The Art Thread (traditional visual media)

[Oberon]

Hi, all.

I asked PinkPiranha a question in her blog (would she rather attend a day at the National Gallery, or a Monster Truck Show?) which led her to comment that the Gallery would get the nod, and she would be interested in seeing what her date would like or dislike.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought it deserved a thread.

So I'll start off with something with which some of you are already familiar, which is my appreciation for the work of John Singer Sargent:

http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/lady_agnew.jpg

In traditional media, I tend to prefer representational pieces. I don't care if critics call it "illustration"... it's what I like. Other personal likes are Winslow Homer and Fredric Remington.

So by all means, feel free to share what you like and why, and post examples.

[PinkPiranha]

These can be found at the NC Museum of Art. I make a beeline for them because I could stare at them all day.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/hernameisrio_2006/Jean-BaptisteOudry1745.jpg

Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1745

Mesmerizing. This one has been my absolute favorite since I was a little girl. Can't say why, except that I was drawn in by the primal combat.


http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/hernameisrio_2006/girlagainstlove.jpg


Adolphe William Bouguereau
French, about 1880

Looks familiar. :doh:


http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/hernameisrio_2006/UbaldogandolfiMercuryAbouttoBeheadA.jpg

Ubaldo Gandolfi
Mercury About to Behead Argus

ENTP like. When I was a kid, I thought he was stunning and kinda bad in a funny way. I kept staring at him, wishing in a strange way that he was real, that he belonged to me. I was a weird kid.

[PinkPiranha]

She's lovely, Oberon. Sargent was a master with eyes.

Remington, I adore. How about the Wyeths? I wish I could be just like them.

[JAVO]

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/hernameisrio_2006/girlagainstlove.jpg

Adolphe William Bouguereau
French, about 1880

Looks familiar. :doh:


Alternate title: Cupid's Inefficient Pre-archery Trials

[Oberon]

Oh, the Oudry work looks like it's actually moving!

It's funny... the artist's portrayal of dynamics, motion, tension, as the dog goes after the goose... it reminds me of comic book art.

Which is not an indictment by any means.

[PinkPiranha]

The over-the-top-edness of the Oudry is what drew me to it in the first place. Plus, if you stare at it really closely, there's the shadow of a dead boar hanging by it's back legs where the stone wall is now. I like paintings with secrets.

[Oberon]

How did Bouguereau get the light like that? That cool, diffuse, white illumination?

[PinkPiranha]

How did Bouguereau get the light like that? That cool, diffuse, white illumination?

No clue. I know a few of the "old master" tricks for dealing with light, but it's really just astonishment to my mind.

The arm, leg and skin pressure is what gets me.

[Oberon]

Oh... strangely, I also have a soft spot for El Greco.

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/e/el_greco/el_greco_evangelist.jpg

His work is more stylized by far than the others I mentioned, is perhaps better grouped with Heironimus Bosch.

With El Greco, it's all about striking contrast and Catholic themes.

[PinkPiranha]

I find Spanish art before a certain date to be dominated by almost cadaverous human subjects. Maybe a reflection of the bloody mindset at the time. Hard for me to warm up to it.

[Orangey]

How about the Wyeths?

I love Andrew Wyeth paintings. Here is one from his "Helga Pictures". I believe it was done in tempera.

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn458/Orangey222/wyeth2.jpg

[Oberon]

I find Spanish art before a certain date to be dominated by almost cadaverous human subjects. Maybe a reflection of the bloody mindset at the time. Hard for me to warm up to it.

Yes, there is sort of a Tim Burton sensibility to El Greco, isn't there.

On the other hand, the Dutch masters used models as well padded as the back seat of a '59 El Dorado. Witness Rembrandt:

http://www.zone.ee/yorick/tekstid/oppematerjalid/kunstiajalugu/barokk/holland/rembrandt/pildid/danae.jpg

[PinkPiranha]

Yes, there is sort of a Tim Burton sensibility to El Greco, isn't there.

Tim Burton is directing my life. I'm positive of it.

[Oberon]

I love Andrew Wyeth paintings. Here is one from his "Helga Pictures". I believe it was done in tempera.

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn458/Orangey222/wyeth2.jpg

That's quite lovely. It deserves a larger image.

[Oberon]

Tim Burton is directing my life. I'm positive of it.

That bastard. We'll get him... we'll put Ron Howard on the job, and you'll be guaranteed a happy ending!

Now... about the Wyeths... their work could be as iconic as any Medieval European's.

http://bullrunnings.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/wyeth.jpg

[Orangey]

Here is a larger...

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn458/Orangey222/wyeth.jpg

[PinkPiranha]

I have piles of Maxfield Parrish prints... I always wanted to be one of the girls.

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Three of my favorite paintings...

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/1844/800pxturnerjmwthegrandcjy7.jpg
The Grand Canal - Venice by Turner

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5816/terrassedecafeposterc10dd8.jpg
The Cafe Terrace At Night by Van Gogh
I want to live in, or at least spend all my weekend nights inside this painting.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8465/starrynighteditorschoicsl2.jpg
Starry Night by Van Gogh

[PinkPiranha]

oooooo!!! I used to really find no real charm in Von Gogh, but recently, I've begun to appreciate the complexity of his paintings, especially the color combinations. He must have had a perfect eye for color. The second one is very appealing!

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Yeah, color is my favorite element of art, and I love his vibrant use of deep blues and golds. He plays the opposites on the color wheel off each other very nicely.

[PinkPiranha]

Some speculation as pertains to his mental state has been brought forward. Perhaps his troubles with mental illness caused him to have a hallucinatory view of reality.

[whatever]

rue mouffetard by maximilien luce

http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/LuceMaximilien/rue_mouffetard.jpg


conway valley new hampshire by albert bierstadt

http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/glenda/bierstadt/b-conway_vallley_new_hampshire.jpg

[Oberon]

Hudson Valley School is teh r0xx0rz.

[cascademn]

For several years when I was young, I studied ballet, and my grandmother gave me 4 Degas prints, which I adored. The below are two of my favorites. With the first one, I was simply fascinated with all of the action going on in the painting -- even the stationary figures (ex: the 2 men slumping in their chairs on the far right) exhibited 'action'. And so many little things going on in the painting - lots of sub-stories. Each of the characters is doing something, or anticipating something. With the second painting, I just liked the colors, and again, Degas captured the fluidity of the dancer - she almost seems to be moving in the painting.

The Rehearsal on the Stage
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/5265/m122rehearsalonstageposqz4.jpg

The Green Dancer
http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/7559/degasaag022ci8.jpg

[PinkPiranha]

Degas had a very interesting life story.

Love the Rue scene, Whatever! I love city streets!

[Beat]

I like paintings of ships at sea, battling storms, waves and all that stuff. My mom got me this large print for Christmas a few years ago.

'Glory of the Seas' by Montague Dawson. Pretty amazing.

http://www.marinersinternational.com/GloryoftheSea.jpg

[PinkPiranha]

OOOOOOOO!!!!!! O.o I love tall-ship pictures!!!

[Oberon]

No wonder that ship's laying over... it's carrying too much sail by half.

[penelope]

I'm a big fan of the Wyeths... I saw Andrew Wyeth's work at the High museum in Atlanta a few years back and I was completely sent into another world with his amount of detail.

I wasn't much interested in Italian Renaissance art, but I just spent 10 weeks in Italy and saw much of the most famous of it. I have to say that Michelangelo's rendition of "David" was awe-inspiring. I spent 2 hours drawing it. Completely took my breath away.

[Spartacuss]

I like Max Beckmann.
One of his:

Prunier
http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T02/T02395_9.jpg


Some cool stuff came out of Die Brücke, too, e.g. Ernst Kirchner

http://www.reinhard-ebel.de/pictures/artkunstart/Ernst%20Ludwig%20Kirchner.jpg

[Spartacuss]

One more Beckmann: Journey on the Fish
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/b/beckmann/journey_on_the_fish.jpg

[iwakar]

In order:
Jean Leon Gerome - Whoever You Are, Here Is Your Master (Love, the Conqueror)
Knut Ekvall - The Fisherman and the Siren
David Roberts - A View in Cairo
Franz von Stuck - Cupid at the Masquerade Ball

I have lots of others, but I can't spam the thread with images. :wubbie: