We’ve seen some paintings that looked like they might have been done by naive artists, but weren’t. Now we have the real deal. Alfred Wallis lived at St Ives, Cornwall, working as a fisherman and later at various jobs to earn a living. He took up painting in 1922, so he is then about 67 [...]
Karl Struss is essentially a 20th century photographer which is not obvious from these early examples of his work. He uses a very different approach, or diametrically opposed in color and focus, to William Eggleston in the previous post. Yet his result is similar with a focus on detail and sense of reality. He successfully [...]
William Eggleston’s photographs invite your eye to study detail. The eye is seduced by some very attractive color and composition into the engrossing details of our existence. This is a case where a photograph can forever keep alive a moment in time (reference the Leonardo drawing in a previous post). Also with these art works, [...]
One subject that Foujita never fails to express with strong feeling is cats. This is clearly indicated in this drawing of a woman and a cat. The cat is alive but the woman doesn’t seem to have any meaning at all. Foujita isn’t always so ineffective with the subject of female as we can see [...]
It is love at first sight. This drawing has a mesmerizing quality. This woman is permanently alive in this work. Can a photograph achieve that? I’m in love with the art and the woman. A larger photo image has been kindly provided by whoever has control of these things. Click on the smaller image to [...]
What wonderful little paintings these are! Again one wonders where did they come from and who painted them? Was the artist a highly gifted naif or a sophisticated, trained artist? Well, I have been able to find some information about this artist. Burliuk had a long history as an artist before he painted these little [...]
This post is more to add some additional reference material to my previous post on David Park, so it is more as commentary rather than to present paintings I really love. I have never been a big fan of Richard Diebenkorn but have enjoyed looking at his large Ocean Park paintings, and I get a [...]
More people today are becoming familiar with this artist as interest in his work and auction prices increase. He wasn’t getting much of a mention in the history of art, even in the history of American art where he should have been prominent. This history was dominated by the New York abstract expressionists, then Pop [...]
Isobel wasn’t an artist. She was a beautiful creature. God was the artist who makes our own efforts look very insignificant. I had the privilege and pleasure of looking after her in her later years. If we are to feel such beauty and love for a creature then we must feel the pain when they [...]
Quality
Some recent posts have dealt with artists struggling to find their best way in the midst of the varying influences of modernism and contemporary art. David Park expresses this best with great self-awareness in reference to a time when he apparently dumped a truckload of his abstract paintings: “During that time I was concerned with [...]