Ramblings Of An Art Guerrilla

The Day The Prozac Train Was Late

2010-01-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

The Day The Prozac Train Was Late by Pieter Artschool

What was the Dutch School of Depressionism? Who knows? But its greatest icon was non-other than an aptly named young man, Pieter Artschool. He won an art contest named, "Can You Draw The Bunny?" and was thrilled to learn that yes, indeed, he did have some inborn talent.

He spent all of his savings on art instruction, but alas, he had little more to show for it than a quaint ability to copy other people's work, which is exactly what he did. He began sneaking into art museums at night, absconding with lesser-known artist's works, then modifying them enough to prevent recognition. He then sold them as his own creations. The Day The Prozac Train Was Late is an excellent example of his creative genius and technique. The original was Johann Christian Brueghel's Peasant Festival, a merry work celebrating the Dutch peasant's ability to subsist on beer, bread, and onions. As well as attempting to dance in wooden shoes after drinking drinking themselves silly.

By creatively muting the colors, turning the smiles upside-down, and repainting the beautiful Dutch sky the color of a horrible mud, he transformed Brueghel's canvas into his own stunning masterpiece. It hung in a museum in Amsterdam until it was spotted by a relative of Brueghel's who brought it to the attention of the authorities.

Poor Pieter Artschool, a young man who desperately longed to be a master painter, was hung in the vacant lot next to the museum.

Just paint it!

Christmas Art

2009-12-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

For those of you who enjoy beautiful art of the Christmas season there are several online exhibits offering shows of the Christmas story.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a wonderful exhibit featuring historic paintings set to words and music. Also, the Louve has an exhibit of art of the Christmas season.

Thanks to all who have visited my blog and left comments; I value each of them. May the blessings of Christmas be with each of you during the coming year.

Richard

Does Art Really Matter?

2009-12-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

Winter Sunrise by Richard Edde

We have all been touched in some way by the events of our day. Terrorism, economic downturn, and fractured political processes have planted the seed of uncertainty in our lives. So in these tumultuous times it begs the question: does art really matter?

Art can transport us to a new place and, for a moment, allow us to forget our present troubles. But to me, art is not totally escapist. Art provides a sensory experience that can be truly restorative. Art gives our eyes and mind a chance to rest, to muse, to think. Looking at art, we reconnect with our inner spirit, a spirit that is rich in thoughts, feelings, and dreams.

While some consider art to be about things, it is only superficially about objects. It is about ideas and emotions expressed in paint or music or poetry. It is a conversation with our inner selves and our desire to come to terms with our humanness and ultimately, touch the infinite.

Art is the basic need of human survival. It is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way to understand things with our hearts when we cannot with our minds.

Art connects us with the deepest human longing for meaning and our desire to touch the infinite.

Just paint it!

Rembrandt's Whore

2009-11-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels attributed to Rembrandt

Twenty year-old Hendrickje Stoffels makes the journey from her Dutch village to Amsterdam to model for Rembrandt, forty-three. Rembrandt has her pose for his paintings and soon falls in love with her. Because of a contract he has signed regarding not being able to marry after his former wife's death, he is not able to marry her and thus she becomes his mistress. The lifelong affair produces a child, Cornelia.

Stoffels is later condemned and publicly labeled a whore by the Catholic Church. Their love goes far beyond the physical, however, and it is the young woman who ends up caring for the painter, protecting him from his voracious creditors and the Amsterdam politicians who would exploit his formidable talent. Stoffels encourages Rembrandt as he struggles to remain true to his vision against the spirit of a conservative philistine society.

The second half of Rembrandt's life was characterized by bankruptcy, illness, and his downfall from Amsterdam's best known painter to his exploitation by people who took advantage of his precarious situation. Stoffels stood by him and provided him with care and emotional support.

It is because of Hendrickje that Rembrandt was able to live, having lost his wife Saskia and children in a tragic manner.

Just paint it!

Love From An Insane Asylum

2009-11-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

Untitled by Adolf Wolfli

In an earlier post, I wrote about Martin Rameriz, an artist who painted from his room in a California mental hospital. Now consider the art of Adolf Wolfli (1864-1930). Born in Switzerland, he was orphaned before his 10th birthday and spent most of his youth in a succession of foster homes or on the streets.

In 1890, he was sentenced to two years in prison for the attempted molestation of two young girls, and in 1895, after a third incident of alleged molestation of a 3 1/2 year-old girl, was committed to the Waldau Psychiatric Clinic in Bern, where he remained until his death in 1930. He spent most of his time at the mental hospital in isolation and by 1910 was writing and drawing. His early works were restless, symmetrical drawings on newspapers.

In 1908, Wolfli commenced his epic autobiography and it would consume the remaining 22 years of his life. The text, interspersed with poetry, musical compositions, and 3000 illustrations, totaled more than 25,000 pages. The epic was hand-bound by Wolfli and stacked in his cell. Consisting of 45 volumes, his autobiography eventually reached a height of more than six feet. The fascinating illustrations (see above) of the narrative are labyrinthine creations of densely combined text and idiosyncratic motifs.

A few days before his death, Wolfli lamented that he would be unable to complete the final section of the autobiography, a grandiose finale of nearly 3000 more songs, which he titled, "Funeral March." His works have been shown throughout Europe and the United States.

Just paint it!

World's Oldest Oil Paintings

2009-10-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

Buddhist murals from Afghanistan's famed Bamian caves are the world's oldest known oil paintings, according to a new chemical analysis. (See photos of the paintings and the cliffs that housed them).

The finds, dated to around the 7th century CE, predate the origins of similar sophisticated painting techniques in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean by more than a hundred years.

The discovery may also provide insights into cultural exchange along the Silk Road connecting east and west Asia during that time period.

Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, scientists found that samples from twelve caves and the two giant Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban contained oil- and resin-based paints - likely the earliest known use for either substance for painting.

The analysis, done by Yoko Taniguchi of Japan, showed the murals were painted using a structured, multilayered technique reminiscent of early European methods.

Just paint it!

The Door To Enlightenment

2009-10-16T04:34:00.000-07:00

Gates of Paradise, Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The Florence Baptistry is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures by Lorenzo Ghiberti. These doors were dubbed by Michelangelo, "the Gates of Paradise," because of their beauty. The Italian poet, Dante Alighieri and many famed artists and leaders of the Renaissance, including members of the Medici family, were baptized there.

In 1401, a competition was announced by the Wool Merchants' Guild to design the baptistry's north doors. The existing north doors had been built as an offering to spare Florence from the scourge of the Black Plague which ravaged the city in 1348. Seven sculptors competed, including Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, and Donatello, with 21 year-old Ghiberti winning the commission. At the time of judging, only Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were finalists, and when the judges could not decide, they were assigned to work together on the doors. Brunelleschi's pride forced him to abandon Ghiberti who then worked on the doors alone.

It took the young sculptor 21 years to complete the doors. The gilded bronze doors consist of twenty-eight panels, with twenty depicting a biblical scene from the Old Testament. The lower eight panels show the four evangelists and Church Fathers, Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory, and Saint Augustine. The doors have been described as being the most important event in the history of Florentine art in the first quarter of the 15th century.

Michelangelo referred to these doors as "undeniably perfect in every way and must rank as the finest masterpiece every created."

And thus was born the Renaissance.

Just paint it!

The Root Of The Matter

2009-10-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

The Arnolfini Marriage by van Eyck, 1434

Rubia is a genus of the madder family, Rubiaceae, which contains about 60 species of perennial climbing herbs native to Africa, temperate Asia, and America. The genus and its best known species are also known as Madder. Madder has been cultivated as a dyestuff since antiquity in central Asia and Egypt where it was grown as early as 1500 BCE. Cloth dyed with madder root pigment was found in the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun and in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Corinth.

In 1826, the French chemist, Pierre-Jean Robiquet, found that madder root contained two colorants, the red alizarin and the more rapidly fading purpurin, The alizarin component became the first natural dye to be synthetically duplicated by German scientists. Rose madder is the crushed root of the Common Madder plant. The ancient Egyptians used rose madder to create pinkish rose-colored textile dyes.

Rose madder saw limited use as an oil paint during the Renaissance because it was considered a weak color. In the 19th century, chemists were able to manufacture a pigment that made rose madder a stronger and more durable oil paint. However, during the latter part of the 19th century, alizarin crimson was created and was considered at the time to be a superior replacement to rose madder. It is the synthetic form of rose madder and was soon discovered by artists to be a perfect color on the palette, making beautiful violets when mixed with blue, and perfect blacks and neutrals when mixed with a dark green like viridian or pthalo green.

All from a humble plant root.

Just paint it!

American Icon

2009-10-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

Valley of the Yosemite, 1864 by Albert Bierstadt

Of all American painters of the West, my favorite is Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) and he wasn't American by birth. He is best known for his spectacular landscapes of the unsettled West. He was born in Germany and was two years old when his family emigrated to our shores and settled in New Bedford, Massachussets.

Beginning in 1859, he made three trips west, each time making oil sketches on paper. Returning to his studio he used these sketches and studies to paint huge detailed panoramic views (some 6 feet by 10 feet) of Western scenery. His paintings emphasized the spectacular landscape, sometimes exaggerating what he had seen and changing a few details to make the scene more interesting.

Though his paintings commanded huge sums, Bierstadt was not held in particularly high esteem by the critics of his day. His use of uncommonly large canvases was thought to be an egotistical indulgence as his paintings would invariably dwarf those of his contemporaries when displayed together. His ego, they complained, was evident in the size of his paintings.

Bierstadt realized that in order to keep the rich and famous buying his paintings he would have to emulate their opulent lifestyle so he lived extravagantly, spending fortunes on travel, entertaining, and a mansion on the Hudson River.

Sadly, his work eventually fell out of favor, the mansion burned to the ground, and he died in New York City flat broke.

Just paint it!

If Everything Is Art, Then Nothing Is Art

2009-09-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso

Since World War I art lovers have grown accustomed to viewing what is called modern art. These works fill our museums, our schools, our magazines, even jump out of our television sets. Our modern artists, beginning with Matisse and Picasso and continuing through Pollock to the present have pressured us to deny the evidence of our own senses.

We have been pressured into believing that these modernists are the most brilliant artists in all history because they weren't telling us lies like traditional painters - they were telling us the truth. They do not paint scenes rooted in reality or the imagination. They tell it like it is. They give us something that is not banal, silly, or inane. Or even beautiful. What is this great truth, you ask?

Incredible as it may seem, they have proved that the canvas is flat -- flat and thin -- and lacking in depth.

Look at the above painting by Picasso. It is arguably his most famous and most reproduced. It is supposed to elicit an emotion by the viewer, but does it? Frankly, it leaves most art lovers cold. Where is the reality, the beauty? Where is the depth of field, the perspective? It simply does not exist. He created a work in which the forms and shaped do not align or create any cohesive form. In fact, Picasso rejected all prior artistic standards. At best, it is a Rorschach inkblot. You have to be taught to love Picasso because no one would do so otherwise.

People don't have to be taught to love Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Chopin, Beethoven, or even Tom Sawyer.

The point is, when everything can be considered art, then nothing is art.

Just paint it!

American Art Comes Of Age

2009-09-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Old Oak by George Inness

How much the American art world owes to George Inness can never be computed. At a time when men were painting anemic, emasculated transcripts of nature, he had the courage to break away from traditions, set out on a path he blazed for himself, and to stand on his own theories evolved after serious thought, analysis, and experimentation. Discovered in his studio after his death were literally thousands of unfinished works, sketches, and studies. His life was given to his art as truly as anyone could have.

With him painting was the single motivating force in his life. His mind was occupied night and day with new schemes, fresh theories, and endless plans, with only one thought - picture making.

Inness was born in Newburg, New York in 1825, the son of a grocer. In his youth he apprenticed to an engraver but found the work too taxing. His father wanted young George to work in the grocery but by then the young man had discovered drawing and painting. He took a month of painting lessons from a local artist after which he went his own way, hampered by ill-health, poverty, and uncongenial surroundings, for American art at the time was not very inspiring.

After traveling to Europe at the age of 25, he saw the possibilities of his profession and returned home where he began to paint in a manner that immediately marked him as an innovator. Public acclaim escaped him, but his independence, his supreme belief in himself, and his passionate love of good art carried the day. Caring nothing about public opinion, he continued to paint his beloved New England until his death and infused his works with his love of nature and deep spirituality. His paintings became dramatic, poetic works of great art.

During his lifetime he made several trips to Europe and died in Scotland in 1894. He was watching a sunset and was heard to exclaim, "My God, that is beautiful!" then slumped over, dead of a stroke.

Just paint it!

The Man No One Remembers

2009-09-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Madonna and Child with St. Anne by Masaccio

His name is all but forgotten in the history of art. His paintings are not studied in art schools. His contributions to our present world are but an ancient memory. But it was Masaccio, the youngest of all painters who, by breathing life into the art of his day, worked the miracle of awakening in painting an urgency it never had before.

Masaccio (1401-1428) was attracted to things of art from a very young age. Beginning in childhood, living in Tuscany, he was able to refine his innate artistic and pictorial sensibility.

But it was Florence that influenced and shaped Masaccio's artistic personality. In fact, thanks to the work of Brunelleschi and Donatello, in the early years of the 15th century, there was already an artistic and cultural revolution in progress in Florence where Masaccio moved at the age of 16. This changed much of the way architectural and sculptural arts were realized. Masaccio chose these two important artists as his reference points because of the artisitic affinity he shared with them. These two great artists were later to become his great friends and admirers.

It was in Florence that Masaccio's extraordinary personality exploded into his most important works, especially the frescoes of the Cappella Brancacci. These works are now considered to be the true beginning of Renaissance painting. In these paintings Masaccio concentrated the basis of his naturalistic revolution: space seen through the laws of perspective, light and shade to bring bodies into relief, and deep emotional sensitivity.

Masaccio knew nothing of business and was a lonely, unhappy man, always in debt. He suddenly left Florence and died of grief, in Rome. Legend has it that he was poisoned by a jealous, rival painter.

Just paint it!

Raphael

2009-08-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

Portrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael

For centuries Raphael (1483-1520) has been recognized as the supreme High Renaissance painter, more versatile than Michelangelo and more prolific than their older contemporary Leonardo. Though he died at 37, Raphael's example as a paragon of classicism dominated the academic tradition of European painting until the mid-19th century.
Raphael (Raffaello Santi) was born in Urbino where his father was court painter. He almost certainly began his training there. Noting his early talent his father placed him in workshops of several court painters. From 1500, when he became an independent master, to 1508, he worked throughout central Italy, particularly Florence, where he became a noted portraitist and painter of Madonnas.

In 1508, at the age of 25, he was called to the court of Pope Julius II to help with the redecoration of the papal apartments. In Rome he evolved as a portraitist, and became one of the greatest of all history painters.

He remained in Rome for the rest of his life and in 1514, he was appointed architect in charge of St Peter's. Although Raphael never married he had a long-lasting affair with the daughter of a baker; her name was Francesco Luti. His premature death on Good Friday was caused by a night of excessive sex with Luti, after which he fell into a fever and, not telling his doctors that this was its cause, was given the wrong cure, which killed him. During the weeks of his fever he was able to dictate a will in which he provided for his mistress.

Just paint it!

Titian, (Not Andre) the Giant

2009-08-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Madonna in Glory With The Christ Child by Titian

Tiziano Vecellio, known as, Titian, was the first Venetian artist to achieve fame in his own lifetime (c. 1487-1576) and to be employed by patrons outside Venice. Partly because he lived to the grand age of 90, he was able to produce a great body of work which ranged from dramatic mythological works to intensely human portraits. Few other artists had such an impact on their contemporaries and on the development of Western art in general. The impact, on artists of all generations, over the 500 years since his death, has been profound. He has been called, "The Sun Amidst Small Stars," the most perfect artist who ever lived.

Titian joined his teacher and mentor, Giorgione, as an assistant, but many Venetian patrons found his work more impressive. Titian came to be recognized as the leader of a new school of "arte moderna," which were paintings freed from the constraints of the conventions of earlier Renaissance painters.

What was Titian's astonishing secret? Why was he able to produce paintings that were light-years ahead of his contemporaries?

First and foremost, Titian had a wealthy clientele and so was able to afford the very finest pigments. Because Venice was the center of the European pigment trade it was possible to procure the finest grades of ultramarine (from lapis lazuli in Afghanistan), the best quality of azurite from Germany, and the much sought-after mineral pigments, including the yellow and orange arsenic-based colors. The extensive dye industries in Venice produced and imported superbly expressive pigments which were central to Titian's technique. The use of yellows and whites, for example, enabled Titian to produce breathtaking effects.

Another glimpse into the artist's method of working was that after finishing the underpainting of a scene, he would put the painting away and not look at it for months. Then he would retrieve it and, after much study, begin making corrections.

Titian was around 90 when the plague visited Venice and he succumbed to its ravishes. He was the only victim of the Venice plague to be given a church burial. Immediately after his death, his son and assistant, Orazio, died in the same epidemic. His large and elegant mansion was plundered by thieves shortly after his death.

Look here for a gallery of Titian's work. You will be mesmerized by their beauty.

Just paint it!

The Venetian Technique

2009-08-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Supper At Emmaus by Titian, 1535

The Venetian painting technique of artists like Titian and Giorgione during the Italian Renaissance was derived from the painting technique of Northern Renaissance artists, specifically the Dutch Masters. Italy during that time had two main centers of artistic creativity, Florence and Venice, and they competed with each other for having the best and brightest artists.

Italian artist Giovanni Bellini learned of the new technique developed in Flanders from Antonello da Messina who had traveled there. Bellini taught the Flemish style to his students, Giorgione and Titian, two of the greatest Venetian painters of the Renaissance. (More on Titian later).

The Italian painters developed their own style and technique out of necessity as the church desired large paintings of religious scenes to decorate their cathedrals, and wealthy dukes wished to adorn their palaces with large paintings of mythological themes and other subjects. The difficulties of constructing and transporting huge wooden panels influenced artists to seek an alternative. Canvas was soon adopted as the most convenient support for large paintings, as it could be rolled up and delivered, then reattached to the stretcher frame, and hung.

The primer used by the Dutch was not suitable for the more flexible canvas support, so after years of experimentation a new primer was settled upon - white lead ground in linseed oil. The linseed oil would rot the hemp canvas so it first had to be rendered nonabsorbent by a glue layer.

Titian began painting with soft edges which was in contrast to the Flemish style with their harder edges as it gave his paintings a more lifelike appearance. .This technique involved the use of an opaque underpainting, with the edges left soft and nebulous to allow for later adjustments where necessary. Once the forms were established to the artist's satisfaction, he would allow the underpainting to dry. The underpainting could then be painted over in color, beginning with the transparent glazes for the shadow areas, as in the Flemish Technique, and developed further with opaque passages representing the areas of light.

The Venetian Technique allows the widest range of possibilities of any oil painting method yet developed. Its systematic use of opaque passages, glazes, scumbles and semiglazes stretches the capabilities of oil paint to the absolute limits, and allows the artist the greatest latitude for adjusting the picture at any stage. How sad it is no longer taught in our university art schools.

Just paint it!

The Flemish Technique

2009-08-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

Oil painting as we know it today (that is, pigment suspended in an oil medium and brushed onto a surface) originated with the Dutch Masters in the 15th century. The Van Eyck brothers, Jan and Hubert, were disenchanted with the tempura technique (pigment suspended in egg yolk) because of its slow drying time and the difficulty in creating an illusion of depth. They began experimenting with various oils and resins and discovered that linseed oil had all the properties they were looking for - quicker drying time (paintings could dry in the shade), color could be applied either with thin transparent glazes or opaquely, which yielded a greater illusion of depth. To the oil was added a small amount of resin.

Other painters took up their technique and soon many were painting in the new "style," the Flemish Technique. Basically, it consisted of a wooden panel painted white onto which a detailed line drawing of the scene was drawn or traced. This drawing was sealed with varnish and the pigment applied over it. A brownish transparent underpainting was accomplished to develop the tonal values (bistre) over which they applied thin veils of transparent color. Many layers of these glazes allowed for glowing shadows, a hallmark of the Dutch Masters. The highlights were added with opaque color at the last.

The innovations of the Flemish painters soon spread over Europe where the Italians modified the technique even further. (More on their technique later).

So when you look at the paintings of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Eyck, and Bosch pay particular attention to the shadows and marvel at the way they were able to make them glow.

Just paint it!

The Razor of William

2009-08-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

William of Ockham

William of Ockham was an English logician and Franciscan friar who, in the 14th century, developed a theory which stated that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference. Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity were his words. Today, this is known as Occam's Razor and is generally understood as, "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one."

Thomas Aquinas made the argument that, "If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several, for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments where one suffices." Excess, it would seem, is the artist's worst enemy. By leaving out the nonessential elements we are left with only that which is necessary to convey a thought or an emotion. The rest of the process is left to take place between our ears, both as the artist and as a viewer of art.

Leonardo da Vinci summed up the artistic process this way: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." The best art seems to be that which reduces reality to its simplest terms, extracting that which makes an emotional statement and discarding the rest.

Just paint it!

Is Representational Art Dead?

2009-07-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

There's Gold In Alder Gulch by Richard Edde

I divide paintings into two broad categories, representational and abstract. Representational art is anything that you know what it is when you look at it, i.e. mountains, rivers, building, etc. Abstract art, well, is anything else.

While I was at my latest art showing I noticed that 90% of the art was of the abstract variety. Very few paintings were of a more realistic nature like landscapes, portraits and the like. One artist had a painting of a cat whose head was square; you could hardly recognize the fact that it was, indeed, a cat.

Now I am not decrying the artist's work. If someone wants to paint a picture of a cat that looks like it came from Three Mile Island that's their right and they can certainly call it art.

My complaint is that it seems that art galleries are ignoring a lot of really good art by excluding serious representational artworks and by placing abstract works exclusively in their shows. I contend that most people, when it comes to buying a painting with their hard-earned cash, want something they can relate to. Something beautiful to hang on their wall at home. Representational art can give the owner an escape, a place to go, however briefly, for respite. I believe that this type of art can give its owner a sense of beauty and peace that abstract art cannot.

So gallery owners out there listen up! Try and find more of a balance in what you show. Give the representational artists in your area a chance to show their work. I'll just bet that your sales will improve if you do.

Just paint it!

For Art Lovers Only

2009-07-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Henry-Marie Beyle

Has this ever happened to you? You are standing in front of a beautiful painting and suddenly you feel faint, maybe dizzy, your heart pounds and you must find a place to sit down. Maybe it has happened while listening to an especially moving piece of music. Well, if it has you are not alone. You are the victim of the Stendahl Syndrome.

The Stendahl Syndrome is a recognized psychosomatic illness first described by French author Henry-Marie Beyle in 1817. His pseudonym was Stendahl. He described his experience while visiting Florence in his book, Naples and Florence: A Journey From Milan To Reggio. Confusion and hallucinations can also occur.

Although there are many descriptions of people becoming dizzy and fainting while taking in Florentine art, especially at the Uffizi Gallery, dating from the early 19th century on, the syndrome was only named in 1979, when it was medically described by Italian psychiatrist, Graziella Magherini, who observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors to Florence.

Psychiatrists label this condition an illness. I guess my point would be that if I can be so deeply moved by a work of art then I would consider myself fortunate and would rather be ill than "normal."

Just paint it!

Giotto, The Gothic Giant

2009-06-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Kiss of Judas by Giotto

Prior to the Renaissance and during the last three centuries of the Middle Ages art was produced chiefly for religious purposes - the Gothic Period. The Gothic masters created images of great spiritual purity and intensity. But there was one man who transformed the art of the period. Giotto di Bondone, known simply as Giotto, created a revolutionary approach to form and his way of depicting realistic space so that his figures are in scale in relation to his buildings and surrounding landscape marked a great leap forward in the story of painting.

Giotto was born in 1267 in a village near Florence, the son of a small landed farmer. At the age of 12 he became a pupil of Cimabue, the last great painter in the Byzantine tradition. He was short and homely, had a great wit and was a practical joker. He married and had six children. Unlike most artists of his time he saved his money and was a rich man at the time of his death in 1337.

In common with other artists of his day, Giotto lacked the technical knowledge of anatomy that later painters learned but he had a grasp of human emotion and what was significant in human life. By concentrating on these essentials he created compelling pictures of people under stress, of people caught up in crisis. His approach to the human experience remains valid today.

Giotto's frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua are his greatest surviving work and decorate the the complete interior of the chapel. One of the most famous, The Kiss of Judas, reveals his startling power to organize the excitement of a scene around a central image. Each actor is alive and functioning. Torches blaze and weapons whirl. But at the heart there is only a tragic stillness as Jesus looks into the mock-friendly eyes of His disciple Judas, and truth confronts falsehood with sorrowful love. What a moving scene!

Giotto's skill and mastery of emotion launches the next generation of aritsts into a whole new atmosphere - the Italian Renaissance.

Just paint it!

The Ecole des Beaux-Arts

2009-06-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Concert by Jan Vermeer, 1665

The Ecole des Beaux-Arts, or School of Fine Arts, resides in Paris. It grew out of the Academie des Beaux-Arts which was formed by Cardinal Mazarin in 1648. Its purpose was to educate the most talented students in drawing, painting, architecture, and sculpture. The curriculum was divided into the "Academy of Painting and Sculpture" and the "Academy of Architecture" and focused on the classical arts from ancient Greek and Roman culture. It was a most rigorous five-year program with students having to prove their skills with basic drawing tasks before advancing to figure drawing and painting.

Students first drew from engravings, also called "drawing from the flat." When they had this mastered they moved on to drawing from plaster casts ("drawing in the round"), then finally progressing to drawing from live models.

The Ecole was steeped in tradition and produced classical painters which we are familiar from the French and Italian Renaissance. It's great attraction was that instruction at the Ecole was free, making it possible for students from all social backgrounds to attend. In 1863, Napoleon granted the Ecole independence from the government and women were finally admitted in 1897.

King Louis XIV selected graduates from the Ecole to decorate the royal apartments at Versailles.

Students usually began their studies between the ages of 15 and 18 years of age. The art student's day began early, around 7 am, where they practiced drawing until around 1 pm. The afternoons were spent in the painting and drawing collections of the L ouvre , making copies from the Old Masters. This was a crucial element in the Ecole program. Copying was intended to familiarize students with the techniques of the past, and to inspire them to emulate the ideas and devices of the great masters. Advanced students began drawing again around 4 pm and worked until dark.

This training, largely forgotten in art schools of the present United States, was able to produce artists the likes of which we may never see again.

Just paint it!

Art Gallery Showing

2009-06-13T04:07:00.000-07:00

Prairie Barn by Richard Edde

I am excited! I have been accepted as a guest artist at the 50 Penn Place Art Gallery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and my artwork will be on display during the months of July/August. I will have several western and landscape oil painting scenes available for viewing. There will be an open house the evening of July 10.

This is a great opportunity for me to show my work. I may even sell a painting or two. This would get them out of the studio collecting dust.

The above painting is one of the ones which will be shown at the gallery.

If you are interested in checking out the 50 Penn Place Art Gallery you can at: 50pennplacegallery.com .

Just paint it!

The Rogue of Italy

2009-06-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio

Why is it that in movies and literature we are drawn to the rogue, the misfit, the renegade? I don’t know why but it is certainly so. It is also true in the lives of artists; men who have taken a different path and wound up living a tragic life. Take, for instance, the life of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known simply as, Caravaggio.

He was born September 29, 1571, in Milan, Italy, the son of middle-class parents. After serving a lackluster four-year apprenticeship in Milan, he fled to Rome after wounding a police officer. Early in his career he developed an intense realism or naturalism for which Caravaggio is now famous. He preferred to paint his subjects as the eye sees them, with all their natural flaws and defects instead of as idealised creations. This allowed a full display of Caravaggio's virtuosic talents. He quickly became the most famous and celebrated artist in Europe and the greatest representative of the Baroque school of painting.

His friends thought him rebellious and dangerous. After a week’s work he would swagger through town picking fights with anyone he met. In 1606, he killed a man in a brawl and fled Rome with a price on his head. He landed in Malta where he was involved in another tragic fight. On he fled to Naples where he was accosted by unknown enemies. During the fight he injured several men. While in Naples he received many commissions for religious paintings and became the official painter for the Knights of Malta. But he battered down the door of a Knight, attacked him, and was expelled from the Order “as a foul and rotten member.”

In spite of his fame, Caravaggio was always one step ahead of the long arms of the law. Between 1600 and 1606 he was brought to trial eleven times, usually for violence. Once, while in Sicily, a famous friend offered to help him secure a pardon from Pope Paul V so he could return to Rome. But after being expelled from the Order of the Knights of Malta his friend withdrew his help.

In 1610, still in hopes of receiving a pardon, Caravaggio boarded a boat and headed north. With him were his last three paintings which he hoped to give the cardinal as thanks for help. But this time there was no hiding place. The knights, known for their relentlessness, pursued him, and Caravaggio, now thirty nine, in an attempt to seek forgiveness and refuge in Rome, tried to get there, but died at Porto Ercole, in Tuscany, apparently of a fever.

Caravaggio achieved one of the most important revolutions in the history of painting. He inherited a world where the classical idealism of Michelangelo was still normative, especially in the depiction of the human body. Caravaggio rejected this idea and painted with an intensity of realism unknown up to then. His impact was so immediate, profound and lasting that it affected all the great painters of the first half of the seventeenth century.

Just paint it!

Beauty and the Brain Redux

2009-05-27T05:23:00.000-07:00

Landscape With A Man Killed By A Snake by Nicolas Poussin

Recent neurobiological discoveries have made it possible to give a scientific account of the brain’s involvement on our feelings when looking at pictures. Neuroscience can provide the link between how pictures look and our emotional responses to them.

We now know from neurobiological studies that when we see a scary face, the visual stimulation travels to the thalamus, which in turn passes this information directly to a region of the brain called the amygdala, the brain's fear center. At the same time, visual information goes via a slower route to the visual cortex, which creates an accurate representation of the stimulus and then feeds it to the amygdala. The first, direct route to the amygdala causes the instantaneous reaction of wanting to flee from the frightening object, while the second, slower route provides a more complete understanding of the danger, and may lead to the conclusion that the object is just a picture and is not a threat.

For example, take a look at the above picture by Nicolas Poussin. Two onlookers, a man and a woman, react to the man's death in the foreground in anguish. Surprisingly, we feel a sense of wanting to move ourselves when we look at the picture. Our own legs seem to want to move as the running man's legs move. We say these feelings are in our bones, though they are really in our brains.

But how can a mere painting inspire these physical reactions? In the late 1980s, Giacomo Rizzolatti and colleagues at the University of Parma in Italy discovered the existence of neurons that fire not only when an action is performed but also when an action is observed being performed by another. These mirror neurons fire chiefly when we observe our peers engaging in goal-directed actions such as reaching for food.

In another study by the Parma group, observing another person being touched activates the cortical network of regions normally involved in the beholder’s own experience of being touched. Functional MRI experiments have shown that when people view others being touched, the same part of the secondary somato-sensory cortex (the so-called SII-PV area) is activated as when they themselves are touched.

It seems that viewing art is a very complex series of events.

Just paint it!

Is It Art Or Is It Trash?

2009-05-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

Estes Park Valley by Richard Edde

You know the art world is really screwed up when some moron artist puts a painting in a gallery of a man looking salaciously at a partially clad child. The curator of the gallery defended her decision by saying it was art. I guess her reasoning was that if something was hung on a wall in the name of art, sold in the name of art, and collected in the name of art, it must be art. If it walks and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. Not so!

That painting was definitely not art, it was trash. Oh, it might be a story for the newspapers or it might even be the artist's opinion, but it is not a piece of art. Art can and sometimes, should, offend, but there must be a level of decency and that painting should offend everyone.

I am sure we would all agree that creativity is an inalienable right but the problem comes with the notion that it must be shared with others and in order to do so it is called art. These people who do so give art and ethical artists a bad name. If someone wants to create something offensive, he or she is free to do so. But when those pieces are placed in a museum or gallery and passed off as art, those of us who enjoy true art must protest loudly.

The argument is that what is offensive to one person may not be to another and it is this gray area that some artists stand behind as their defense. But here is the thing - most of us would find the painting of a man looking at a nude child as offensive, it crosses the line. Should we demand that such trash be removed from our galleries and museums?

In a word, yes.

Just paint it.

Howard Terpning

2009-05-17T04:51:00.000-07:00

Grandfather Prays To Sun by Howard Terpning

So many times I have looked at the art of Howard Terpning and wished, no prayed, that I could paint like him. I cannot believe that anyone can do with oils what he does. Take a few minutes out of your busy day and enjoy the genius of this man.

Howard Terpning was born November 5, 1927, in Oak Park, Illinois, birthplace of Ernest Hemingway. As a boy he was torn between two ambitions; to become an artist or a pilot. His brother, Jack, fulfilled the later ambition, becoming a B-24 pilot during World War II. Unfortunately, he was lost in New Guinea. The aircraft and crew were recovered in 1974.

In 1945, Terpning joined the Marine Corps and served as an infantryman in China. Afterward, he found educational institutions heavily enrolled with returned war veterans. Through the help of a friend of his father he entered the Chicago Academy of Fine Art. Later, he attended the American Academy of Fine Art.

He tried to find work in New York City but was disappointed and returned to Chicago. Haddon Sundblom who was considered the dean of American illustrators took Terpning on as an apprentice for $35 a week.

After five years he moved to Milwaukee where for three years he painted subjects like farmers on tractors. Deciding it was time to try New York again, he struck out on his own, painting seven days a week, often thirteen hours a day. He averaged eight illustrations a month, a pace that today makes him wonder how he managed.

In all, he worked prolifically as a commercial artist for twenty-five years, seventeen of them in New York. Besides advertising art, he illustrated stories and articles for such publications as McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, and Time. He painted more than eighty move posters, starting with The Guns of Navarone. They include Doctor Zhivago and a reissue of Gone With The Wind and The Sound of Music.

He became restless, however. Though financially rewarding, the commercial work was no longer satisfying to him as an artist. He began painting portraits for his own pleasure. Among the first was Sioux Chief Gall, done for his daughter, Susan.

In the summer of 1974, at age 47, he took a couple of months off from his commercial work and finished three paintings, all on speculation and hope. The feeling of freedom, of painting what he wanted instead of commissioned pieces, made that summer one of the most satisfying of his life as an artist. He sent the canvases to Troy's Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, which sold them in January 1975. That was a turning point in Howard's life. Gradually he reduced his commercial accounts until abandoning his career entirely. In 1976, he moved to Tucson to become a western painter. In just a few years he won the respect and admiration of his peers and a vast following for his works. Today he is considered the premier chronicler of Native American peoples and is one of the giants in his field.

Just paint it!

Through A Glass Darkly

2009-05-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Untitled by Martin Rameriz

Martin Rameriz (1895-1963) created nearly 300 drawings of remarkable visual clarity and expressive power. In 2007, The New York Times called the Mexican artist "simply one of the greatest artists of the 20th century." What is so remarkable about his achievement is that all of his work was created inside a mental institution, the DeWitt State Hospital in northern California.

Scientists have studied the link between creativity and mental illness and the lines between the two are sometimes not very clear. One study suggests that creative people often share more personality traits with the mentally ill than "normal" people in less creative pursuits. Connie Strong and her co-author, Dr. Terence Ketter, measured creativity and personality traits in 48 patients with bipolar disorder and 47 healthy people without a creative path in life. They found that both creative students and those with bipolar disorders shared several personality traits. Such individuals were more open, more neurotic, and more moody than the other study participants. Their results were published in The Journal of Affective Disorders.

In a 1987 study, Nancy C. Andreasen examined 30 writers and found that 80% had experienced at least one episode of major depression, hypomania, or mania. Andreasen also examined 30 controls and found that 0% had experienced some form of mental disorder.

It appears that the most common mental disorder among creative thinkers is bipolar disorder, although schizophrenia, as in the case of Martin Rameriz, is not all that uncommon. (Remember Russell Crowe's portrayal of John Nash in the movie, A Beautiful Mind?).

Now the big question. Is the artistic brain wired differently than "non-artistic" ones, which then leads to mental illness or does a person suffering from a mental disorder seek a form of healing through their art? Certainly there are artists who are not mentally ill and there are mentally ill persons who are not artists. At present the answers are not clear at all.

Just paint it!

The Healing Power of Art

2009-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Snake River Valley by Richard Edde

More than a century ago, several European writers described the spontaneous art done by patients in mental hospitals. This irrepressible urge to make art out of any available materials confirms the compelling power of artistic expression to reveal inner experience. It was because art making provided a means of expression for those who were often uncommunicative that art therapy came to be developed as part of the healing professions.

Although conventional psychotherapy has its benefits in selected cases, there are many alternative therapies, such as music therapy, hypnosis, color therapy, and aroma therapy that have had a measure of success in treating various mental disorders. Art therapy is a form of expression that strives to aid patients who have suffered mental trauma and emotional abuse.

Art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process is healing and life affirming. For many people mental disease can be difficult to express in words. Art therapy provides a creative outlet for emotions too painful to express verbally.

Consider the following. Somewhere on a pediatric cancer ward a young child draws a picture of his brain. With a large crayon he draws a large circle where an inoperable tumor is located.

In a large empty house a recently widowed woman builds a shadowbox with pictures and keepsakes from her marriage, helping her to cope with her husband's death.

Dysfunctional family members communicate with each other silently by sharing pieces of modeling clay. Working together for the first time, they create a house that symbolizes an effort to improve their relationships.

In each of these cases, art therapy facilitated healing and growth.

If you would like more information about art therapy and the healing power of art visit The American Art Therapy Association.

Just paint it!

Beauty and the Brain

2009-04-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Shining Mountains by Richard Edde

With painting, sculpture, poetry, and music, we humans express the most elevated concepts, passions, madness, pleasure, torments, and intimate thoughts of our souls. Neuroscientists have advanced our knowledge of the physiology of the brain thanks to the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques which allow visualization of brain activity while we carry out an action, think, or experience an emotion. Neuroaesthetic researchers are now beginning to unlock the secrets of how we appreciate beauty.

Standing before a work of art, each person has a different emotional experience due to genetic and cultural factors. The origin of these perceptions, however, are common to all of us. Many areas of the brain are activated in analogous ways in all human beings when they are before the same object. This common basis puts us on the same interpretive plane.

Semir Zeki of the University College London took ten participants and showed them 300 paintings and asked them to classify each as being either beautiful, ugly, or neutral. "Beautiful" paintings elicited increased activity in the orbito-frontal cortex, which is involved in emotion and reward. Interestingly, the "uglier" a painting, the greater the motor cortex activity, as if the brain was preparing to escape. In another study, there seem to be certain qualities that are found independent of genetics or culture. These are grids, zigzags, spirals, and curves. Such findings may suggest that, at least on one level, beauty might be universal.

The limbic system of our brains corresponds to the brains of our primitive mammalian ancestors. It is an area that allows us to distinguish between agreeable and non-agreeable, helping to formulate our emotions. Its activation or stimulation can be measured by the galvanic skin response. Pleasing pictures give a higher response than non-pleasing ones.

Our emotional responses are mediated by certain neurotransmitters such as dopamine, and serotonin which are released by these different parts of the brain. Hence, we feel joy, sadness, etc. when viewing, hearing, or reading a work of art.

This is a greatly simplified version of what is taking place in our heads and much research is needed in this new field of neuroaesthetics.

Just paint it!

Learning to Paint

2009-04-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Garden Gate by Richard Edde

I like to call myself an artist, but I don't really know what that means. My passion is oil painting, landscapes mostly. I am largely self-taught although through the years I have had three teachers all of whom imparted certain gifts.

Early on I realized you can't learn to paint from reading books. Oh, you can learn the Rule of Thirds, linear and atmospheric perspective, that sort of thing. But just as one can't learn to play tennis by reading about it, you can't learn how to paint unless you actually paint.

In the beginning I read every book on painting the library had which was literally hundreds. I would go back home and try to emulate what I had just read but it almost always failed. Until I found my first art instructor, Harlow. He would say, "here is how you make a cloud, see?" and I would then imitate his brushstrokes. After Harlow found a job as an illustrator I discovered Martha, who was a graduate student in Art History and was willing to give my private lessons. She showed me how to make water look like water, rocks look like rocks, etc . She unlocked the secrets behind making a painting resemble nature which was what I wanted. I am forever in her debt.

As the years went by I adapted what I had learned from them and began to paint in my own style. I would never have made the progress I did, however, without them saying, "here is how you do this; let me show you."

I am sure they have no idea the profound impression they had on my artistic development. We have all moved on with our lives and no longer communicate with each other.

I do know I will never forget them.

Just paint it!.

The Italian Invention

2009-04-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

Madonna dell Granduca by Raphael

I know you must be asking what happened to art during the Renaissance? Spanning the 14th to the 17th centuries the cultural movement which began in Florence flamed a rebirth of classical ideas which had long been lost to Europe. The icons of the Italian Renaissance were Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Their works portrayed the zenith of artistry that was to be emulated by others for hundreds of years.

What were these contributions to art made by these men and their brethren?

The introduction of linear perspective. Using light and shadow, foreshortening, the artists were able to create three dimensional paintings.
The introduction of humanism into their works. By returning to the classics, they began to pay more attention to the human form and human behavior with little emphasis on religion. They added depth and emotion unlike paintings before them.
The use of symmetry. The artists began to portray correct proportion of body parts making their figures the same on both sides.
The application of contrapposto. Modeling the human form in non-symmetrical, relaxed stances that appeared realistic.
Sfumato. The technique of effecting a gradual transition from one color to another (blending) allowing for no hard edges.
Importing the technique of oil on canvas from the Netherlands with their natural representation. Jan van Eyck (1390-1441) used mineral pigments mixed with linseed oil and applied them to canvas, a technique still used today.

What is interesting is that we artists today are employing the contributions made by a handful of visionaries centuries ago.

Just paint it!

An Experiment Gone Wrong!

2009-04-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Entombment of Christ by Peiter van der Werff

The above painting by Peiter van der Werff done in 1709, is the oldest known painting using the color, Prussian Blue. It is interesting that such a beautiful color was the result of an experiment gone awry. In fact, its maker, a fellow named Jacob Diesbach, was actually trying to make a red color, cochineal red lake, in his Berlin laboratory in 1706. A deep crimson can be obtained from female, cochineal, or scaly, insects. Diesbach needed iron sulfate and potash to complete making the pigment. In order to save money, he purchased some cheap, contaminated potash from an alchemist friend, potash contaminated with animal oil. When he mixed the contaminated potash with the iron sulfate and insect color, instead of a dark red, he got first a purple, then a dark blue pigment. It was the first synthetic blue pigment - Prussian Blue.

Blues were the colors most perplexing to artists up until Diesbach's experiment gone bad. Artists did not have a stable, plentiful blue to work with that was inexpensive. Ultramarine, which came from lapis lazuli and found in what is now Afghanistan was more expensive than gold. Indigo had a tendency to turn black with age and azurite turned green when used in frescoes.

So what happened chemically in Diesbach's experiment? The alkali, potash, reacted with the animal oil and formed potassium ferrocyanide. Mixing this with the iron sulfate, iron ferrocyanide was formed - Prussian Blue.

By 1750, because it was cheap to make, the pigment was widely used throughout Europe. In 1878, Winsor & Newton sold its own version of Prussian Blue. Notable artists who used the color were Gainsborough, Monet, Van Gogh, and Picasso. In the 19th century, the color was the base for dyes used in the making of German uniforms as well as inks. Pharmaceutical grade Prussian Blue has medicinal uses, being given to patients who have ingested thallium or radioactive cesium. And it is used by pathologists as a stain for iron in biopsy specimens.

All from an experiment gone wrong.

Just paint it!

What Matters Art?

2009-04-10T05:53:00.000-07:00

Aspen by Richard Edde

In today's hectic world filled with the anxieties and frustrations of earning a living, raising children, worrying about our 401k's, where the terrorists will strike again, does art play a meaningful role? What purpose does art serve when we are confronted with the very terrifying and confusing world in which we live? When our malls and sports arenas are filled with more people than our museums and concert halls has the appreciation of art become an unnecessary part of our lives?

Do we really need art today? I think we do.

I believe art matters because it is universal, non-material, transcendent. Art matters because it deals with daily experience in a transforming way; art questions the way we view the world and offers a unique perspective apart from the status quo explanations we hear at work or on the news. Art matters because looking at a beautiful painting or sculpture gives us an experience that nothing else can. Not only can it make us feel good, it can provoke, excite, soothe, and inspire.

This is not an escapist experience, but restorative. Art gives our eyes and mind a chance to rest, to think, to muse. Looking at art we reconnect with our inner spirit, a spirit that is rich in feelings, thoughts, and dreams. Beauty, in whatever form it takes, soothes the soul.

If you doubt this is true, go visit your nearest museum, immerse yourself in beauty, and feel your soul restored.

Just paint it!

The Yellow Fog of Van Gogh

2009-04-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gachet by Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh"s unfortunate life and tragic suicide are well known. What remains shrouded in mystery are the reasons behind his maniacal personality that led ultimately to his death. There has been much speculation over the years as to Van Gogh's medical history but no conclusive information uncovered. Of course, we will probably never definitively know what troubled the artist but Dr. Thomas Courtney Lee, a surgeon at Georgetown University College of Medicine, offers a scientific theory that merits consideration. Using elements of pathography, a scientific blending of fact and conjecture, he concluded that Van Gogh suffered in his later years from the effects of digitalis intoxication.

Digitalis, a drug these days used to treat heart failure, was originally derived from the foxglove plant, digitalis purpurea. In the 19th century it was considered something of a panacea, given not only for the heart but for dropsy as well as a treatment for epilepsy. Van Gogh's medical history includes, according to most authorities, epileptic crises as well as depression, self-mutilation, and suicide. Large doses of digitalis can cause vomiting, giddiness, and visual disturbances. Van Gogh's later paintings show an obsession with the color yellow; even his house in Auyers was painted yellow. Abnormalities in color perception, in particular yellow halos, have been associated with the use of digitalis.

A further clue may be found in the artist's portraits of his last physician, Dr. Paul Ferdinand Gachet. In one of the paintings, the doctor is holding a flower in his hand, in another, the flower is in a glass. Van Gogh mentions these were the foxglove flower of purple color, the purple digitalis plant.

A Czech pharmacologist, Jan Evangelista Purkinje, experimented on himself using the digitalis plant and found that in his vision, "there was a rounded spot of dim lights which disappeared and again reappeared intermittently, and around were noticeable several such concentric light and dark waves in similar motion." .

It is entirely possible that Dr. Gachet treated Van Gogh with digitalis in his later life and as a consequence, the artist was under its influence and immersed in its yellow fog. Viewing his Starry Night one is reminded of Purkinje's description. How unfortunate that the artist's untimely end might have been the result of a drug overdose.

Just paint it!

The Tragic Artist

2009-04-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Jeanne Hebuterne with Hat by Amedeo Modigliani

Amedeo Modigliani was a Jewish artist born in Italy on July 12, 1884. He moved to France in 1906 where he spent the rest of his artistic career and died in Paris on January 24, 1920, at the age of 35. Shortly before his birth, his father's money-changing business went bankrupt and the family became destitute. Modigliani's birth saved the family from certain ruin, because, as according to an ancient Italian law, creditors could not seize the bed of a pregnant woman or a mother with a newborn child. When officials entered the family home as his mother went into labor, the family protected their most valuable possessions by piling them on top of the expectant mother.

After being home-schooled until the age of ten, Amedeo spent his teenage years suffering from recurrent bouts of pleurisy along with typhoid fever and tuberculosis. His mother would nurse young Amedeo back to health as there were no resources for medical care.

Modigliani began drawing and painting at an early age and worked in Guglielmo Micheli's Art School from 1898 to 1900. Here his earliest formal artistic instruction took place in an atmosphere deeply steeped in a study of the styles and themes of 19th century Italian art. While with Micheli, Modigliani not only studied landscape, but portraiture, still-life, and the nude. His fellow students recall that the latter was where he displayed his greatest talent, and apparently this was not an entirely academic pursuit for the teenager; when not painting nudes, was occupied with seducing the household maid.

Suffering from the effects of tuberculosis he moved to Venice in 1902 and began smoking hashish and frequenting disreputable parts of the city where he sketched nudes and drank wine to excess. In 1906, bored with Venice, he moved back to Paris and took up a bohemian lifestyle, drinking absinthe until he was drunk and using drugs. His studio became a disheveled mess and he destroyed most of his art. While drunk, he would sometimes strip himself naked at social gatherings. He became the epitome of the tragic artist, creating a posthumous legend almost as well-known as van Gogh. He continued to paint even while his alcoholic blackouts became more frequent. He married and fathered a daughter.

In 1920, after not hearing from him for several days, his downstairs neighbor checked on the family and found Modigliani in bed, delirious and holding onto his wife, Jeanne Hebuterne, who was nearly nine months pregnant. The neighbor summoned a doctor, but little could be done because Modigliani was dying of tubercular meningitis. He died on January 24, 1920. His wife was taken to her parent's home, where, inconsolable, she threw herself out of a fifth-floor window two days after Amedeo's death, killing herself and her unborn child.

Modigliani died penniless and destitute and managed only one solo exhibition in his entire life. He gave away most of his work in exchange for meals and lodging.

Just paint it!

The Miracle of Painting

2009-03-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Dawn by Richard Edde

We tend to think of art as that thing that moves us, that it is the painting, music, or writing that becomes the object of our affection. Our culture has prizes for the best art, the best music, the best written word. The painting, in my case, becomes the end all of my work. From the Renaissance to now we became self-defining individuals and view the world as a set of neutral objects to be studied, copied, manipulated, or redefined in an artistic way. We became creative subjects separate from the objects we paint and merely observe or comment on the world in which we live.

However, I think creating art goes deeper than that. Something happens to the person who paints a picture. And it happens while he or she is in the act of painting.

So, what happens when the brush touches the canvas?

My answer is -- a miracle.

In the process of painting I realize and become who I am because through this expression I clarify and make distinct who I am and am becoming. In touching paint to canvas I become a human being. I have created not only a painting, but myself. This is the miracle. I rarely wonder if my work is important or will have lasting value or if I should be better occupied. Instead, the painting draws me into the thing that captivates me and time ceases to exist. A heady moment, indeed.

For if art's only value was to infect us with the creator's passion it would be a very sad situation. Art's true nature is that of transubstantiation, something that transcends ordinary feelings and goes beyond the normal, conventional means of expression. In doing so the artist has enhanced his existence, he has seen, he has become. I know that fragile human effort, almost painfully awkward, can come together into something worthy of divinity.

Just paint it!

A Beautiful Brain

2009-03-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

Flower market at the Madeleine by Edouard Cortes

Each time I look at the street paintings by Edouard Cortes, I am in awe of the mood he was able to create on canvas. In the above painting, an idea formed in his mind, was molded through hands and paint, and became a beautiful work of art. What is the process, this mechanism by which the brain can construct from an intangible idea a work that is so exquisite we marvel at the genius who created it? What happens in the brain during the creation of such a piece? For years these unfathomable questions have frustrated researchers. Until recently. Scientists have now begun to unravel the secrets of the creative mind.

Charles Limb and Allen Braun studied the activity in the brains of professional jazz pianists while they were improvising music. What they found was astonishing. While these pianists were creating music there was extensive deactivation in the frontal cortex as well as in those areas thought to control emotions. These areas are thought to be important for the conscious monitoring, evaluation, and correction of behavior. They could be involved in assessing whether behaviors conform to social demands and place inhibitory control over inappropriate performance.

What this may mean in simple terms is that artistic creativity is doomed to failure if it is tailored to conform to social demands rather than to the uninhibited feelings of the artist. Self-censorship is not part of the creative process.

A major function of art can be seen as an extension of the function of the brain, namely, to seek knowledge about the world. The brain filters out surrounding distractions of the visual input as it is categorizing an object. Art, as well, attempts to distill on canvas, essential qualities. This acquisition of knowledge through the distillation of essential characteristics is the primordial function of the visual brain. It happens to be the primordial function of all art.

Abstraction is also a critical part of the acquisition of knowledge. This is a process by which the visual brain subordinates the particular to the general so that the information can be applicable to many situations. This may be why we cannot recall the details of an event a long time after the fact. Art also abstracts and externalizes the inner workings of the brain. The works of Edouard Cortes demonstrates this fact in so many beautiful ways.

Clear as mud, right?

Science is just beginning to unravel the mystery of artistic creativity. An almost prophetic Picasso once said, "It would be very interesting to preserve photographically . . . the metamorphosis of a picture. Possibly one might then discover the path followed by the brain in materializing a dream." His statement is close to reality.

More on how we can unleash our creative essence on a future blog.

Just paint it!

Diligent Mediocrity

2009-03-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. – Margaret Young

How many gifted people do you know, true creative geniuses? Einstein, Michelangelo, Jimi Henrix? There are more, to be sure, but out of all the people who have lived the number is amazingly small. Which leads to the observation that most successful artists, not being geniuses, are able to do what they do because of one thing, and it is not talent - simple hard work. An enormous amount of hard work over many years; work that is demanding and painful. It is a fact most of us do not want to hear.

Researchers have shown that it takes about 10 years of hard work before some people arrive at a certain level of competence or even greatness. And not just any type of hard work. Experts call it deliberate practice. This deliberate practice model is found in all endeavors including music, art, athletic performance, medicine, even business. Paul Cezanne is a perfect example of an artist with a great deal of perseverance. He went every day to the foot of Mont Sainte-Victoire in France to paint it. Every day! In addition, it is not just any hard work. Hitting a bucket of golf balls at the driving range is not deliberate practice. Hitting 500 balls to within 20 feet of the pin most of the time and doing it every day is what the experts want. In a study of young violinists by Ericsson, the best group averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives, the next best averaged 7,500. Consistency is crucial as Ericsson points out. "Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends."

It seems there really is no such thing as a free lunch or free ride.

So is there such a thing as talent? Possibly, but for most of us the answer is, practice, practice, practice! And remember what Gustav Flaubert said, "Talent is long patience."

Next week I will discuss how the brain processes artistic creativity.

Just paint it!

The Mystery of Color

2009-03-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Autumn in Bavaria, Wassily Kandinsky

You’ve heard it often enough – we all see color differently, right? Well sort of. A more accurate view would be to say that we all perceive color differently. The actual science of seeing is relatively constant, however complex.

When light enters the eye, the lens focuses it onto the retina. There, it is absorbed by pigments in light-sensitive cells, called rods and cones. We humans have three different types of cones (about 6 million) which are sensitive to short, medium, and long wavelengths. The 125 million rods are sensitive only in dim light and are monochromatic – black and white.

Lying in front of the cones in the retina are three different types of cells, one being the bipolar cells which transmit information to the retinal ganglion cells of which there are about 1 million in each eye. The purpose of the ganglion cells is to compare signals from many different cones adding and subtracting signals from these different cones. For example, by comparing the response of the middle-wavelength and long-wavelength cones, a ganglion cell determines the amount of green-or-red. A signal is then sent to the brain which incorporates three different attributes of color – the amount of green or red; the amount of blue or yellow; and the brightness.

All of this physiology just so we can appreciate an artist like Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian painter born in 1866. His devotion to abstract work he called inner necessity, a passion for color symbolism. In his latter writings Kandinsky compared the spiritual life of humanity to a large triangle similar to a pyramid; the artist has the task and the mission of leading others to the top by the exercise of his talent.

The Kandinsky Prize, named after Kandinsky is a newly-created award, sponsored by the Deutsche Bank, AG and the Art Chronika Culture Foundation. It was organized in hopes of developing Russian contemporary art and to reinforce Russian art’s status within the world. In total, $72,000 is awarded to the artist.

Just paint it!

Frederic Remington 1861-1909

2009-03-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

The above painting, The Stampede by Frederic Remington, was my first introduction to his work. I liked this painting so much that a print of it hung in my office for many years.

Remington was born October 4, 1861, in Canton, New York, the son of a hardware store owner and colonel during the Civil War. Frederic was a naer-do-well of sorts not wanting to have a military career as his father wished. From an early age he enjoyed drawing and hoped for a journalism career with art as a sideline.

He attended the art school at Yale University but was bored with painting only still lifes, preferring action scenes instead. After the death of his father and a rejection of his love interest, Frederic worked for his uncle's newspaper until, at age nineteen, ventured West. He wanted to buy a cattle ranch and a mine but realized he did not have enough money for either so he spent his time camping, hunting, and enjoying himself. He began to sketch in earnest and bartered his sketches for the essentials. With financial backing from his uncle, he was able to persue his art career and support a wife.

Through the 1890’s, Remington took frequent trips around the U.S., Mexico, and abroad to gather ideas for articles and illustrations, but his military and cowboy subjects always sold the best, even as the Old West was playing out. Gradually, he transitioned from the premiere chronicler-artist of the Old West to its most important historian-artist

Success inspired a grand life-style and Frederic became well-known throughout the country. His paintings and sculptures depicted the people and animals of the West with landscapes of secondary importance. His weight ballooned to over three hundred pounds. He invented "cowboy" sculpture with his inaugural peice, The Bronco Buster, (1895) and it has become a favorite art form well into the present day.

Sadly, Frederic Remington died of complications of peritonitis following an appendectomy on December 26, 1909. His weight contributed to the effects of the anesthesia which directly led to his death. He was only forty-eight. His depictions of the Old American West can be seen in museums across the country.

Just paint it!

A Glimpse Of The Sublime

2009-03-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

The above painting, "Solitary Camp," is one I did and felt inspired while doing it and was pleased with the way it turned out. It is not always the case.

There are times when I paint and paint and nothing seems to work. What I envision is not what my hands can translate onto the canvas. Try as I will I cannot summon the muse and the painting turns out simply ordinary.

But then, quite by accident it seems, something extraordinary happens and it all falls into place. I am inspired by what I am putting on canvas and am totally in the moment, almost giddy. It is these times that persuade me to keep returning to the easel; I simply must paint, nothing else will suffice. I have forgotten the times I wanted to quit for good or thought the muse had abandoned me forever.

And if luck is with me, I can remember something of the moment and utilize what I learned on future works. Call it learning or muscle memory but it serves to inspire me to continue pursuing this passion, this obsession. The muse has not abandoned me after all!

Just paint it!

The Hudson River School

2009-03-19T09:55:00.001-07:00

My earliest and fondest memories of landscape art were works by the Hudson River painters. Beginning with the works of Thomas Cole (1801-1848) and Asher B. Durand (1796-1886) they formed the first coherent school of American art. Sharing the philosophy of the American Transcendentalists, the Hudson River painters created visual embodiments of the ideals about which Emerson, Thoreau, William Cullen Bryant, and Whitman wrote. Their paintings depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, including the Catskill, Adirondack, and the White Mountains. "School", in this sense, refers to a group of people whose outlook, inspiration, output, or style demonstrates a common thread, rather than a learning institution.

Most of the finest works of the Hudson River school were painted between 1855 and 1875. During that time, artists like Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt were treated like major celebrities. When Church exhibited paintings like Niagara or Icebergs of the North, thousands of people would line up around the block and pay fifty cents a head to view the solitary work. The epic size of the landscapes in these paintings reminded Americans of the vast, untamed, but magnificent wilderness areas in their country, and their works helped build upon movements to settle the American West, preserve national parks, and create city parks.

If you have never viewed painting by Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, or Albert Bierstadt you are missing a wonderful experience. Treat yourself.

Just paint it!

My Ramblings As An Art Guerrilla

2009-03-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is the initial posting of my art ramblings. I began painting a little over 25 years ago and it became a voyage of self-discovery. The beauty of nature continues to inspire me and I struggle to convey that awe and sense of beauty in my paintings. My hope is that I paint light, not things, for without light, there would be no drama, no passion, no beauty. To me, art is a search to find poetry in simple things. It becomes the expression of love (or insanity, if you're a pessimist), the hope that there is, indeed, goodness around us.

Over the next weeks and months I will be rambling on about topics that inspire, anger, or even depress me in the world of oil painting. My interest is painting landscapes and I welcome all comments, ravings, or compliments on this blog. If you don't like my opinions, by all means, let me hear from you.

Finally, if you have a painting you have done I would be honored if you post it here.

Just paint it!