Artists You Should Know About If You Don't Already -- RamonaCreel.com

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Artists You Should Know About If You Don't Already

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I know that I've been gone for a while -- my mother passed away on June 6th, and I've been absolutely overwhelmed dealing with everything. I'm just about ready to return to my normal life, and that means that my blogs will be returning too. I look forward to reconnecting with my site visitors -- keep an eye out for me in late September!

I love art -- one of my greatest joys in life is landing in a new town, hitting the museums and gallery walks, and discovering an artist that I had never heard of before. As you can see, I have pretty broad tastes. The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is the kind of work that feels like you're being jerked around by a pseudo-intellectual poser. You know what mean -- the white canvas with a white square in one corner, symbolizing the state of nothingness in which we all exist. Or the pile of torn cardboard and crushed aluminum cans sitting in the middle of an otherwise empty room, meant to represent the impermanence of being. Whatever.

To me, art should be about emotion. I need a visceral reaction to a painting or sculpture -- that feeling in my chest or stomach or head that says, "Oh yeah!" Without that connection, I may be able to appreciate a piece intellectually, but I will never love it. Of course, deciding what touches your soul is an intimate process -- no one can make you enjoy art that just doesn't speak to you. But that's what I love most about art -- there is no right or wrong. Each of these people created something that touched me, and I wanted to share it with you. Just click on the artist's name to see thumbnails of my favorite works.

Arikha, Avigdor

Avigdor Arikha is a man whose life was quite possibly saved by his artistic talents. Arikha was born in Romania, then deported to a concentration camp in 1941 -- he was held captive for 3 years, but continued to create artwork even while imprisoned by the Nazis. Arikha might have been headed for the gas chamber, but his luck changed when his drawings were shown to delegates of the International Red Cross -- both he and his sister were freed and brought to Palestine in 1944. Arikha went on to study at both the Bezalel School Of Art in Jerusalem and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, before permanently settling in France.
Avery, Milton

Milton Avery is one of those "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" blue-collar artists that I love so much. Avery began working at a local factory at the age of 16, and was solely responsible for supporting nine female relatives by the time he was 30. However, he still found time to study art, working nights so he could paint during the day. You've got to love that New England work ethic! Avery found inspiration in his surroundings -- the woods near his home, the seaside at the cape in Provincetown, a close friend. His palette is simple yet distinctive -- no matter what subject, the shapes and colors let you know at once that you're looking at a piece by Milton Avery.
Bacon, Francis

One glance at Francis Bacon's work lets you know that he was the product of a pretty warped environment. Bacon was a sickly child who was given morphine to ease his asthma and allergy attacks -- there's nothing like drug-induced hallucination during your formative years to give you a Surrealist perspective! Frequent moves between Ireland and England filled him with an incurable sense of isolation, and Bacon was often locked screaming for hours in a cupboard by his nanny -- a pastime which encouraged his preference for working in cramped conditions, as well as a tendency to make his subjects appear trapped inside of an invisible box (Cubism taken a bit too literally!)
Becker-Black, Alexandra

Alexandra Becker-Black is an Oregon-based artist who specializes in watercolor portraits. Her work spans the gamut from abstracted to more realistic -- she might choose to show every line and shadow, or blend a person's features into a gentle cloud of intertwining colored smudges. But Alexandra always seems to discover the essence of each person she paints. I love how much emotion her brush is able to capture with just a few simple strokes. And Alexandra really exemplifies the use of "negative space" -- it's as much about the areas she leaves blank the ones she paints. Your eye completes the picture in a highly satisfying way, and you know that you've seen more deeply into her subject than you would have in real life.
Beckmann, Max

Max Beckmann was a German painter, through and through -- favoring strong bold colors, heavy outlines, and socio-political subject matter. His experiences during the war radically altered his perceptions about the world, twisting his representations of people and distorting his spatial relationships. And although he is usually classified as an Expressionist, Beckmann rejected both the term and the movement. But as a devoted student of philosophy and literature, he spent a great deal of time contemplating the "self." Beckmann was considered a true painter-thinker, and searched endlessly for the hidden spiritual dimension in his subjects.
Bell, Vanessa

Wondering who the heck this Vanessa Bell is? If you've seen "The Hours," you might remember her as Virginia Woolf's sister (although in the film, they made her out to be a flighty suburban housewife, when Bell was actually quite a woman of substance.) Along with Woolf, her husband Leonard, author E.M. Forster, economist John Maynard Keynes, historian Lytton Strachey, and a number of other well-respected intellectuals from a variety of disciplines, Vanessa was a member of the "Bloomsbury Group" -- a collective of early 20th-century Londoners whose work had a profound effect on literature, art, and contemporary attitudes towards issues like feminism and sexuality.
Bischoff, Elmer

Elmer Bischoff was a California boy -- born in Berkeley, he attended UCB, taught at Sacramento High, then joined the staff at the California School Of Fine Arts (I picture him painting on a balcony overlooking the sea, taking the occasional break to go surfing or join a protest!) Bischoff was also a founding member of the Bay Area Figurists -- leave it to a bunch of San Francisco hippies to develop their own art movement! These brave souls turned their backs on Abstract Expressionism (thank God) and returned to a more representational style of painting. There is still certainly an element of abstraction to Bischoff's pieces, but at least you can tell what the guy was looking at when he put brush to canvas.
Bluemner, Oscar

German-born Oscar Bluemner, like many other fine artists, started his career working for architects. He moved to Chicago in 1893, where he freelanced as a draftsman at the Columbian Exposition. I'm not sure if I can emphasize what a cool credential this is for Bluemner -- the World's Fair planning team was one of the most amazing assemblages of design talent in American history. If you haven't read "The Devil In The White City," go get a copy right now -- you'll have a much better sense of what it was like to be involved in the creation of the expo grounds and buildings. Quite a feat, and they just barely pulled it off in time for opening day. Well-done, Oscar!
Borenstein, Sam

Sam Borenstein is an artist whose work is hard to find outside of his home country. He was born in Lithuania but emigrated to Canada in 1921, where he settled and down and began his career as a painter, eh? The man has a few portraits and compositions to his name, but Borenstein is best known for his landscapes. From rural country villages in Quebec to urban Montreal cityscapes bustling with human activity, you can just feel the European sensibility coming through in his paintings. Borenstein isn't very well-known internationally and never amassed a huge repertoire, but he excelled in his use of brilliant Fauvist colors and exuberant brushwork -- what I like to call "chunky" art.
Brown, Cecily

Cecily Brown is a Post-Modern British artist who enjoys blending landscapes with figure study. Her work is influenced a great deal by forefathers like DeKooning (lots of chunky colorful brushstrokes) and Gauguin (lushly-colored surroundings and nudity amongst the greenery) -- but her art is uniquely feminine. While Cecily likes to examine issues of attraction and physical contact, she does it in a way that doesn't beat you over the head with graphic and overt sexuality. Her semi-abstract nudes are clearly engaged in some sort of eroticism, but you're not sure exactly what. She gives you just enough information for her paintings to be tantalizing, then leaves the rest to your imagination -- I like that.
Burkhardt, Hans

Born in Switzerland and raised in an orphanage, Hans Burkhardt followed his father (who had emigrated years earlier) to the United States in 1924. He worked days at a furniture factory and took art classes through the Grand Central School at night. He was mentored by Arshile Gorky (rather unusual, considering that Gorky's only other pupil at that time was Willem DeKooning), and the two immediately hit it off -- they shared both a New York studio and a similar artistic temperament from 1928 to 1937. But when Burkhardt moved to Los Angeles after a nasty divorce, he headed in a different direction from his contemporaries, taking an experimental approach that was well ahead of its time.
Carles, Arthur

Arthur Carles was a Philadelphia native who studied at and then taught at the Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts. As both an art teacher and a painter, he was influenced by the French masters -- even though Carles's style is very different, you can still see a hint of Cezanne's landscapes and Matisse's palette coming through in his work. Carles also became close friends with watercolorist John Marin (comparing their paintings side-by-side, you can see why the two got along well.) In 1910, his work was included in the "Younger American Painters" show held at Alfred Stieglitz's New York gallery -- Carles then had his first one-man show in 1912.
Cezanne, Paul

I had always mistakenly labeled Paul Cezanne as an Impressionist -- and while his early pieces fall into this category, I've discovered that the majority of his works were actually considered to be Post-Impressionist (a fairly fine line, if you ask me!) Cezanne was part of the wave of talented painters who helped move the global art community from the 19th century to the 20th, using his vision to bridge the gap between old and new. However, his paintings are also aesthetically pleasing -- representational enough to capture the scene, stylized enough to show you the world through the artist's eyes, bold colors and chunky brushwork, but more substantial than a true Impressionist piece.
Chagall, Marc

Marc Chagall is one of my very favorite artists (as you can tell from the number of thumbnails I've collected!) His figures and composition are unequaled, and his Fauvist use of color will never be matched -- you might go out and buy the same tube of paint, but no one else can give blue as much depth as Chagall did! During the 1950's, Picasso remarked that, "When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is." Chagall created beauty in virtually every artistic medium -- paintings, tapestries, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, mosaics, even Bible illustrations and fine art prints. The world is certainly a more drab place without him in it.
Chavarria, Klara

Klara Chavarria was born and raised in Guatemala City, part of a family of artists. It was her parents' passion for encouraging creativity that led Klara to begin classes in painting when she was just eight years old. After ten years of private instruction, Klara studied Visual Communications and earned her BFA from Kansas State University. She has been living in the United States since 1993 -- after working in Graphic Design for several years, Klara decided to devote herself full time to her artwork. Considering the short time in which she has been painting professionally, she has already amassed quite an impressive portfolio of work.
Dali, Salvador

Salvador Dali is one of those artists whose life was as much his canvas as his paintings. Dali lived and died flamboyantly -- a contradictory mix of bravado and insecurities, topped by a waxed mustache. His older brother (also Salvador) died of gastroenteritis 9 months before our Salvador was born, and Dali's parents convinced him that he was his brother's re-incarnation. His mother encouraged his artistic talents, but she died when Dali was 16, creating a hole in his life that could never be filled. Then when his father threw him out, Dali supposedly handed Dad a condom full of his own sperm saying, "Take that. I owe you nothing anymore." Nice!
Davies, Arthur Bowen

Arthur Bowen Davies served as a billboard painter, engineering draftsman, and magazine illustrator before becoming a serious Avant-Garde painter (this influence shows up over and over again in his figure studies.) Davies is best known for creating ethereal paintings of women -- his expression of the human form is both haunting and evocative. Contemporaries described Davies as the enchanter, the magician, and the alchemist. His works were deeply inspired by ancient myth, and many of his pieces were linked directly to specific stories and legends. Davies even named his farm "The Golden Bough" after Frazer's 1890 tome on comparative mythology.
Degas, Edgar

Although Edgar Degas received a a baccalaureat degree in literature and was expected by his father to attend law school, he had always painted, even from an early age. Degas did enroll in formal art classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, but his favorite way of expanding his palette was to copy works by the old masters -- now when you see an art student parked in a museum with an easel, you know that you may be looking at the next Degas! When he was able to afford it (and sometimes even when he wasn't), Degas also began collecting works by artists he admired -- including contemporaries such as El Greco, Manet, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
DeKooning, Willem

Willem DeKooning studied at the Rotterdam Academy, then began his career as an assistant art director in a department store. In 1926, DeKooning stowed away on a freighter bound for the United States -- he worked as a house painter in New Jersey before landing in Manhattan, where he set up a studio and became fast friends with fellow artist Arshile Gorky. Gorky served as both a tutor and a mentor, until DeKooning joined the WPA's easel and mural divisions in 1935 -- where he was finally given the chance to work full-time on creative projects. But DeKooning's representational period officially ended with the arrival of both the Great Depression and the Abstract Expressionist movement.
DeVlaminck, Maurice

Maurice DeVlaminck lived a life steeped in the arts. He grew up in a household full of musicians, played the violin, gave lessons, and gigged at night to support himself and his family. His career as a painter began because of a chance meeting on the train to Paris as DeVlaminck finished his service in the army -- he struck up a conversation with aspiring artist Andre Derain which turned into a life-long friendship (they even shared a studio for many years.) However, DeVlaminck was never content with just one medium, and he also tried his hand at writing -- poetry and essays, as well as a couple of mildly pornographic novels illustrated by his comrade-in-arms, Derain.
Dickinson, Edwin

Like many of my favorite artists, Edwin Dickinson had a rough childhood (what can I say -- I like my creativity with a hint of psychological disturbance.) His mother died of tuberculosis when he was 12, his father remarried a much younger woman, and his older brother committed suicide when Dickinson was just a boy. After failing the Navy entrance exam twice, Dickinson enrolled at the Art Students League Of New York where he studied under William Merritt Chase -- I guess the rule of thumb is, if you can't make it as a sailor, you can always become an artist! The man clearly had some issues to work through in his life, and I'm just glad he chose to do it with a paintbrush rather than a battleship.
Diebenkorn, Richard

Richard Diebenkorn's work has evolved and changed a great deal throughout the years. He began his career painting and drawing in a strictly representational style that was largely influenced by Edward Hopper. But after traveling around the United States for a number of years, Diebenkorn's work took on a much more Abstract Expressionist flavor in the 1940's and 1950's (perhaps he felt that he was broadening his artistic horizons with all those featureless blocks of color.) Then in the mid-50's, Diebenkorn's pendulum swung back toward the middle -- he joined up with the Bay Area Figurist movement, and helped to bring about a renaissance in representational work.
Dove, Arthur

Raised by a man who was deeply involved in politics, "Arthur Garfield Dove" was named after the soon-to-be-elected Republican Vice President Chester Arthur and Presidential candidate James Garfield (good lord, what a start in life -- thank goodness he found a way to escape the dark side!) He developed a love of both the outdoors and painting early on, after becoming friends with a neighbor named Newton Weatherby who was a naturalist and amateur painter. Dove attended Cornell University, where he was best known for his annual yearbook illustrations, and he eventually became a respected commercial illustrator in New York City.
Dubuffet, Jean

Jean Dubuffet had a hard time convincing himself that he was meant for the art world. At the age of 17, he joined the Academie Julian, but left after six months to study independently. At 23, Dubuffet came to doubt the intrinsic value of art -- and quit painting to take over his father's wine business. He returned to his work again in the 1930's, then stopped, and finally committed fully to his calling in 1942. I'm sure Dubuffet would have casked a mean Cabernet, but I think that society is richer for his decision to paint! And actually, it's kind of refreshing to find someone who didn't know from birth that he was meant to be an artist -- I wonder how many stockbrokers out there might be inspired to pick up a brush at mid-life?
Escher, M.C.

Maurits Cornelis (otherwise known as M.C.) Escher was a Dutch graphic artist best remembered for his mathematically-inspired woodcuts, lithographs, mezzo-tints -- not to mention his Weird Al Yankovic "White And Nerdy" cred! His father was an civil engineer and Escher himself studied carpentry from an early age, so it's no surprise that his pieces have a very "draftsmanly" feel. Escher attended the Haarlem School Of Architecture And Decorative Arts, where he published a paper entitled "Regular Division Of The Plane With Asymmetric Congruent Polygons." The man was really a research mathematician using art to prove his theories.
Fechin, Nicolai

Russian-born Nicolai Fechin was clearly destined to be an artist. At the age of 11, he drew designs that his father (an accomplished icon maker, woodcarver, and gilder) used in the construction of religious altars. Fechin then studied at both the Kazan School Of Art and the Imperial Academy Of Arts in St. Petersburg -- where he was mentored by the great Ilya Repin. In 1909 he graduated with the highest grade possible, and his final competitive canvas won him the Prix de Rome, a traveling scholarship to visit the artistic capitals of Europe. The very next year, Fechin started showing his work in America, through an international exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh.
Feininger, Lyonel

German-American Lyonel Feininger was born in the United States, but moved to Berlin in 1887 to study at the Königliche Akademie. He only began working as a painter at the age of 36, after having spent 20 years as a commercial caricaturist for various newspapers and magazines. Feininger taught at the Bauhaus for many years -- and even designed the woodcut cathedral on the cover of their 1919 manifesto. But when the Nazi party took over in 1933 and Hitler began to wage his war against "degenerate" and contemporary art (as well as pretty much everything else in the free world), Feininger and his part-Jewish wife found the situation unbearable, and fled back to the United States.
Freitas, Miguel

Miguel Freitas grew up in Lisbon -- you can see a strong European influence in his paintings of urban cafes and rural villages, with dozens of colorful villas huddled together on the hillside, about to tumble off into the sea. Freitas uses a sculpting-like technique involving the exaggerated application of thick paint mixed with objects like string and rope to create a multi-layered surface that even shows through on his prints. He has that kind of chunky, blocky, colorful painting style that makes you want to touch the canvas and feel the texture beneath your fingers.
Gauguin, Paul

Paul Gauguin's life was hard from day one. Born in Paris then taken to Peru when he was three for political reasons, his father died on the voyage -- leaving Paul, his mother, and his sister to fend for themselves. They lived for four years in Lima before returning to France -- just long enough for the imagery of South America's jungles and mountains to become implanted in Gauguin's brain. As a young man, he worked as a stockbroker -- but in his free time, Gauguin painted, visited galleries, and collected works from emerging artists. In Paris, he became friends with Pissarro and Cezanne -- with whom he painted during summer vacations.
Giacometti, Alberto

Swiss-born Alberto Giacometti came from an artistic tradition -- his father was a painter, and Giacometti himself attended the School Of Fine Arts in Geneva. In 1922 he moved to Paris to study under the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, an associate of Auguste Rodin -- not a bad way to begin your art career! It was during his stay in Paris that Giacometti first experimented with Cubism and came to be regarded as one of the leading Surrealist sculptors -- although he was later excommunicated from the movement. This is also where he developed a nearly compulsive devotion to his craft, one which often drove him to the brink of exhaustion.
Gorky, Arshile

Arshile Gorky had a rough life from start to finish, and it shows in his paintings. Born in Armenia as Vostanik Manoog Adoyan, his father emigrated to America to avoid the draft in 1910, leaving his family behind. They fled into Russian-controlled territory during the Armenian Genocide when Vostanik was 10, but his mother died of starvation in the aftermath. These early tragedies greatly influenced Gorky's figurative work -- he used images of his mother as the model for many of his female figures, and most of his subjects seem to be wearing a look of either sorrow or longing.
Grant, Duncan

Duncan Grant was a Scottish painter and a member of the "Bloomsbury Group." This collective of early 20th-century Londoners produced a broad spectrum of work that had a profound effect on literature, art, and modern attitudes towards issues like feminism and sexuality. Grant took his work home with him (sleeping his way through much of the group!) His lovers included English historian Lytton Strachey, painter Vanessa Bell, and economist John Maynard Keynes (I'm not sure how he managed to miss E.M. Forster with his sexually-charged writings -- and I have to imagine that Virginia Woolf was too focused on the voices in her head to pay him any attention!)
Guna, Bianka

Bianka Guna is a graduate of the Art Instruction Schools in Minneapolis, but also holds a double degree in Mechanical and Computer Science. Seems an odd combination of disciplines, but perhaps this juxtaposition is what gives her artwork such an unusual perspective. While all of Bianka's paintings are chunky and bright and full of texture, she is not tied to any one artistic style. Some pieces clearly hark back to her computer days -- with highly pixilated (almost Pointillist) shapes, and fine strands of color overlaying the canvas like the circuitry on a silicone diode chip. Just the thing for a techno-geek to hang over the couch!
Hartley, Marsden

Marsden Hartley was born in Maine, but moved to Manhattan at the age of 22 -- where he attended the National Academy Of Design, studied at the Art Students League Of New York under William Merritt Chase, and was a regular visitor at the Greenwich Village studio of the famously eccentric poet and landscape painter Albert Pinkham Ryder. While in New York, Hartley came to the attention of Alfred Stieglitz and became associated with the 291 Gallery Group. At the time, Hartley was in the cultural vanguard -- generally considered a contemporary of Gertrude Stein, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Ezra Pound.
Hitchens, Ivon

Ivon Hitchens was an English painter who started exhibiting during the 1920's. Hitchens became part of the "London Group," formed to challenge the domination of the Royal Academy over the world of British art. The feeling was that the R.A. had become unadventurous and conservative -- the London Group was dedicated to expanding the boundaries of contemporary art, and creating venues through which new artists could more easily show their work. It's rather ironic that most people have never heard of a man who so influenced the English art world!
Holston, Joseph

Joseph Holston is a modern-day painter and printmaker who has served as artist-in-residence at numerous universities -- his work can also be seen in museums and public buildings throughout the country. Holston focuses almost exclusively on the black community -- many of his pieces are reminiscent of the rural South, some speak of Harlem during the jazz age, and others simply depict family gatherings or folks relaxing together and enjoying each other's company. But his most powerful pieces are the dark and brooding studies of life under slavery -- very different from his vibrantly colorful street scenes.
Kandinsky, Wassily

Russian-born Wassily Kandinsky didn't begin life as an artist. He studied law and economics at the University of Moscow, and was 30 years old before he created his first painting. Kandinsky enrolled in the Academy Of Fine Arts in Munich, then returned to Moscow in 1914. But he didn't care for the motherland's official policy on art, and relocated to Germany under the Weimar Republic in 1921. He taught at the Bauhaus until Hitler closed it in 1933, labeled Kandinsky a "degenerate," and destroyed a number of his works. At that point, Kandinsky emigrated to Paris and lived the rest of his life as a French citizen (can you blame him?)
Kent, Sister Corita

Frances Kent grew up in Los Angeles and joined the Order Of The Immaculate Heart Of Mary in 1936, taking the name Sister Mary Corita. After receiving an M.A. in art history from the University Of Southern California, Corita began teaching art, exhibiting silkscreen prints, and attracting the attention of famous collectors. Buckminster Fuller described a visit to Immaculate Heart College while Corita served as chairman of their world-renowned Art Department as "among the most fundamentally inspiring experiences of my life." Other influential friends included furniture designer Charles Eames, photographer Ben Shahn, and radical Catholic preists the Berrigan brothers.
Kiefer, Anselm

German-born Anselm Kiefer began his education studying law and the Romance languages, but left this track at the age of 21 to pursue a career as an artist. Kiefer studied at art academies in Freiburg, Karlsruhe, and Düsseldorf -- initially as a photographer, known best for mocking the Nazi cultural agenda, Hitler's foolish attitudes toward art, and the absurdity of the Third Reich as a political institution. In the 1970's, he was mentored by Joseph Beuys and developed an all-consuming passion for painting and sculpture. Kiefer never felt compelled to pick up a camera professionally again.
Klee, Paul

Paul Klee was destined to create music with his art. The son of a conservatory teacher and a singer, he began violin lessons at age 7 -- but shifted to visual art when he became frustrated with modern music as a teenager. Klee treated painting like composition -- each block of color as a note, creating either harmony or dissonance with the others. And his sensibilities obviously resonated with others -- composers like Gunther Schuller and Benet Casablancas have honored the artist in song, and the Steinway company even manufactured a limited edition "Paul Klee Piano."
Klimt, Gustav

Viennese-born Gustav Klimt received his training as an architectural painter at the the Vienna School Of Arts And Crafts. His early work was very classical and academic, following in the footsteps of Hans Makart, the foremost history painter of the time. Klimt formed a business with his brother Ernst (an engraver) and another friend -- which they called the "Company Of Artists." The trio painted interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings -- they received numerous commissions, and even helped with the famous murals in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum. In 1888, Klimt was awarded the Golden Order Of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef of Austria for his artistic contributions.
Krebs, Patricia

Patricia Krebs has been immersed in art since she was a small child. Born in Argentina, she studied at the Vocational Institute of Art -- dabbling in Argentinean folkloric dance/music, literature, guitar, singing, drama, movement, and puppetry. Patricia graduated from the National High School Of Fine Arts, obtaining an Art Teacher Degree at the age of 18. She then earned a degree in Contemporary Visual Arts and became a Professor of Drawing And Painting.
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was an American painter, photographer, and printmaker born in Japan. He emigrated to America in 1906, then began studying at the Los Angeles School Of Art And Design. After 4 years in California, Kuniyoshi headed for New York -- he viewed the move from west to east as symbolic of his transition from Japanese immigrant to American society. In 1935 Kuniyoshi was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship -- and was later honored with a teaching position at the Art Students League Of New York.
Kurtzman, Todji

Todd Kurtzman was born in San Francisco, the son of an architect and an interior designer. He started sculpting small creatures in clay as a child and filming them with his father's Super 8 camera. Todd began his art career as an intern on "James And The Giant Peach" -- then spent several years directing stop-motion TV shows like "Celebrity Deathmatch." He has also shot a number of independent animated shorts, which have been screened at over 20 international film festivals. In 2007, Todd officially became Todji (a nickname given by an Italian girlfriend with a thick accent) -- and transformed himself from a commercial artist into an ARTIST (his emphasis!)
Lam, Wilfredo

Cuban-born Wilfredo Lam grew up in a sugar farming region, where he was surrounded by many people of African descent. His family blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs (his godmother was a Santeria priestess, healer, and sorceress) -- and Lam's art is greatly influenced by Afro-Cuban culture. His family encouraged him to become a lawyer in Havana -- but Lam was more interested in studying and drawing tropical plants at the local botanical gardens! Lam then spent several years at the Escuela de Bellas Artes, but disliked academics -- so he left for Madrid in the autumn of 1923 to further his art career.
Lawrence, Jacob

I hope Jacob Lawrence thanked his mama for turning him into an artist! At the age of 13, his mother moved the family to New York City and enrolled her son in classes at an arts and crafts settlement house. After dropping out of high school at 16, Lawrence worked in a printing plant and studied at the Harlem Art Workshop. His mentor Charles Alston encouraged him to attend the Harlem Community Art Center, led by sculptor Augusta Savage. Savage, in turn, helped Lawrence obtain a scholarship to the American Artists School and a paid position with the W.P.A. -- which allowed him to collaborate with a number of notable Harlem Renaissance artists. Quite a domino effect!
MacDonald, Betty

Betty MacDonald is a printmaker from Virginia -- her work is heavily represented in the D.C. area, including the Washington Printmaker's Gallery. She not only holds an MFA from Columbia University, but also studied at the highly respected Art Students League Of New York during her years of training. Betty's art is as intellectually stimulating as it is aesthetically pleasing. Each piece focuses on a fairly simple theme (celebration, gratitude, hope, contemplation, etc.) -- but presented in a way that allows you to see the world from her own unique perspective. Her work feels friendly and welcoming to me, while it simultaneously pushes at the edge of something important she has to say about the world.
Manet, Edouard

French artist Edouard Manet was born to an affluent family -- his mother was the daughter of a diplomat and the goddaughter of the Swedish crown prince, and his father was a French judge who expected his son to pursue a career in law. Manet's uncle Charles Fournier encouraged him to pursue painting, took him on regular trips to museums, and helped his nephew enroll in a drawing class. Manet's father continued to push him toward public service -- but after failing the Naval examination twice, dad finally gave in to his son's wish for an art education.
Marin, John

Jersey born and bred, John Marin studied architecture at the Stevens Institute of Technology (you can see the architectural themes in his later artwork), then attended the prestigious Art Students League Of New York and the Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts. During his years at school, Marin studied painting and drawing under the tutelage of both Thomas Anshutz and William Merritt Chase. He then spent 6 years traveling and painting his way across Europe.
Marquet, Albert

Albert Marquet was a French painter through and through. Marquet was born in Bordeaux but moved to Paris to attend the Decorative Arts School, where he found himself paired with roommate Henri Matisse -- they became life-long friends and each influenced the other's work for many years. His early paintings are strongly Fauvist, with clearly delineated images characterized by intense patches of vibrant color -- and were often exhibited side-by-side with cutting-edge artists like DeVlaminck, Derain, Braque, and Rouault.
Mathieu, Nicole

Nicole Mathieu (also known under the artistic name of "Niko") was born in Montreal and grew up in a family of artists. Early on, she lived a nomadic lifestyle, traveling throughout Europe. She worked in the fashion industry in California and New York (not hard to guess from her paintings) -- then returned to Montreal to study Therapeutic Arts with Nicole Bolduc. Niko has since turned toward more commercial ventures and gallery showings with her portraits.
Matisse, Henri

Born Henri-Emile-Benoit, Matisse grew up in Northeastern France. In 1887 he went to Paris to study law, then work as a court administrator -- he only started painting in 1889, when his mother gave him a set of art supplies to occupy his time as he recuperated from appendicitis (a move which did not please dear old dad!) Matisse studied with William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau at the Academie Julian, discovering in art "a kind of paradise." In 1897, Matisse was introduced to the work of the then-unknown Van Gogh by his friend John Peter Russell. He later said "Russell was my teacher, and Russell explained color theory to me."
Maurer, Alfred

Raised in New York City as the son of a German-born lithographer, Alfred Maurer quit school at the age of 16 to work at his father's printmaking firm. While he enjoyed lithography, Maurer later chose to study with painter William Merritt Chase, then joined a circle of American and French artists in Paris. His initially representational style won Maurer several awards -- including first prize at the 1901 Carnegie International Exhibition and a gold medal at the International Exposition in Munich.
Miro, Joan

Barcelona native Joan Miro moved to Paris early in life and became a part of the Left Bank art culture in Montparnasse. He developed a distinctive style that involved clearly delineated sections of color, flat planes, and sharp lines. Miro considered art to be a sandbox for the mind, a re-creation of the childlike. He straddled the line between Surrealism, Expressionism, and Dadaism -- but avoided formal membership in any movement so he could be free to experiment with other styles and techniques without compromising his position.
Modigliani, Amadeo

Amadeo Modigliani grew up in Livorno, Tuscany, where his family landed in the 18th century as Jewish refugees. His birth actually saved the bankrupt family from ruin (according to an ancient law, creditors could not seize the bed of a pregnant woman -- bailiffs entered the family home just as Mrs. Modigliani went into labor, and the family protected their most valuable assets by piling them on top of her.) But Modigliani was sort of doomed from the start.
Monet, Claude

Claude Monet's father wanted him to go into the family grocery business, but his son was determined from an early age to be an artist. He enrolled at the Le Havre school of the arts and became known locally for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for a few francs. There, Monet met Eugene Boudin -- who taught the budding artist to use oil paints and introduced him to "plein air" techniques. However, his studies were interrupted when, at age 16, his mother died and he left school to live with his widowed childless aunt.
Moore, Henry

Henry Moore was born to a miner who was self-taught in music and literature -- his father was determined that his sons would not end up shoveling coal, and worked hard to guarantee all 8 children an education. Moore began modeling clay and carving wood in elementary and secondary school, and decided to become a sculptor when he first learned of Michelangelo's work at age 11. His parents disapproved of sculpting as "manual labor," but Moore so impressed the staff at his school with his artistic talents that he was hired as a student teacher.
Munch, Edvard

Norwegian-born Edvard Munch was raised by a caring but obsessively religious father -- who not only entertained the children with ghost stories, but also terrorized them with morbid superstitions. Munch's mother and favorite sister both died when he was a child, and his father said that their mother was looking down from heaven and grieving over their misbehavior (nice parenting skills!)
Neel, Alice

Alice Neel grew up in rural Pennsylvania -- after high school, she took the Civil Service exam and worked at a clerical position to help support her parents. Alice took 3 years of night classes before finally enrolling full-time in the Philadelphia School Of Design For Women. She claimed that she chose an all-girls school so as not to be distracted from her art by the temptations of the opposite sex. However, shortly after graduating, she married Cuban painter Carlos Enriquez and moved to Havana, where they joined the growing Cuban Avant-Garde.
Nicholson, Winifred

Winifried Nicholson was a quintessentially British painter. She was born in Oxford to a Liberal Party politician and the daughter of the 9th Earl of Carlisle. Her grandfather George Howard was an accomplished painter and patron of the arts -- he began instructing Winifred when she was 11 years old. She then studied at the Byam Shaw School Of Art in London (where she became close friends with the poet and literary critic Kathleen Raine), and was exhibiting at the Royal Academy by 1914.
Nolde, Emil

Emil Nolde began life as Emil Hansen -- born near the village of Nolde, and raised on a farm by Danish peasants. He trained as a woodcarver at the School Of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe, and worked in furniture factories as a young man. Rejected by the Munich Academy Of Fine Arts, Hansen spent three years taking private lessons and making frequent trips to Paris -- where he was introduced to Impressionism and strongly influenced by Van Gogh's technique (not hard to see in his vibrant florals and chunky brushwork.) He worked for several years as a drawing instructor, then struck out on his own to pursue his dream of becoming an independent artist at the age of 31.
O'Keeffe, Georgia

Georgia O'Keeffe was born to dairy farmers near the town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Her maternal grandfather was a Hungarian count and Georgia's mother was a direct descendant of Edward Fuller, an original Pilgrim and a signer of the Mayflower Compact. Educating women was a tradition in the O'Keeffe family -- Georgia's parents sent her to Town Hall School in Wisconsin (where she was instructed by local watercolorist Sara Mann), then on to the Art Institute Of Chicago. Georgia later joined the Art Students League of New York, where she studied with the "fingers-in-every-art-career" William Merritt Chase.
Obregon, Alejandro

Alejandro Obregon was born in Barcelona -- as a child, his time was divided between Colombia and England, but he also studied fine arts in Boston for a year. Upon returning to Spain, Obregon served as Vice Consul Of Colombia for several years, then was named Director of the School Of Fine Arts in Bogota, where he was influenced by a more modern fresco style of painting. The following year, Obregon moved to Paris and exhibited his work throughout Europe. In 1962, he won the Salón de Artistas Colombianos -- and was later recognized at the Ninth São Paulo Biennial, where he was awarded the Francisco Matarazzo Sobrinho Grand Prize for Latin America.
Oliveira, Nathan

Born in Oakland, California, Nathan Oliveira has achieved artistic success over the past five decades working in several different media -- oils, watercolors, printmaking, and sculpture. As a young student, he attended a class taught by Max Beckmann at Mills College, and later received both a BFA and an MFA from the California College Of The Arts. Oliveira has also taught at several institutions of higher learning, including his alma mater and Stanford University -- sharing his talents with legions of aspiring artists.
Pascin, Jules

Julius Mordecai Pincas was born in Vidin, Bulgaria to a Sephardic Jewish father and a Serbian-Italian mother (talk about a walking melting pot!) After studying at the Academie Colarossi, he adopted the anagram Pascin and began contributing drawings to "Simplicissimus," a satirical German weekly magazine. Later that year, Pascin moved to Paris, where he met artist Hermine Lionette Cartan David (what a name!) The two traveled to America and lived in the United States through the end of World War I -- Pascin taught at the Telfair Academy in Savannah, and he and Hermine had a civil wedding ceremony at City Hall in New York, attended by friend and witness Max Weber.
Picasso, Pablo

He was baptized Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso -- a name meant to honor a cadre of saints and relatives (what is it with the Spaniards?) Picasso showed an early passion for drawing, and his father (a naturalist, professor of art, and museum curator) provided him with formal training starting at the age of seven. By 13, Picasso had surpassed his father in skill and dad gave up painting for good, handing the mantel over to his talented young son.
Piper, John

John Piper was educated at Epsom College, trained in painting at the Richmond School Of Art, and taught printmaking at the Royal College Of Art in London. He was enlisted as an official government artist in World War II, where he created a series of wonderfully gritty prints depicting life in England during the war. Thanks to this experience (and despite his education) Piper turned away from purely Abstract art early in his career, concentrating on a more naturalistic approach to landscapes and scenes.
Portinari, Candido

Candido Portinari was born of Italian immigrants on a coffee plantation near Sao Paulo. At the age of 9, he assisted with restoring the paintings in his hometown church -- he was put in charge of painting the stars. At age 15, Portinari began studying at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro -- where he won a gold medal and a trip to Paris to expand his artistic abilities. As he traveled abroad, he became fascinated with both Italian Renaissance masters like Piero della Francesca and modern French painters, such as Matisse and Cezanne -- you can definitely see this fusion in his later works.
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste**

I'm much more drawn to impressionism than realistic art -- and Renoir is one of the greats. I would love to be able to tell a tale with just one glance.
Scherer, Deidre

Diedre Scherer began her art career studying painting at the Rhode Island School Of Design. She developed her distinctive fiber techniques while raising her family, and has worked with fabric as her primary medium since the late 1970's. She uses a very "painterly" technique, layering material to create texture and depth -- and it's amazing the level of detail (especially in facial expression and skin tone) that Diedre can achieve with just a bit of colored thread. This ain't your momma's quilting!
Sickert, Walter

Walter Sickert was a German-born English Impressionist painter. Although he was the son and grandson of painters, he started his career as an actor -- appearing in small parts in Sir Henry Irving's Shakespearean theater company. Sickert eventually discovered his true path, and took up the study of art as an assistant to James McNeill Whistler. He later went to Paris and met Edgar Degas, whose technique would have a strong and lasting effect on Sickert's work.
Siqueiros, David Alfaro

Mexican-born David Alfaro Siqueiros was two years old when his mother died and the children were sent to live with their paternal grandparents. After a few years in the countryside, his devoutly Catholic father brought the family back to Mexico City -- although he probably wouldn't have, if he had known how the city would change his son. Although Siqueiros atended a biblical school, he was exposed to new political ideas, particularly the concept of Anarcho-Syndicalism -- and was heavily influenced by artist/activist Dr. Atl, who demanded a national art inspired by ancient indigenous cultures.
Smith, Ford

Ford Smith is the son of an Air Force serviceman stationed in a small Japanese village -- you can immediately see how his aesthetic sensibilities were influenced by his childhood tutor, an elderly Japanese painter. After moving back to the States, he earned a BFA from the University of Mississippi. Smith then moved to Atlanta, where he discovered an affinity for kodachrome, and developed a reputation as one of the country's premier fashion photographers of the 70's and 80's.
Sorolla, Joaquin Bastida

As an infant, Joaquin Bastida Sorolla was orphaned when both parents died of cholera -- he and his sister were then raised by an aunt and uncle. At age 18, he traveled to Madrid to study the paintings at the Museo del Prado, then spent four years serving in the military, and was awarded a scholarship to develop his technique at the Spanish Academy in Rome. While visiting an exhibit in Paris, Sorolla was first introduced to the modern leanings of artists like Jules Bastien-Lepage and Adolf von Menzel. Upon returning to Rome, Sorolla was inpired to develop his own skills, and sought out teachers like Emilio Grau Sala to help him incorporate these philosophies into his own works.
Steer, Philip Wilson

Phillip Wilson Steer was born the son of a British portrait painter. His original plan was to join the Civil Service -- but the examinations were too difficult, and he became an artist instead (always have something to fall back on.) Steer was rejected by the Royal Academy, so he moved to Paris where he was educated at the Academie Julian, then studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel -- where he became one of the few recognized and respected English Impressionists.
Stella, Joseph

Italian-born Joseph Stella arrived in America at the age of 19. As soon as he settled in New York, he enrolled the Art Students League and studied for many years under William Merritt Chase (but really, who didn't?) Stella's early style was strongly influenced by the great masters -- and his first paintings of city slum life had a very Rembrandtesque feel. Then in 1908, he was commissioned to create a series of drawings of industrial Pennsylvania later published in "The Pittsburgh Survey". This work in particular is closely associated with the American Precisionist movement of the 1910's-1940's.
Sutherland, Graham

British-born Graham Sutherland worked as an engineer at the Midland Railway Works, before studying engraving at Goldsmiths College. He didn't take up painting as his major medium until his mid-30's -- and only in response to the collapse of the print market after the start of the Great Depression. Thank goodness for the stock market crash, or we might have missed out on an amazing watercolorist! Sutherland's early landscapes are strongly influenced by Paul Nash, with exaggerated natural forms creating Abstract and even Surrealist images. Sutherland also experimented with glass work, fabric design, and poster illustration -- a jack of all artistic trades.
Tamayo, Rufino

Rufino Tamayo was a Zapotecan Indian painter born in Oaxaca, Mexico. He started out as a professional wrestler but quit at age 30 so he could dedicate his life to art. When his mother died, Tamayo moved to Mexico City and began studying at the Escuela Nacional De Artes Plasticas. He experimented with murals, Cubism, Impressionism, and Fauvism -- all with a distinctly Mexican flair. Ever innovative, Tamayo even helped to pioneer a new style of art called "mixografia," a technique which gave added depth and texture to images printed on paper.
Toledo, Francisco**

And Francisco Toledo is another Mexican painter with a wonderful way of representing his culture, history, and mythology on his canvasses.
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri**

Toulouse Lautrec -- midget, drug addict, and a great French icon -- some really wonderful works representing daily life in France.
Turner, J.M.W.**

There is a whole Turner wing at the Tate Britain -- and Turner is normally not my cup of tea. But during our visit, we discovered an almost abstract side to him that I really enjoy.
Van Dongen, Kees

Kees Van Dongen was raised in the suburbs of Rotterdam. At age 16, he began studies at the Royal Academy Of Fine Arts -- during this time, he particularly enjoyed visiting the Red Quarter seaport area, where he drew scenes of sailors and prostitutes (always a colorful set of subjects.) In 1899, Van Dongen moved to Paris and began to exhibit his work, most notably at the controversial 1905 Exhibition Salon d'Automne. The intense colors used by Van Dongen and other artists like Matisse led critics of the show to label the group Fauvists or "wild beasts". Somehow I doubt that they took the moniker as an insult.
Van Gogh, Vincent**

Our Vincent Van Gogh was actually the second son to receive this name -- a stillborn brother one year older was actually the first Vincent. And as we've seen with Dali, this practice of recycling the name of a dead child is guaranteed to screw a kid up from day one! The son of a Dutch Reformed Church minister, Vincent Van Gogh initially wanted to be a preacher -- and thank goodness he changed his mind (the man might have lived longer, but his absence would have impoverished the art world immeasurably.) While working as a missionary in a mining region in Belgium, Van Gogh sketched the locals and began to paint in oils. His first works are almost unrecognizable, as his palette consisted of blacks and browns, somber earth tones with no hint of the rioutous palette to come. In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris and was introduced to Impressionist artists. Later, he moved to the south of France, and inflused his paintings with the strong sunlight and bold colors of the Riviera. Van Gogh's brother Theo was an art dealer, and the artist himself began his career working for a firm of art dealers Post-Impressionist is the epitome of "tortured artist" in many people's minds. He didn't actually begin painting until the age of 20, and the majority of his best-known works were created during the last two years of his life. It's hard to believe that Van Gogh worked in almost total obscurity, considering his profligacy (over 2,000 works of art completed during his lifetime) and his reputation after his death. Just goes to show that if you kill yourself, you can become one of the most famous and best-recognized artists in the world. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age of 37, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Rich colors, beautiful landscapes, and way too many self-portraits -- but how can you not love Van Gogh?
Vaughan, Keith

British-born Keith Vaughan was self-taught as an artist. He worked at an advertising agency until World War II broke out, but as a conscientious objector, he was conscripted into the Non-Combatant Corps. Not having been shipped off to France or Germany and forced to live in a trench for months at a time gave Vaughan a bit of an artistic advantage. He had the freedom to paint in his off-hours (presuming he could see the canvas in blackout conditions) -- and even though Vaughan never saw the front lines, you can definitely feel the bleakness of the times in his early works.
Wei, Z.Z.

I want so badly to know what the Z.Z. stands for -- Zachariah Zenith? Zander Zoltar? Zebediah Zebulon? Whatever it is, Z.Z. Wei (not Top) was born in Beijing, but relocated to the Pacific Northwest (where he did not grow a crazy-long beard or record rock songs.) Wei was invited to the United States by the Washington Centennial Commission to participate in the Pacific Rim Cultural Connection Project. He loved it so much, that he stayed on to serve as a resident artist at the Cornish College Of The Arts in Seattle -- then at Whitman College in Walla Walla. An artistic transplant is born!
Whistler, James McNeill

James McNeill Whistler was a character. He was born in Massachusetts, but later claimed he came from Russia -- saying, "I shall be born when and where I want, and I do not choose to be born in Lowell." He also played up his mother's Southern roots, pretending to be an impoverished Southern aristocrat. As a child, Whistler was moody and prone to temper tantrums -- but his parents discovered that drawing settled him down and helped focus his attention. Even better than Ritalin!
Wyeth, Andrew

Andrew Wyeth was the youngest son of illustrator N.C. Wyeth, brother of Nathaniel (an engineer who invented the plastic soda bottle) and artist Henriette, and father of artist James. A sickly child, Wyeth was home-schooled by his father -- who instilled in him a passion for art, a love of rural northern landscapes, and a sense of history and tradition. He learned figure study, art history, and and watercolor techniques from N.C., and was later taught to paint with egg tempera by his brother-in-law Peter Hurd.
Zorach, Marguerite

Born in California near the end of the 19th century, Marguerite Thompson traveled to France where she lived with an aunt and attended the Post-Impressionist school La Palette. While studying in Paris, she had the great fortune of viewing the 1908 Exhibition Salon d'Automne -- where she first saw paintings by Matisse and DeVlaminck and became enchanted with their use of color and minimalist form Marguerite also developed friendships with Pablo Picasso and Gertrude Stein (who had joined the left bank culture in Montparnasse as both a writer and an art collector) -- relationships which would eventually help to further her own career.

Art Shows

Gravity's Rainbow

New York pop artist (and incidentally, also a porn star) Zak Smith has undertaken one of the most monumentally impressive and voluntarily pointless tasks I could imagine -- creating illustrations for every single page of Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow." As he says, "nobody asked me to, but I did it anyway." Bravo! That's the rationale for most of my own personal projects, so I can appreciate the fact that he just felt like creating this massive body of work for no other reason than "just because." You can't help but be impressed with the enormity of the undertaking -- more importantly, Smith's illustrations are good. Some are actual scenes from the book, others illustrate a minute detail or brief phrase that caught Smith's eye -- but they all mesh well stylistically with Pynchon's Post-Modernist story.
Museum Of Russian Art

On a trip to Minneapolis, my husband and I tripped over a wonderful little Museum Of Russian Art -- apparently, the only one of its kind in North America. Most of the names and faces were new to me (which makes my day), and I was quite impressed with the quality of the paintings on display. But when I went looking for information about these artists, I felt the iron curtain fall down around me -- I get the sense that you stand about an exile's chance in Siberia of seeing these works anywhere outside of St. Petersburg. I've included some of my favorites from the collection -- works by Alexsander Gerasimov, Aleksei Sokolov, Grigori Zozulya, Irina Vilkovir, Valerian Formosov, Yuri Pimenov, and Vasili Nechitailo.
Tradition Redefined

While visiting Jacksonville's teeny Museum Of Contemporary Art, I tripped over one of the most exceptional exhibits of modern African-American art that I had ever discovered. While including "masters" who were a part of the Harlem Renaissance and creators of original WPA art, the exhibit also focused on artists who have not been recognized by more traditional art circles, labeled "emerging," "unknown," or "outsiders." My favorites include works by Romare Bearden, David Driskell, Norman Lewis, Charles Sebree, Humbert Howard, Benny Andrews, Ellis Wilson, and Joseph Delaney
Two Germanies

When we were in Los Angeles, LACMA had a really intriguing exhibition focused on German artists of the second World War, the Cold War, and beyond. This show included some wonderful works by Werner Heldt, Georg Baselitz, Hans Grundig, Bernhard Heisig, Markus Lupertz, Martin Kippenberger, Jorg Immendorf, Herbert List, Wolf Vostell, Lutz Dammbek, Willi Baumeister, Karl Hofer, Hannah Hoch, Wolfgang Mattheuer, and A.R. Penck. However, LACMA made it damned difficult to get a listing of all the pieces on display -- so my collection also includes other works that I enjoyed by these artists.
Viernes Culturales

On the last Friday of each month, Miami's Little Havana is transformed into an art-lover's playground during Viernes Culturales. I say transformed, because if you visit during business hours on a weekday, you stand very little chance of the galleries even being open (they have stereotypically capricious hours) -- but after dark, the art flows like wine! If you're interested in discovering some great Cuban and Latin American painters, this is the place to be. Our visit fell during Carnaval, so we were treated to street performances, a parade, and live music -- as well as work by artists like Pedro Pablo Oliva, Eduardo Abela, Mildrey Guillot. Their styles are distinctive and their techniques are all very different, but each is trying to give the audience a feel for their people and their homeland, a little taste of tropical culture. And the festival atmosphere really enhances your experience of the art -- there is nothing better than an empanada, a mojito, a little salsa, and some brightly-colored pigment splashed onto a canvas!

Homage Art

Artstreams

Brad Cornelius is a graphic artist and illustrator in the Chicago area. He attended the American Academy Of Art, studying fundamentals of figure drawing, color theory and design principles -- then transferred to Principia College, where he received a Bachelor's degree in studio art. Since then Brad has designed college textbooks, illustrated children's books, painted several elementary school murals, and since 2005 has been on staff at Airstream Life magazine. His series of Airstream art pieces are what I love best -- classic images with an RVing twist!
Gary Kaemmer Artist Portraits

This body of work began as an artistic exercise -- Gary Kaemmer wanted to see if he could create portraits of his favorite masters in their own styles. However, as he got inside each artist's head, the visual image became a very small part of what he would discover about these people. This project actually turned into study of what artists are thinking and experiencing as they create -- why they choose the subjects they do, what inspired their style and technique, and the hidden messages that come through in their work. Kaemmer is not only an amazingly talented painter, but also a gifted student of the human mind. This is more than "reproduction" of a classic piece -- it's a personal interpretation of the artist's psyche.
Mutts

In general, I think that Mutts is a flawed comic strip -- brilliant artwork, but Patrick McDonnell's storytelling is sort of hit or miss. However, I do love the fact that he has done something exceptional with his Sunday title graphic, generally considered a "throw-away panel" and treated as wasted space by most artists. Each week, McDonnell creates an homage to one of the most influential images of the past century by inserting his characters into a scene from pop culture. While he has been known to parody comic books, popsicle wrappers, album covers, and even war propaganda posters -- my favorites are the ones that honor great artists from a variety of backgrounds and movements.
Pete The Cat

James Dean (the artist, not the doomed film star) is best known for his paintings and illustrated books featuring Pete The Blue Cat. He completely nails feline poses and facial expressions -- I laughed so hard the first time I saw these that I a) almost peed my pants, and b) nearly got us thrown out of the gallery we were visiting. His pieces are sparse, focusing mostly on line and color, but still very rich in content. Dean's father was a self-taught painter who learned his art by copying the masters -- a passion which his son inherited and turned to his advantage, by indulging his penchant for inserting Pete into classical scenes.

Outsider Art

A Body Recovered

Outsider art is often therapeutic in nature, a way for people experiencing emotional or psychological disturbances to work through their issues in a visual format. This particular series came from an exhibition by an eating disorder patient in Atlanta, GA -- she very powerfully combined graphic depictions of what she was feeling with the words that kept running circles in her head. Much of her work is done in pastel, and is dark and brooding, giving a small peek into the blackness of her negative self-image and obsessive behaviors. However, her therapy wasn't entirely successful -- her art is all the more powerful and poignant because she committed suicide shortly after the show.
Invisible Art

Liu Bolin has been using his art as a form of protest against the persecution of Chinese artists, ever since the government shut down his studio in 2005. In each piece, Bolin camouflages himself in plain sight -- painting his body so he blends in completely with his surroundings. His work is a commentary about forced anonymity, the death of individualism, the futility of trying to stand out (or speak out) in a society that expects its citizens to simply disappear into the crowd.
Prison Art

The months or years spent in prison can be a time of great introspection (I say this hypothetically, having never been to jail myself) -- a look back on the decisions one has made, the consequences, and plans for the future. And time inside is certainly challenging in its own way -- no control over your life, being denied basic freedoms that you used to take for granted, and seeing the darker side of a corrupt and dysfunctional justice system. Many inmates turn to creating prison art as a way of expressing rage, frustration, desire, and other emotions too complex to be put into words. This is all artwork done by people while incarcerated -- they speak to many issues of freedom, relationships, a sense of self-worth, regret, and hope for the future.

Story Art

StoryPeople

Brian Andreas is a rare and precious storyteller who combines well-chosen words with quirky pictures to express his unique insights into human nature. Andreasa started out in the early 1990's collecting other people's tales about daily life, the joys and the sorrows, the mundane and the profound -- those 4,000 stories eventually became an assortment of fun and colorful drawings, paintings, and sculptures, each paired with a short piece of prose about our relationships with ourselves and others.

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