Sorry for the long silence. There are lots of goings on but they’re not being recorded here I am afraid.
In the meantime, check out http://www.artpursuit.com/ or http://blog.oceansbridge.com/.
We’ll be back soon…thanks for your patience!
Best wishes for 2009!
This is going to be a big year for Arteze and the Art Knowledge Network. We hope it is a good and successful year for our readers too!
Who is going to be the next big thing in the art world?
Art Pursuit tries to find the answer…
A showcase of up and coming artists, including award winners, national exhibitors, and graduates from some of the best art schools whose work is already selling.
Please, check out Art Pursuit, see who is maybe the next big thing, and catch up on art news!
Big news coming soon!
Well, actually, this message is more to announce that we’ll be making an announcement soon…
Exciting stuff in the works here. We’ll have an update in the next week or so. Watch this space!
If more than ten percent of the population likes a painting it should be burned, for it must be bad.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
The following was contributed by “SeuratPaintings.com” - thank you!
“Georges Seurat was born in Paris in December of 1859. A great deal regarding his personal life is unknown, although it is known that he studied as a student of Justin Lequien, a sculptor. Later, in 1878, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed a great appreciation for the Classical and Renaissance masterpieces that are emphasized there as a traditional and prestigious form of training in art.
Though the oil paintings of Seurat were a clear departure from the Classical and Renaissance pieces that he admired, he is still often considered an academic painter based on the theory and scientific academic study behind the techniques of his paintings, particularly in the field of color theory and also philosophy. He is also considered a founding artist of the neo-impressionist movement. What came to be characteristic about his artwork was his use of divisionism, a practice of applying pigment to the canvas in individual areas so that the colors would blend in the eye of the viewer, rather than entirely upon the canvas. This practice was a theory that Seurat studied during his early period during which he frequently read scientific treatises in regards to color theory. Eventually Seurat came to be known for his use of this technique, which was evident in all of his most significant paintings. The technique gradually came to be known as Pointillism when referred to in the context of art and its creation.
Due to the slow process and techniques used (in addition to the large scale of many of his paintings), he completed relatively few major paintings over the course of his artistic career. The first major piece that received attention for its style was titled A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and took an entire two years to complete due to its large ten foot dimensions. The subject and composition appear to be very Impressionistic in nature and many art lovers may be reminded of Monet’s Madame Monet and Her Son by the large figure of a woman in the foreground of a green park area as well as the general look and color scheme of the painting. Unlike Impressionism, the works of Seurat were not painted en plein air as many Impressionists practiced, but rather in a studio working with painstaking care and careful attention, not the fast brush strokes of other artists. The entire aim was to exhibit the gains of Pointillism and color theory, whereas his contemporary Impressionists struggled to capture one fleeting moment within their paintings. When observing Seurat’s paintings in this light, it becomes obvious that his canvases seem more grounded and stable that the mere impressions that are delivered by Impressionist art.
Some of Seurat’s other famous paintings are titled: Bathers at Asnières, Le Chalut, Le Parade, Le Cirque (unfinished), Les Poseurs of 1887, and a series of works of Honfleur Harbor.”
Art Terms - Background
The part of a picture or scene that appears to be farthest away from the viewer.
A sample Baroque-period painting
Art Terms - Baroque
The art style or art movement of the Counter-Reformation in the seventeenth century. Although some features appear in Dutch art, the Baroque style was limited mainly to Catholic countries. It is a style in which painters, sculptors, and architects sought emotion, movement, and variety in their works. Caravaggio is one of the best known artists of the Baroque period.
The following was shared by “rubenspaintings.com”…much appreciated! Readers, please remember we welcome and credit all contributions - this isn’t limited to members of the network only!
“Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577 into a family exiled from their native Antwerp due to the father’s Calvinist beliefs.
Following his father’s death the family was able to return to Antwerp, and after converting to Catholicism (along with the rest of the family) the 14 year old Rubens joined the household of a Flemish princess as a page. He there began studying art under a succession of teachers including Tobias Verhaecht, Adam van Nort and Otto Venius.
Peter Paul Rubens proved to be a precocious talent, and at the young age of 21 was accepted at the rank of Master Painter into the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke.
Like many artists of his time Rubens went to Italy, the long-time center of the art world, where he drew inspiration from many of the famous works to be found there. He established himself as an artist in his own right, being commissioned to do a variety or work – unusual for a foreigner at the time – and remained in Italy until his mother’s death in 1608, when he returned to his native Antwerp.
The "Rubenesque" Andromeda
There, he was regarded as being the foremost Flanders painter and as a result was appointed court painter for the Austrian archduke Albert and his Spanish wife Isabella. The high demand for Rubens artwork lead him to set up his own workshop where assistants did much of the work for him, with Rubens doing the initial sketch and finishing touches. (The Arteze opinion is that this is pure genius…”you do the work, I get the accolades and the money!”)
His fame continued to grow and he acted as an ambassador of sorts, traveling to France amongst other places. Only upon his marriage to Helene Fourment in 1630 did he settle permanently in Antwerp, living at Castle Steen, where he continued to accept commissions as well as produce paintings for himself. He died of gout on May 30, 1640, and was interned in Saint Jacob’s church.”
There is plenty more information over at their site. Some of you might remember that Rubens was in the news a few months back. From the Independent newspaper -
“Less than a month after Rubens’s Massacre of the Innocents sold for a record £49.5m at Sotheby’s in London, questions have been raised about whether it is by the Flemish master after all.
Scientific dating of the picture suggests that it may have been painted years after the dates 1609 to 1611 ascribed to it by art historians in the auction house’s sales catalogue.
If this were the case, the painting’s attribution would be cast into doubt, as its purist classical style is radically different from the work Rubens is known to have been producing by 1615.” Interesting stuff!
Art Nouveau - Klimt Detail
Art Terms - Art Nouveau
French for “The New Art.” An international art movement and style of decoration and architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, characterized particularly by the curvilinear depiction of leaves and flowers, often in the form of vines. Gustav Klimt and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec are two of the better known Art Nouveau artists.
Thanks for the contribution from our friends at Ocean’s Bridge!
A collection of Impressionist paintings
Art Terms - Art movement
An artistic style or tendency seen in the intentions or works of a number of artists, because there is a striking similarity among the techniques, philosophy or goals they have embraced, or in the attitudes which they espouse in a (more or less) organized effort. Examples include Impressionism, Realism, Expressionism, Renaissance and Surrealism (like much of Dali’s work).
