Saul Berman

December 17, 2012, 5:57 am

Saul Berman River Front 1934

In my continual trolling of turgid internet waters for good images of artwork for this month's theme, I came across this amazing painting by Saul Berman (1899-1975). I tried to find other paintings of his but came up with practically nothing, and certainly nothing near so grand as this one. He has no Wikipedia article, and certainly no website, and I could find nothing out about him other than his birth and death dates, and that he was born in Russia and died in L.A. So no bio, no quote, and certainly no photograph. My apologies!

I love the jaunty slant of the horizontals in this painting, and the contrast between the complex and incisive details of the shipyard with the muted bluish grays of the river and distant shore.

The month of December will be dedicated to the theme of "Winter". Please email your suggestion (not your own work please) with a few words to describe why you like it. Be sure to include the title, medium, size and year.

↧

Lawren Harris

December 18, 2012, 5:56 am

≫ Next: Rockwell Kent

≪ Previous: Saul Berman

Lawren HarrisRed House, Winter oil on canvas 88 x 103 cm 1925

Lawren Harris The Corner Store 1912

Lawren Harris Little House oil on paperboard 19.9 x 14.2 cm 1911

Lawren Harris Houses, Gerrard Street, Toronto oil on canvas 89.3 x 76.9 cm 1912

Shira Anklewicz has suggested that we look at the paintings of Lawren Harris, saying:

One of my favourite artists is Lawren Harris. Harris was a Canadian artist based out of Toronto and a member of the Group of Seven. Much of his work, especially his paintings of large mountains and icebergs done in the 1920s and 1930s in northern Canada, is iconic to this country. However, it is his snowy houses of Toronto that I love. His paintings often seem so simple but are so strong in composition and colour.

Harris studied painting in Berlin and was influenced by the European art of the time including Post Impressionism, and on a trip to Buffalo, NY saw an exhibit of Scandinavian paintings that had an impact on him. In his later works he began incorporating ideas of Theosophy into paintings and worked more towards abstraction.

Thank you Shira!

Art is the beginning of vision into the realm of eternal life.

-Lawren Harris

The month of December will be dedicated to the theme of "Winter". Please email your suggestion (not your own work please) with a few words to describe why you like it. Be sure to include the title, medium, size and year.

↧

Rockwell Kent

December 19, 2012, 6:16 am

≫ Next: Neil Welliver

≪ Previous: Lawren Harris

Rockwell Kent The Trapper oil on canvas 33"x42" 1921

Rockwell KentThe Road Roller oil on canvas 34"x44" 1909

Roger Brown has suggested we look at these two paintings by Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), and has this to say about "The Trapper":

I saw that painting for the first time when I was about 13, and was immediately taken by the sense of light and (cold) air in the painting and those empty mountains receding away and by the starkness of the composition. I still don't know what that pole is - an abandoned telephone pole seems unlikely in that empty region. Maybe it's just there as a landmark to orient people in the snowy wastes. Having a woods behind my house I knew very well what it felt like to trudge on a bright winter day through an uneven landscape of hills, fallen trees and sudden depressions in the land hidden by the snow. But of course I knew nothing at that age of what it felt like to be this man making his way home with such a meagre catch... All of this is pretty much outside of aesthetics...

Art must unquestionably have a social value; that is, as a potential means of communication it must be addressed, and in comprehensible terms, to the understanding of mankind.

-Rockwell Kent

The month of December will be dedicated to the theme of "Winter". Please email your suggestion (not your own work please) with a few words to decribe why you like it. Be sure to include the title, medium, size and year.

↧

Neil Welliver

December 20, 2012, 5:43 am

≫ Next: Andrew Wyeth

≪ Previous: Rockwell Kent

Neil Welliver Study for Thaw at Pond Pass 24"x 24" 1989

Neil Welliver The Birches 60"x60" 1977

Neil WelliverUnyarded Deer oil on canvas 96"x 96" 1981

Neil Welliver Study for Blue Ducktrap

Neil Welliver Thawed Ledge oil on canvas 60"× 60" 1998

Neil WelliverTrees Reflected on Ice 57.2 x 60.5 cm oil 2002

Neil Welliver (1929-2005) painted his very large landscape paintings from small plein air studies completed near his home in Maine. He is often called the "dean of American landscape painting", but honestly, I can't figure out what that means. Instead I'll try to just give my own honest reaction to his work.

Welliver's paintings are often composed with striking simplicity, but with a wealth of textured detail. His work has such an immediate appeal, showing pristine landscapes without the intrusion of humans, studded through and through with the intensely pure quality of Maine sunlight.

His paintings have been described as a fusion of "abstract expressionism and pure, straightforward realism", but I'm not sure I agree. I don't see the unbounded emotionalism of abstract expressionism here; instead I sense a careful planning and an emotionally remote quality. Beautiful like well-crafted diamonds.

Neil Welliver's personal life has much personal tragedy, which makes me wonder if he retreated to these distant spaces in Maine as a way to cope.

Painting outside in winter is not a macho thing to do. It's more difficult than that. To paint outside in the winter is painful. It hurts your hands, it hurts your feet, it hurts your ears. Painting is difficult. The paint is rigid, it's stiff, it doesn't move easily. But sometimes there are things you want and that's the only way you get them.

-Neil Welliver

↧

Andrew Wyeth

December 21, 2012, 7:18 am

≫ Next: Nancy Herman, William Ternay and the Barnes Foundation

≪ Previous: Neil Welliver

Andrew WyethBranch in the Snow watercolor on paper 21.38" x 30" 1980

Andrew Wyeth Snowflakes watercolor 1966

Andrew WyethSunday Times watercolor on paper 22"x 30" 1987

Andrew Wyeth Ice Pool Watercolor 1969

Ann Feldman has requested a post dedicated to Andrew Wyeth's watercolors of snow scenes, and has this to say:

When the subject is snow, I think immediately of Andrew Wyeth's watercolors. The brightness of the snow is so beautifully offset by his monochrome landscapes. These paintings feel cold and still. Just like snow.

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape–
the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits
beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.
–Andrew Wyeth

↧

Nancy Herman, William Ternay and the Barnes Foundation

December 22, 2012, 6:56 am

≫ Next: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

≪ Previous: Andrew Wyeth

Nancy HermanThe Barnes Foundation in Winter 6"x8" 2010

Nancy HermanLatch's Lane oil 6" x 8" 2010

WilliamTernay The Barnes Foundation in Winter 2010

Evelyn Yaari has submitted a photograph of the Barnes Foundation in winter by William Ternay and two paintings by Nancy Herman. One of the paintings is a side view of the Barnes Foundation; the other of Latch’s Lane, where the 13-acre Barnes Foundation complex was located until May of this year. The paintings and photograph are depictions of the same 2010 snow storm.

Evelyn has this to say:

These appeal to me because they convey the peace that settles over everything after a big snow. Nancy, Bill, and I have been involved in the long and ultimately unsuccessful struggle to preserve the Barnes Foundation in its historic Merion site. Early 2010 was an especially turbulent time in the life of our organization, Friends of the Barnes Foundation. The peaceful atmosphere created by the snow storm was a welcome relief. Even now, Nancy’s paintings and Bill’s photograph evoke that special time of struggle and hope.

Nancy’s paintings can be found on her blog Postcards from Merion; Bill’s work can be found on his blog Postcards from Philly.

Thank you Evelyn!

Art appreciation can no more be absorbed by aimless wandering

in galleries than can surgery be learned by

casual visits to a hospital.

-from a pamphlet

issued by the Barnes Foundation

Albert C. Barnes

↧

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

December 23, 2012, 6:13 am

≫ Next: Ben Nicholson

≪ Previous: Nancy Herman, William Ternay and the Barnes Foundation

Ernst Ludwig KirchnerWinter Moonlit Night woodcut 1919

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner The Junkerboden under Snow oil on canvas 1936-38

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Davos in Winter

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) was one of the founders of Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a German group of painters whose intention was to create a bridge between art of the past and present, ignoring the academic style of the day. Their art became a major influence on Expressionism, in which emotional impact is more important than depictions of visual reality.

During his lifetime Kirchner had a good measure of success and enjoyed a bohemian lifestyle, until the rise of Nazi power. In 1933 the Nazi's called his work "degenerate", and ordered museums in Germany to destroy or sell 600 of Kirchner's works.

Kirchner killed himself with a gunshot in 1938.

I find the above winter landscapes stunningly bold in design and emotionally powerful- the sort of art that cuts to the heart of things. His exaggerated sense of color and simplified form- how should I put it- simply slays me.

All art needs this visible world and will always need it. Quite simply because,

being accessible to all, it is the key to all other worlds.
-Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

↧

Ben Nicholson

December 24, 2012, 5:22 am

≫ Next: Stanley Spencer, Vija Celmins

≪ Previous: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Ben Nicholson Rufus and the Christmas Tree oil on board with paper collage 8 ¾" x 14 ¾" 1937

Ben Nicholson Tree at Sava #1 drawing 1958

Ben Nicholson Winter Landscape - Halsetownoil and pencil on board 22.3x28 cm 1939–41

The British artist Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) met and was inspired by both Mondrian and Picasso, and subsequently made the decision to become primarily an abstractionist.

His work has a fascinating balance of charm and austerity. I love the decisive clarity of his art- a truly original and distinctive voice!

The corruption of the American soul is consumerism.

-Ben Nicholson

↧

Stanley Spencer, Vija Celmins

December 25, 2012, 4:47 am

≫ Next: Ken Devine

≪ Previous: Ben Nicholson

Stanley SpencerFire Alight 1936

Vija CelminsHeater oil on canvas 47.5" × 48" 1964

Merry Christmas!

↧

Ken Devine

December 26, 2012, 9:48 am

≫ Next: Don Gray

≪ Previous: Stanley Spencer, Vija Celmins

Ken Devine Snowfall oil on board 6"x 6" 2012

Ken Devine Stranded oil on board 6"x 6" 2012

Ken DevineSnow Glow oil on board 6"x 6" 2012

Ken DevineFirst Fall oil on board 6"x 6" 2012

Here in The Art Room, the final days of December will be dedicated to winter scenes by contemporary "Daily Painters". I'm starting things off with four terrific small snow scenes by U.K. artist Ken Devine.

One thing I love about these paintings is the firework-like display of popping color in scenes that other artists may have interpreted more soberly. I also love his joyful approach to brushwork. It's as though he is saying- if painting isn't fun, why do it?

I paint one study a day during the working week unless I'm ill, on holiday or dead.

It's frustrating, challenging, messy and rewarding....usually in that order.

-Ken Devine

↧

Don Gray

December 27, 2012, 7:08 am

≫ Next: Alain Massicotte

≪ Previous: Ken Devine

Don GraySage Hill oil on board 6"x 9" 2012

Don Gray Snow Route watercolor on rag paper 5"x 7" 2007

Don Gray Snow Walk oil on board 22"x 24.75" 2011

Don Gray draws his inspiration for his Daily Paintings from the rural Oregon landscape. He works in a lucidly descriptive manner, the reality of these quintessentially American landscapes more important than attention-grabbing brushwork or exaggerated color. I love these three sensitively observed snow scenes, which seem to include a sense of the muffled quiet that falls just after a snowfall.

Don Gray divides his time between his Daily Paintings, his abstract work and large mural commissions.

The dailies have helped me re-acquaint myself with oils—I’ve grown more fluent

in the medium. In addition, the pressure to produce eliminates a lot of excuses I

often used for not beginning a painting, such as not feeling ‘inspired.’

Now, I choose a subject quickly and I’ve learned to see that virtually

anything around me has beautiful potential.

-Don Gray

↧

Alain Massicotte

December 28, 2012, 7:22 am

≫ Next: Robert Beck

≪ Previous: Don Gray

Alain MassicotteUntitled 8"x 12" oil on wood 2010

Alain Massicotte Untitled 8"x 12" oil on wood 2011

Alain Massicotte Untitled 8"x 12" oil on wood 2012

Alain Massicotte Untitled 8"x 12" oil on wood

Canadian artist Alain Massicotte's small landscapes combine a bold sense of design with an intuitive feeling for the sweep of the land. A tilted horizon line or an exaggerated perspective adds a spontaneity and a direct emotional appeal that makes me think of the paintings of both Van Gogh and Tom Thomson.

Many of the above winter scenes are part of his "In My Backyard" series, surely one of the most wonderful titles for a painting blog I've ever come across.

A versitile artist, Massicotte's work includes nudes, portraits and landscapes. He has also designed stamps for the Canada Post.

A memory of something that is fragile and ephemeral will remain.

-Alain Massicotte

↧

Robert Beck

December 29, 2012, 12:57 pm

≫ Next: Edward Redfield and Walter Emerson Baum

≪ Previous: Alain Massicotte

Robert Beck Snowday 12" x 16"

Robert Beck Canal Snow 12" x 16"

Robert Beck Snow Bridge (west side of Central Park near 64th) 12" x 16"

Robert Beck Skating (Central Park) 12" x 16"

New Jersey artist Robert Beck paints a huge variety of subjects with a quick and impassioned enthusiasm. These four plein air paintings of winter scenes represent just one aspect of his seemingly insatiable appetite for encountering and responding to life itself through the medium of paint.

Beck has painted restaurants, diners and bars in full operation (the livelier the better), parades, and even a patient undergoing an operation. If you'd name an unusual subject for an artist to try, he'd probably be up for it.

Beck's paintings confirm the visual beauties of our everyday world as well as his sense of delight over the endless complexity of the human experience.

I go in cold because I want to have that discovery experience. It's a whole different painting when you're familiar [with your subject].

-Robert Beck

↧

Edward Redfield and Walter Emerson Baum

December 30, 2012, 2:00 pm

≫ Next: And the Winners Are...

≪ Previous: Robert Beck

Edward Redfield River Hills oil on canvas 50" x 56" 1920

Walter Emerson Baum Sunlight and Shadow oil on canvas 1925

Laird Markow has sent in these two beautiful winter scenes, and also these words about the artists:

Bucks County painters Edward Redfield (1869-1965) and Walter Emerson Baum (1884-1956) both attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Edward Redfield was known to carry his large canvases out on location and sometimes finish them in one day. Walter Baum also worked plein air. Both spent many hours painting out in the snow.

↧

And the Winners Are...

December 31, 2012, 5:40 am

≫ Next: Diane Hoeptner

≪ Previous: Edward Redfield and Walter Emerson Baum

The month of November was dedicated to artwork with the theme of "Bathers". There were 13 choices in the popularity contest, and here are the results:

First Place

Pierre BonnardNude Against the Light

Second Place

Vincent Desiderio Soaking

Third Place

Antonio Lopez GarciaWoman in the Bath

If the choices are narrowed to just artists of the past, Bonnard is still in first place.

Second Place- Artist of the Past

Joaquin Sorolla Children on the Beach

Third Place- Artist of the Past

Edgar DegasLe Tub

If the choices are narrowed to just living artists, first place goes to Vincent Desiderio, second place to Antonio Lopez Garcia, and third place:

Third Place- Living Artist

Samantha FrenchRefresh; Fleeting Convergence

Thanks so much to everyone who voted for their favorite paintings with the theme of "Bathers"!

Now you can vote for your favorite paintings on a winter theme. This time there are two separate polls, one for living artists and one for artists of the past.

You get TWO votes in each poll. Scroll down to get to the second poll.

(Polls are in the sidebar)

↧

Diane Hoeptner

January 3, 2013, 4:35 am

≫ Next: Kathy Weber

≪ Previous: And the Winners Are...

I'm excited to announce this month's theme: Artists Who Blog- Favorites of 2012. Chosen artists will send me an image or two of their favorite paintings from 2012. I'll also select one or two.

The month is off to a great start with a look at the work of Diane Hoeptner. She has chosen "Daffodils on Pattern" as her personal favorite painting from 2012:

Diane Hoeptner Daffodils on Pattern oil on wood 8" x 8" 2012

Diane says:

I'm trying to incorporate pattern into my paintings. This is one of the first times it worked really well.

Now, here are two of my favorite paintings of Diane's from 2012:

Diane HoeptnerSparrow on Pattern oil on cradled wood 6"x6" 2012

Diane HoeptnerFennec in Sun oil on cradled wood 8"x8" 2012

I love the sense of ease of her brushwork, her densely patterned compositions and original color harmonies. Diane paints cats, birds and flowers as well as other subjects that could be considered cozy, but there is a surprisingly mysterious air to her work. It's like someone is talking prosaically but hinting at secrets, things untold.

You can see more of Diane Hoeptner's work at her blog and her website.

My secret inner design junkie must be constantly fed as well as challenged.

-Diane Hoeptner

↧

Kathy Weber

January 4, 2013, 5:07 am

≫ Next: Crystal Cook

≪ Previous: Diane Hoeptner

January's theme is Artists Who Blog- Favorites of 2012. Chosen artists send me an image or two of their favorite paintings from 2012, and I'll choose one or two more.

Today we'll look at the work of Rhode Island artist Kathy Weber. Kathy has chosen "Study for 'Birds and Babies'" as her personal favorite painting from 2012:

Kathy Weber Study for "Birds and Babies" oil on panel 8" x 10" November 2012

I love this beach scene, with its sense of wind and fresh air. Here are two of my favorite paintings of Kathy's from 2012:

Kathy Weber P-Town oil on canvas 6" x 6" October 2012

Kathy Weber Morning 5" x 7" October 2012

I'm absolutely crazy about Kathy Weber's landscapes, particularly ones that include buildings. While all her work conveys a strong strong sense of air, space and light, I find "P-town" and "Morning" especially expressive.

The simplification of the large shapes in these painting gives a feeling of expansive calm, but then the dynamic compositions provide a buoyant energy. Her colors are strong and beautiful but don't seem exaggerated- my eyes simply don't want to leave!

You can see more of Kathy Weber's work at her blog and her website.

↧

Crystal Cook

January 5, 2013, 6:04 am

≫ Next: Stephen Magsig

≪ Previous: Kathy Weber

Today's artist is Crystal Cook, who has chosen two of her personally favorite watercolors from 2012.

Crystal Cook She Stood In The Storm watercolor 10"x 7" August 2012

This first one, She Stood in the Storm, is deeply personal for me and I based it off of this quote: 'She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her away she adjusted her sails" and "Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms his child."

Crystal Cook Inquisitive watercolor 6" x 6" October 2012

The most satisfying and meaningful work that I do is always a child's portrait. And Inquisitive is one of my favorites. I find it hard to say why, but it connects with me very deeply. Most of my child portraits do, but this one specifically means a lot to me.

Now for my turn, but I confess it was very hard to just choose two.

Crystal CookWhispers and Trust watercolor 6"x6" March 2012

I picked Whispers and Trust because it showcases Crystal's extraordinary ability to communicate strong emotions.

Crystal Cook Sweet and Mellow watercolor 5"x7" March 2012

This is a flat-out amazing depiction of a dog. Its sweet, trusting and very real presence is even more impressive than her virtuosic brushwork.

Crystal Cook is a highly skilled painter with a strong grasp of all those painterly values of composition, color, lighting, and getting an excellent likeness, but it seems to me that what truly motivates her to paint so beautifully is her deep sense of caring.

You can see more of Crystal Cook's work at her blog and her website.

↧

Stephen Magsig

January 6, 2013, 5:02 am

≫ Next: Michael Chamberlain

≪ Previous: Crystal Cook

Today's artist is Stephen Magsig, who I have mentioned in a previous post as "one of the best and most successful of artists in the Daily Painting Movement". He has chosen two of his personal favorite paintings from 2012:

Steven Magsig River Views oil on linen panel 7"x 5"
October 2012

Steven MagsigCitylights #84 oil on linen panel 5"x 7"
December 2012

Stephen Magsig describes himself as a "Detroit based painter of urban and industrial landscapes". This concrete description gets right to the point, just as his paintings do; his work takes an honest look at the decaying grandeur of his city. In his honesty I sense an intense affection.

Stephen Magsig Waterfront Docks oil on linen panel 5"x 7"
September 2012

This year Magsig spent some time in Italy, and it's interesting to see what he does with a very different city for a subject:

Stephen Magsig Ponte Vecchio, Florence oil on linen panel 5"x 7"
November 2012

You can find out more about Stephen Magsig at his blog and his website.

↧

Michael Chamberlain

January 7, 2013, 5:59 am

≫ Next: Julie Ford Oliver

≪ Previous: Stephen Magsig

San Francisco Bay Area artist Michael Chamberlain says he is "inspired by the beauty surrounding us in simple, everyday objects and scenes". He has chosen his two favorite paintings from the past year, and also shares some of his thoughts about them:

Three Rowboats 16" x 20" oil on canvas November 2012

Looking Up at a Victorian 10" x8" oil on canvas panel October 2012

In looking back at my paintings from 2012 I find the ones I like the most are the ones with strong abstract designs. "Three Rowboats" and "Looking Up at a Victorian" are examples of this sort of approach. "Three Rowboats" is probably my favorite. In addition to the colors and shapes, I like that this painting is larger in size. I'd been wanting to paint larger but was concerned that I wouldn't be able to achieve the brushwork I liked in my smaller pieces. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out so I have it hanging to remind me of the direction I'd like to go.

Here are two of my favorite Chamberlain paintings from 2012:

Overpass oil on gessoboard 6"x 6" November 2012

Winter Calla Lilies oil on gessoboard 6"x6" January 2012

Michael Chamberlain's work reminds me how wonderfully different a painting can be from a photograph. Unlike a camera, an artist can filter out the noise of detail, and can simplify by making intelligent choices.

I love the looseness of Michael's brushwork, his slightly muted warm and cool tones, and his emphasis on a strong overall design. There is an expansive quality to his work, as though he's always conscious of the high blue dome of the California sky over his light-filled scenes.

You can see more of Michael's work at his blog and his website.

↧