

4. The Two Saltimbanques (Harlequin and his Companion), 1901, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

The Two Saltimbanques painting is representative of Picasso’s Blue Period. Many people are unaware of Picasso’s pre-cubist work, in which he created paintings that were not yet abstract, even if not naturalistic.

In this painting of two harlequins, the forlorn looks on their faces and the overall color tones portray an overall sense of gloom. The Blue Period was a four year range of paintings early in Picasso’s career that was influenced by the suicide of his close friend and was characterized by hazy blue tones and an overall sense of despair.

Many of Picasso’s paintings at this time featured harlequins or musicians, such as The Old Guitarist, another influential Blue Period painting.

5. Weeping Woman, 1937, Tate Modern, London

Weeping Woman was part of an important series late in Picasso’s career; this painting in particular was the last and most complex of the series. The subject of the painting, a woman crying, is intended to continue the emotional response of Guernica.

Although the woman’s face is highly abstracted and fragmented, the pain of the woman comes through clearly. The model, Dora Maar, is also Picasso’s mistress at the time. It is well known that Picasso thought her to be highly emotional, thus explaining his choice of model.

Top 10 Places in San Francisco to See Art on the Cheap

2009-12-10T11:16:08-05:00

Low on money? No problem. Here’s how to see the best art in San Francisco for little to no money.

1. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

The SFMOMA, the first West Coast Museum dedicated to collecting and displaying exclusively 20th century Art, has free admission on the first Tuesday of every month as well as Thursday half-price evenings every week from 6-9. Regular admission is $15 for adults, $9 for seniors, $9 for students with a valid student ID and kids under 12 are free.

2. The Asian Art Museum

With over 17,000 pieces in its permanent collection, the Asian Art Museum has one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world. It offers free general admission on the first Sunday of every month. On all other days, students with a valid ID can get in for $7.

3. Museum of Craft and Folk Art

The Museum of Craft and Folk Art displays traditional and contemporary crafts from all over the world. Current exhibits include an interdisciplinary approach to the study of patterns that brings together individually and collectively made embroidery and computer codes. Admission to the Museum is free to everyone on the first Tuesday of every month and only $5 for students during the rest of the month.

4. M.H. de Young Memorial Museum

The de Young Museum boasts excellent Amish textile and Pueblo pottery collections in addition to its Oceanic, African and American paintings. The museum can be visited for free on the first Tuesday of every month. If you can’t make it on the first Tuesday, your general admission ticket includes same-day admission to the Legion of Honor Museum. College students can also get in for just $6.

5. Legion of Honor Museum

Admission to the Legion of Honor Museum, which houses mainly European art including works by Picasso, El Greco and Rodin, is free on the first Tuesday of every month. General admission tickets, which are $10 for adults, include same-day admission to the M.H. de Young Museum.

6. San Francisco Fine Art Fair

The annual San Francisco Fine Art Fair), which will take place from May 20th to May 23th in 2010, features the work of more than 700 modern and contemporary artists from all over the world. Some of the work is by new artists and some is by already renowned artists such as Picasso, Rothko and Warhol. While the art is extremely pricey, admission to the fair is free.

7. San Francisco International Airport Exhibitions

The airport may seem like a strange place to go see art, but San Francisco’s International Airport houses several well-received rotating exhibits including an aquarium, Mediterranean and southwestern pottery and several photography exhibits. Admission is free and the vast majority of their exhibits are located in areas of the airport you don’t need a ticket to enter.

8. Contemporary Jewish Museum

The Jewish Museum houses exhibits that showcase contemporary perspectives on Jewish art, history and culture. The museum will offer free admission on December 25th, 2009 and July 10, 2010. Admission for adults is $10, but it’s only $5 after 5 on Thursdays and $8 at all times for students.

9. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts features visual art as well as performance and video art of diverse local and international artists. Visit Yerba Buena’s two building gallery complex for free on the first Tuesday of every month. Regular admission tickets are $7 but tickets are only $5 for students, teachers, non-profit employees and anyone with a public transportation pass or library card.

10. Marin Arts Council Members Exhibit

The Marin Arts Council, an organization that celebrates the connections between art and community, is hosting their annual member’s exhibit from December 21, 2009 to March 25, 2010. Come check out the work of over 100 local artists for free as well as the center itself, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Monet's 5 Most Famous Paintings

2009-12-09T23:35:15-05:00

During Claude Monet’s early career, he was harshly criticized for his style. He started using quick, loose brushstrokes, and painting “en plein air”; which means he painted outside instead of in a controlled studio setting. All of this represented a move away from the highly realistic paintings of the time, and a move towards more abstract paintings. All of these new techniques were quite “avant-garde” for Monet’s time, yet today he is one of the most widely loved and iconic painters. Many of his best and most important paintings show his fascination for water and light, and the changing conditions of the sky due to time of day, the weather, and the seasons.

1. Rouen Cathedral (Cathedrale de Rouen), 1892, Musee Marmottan, Paris

This painting is part of a collection of paintings from the same viewpoint, all under different weather conditions, greatly emphasizing Monet’s interest in the study of the effects of light. The subject matter of this painting is not the actual Cathedral, but the atmospheric light and colors produced. In order to produce this series, as well as many other series studying the effects of changing light, Monet would have dozens of paintings started simultaneously, and work on each one throughout the day for a few minutes at a time while those light conditions lasted. The Rouen Cathedral series received critical acclaim and commercial success instantly.

2. Water-Lily Pond, Symphony in Green (Le Bassin au Nymphéas, Harmonie Verte), 1899, Musee d’Orsay, Paris

This painting is of a bridge and water lily pond Monet created in his garden, which is possible to visit in Giverny, France today. The painting shows the strong influence of Japanese art on Monet, as these types of arched bridges were commonly seen only in Japanese landscape art at the time. In fact, Japanese art was quite trendy! Monet’s estate still has an excellent collection of woodblock prints of Japanese landscapes today. Many of Monet’s other paintings include this bridge, and this iconic painting is instantly recognizable as Monet to many people around the world.

3. Water Lilies (Les Nympheas), 1916-1919, Musee de l’Orangerie, Paris

Monet created about 250 water lilies paintings based on his garden in Giverny, and water-lilies were the main subject matter in his paintings for the last 30 years of his life. Again, this series was based off the changing light conditions, while retaining the same subject matter as a means of comparison. Interestingly enough, you can trace Monet’s vision problems due to cataracts though the colors he uses in this series; it is thought he used bolder colors when his vision was most poor. In June 2008, a painting in this series was sold for 41 million pounds at Christie’s auction house in London; clearly, it is an incredibly important painting.

4. Impression, Sunrise (Soleil Levant), 1873, Musee Marmottan, Paris

This painting shows a view of a port in Le Havre using Monet’s characteristic loose brushstrokes, and uses the complementary colors of blue and orange. In naming this painting for an exhibition, Monet helped give the Impressionist movement their name,

“Landscape is nothing but an impression, and an instantaneous one, hence this label that was given us, by the way because of me. I had sent a thing done in Le Havre, from my window, sun in the mist and a few masts of boats sticking up in the foreground….They asked me for a title for the catalogue, it couldn’t really be taken for a view of Le Havre, and I said: ’Put Impression”. Impression, Sunrise was done at the beginning of Monet’s career, when his new style was not yet well received. In fact, Louis Leroy, a writer from Le Charivari, titled a scathing review of the show “The Exhibition of the Impressionists,” thus solidifying the Impressionists’ name.

5. Haystacks, End of Summer (Meules, Fin de l’Ete), 1891, Musee d’Orsay, Paris

Again, Monet uses repetitive subject matter in this 25 painting series, showing the difference in light conditions due to weather, time of day, and the seasons. This particular haystack painting shows the hazy, grey light of summer, and effectively shows the thick air of summer through less detail in the subject matter. It was at this time Monet started to have financial success and critical acclaim with this series, which continued through his Rouen Cathedral series, Water-Lilly Pond painting, and Water Lilies series.

Picasso's Legacy: 5 American Artists Most Influenced by Picasso

2009-12-07T01:32:42-05:00

Over the course of his ninety-two years of life, Pablo Picasso explored a wide variety of artistic styles and techniques. The Spanish artist is one of the most famous, as well as influential, artists of all time. His legacy lives on in the art of many modern American artists. Art Revived has assembled a list of some of the most well-known American painters who have found inspiration in Picasso’s work.

Roy Lichtenstein

Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein often spoke of his marked interest in the art of Pablo Picasso. He acknowledged the “huge influence” that Picasso had upon his artwork, even going so far as to paint cartoons of Picasso. Lichtenstein viewed his cartoon paintings as an attempt to liberate himself from Picasso’s strong influence.

Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. 1907.

Willem de Kooning

When Willem de Kooning paints his portraits of monstrous women, he returns to the Cubist women typical of Picasso’s artwork. Placing Picasso’s famous “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (1907) alongside any of de Kooning’s woman paintings reveals many similarities. Both artists use bold, black lines to outline their figures, and both grant their women an overwhelming sense of power and overt sexuality.

Willem de Kooning. Woman I. 1950-52.

Jackson Pollock

Artist Jackson Pollock – best known for his monumental “drip” paintings – directly references the work of Picasso in his many of his paintings. Some of Pollock’s works from the 1950’s in particular include figures drawn in bold, black lines descended from the art of Picasso. Both Picasso and Pollock abandon traditional realist painting in favor of more childish, liberated techniques. Pollock turns Picasso’s cubist figures into wild splatters of paint.

Jasper Johns

Painter and sculptor Jasper Johns is best known for his encaustic, or hot wax, paintings of flags and targets. In creating these works, Johns adds colored pigments to heated beeswax, and then applies the mixture to a canvas. Apart from these targets and flags, Johns has also created dozens of works that incorporate elements directly from Picasso paintings – including nudes, mythical creatures, and portraits of women.

Arshile Gorky

In his early works, abstract expressionist painter Arshile Gorky imitated the artwork of Picasso. He explored Picasso’s different styles in a more dedicated and thorough manner than perhaps any other artist. Gorky’s mature works, such as his famous “The Liver is the Cock’s Comb” (1944), show him building off of these influences to create his own style.

Arshile Gorky. Blue Figure in Chair. ca. 1934-35.

Top 10 Places in Boston to See Art on the Cheap

2009-11-28T15:01:31-05:00

Low on money? No problem. Here’s how to see the best art in Boston for little to no money.

1. Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts is celebrating the reopening of its Huntington entrance by offering a free community day once a month. The next day of free admissions will be December 31st, followed by Martin Luther King Day, January 18th. Check out their website for the latest community days and come enjoy the MFA’s more than 450,000 works of art, including paintings by Monet, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent. You can also get $2 off the price of your ticket at the MFA or the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum if you visit them both within a 2 day period.

2. Institute of Contemporary Art

Every Thursday from 5pm-9pm, entrance to the ICA is free to the public. Come appreciate their renowned modern art, including works by German painter Kai Althoff, sculptor Anish Kapoor and controversial graphic designer Shepard Fairey. If you can’t make it on Thursday nights and you have a valid student ID, tickets are only $10.

3. Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum

Isabella Stuart Gardner put several quirky provisions for the management of the museum in her will, including a rule that anyone named Isabella or anyone celebrating their birthday on that particular day receives free admission. If you’re lucky enough to be named Isabella or just celebrating your birthday, you can observe masterpieces by Matisse, Sargent and Botticelli for free in an intimate setting with low lights and gorgeous tropical gardens. You can gain admission for only $5 with a valid student ID and get $2 off the price of your ticket at the MFA or the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum if you visit them both within 2 days. You can also text “GARDNER” to 22122 for special offers and discounts to “Gardner After Hours,” which is billed as “a new kind of night out”, on the third Thursday of every month, September through June.

4. Art Galleries on Newbury Street

While Newbury Street is the place to go for the priciest designer clothes and the most elegant brunches, this tree-lined street is also a great place to soak in some free art. There is plenty to see at the more than fifteen galleries, but make sure to check out paintings by Rolling Stone guitarist and artist Ronnie Wood at Newbury Fine Arts.

5. Harvard Art Museum

There’s no reason to ever pay admission to see Harvard’s diverse collections of Islamic, Indian and Western Art. Harvard students, Cambridge Public Library card holders and anyone visiting the museums after 4:30 pm on a weekday and from 10-12 on Saturday get free entry. If you can’t visit during those hours, college students can get tickets at the reduced rate of $6.

6. Boston Arts Festival

The Boston Arts Festival, affectionately referred to as the “Boston Ahts Festival,” takes place over three days during the middle of September. It showcases the visual as well as performing arts and features the Boston Ballet and the Jazz Hip Hop Orchestra in addition to the work of internationally recognized painters, sculptors and photographers. Admission to the festival is free for everyone.

7. Rose Art Museum

The Rose Museum of Art, while technically twenty minutes outside of the city in Waltham, is owned by Brandeis University and considered one of Boston’s best art museums. The Museum’s internationally recognized permanent collection includes works by Jasper Johns, Willem De Kooning and Andy Warhol and is free and open to the public.

8. McMullen Museum of Art

Boston College’s art museum, which houses Gothic and Baroque tapestries, Italian paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries and American paintings from Hudson River School artists, offers free admission to everyone.

9. Arts on the Arcade

From July 8th to August 26th, Arts on the Arcade brings together local artists, farmers and performers at the community arcade adjacent to Cambridge Street and City Hall Plaza on Wednesdays from 11am – 3pm. Arts on the Arcade is free to the public.

10. Museum of Bad Art

If you’ve had your fill of masterpieces, check out the MOBA in the basement of the Somerville Theater. The MOBA shows art that is, well, really bad. It has over 400 pieces of bad art in its permanent collection, but only has the space to exhibit around 20-40 works at a time. Admission to the museum is free with admission to the Somerville Theater. Most people come to the theater for concerts, movies and the Harpoon drafts at the concession stand, but the next time you go, take a trip downstairs and visit what the New York Times Magazine has proclaimed, “the best bad art.”

Boston's 6 Best Art Museums

2009-11-15T18:42:53-05:00

Boston is most well-known for the Freedom Trail and its other historical sites, as well as its renowned aquarium. But it is also an increasingly important destination for art enthusiasts. Art Revived has put together this list of the best art museums in Boston based on reputation and popularity.

1. Museum of Fine Arts

Boston’s most famous art museum draws over one million visitors every year to see its more than 450,000 works of art which include paintings by Monet as well as American art by Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent. It also frequently has innovative and popular new exhibits such as this year’s “Walk this Way,” an exhibit that traces our fascination with footwear all the way from ancient Egyptian and Nubian sandals to the latest heels designed by Miu Miu.

2. Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum

The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum is one of the United State’s most notable small art museums. The paintings, including works by Matisse, Sargent and Botticelli are housed in an intimate setting with low lights and frequently without descriptions, giving its guests the feeling of observing these masterpieces in a private residence. Isabella Stuart Gardner’s will contained several quirky provisions for the management of the museum such as free admission for anyone named Isabella or anyone celebrating their birthday on that particular day.

3. Institute of Contemporary Art

The ICA started its permanent collection in 2006, which includes works by German painter Kai Althoff and sculptor Anish Kapoor, when it moved from its Back Bay location to its current building in the Seaport district. The museum also hosts renowned exhibits such as this year’s controversial Shepard Fairey exhibition.

4. Harvard Art Museum

The Harvard Art Museum’s collections, which are organized into three distinct museums housed under the same roof, focus on Islamic and Indian art in addition to Western art from the Middle Ages to the present. Stand-outs works include Ancient Greek pottery as well as paintings by Degas, Picasso and Renoir.

5. Rose Museum of Art

The Rose Museum of Art, while technically twenty minutes outside of the city in Waltham, is owned by Brandeis University and considered one of Boston’s best art museums. It has been mired in controversy ever since Brandeis’s president announced that the Museum would be closed and its art put up for sale in response to the university’s recent downturn in financial circumstances. When faced with an eruption of protests and lawsuits by donors, the University backpedaled and announced that the Museum would be kept open and only some of its works sold. What was all the fuss about? The Museum’s internationally recognized permanent collection includes works by Jasper Johns, Willem De Kooning and Andy Warhol.

6. McMullen Museum of Art

Boston College’s art museum’s permanent collection focuses on Gothic and Baroque tapestries as well as Italian paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries and American paintings from Hudson River School artists including James McDougal Hart and James Gale Tyler. It has also hosted several well-received exhibits recently such as a collection of Jewish mosaics from the Roman Empire.

Why Go to Europe - The 8 Best Museums in the U.S.

2009-11-09T16:57:38-05:00

There is, of course, no need to go to Europe to see great works of art. Some of the most famous and renowned collections in the world are housed in museums here in the United States. Artrevived.com has assembled this list of some of the best art museums in the United States based on reputation and popularity.

1. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

The “Met” is one of the world’s largest museums, measuring almost a quarter mile long and containing over 2 million works of art. Besides housing widely varied collections ranging from antique weapons to Australian Aboriginal rock paintings, the cornerstones of its European paintings include works by Cézanne, Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

2. J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, California

The Getty Center features stunning garden and fountains in addition to Western and European works of art including paintings by Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne.

3. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The National Gallery of Art, located on the Mall in Washington, was created by a joint resolution of Congress in 1937 for the American people. Its permanent collection is most well known for its Italian Renaissance paintings including works by Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael as well as “Ginerva de Benci,” the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the western hemisphere.

4. Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

The MOMA is widely considered to have one of the best Modern Art collections in the world. It displays iconic works of sculpture, architecture and electronic media in addition to “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” by Pablo Picasso and paintings by Kahlo, Monet, Cézanne and Matisse.

5. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Illinois

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the largest museums in the United States, second only to the Met. It is famous for its renowned Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections that contain more than thirty paintings by Claude Monet as well as works by Cezanne, Seurat and Van Gogh.

6. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Boston’s most well known art museum draws over one million visitors every year to see its more than 450,000 works of art which includes paintings by Monet as well as American art by Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent. It also frequently has innovative and popular new exhibits such as this year’s “Walk this Way,” an exhibit that traces our fascination with footwear all the way from ancient Egyptian and Nubian sandals to the latest heels designed by Miu Miu.

7. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

The SF MOMA was the first West Coast Museum dedicated to collecting and displaying exclusively 20th century Art. Its permanent collection boasts paintings by Klee, Duchamp, Warhol and Pollack.

8. The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA

The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum is one of the United State’s most renowned small art museums. The paintings, including works by Matisse, Sargent and Botticelli are housed in an intimate setting with low lights and most are displayed without labels, giving its guests the feeling of observing these masterpieces in a private residence. Isabella Stuart Gardner’s will contained several quirky provisions for the management of the museum such as free admission for anyone named Isabella or anyone celebrating their birthday on that particular day.

The 6 Best Museums in the World

2009-11-09T01:13:02-05:00

Based on survey of the various lists out there on the best museums in the world, as well as our own views popularity and reputation, Art Revived has created this list of the best art museums in the world.

1. Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

The Musee de Louvre or the Louvre Museum is France’s largest national museum, the most visited museum in the world and a historical monument. It was used as a fortress and then a royal palace before being turned into a museum during the French Revolution. It houses nearly 35,000 works of art including the Venus di Milo and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

2. Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Rome, Italy

The Vatican Museums displays works from the incredible collections amassed by the Roman Catholic Church over centuries. Its more than 4 million annual visitors flock to the Museums to see the Michelangelo’s Sistene Chapel as well as Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of St. Jerome and several works by Caravaggio including Entombment.

3. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

The “Met” is one of the world’s largest museums measuring almost a quarter mile long and contains over 2 million works of art. Besides housing widely varied collections ranging from antique weapons to Australian Aboriginal rock paintings, the cornerstones of its European paintings include works by Cezanne, Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

4. J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, California

The Getty Center features stunning garden and fountains in addition to Western and European works of art including paintings by Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne.

5. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

The narrow courtyard between the Uffizi’s two wings creates the illusion of a road which has a view of Florence’s Arno River. These wings house Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus as well as works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian and Leonardo da Vinci.

6. Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France

Housed in a former railway station, the Musee d’Orsay largely features French artists whose work dates from 1848 to 1915. It is most well-known for its impressive impressionist and post-impressionist collection which includes Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” as well as works by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir and Gauguin.

Top 5 Most Controversial Art Pieces of All Time

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1. Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917, Tate Modern, London

Duchamp’s Fountain is a urinal the artist found and inscribed with the signature R. Mutt. It is considered to be a major landmark in 20th century art in that it probes viewers to reconsider what exactly it is that makes an object a work of art. The piece is referred to as a readymade or found art object.

Duchamp’s Fountain in its seminal turning upside down of assumptions with regards to authorship and creation remains important and puzzling today. Art history is a discipline that constantly questions its subject matter. What constitutes a work of art and, more pertinently, what makes a work of art good, bad, or important are questions that never seem to be put to rest and the consideration contemporary historians give to Duchamp’s oeuvre is testament to this fact.

2. Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991, Private Collection

Hirst’s conceptual piece, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living features a 13-foot tiger shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde. Like Duchamp’s urinal it is a readymade in that it is comprised of objects already existing in the world. It is controversial for a variety of reasons.

First, it captured a record-breaking price at auction despite its taking conceptualism to a limit many people considered absurd. Second, the fact that Hirst took his work directly to auction rather than selling it through a gallery. Furthermore, after its purchase and installation in a private home the piece began to leak formaldehyde thereby requiring repairs.

Debate ensued over whether or not repairing the piece would mar the artistic integrity of the work. Ultimately repair was not seen as endangering the work’s originality in that the essence of the work was said to be the theories upon which it was built rather than its physical substance.

3. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Today Pablo Picasso’s cubist pictures and allusions to African art no longer appear surprising or shocking. The way in which he distorted forms and the human figure as well as his unrealistic use of color no longer affronts our general conceptions regarding “good” art. In 1907, however, the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon outraged the public and art-world officials alike. The work appeared crude, unfinished, and hugely unsettling.

Today the work can still be seen as controversial in that experts remain at odds with respect to its influences and Picasso’s intention in painting it. Some historians interpret the work as exhibiting Picasso’s crippling fear of contracting a venereal disease, a fear that becomes manifest with his “cruel” depiction of the violent-looking female brothel workers. Other historians view the work as a formal working through of certain motifs Picasso borrowed from Cezanne and African art.

4. Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, 1907, Neue Galerie, New York

This work is controversial not because of its content or the manner in which it was painted, but because of its art-market history. The portrait, of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the wife of a wealthy Jewish leader of industry, is considered one of the Gustav Klimt’s masterpieces. When Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, Mr. Bloch-Bauer fled, leaving all of his possessions including this painting behind. The Nazi government confiscated his property and placed three of the paintings in an Austrian Gallery and sold the rest.

For many years this work was the focus of a restitution battle between the Austrian government and a nice of Mrs. Bloch Bauer. In 2000 Mrs. Altmann, Bloch-Bauer’s niece, sued the Austrian government. After much back and forth, the suit ended up in the United States Supreme Court, which ultimately decided in favor of Mrs. Altmann and her fellow heirs. Many museums approached the heirs to purchase the work.

Ultimately the heirs put the work up at auction and to their great happiness cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder bought the painting and installed it in his 5th Avenue museum, the Neue Gallerie, a museum dedicated to German and Austrian art and culture. The painting was bought for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.

5. Takashi Murakami, works from the “Hiropon Factory,” since 2001

Takashi Murakami is often compared to Andy Warhol. Both Warhol and Murakami play with elements of high and low culture. Like Warhol, Murakami takes motifs and characters from low culture, reconfigures it, and sells it as “high-art” at market.

Murakami does not stop at the art market, however. He has pushed the union between consumerism and art to its limit by selling his work or, rather, works from his “factory” in the form of videos, T-shirts, phone caddies and, most recently, $5,000 Louis Vuitton handbags.

The mass production of Murakami’s art in addition to the way in which he simultaneously sells his work as luxury goods, low-market knick-knacks, and as fine art at auction makes his oeuvre very controversial.

Persistence of Camembert... Memory

2009-07-30T01:58:52-04:00

In 1931, while eating camembert cheese and suffering from a painful headache, Salvador Dali was struck with the inspiration for one of the most recognizable paintings of the 20th century. The Persistence of Memory is Dali’s most celebrated work and helped introduce surrealism to mainstream America.

Dali, a master of the surreal, combines the ethereal cliffs of Catalonia with the surreal melting clocks that have become synonymous with Dali’s greatest works. Inspired by the camembert cheese he was eating at the time, Dali painted clocks that exhibited a gooey softness. In Dali’s painting, time, a dependable force, becomes malleable and irrational. Dali’s masterpiece evokes imagination and invites conversation. The Persistence of Memory juxtaposes the everyday with the extraordinary. The painting can be viewed as a landscape, a self-portrait, and a still life. The painting is rich in both symbolism and detail and has been confounding viewers and stimulating conversation since being unveiled to the public. Salvador Dali wrote that his surreal works were akin to “hand-painted dream photographs” and The Persistence of Memory is no exception.

The Persistence of Memory has been on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1934, however, you can own authentic reproduction by ordering with Art Revived now.