Category: Odds & Ends
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Joan Miró—the quintessential Catalan artist
Joan Miró was born in Barcelona and always thought of himself as Catalan, even during the Paris exile enforced by the Spanish Civil War. Today, although his works can be found in museums around the world, the great majority of his paintings are at home in Barcelona, in the Fundació Joan Miró. In this beautiful building designed by his friend and fellow Catalan, Josep Lluis Sert, the works of Miró can be seen in all their lush color and vitality. From the representative paintings of his youth to the free associations of abstraction, his work has a marvelous sense of animation, and it is fascinating to trace his artistic journey over his long life.
Friday, March 25, 2005
The extravagant art of Salvador Dalí
Dalí described himself as “an eminently theatrical painter”. Nowhere is his capacity for self-dramatization more evident than in his Teatre-Museu Dali, in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. The museum was created by Dalí himself, 15 years before his death, and it contains a wide panorama of his works, from early forays into impressionism, futurism, and cubism, and continuing on to the surrealistic creations on which his reputation is based.
When you visit the museum, you’re given a brochure that states,
“If we take into account the idiosyncrasy of Salvador Dalí, then perhaps we ought to recommend you not to follow a preconceived route. However, in spite of it a one way route has been laid out. It only has the intention of guiding the visitor from the entrance to the exit. It does not have, nor does it wish to have, any systematic function nor chronological sense.”
So, your own “idiosyncratic” tour can take you from a room designed to evoke Mae West, to small constructions and large scale assemblages, to paintings done with the finest of touches. It’s great fun, an adventure that makes you smile or shake your head at every turn.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Picasso, Miró, and Dalí—the Catalan connection
Catalonia and its capital, Barcelona, are justly proud of their connection to three giants of twentieth century art: Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí. Throughout Barcelona you’ll find museums dedicated to their work, as well as special on-going exhibitions.
Although not a Catalan by birth, Picasso spent time in Barcelona at several different periods in his life as an artist: during his formative years, when he began his art studies under his father’s tutelage and in La Lonja, the academy of fine arts; and later, while living part time in Paris, when he formed lifelong friendships with a group of Catalan artists. The first exhibition of his works was held in Barcelona in 1900.
In addition to showing numerous examples of Picasso’s works, Museu Picasso offers a “Biographical Itinerary through the Collection”. Although the collection features mainly the early works, a major holding is the series of 57 canvases called “Las Meninas”, inspired by the famous painting by Velázquez.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Barcelona: a feast for the eyes
We just spent ten days in Barcelona and the surrounding area, and I have lots of wonderful information to pass on.
To start with, I want to talk about the unique and amazing work of the architect Antoni Gaudi. It weaves in and out of the Barcelona street scene, popping up where you least expect it: from the monumental Sagrada Familia church, to the whimsical facade and roof of the Casa Battlo, to the streetlamps along the Passeig de Gracia. Gaudi’s inimitable style is everywhere there, which is as it should be—he was a fervent Catalan, and Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia.
(As an aside, I have to mention the Catalan language. All the signage throughout the city is in Catalan, with only an occasional nod to Spanish. When you first see it, it seems impenetrable. But if you have some familiarity with Spanish and French, you can begin to decode it with a little contemplation. “Avenue” is “avinguda”; “welcome” is “benvigut”. Some translations defy expectation, though: “with” is “amb”!)
Gaudi was a master of light and space, in addition to creating fantastic decorations. Some of his houses look like illustrations for fairy tales. In most cases, though, his decorative flights of fancy have practical uses. The structures on top of the apartment house known as La Pedrera may look like medieval knights, but they actually house stairwells and ventilation systems.
He took much of his inspiration from nature. In the Sagrada Familia, for example, the soaring arches of the nave effectively recall tree limbs, making visitors feel they are standing in a grove of massive trees. In the Casa Battlo, a private home which he remodeled, the details recall elements of the sea: waves, nautilus shapes, and so on.
This site will give you an overview of Gaudi’s work: Gaudí Central
Click here to take a virtual tour of the Sagrada Familia.
To learn about La Pedrera, go to Fundacio Caixa Catalunya. Once on the site, click on “English”, then “Culture”. Choose “Visits to La Pedrera” and “Espai Gaudi” for full information about the building and other Gaudi works.
Friday, March 04, 2005
2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits
If you’re interested in portraiture, visit www.retratos.org, where you can take a virtual tour of this exhibition, 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits.
The exhibition does literally cover two centuries of art created for a variety of reasons: to memorialize the dead, to celebrate the powerful, to comment on political issues, or to explore the psyche of the artist. From early pre-Columbian portraits, both painted and sculpted, through the whole turbulent history of Latin America, the exhibition opens a window on the events and culture of the region.
The online visit to the collection offers close-up views of a number of works from the different eras, with background information about the artists, the sitters, and the contemporary environment.
A Treasure Trove of Images On Line
The New York Public Library has a vast collection of images, including prints, maps, posters, photographs, illuminated manuscripts, sheet-music covers, dust jackets, menus, and cigarette cards—and it can now be browsed on line, at digitalgallery.nypl.org. About 275,000 items can be found by subject, collection, name, or keyword. They can be downloaded, enlarged, and printed at no charge (for personal use). (This feature is getting so much traffic that the NYPL is in the process of upgrading the web server—so the site may not be available all the time. Keep trying—it will be back soon.)
This is a marvelous resource for artists, who often turn to image collections in libraries for reference material or inspiration. But be warned—it’s easy to wander for hours in this huge and varied treasure house!
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Robert Heindel—a “latter-day Degas”
FAS Guiding Faculty member—and alumnus—Robert Heindel is perhaps as well known today for his paintings of dancers as Edgar Degas was in his time.
Both artists were inspired by the physicality of dancers....but there’s something more. In Tour à Tour (a publication of Neenah Paper), Heindel says, “Each successful dancer is far more than a handsome man—a pretty woman. There’s a dedication a dancer has that’s almost tangible. A steel in their spine. An almost obsessive intensity. It’s this special quality I strive to communicate in my paintings.”
Heindel has worked with many ballet companies, in San Francisco, Atlanta, Kansas City, Dallas, and London, among others. Most often, he paints his dancers only in rehearsal, not in performance. He also made a conscious decision not to learn too much about the technical aspects of ballet. He says, “I prefer to concern myself with the emotional qualities I discover. Knowing too much can cause a serious interference with making art a viewer can bring himself to—and become part of. After all, it’s what you bring to a painting that makes it important to you. That’s why I cover all my paintings with glass. The glass literally reflects the viewer so he becomes an integral, important, visual part of the painting.”
He starts by taking hundreds, sometimes thousands, of photos of the dancers at work. After choosing an image or group of images, he begins to draw, discovering, as he works, how best to capture the desired attitude. Then he begins to paint.
“I am endlessly awed by the dancers’ grace, even in repose,” he says. “Their awareness of their bodies is constant, and constantly enchanting. My purpose is to attempt to describe and highlight their inner strengths.”
Robert Heindel credits his experience as a student of Famous Artists School with teaching him important lessons in self discipline which have stood him in good stead as he distills the essence of the dance into painting after painting.
Friday, February 25, 2005
30-Second Vacations
I read about something in the New York Times “Circuits” section yesterday that reminded me of how very broad and all-encompassing the word
artcan be.A group of French artists who live in Paris asked artists from around the world to capture the views from their windows. You can see the result at www.lappareil.com/window. It’s like spending a 30-second vacation in a variety of places, in the company of the artists who live there.
Yes, art can be personal and international, a door into adventure and fantasy. Enjoy it!
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Mark English talks about Norman Rockwell
Many of the Founders of Famous Artists School were giants in the field of American art, and none more so than Norman Rockwell. Among our current Guiding Faculty, several artists knew Rockwell, and felt his influence as their own art careers developed.
Recently we asked Mark English to reflect on Rockwell and his significance for a generation of American artists. Here’s what he had to say.
Quite simply, Norman Rockwell was a genius at telling a story and caputring the real character of his subjects. Each of his paintings is a self-contained short story. There’s no need for any words—the story is all right there, in the faces of the people and in the situations. All of the covers that he created for the Saturday Evening Post had that quality of story-telling.
Of course, we shouldn’t forget that Rockwell, as a painter, was also a technical genius.
I met him about a year before he died. As you might expect, he was a friendly and witty man, who could tell a funny story with animation and zest.
I can’t say that he influenced me directly as an artist. My work is very different from his. However, I have always recognized him as the best illustrator that ever worked in the field. In fact, I think that his photo should accompany the definition of the word “illustrator” in the dictionary. There may have been others who were better artists technically, or who were more esthetically innovative, but no one defined the role of illustrator as well as he did.
Like Rockwell, I sometimes worked from photos of models. Of course, he was much better at it than I was! Now I’m mainly painting landscapes, but when I was doing a lot of illustration and figure painting, I used photos as a starting point, though I took liberties and seldom did real character studies. Although it’s now well known that Rockwell worked from photos (which were meticulously costumed and posed by him), he used to deny that he did! When he gave talks about his methods, he’d always say that he only worked directly from models. I remember Austin Briggs telling me that one day, he and Robert Fawcett (both were Founders of Famous Artists School) dropped in unannounced at Rockwell’s studio. The floor was covered with glossy photos of models for his current painting. Briggs told me, “We were all very polite. Nobody looked at the floor!”
There has been a resurgence of interest in Rockwell’s work lately, because the art world is just waking up to how good and important he was. And of course, the public has always loved his work. The large exhibition of Rockwell’s work that is now traveling around the United Sates has also brought him even more into the public eye. I understand that some of his paintings have sold for more than a million dollars. Also, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, has helped to enhance his reputation. I did a workshop there several years ago; it’s an impressive place, not only for its incredible collection of Rockwell’s work, but also for the number of people who visit every year.
There’s certainly a lot of nostalgia associated with the way we look at Rockwell’s paintings. They represent a time when life seemed to be simpler and more accessible. But they have great historical significance as well. Rockwell gave us a better image of life in the thirties, during the war years, and on into the upheavals of the sixties, than anyone else did.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Letter from the Editor
Welcome to the inaugural issue of insideART! All of us here at Famous Artists School are very excited about the launch of our beautiful new website and this online magazine. Here are just a few of the features we’re planning:
-- conversations with Guiding Faculty members
-- anecdotes from the Famous Schools archives
-- “how-to” tips from our instructors and Faculty
-- links to art-related websites and news
-- profiles of our successful students and alumni
-- and much more!Beyond that, this is your magazine too! Write to us with your questions, comments, suggestions, and news. We hope that insideART will become an on-line community for artists everywhere.
