Art & Artists

A thread about famous artists and their work (seeing as I couldn't find one on the forum). Post images of your favourite works of art or discuss ones already posted (no posh art speak please, in English).

Like this one, Edouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere...



One of my favourite paintings. When it was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1882 it was ridiculed for its poor sense of perspective (the figures to the right of the painting were seen as a reflection of the encounter the artist, and us as viewers, are having with the barmaid in the foreground). Personally, I think this is too simple an interpretation of its meaning. It looks to me as if the barmaid in the 'reflection' is slightly younger than the one we see before us, indicating that it is the same two people meeting eachother ... but the 'reflection' is an encounter from the past.

At the time it was painted, Manet was riddled with syphilis (in fact, he would die some months later aged just 51). He had always considered himself a man-about-town, which must have been very different to the gangrenous, arthritic mess he would have been during the painting's completion. Although the male figure on the right isn't Manet, I think it represents how he perceived himself ... suited and elegant, which would also represent what his life used to be like before he became ill. I also think that the look of pity on the face of the barmaid, to the point where she can't even look at him/us, indicates how Manet felt people would react to his condition if they saw him during his final months. A beautiful but sad painting about lost youth and the fading of the light.

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Something a little more recent now ... Jasper Johns' Flag, painted in 1954/55...



Johns made this interpretation of the American flag after seeing it in a dream. As a member of the Neo-Dada art movement, Johns painted things for the sake of it, taking the subject matter out of context and presenting it as is. Because there was no social or political comment to the artwork, Johns could concentrate on the style and finish of the piece. With Flag, that meant heavy, layered paint over cuttings from newpapers, which can't be seen from distance (but can be seen in these 3 close ups)...



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Not that I'm trying to appeal to students or stoners, but here's Relativity by M. C. Escher...



This lithograph (printed using a smooth stone or metal plate) was created in 1953. As with the Flag in the previous post, this image is bereft of social context. The 16 figures in the scene are devoid of facial features and identifiable clothing because they are there simply to add direction and movement to the surroundings. The print is designed to confuse the viewer between what is seen in a two-dimensional sense and what is possible in a three-dimensional sense. The image itself contains three gravity sources. It is the fact that they seemingly co-exist that causes the confusion.

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One of the most divisive artists in the twentieth century was Jackson Pollock. His use of the "drip technique" was a radical new method of painting, even if it was misinterpreted by many as being uncontrolled and unpredictable. Here's Pollock's Autumn Rhythm, painted in 1950...



In fact, Pollock's designs are surprisingly mathematical and closely mirror the fundamental principles of chaos theory. He would move about the canvas (laid on the studio floor) constantly until the painting was finished, often in a trance-like state. It is thought that, by modern standards, he would have been diagnosed with some form of bipolarism or even mild autism. Of course, you would not be alone if you decided that Pollock simply did it just to be different.

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Probably my favourite work of art of all time (based on its meaning rather than its content) is the final painting of Jeanne Hebuterne by Amedeo Modigliani in 1919...



Jeanne and Modi had been together for many years and she was expecting his second child at the time this was painted. But his health was failing (a mixture of meningitis and substance abuse) and he was aware of Jeanne's belief that she wouldn't be able to go on without him and would kill herself if he died. Modigliani's paintings of other people were sometimes quite comical and playful but he would always paint Jeanne in an austere pose, as if he was trying to imbue her with the strength to carry on when the inevitable occurred.

Amedeo Modigliani died in January 1920. Immediately, Jeanne's family took her to their home to keep watch over her in case she went through with her promise. Unfortunately her brother fell asleep while on watch and Jeanne threw herself to her death from the fifth-floor window (also killing their unborn child) the day after Modi died.

The photo below is of Jeanne (the reason why the subject in the painting doesn't look much like her is because Modigliani's style was heavily influenced by African masks). I've also included an earlier portrait of her painted by Modigliani (he painted her about 120 times during his career).



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Great thread.





Portrait of a Young Girl by Pietro Antonio Rotari


Just love this picture, she's got that, I'm shy, but I'll let you touch me look about her, personally as a look i think it rivals Mona Lisa, though perhaps a little less ambiguous. Very little known artist.

And who can paint female beauty more than Renoir, contemporary of Manet's, also Impressionist.



Young Girl Combing Her Hair

Probaby my favourate artist Carravaggio, just love the realism in his work



Judith Beheading Holofernes

Bit of a lad in his time, i believe he had to skedaddled due to killing some one in a brawl. the picture of the person being behead is thought to be self portraits, it seems to crop up in other pictures if I'm not mistaken. Must be some form of guilt trip

Good call about Renoir, reminded me to post my favourite painting of his ... Luncheon of the Boating Party. The people in the scene include his future wife (Aline Charigot, seated with a dog), his personal secretary and many friends of his from the Impressionist art scene at that time. Also featured is Gustave Caillebotte (seated lower right) who painted some of my favourite Impressionist works. But I'll come back to him later...



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salvador dali... when i was experimenting in my late teens with psychedelics i became aware of dali, i was already drawing and painting surreal and abstract pictures.
i dont understand his motives as im not highly educated, i just liked the fact that i was creating similar art to 1 of the greats without knowing of his existence.
you could say i had seen some work of his in books and i probably did, but my work was as far as i knew original at the time.