Archive for paintings
My 500th post
Posted in ART, ART HISTORY, ART PORTFOLIO MY PERSONAL ART, ARTISTS BIRTHDAYS, BODIES IN PRESERVATION, BRONTE BITES, DESIGN, MY SURFACES, SCULPTURE, TRANSCRIPTION, WEIRD AND WACKY DESIGN with tags ART, ART HISTORY, blogging, DESIGN, paintings, posts on April 16, 2010 by echostainsOn the Town
Posted in ART, ART HISTORY, exhibitions, HOME, OUT AND ABOUT MANCHESTER, SCULPTURE with tags ART, art gallery, hyper realism, hyperrealist sculptor, manchester city art gallery, national museum day, paintings, pre Raphaelites, ron mueck on February 11, 2010 by echostains
It was National Museum day 1st February. I followed the Tate Modern London, Tate Liverpool, Dox Prague and Beamish. But you don’t have to wait for a special day to support museums – you can support them any time and the best way is to actually visit them. I love popping into the Manchester City Gallery when ever I’m in town. The last exhibition was ‘Women and Anarchy (women Surrealists) which I wrote about HERE.
We went to the Manchester City Art Gallery today. That is another museum that I follow on Twitter. There are 3 works being exhibited by Hyper-Realist artist Ron Mueck (4th Feb – April 10) Artist’s Rooms and an exhibition called Facing East: Recent work from China, India and Japan from the Frank Cohen Collection. Mueck’s ‘Wild Man” is colossal and dominates the room. the naked model sits down, a wild nervous look upon his face. this has to be seen to be believed! Mask 111 also huge, you can see each pore in the skin. The Spooning couple’ was quite small, deliberate so the viewer invades this private moment by their close scrutiny.
Following on from the enormous success of 2009, Manchester Art Gallery is one of 21 museums and galleries across the UK showing 25 ARTIST ROOMS displays drawn from the collection created by the dealer and collector, Anthony d’Offay, and acquired by the nation in February 2008.
ARTIST ROOMS on Tour with The Art Fund has been devised to enable this collection held by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland, to reach and inspire new audiences across the country, particularly young people.
Following on from the enormous success of 2009, Manchester Art Gallery is one of 21 museums and galleries across the UK showing 25 ARTIST ROOMS displays drawn from the collection created by the dealer and collector, Anthony d’Offay, and acquired by the nation in February 2008.
ARTIST ROOMS on Tour with The Art Fund has been devised to enable this collection held by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland, to reach and inspire new audiences across the country, particularly young people.
More Hyperealist artists HERE
There are some pretty amazing paintings and objects on display in Manchester City Art Gallery, including a very fine collection of Pre Raphaelite paintings and some unbelievable Adolphe Valette paintings and life drawings which I shall be writing about later.
There’s another post I wrote about Ron Mueck with more pics of his work HERE
Follow a museum HERE on Twitter or just…folow a museum!
Art I LOVE:The Sound of Silence – Vermeer
Posted in ART, ART HISTORY, FAVORITE ART: Art I LOVE with tags girl with pearl earing, old masters, paintings, vermeer on September 23, 2009 by echostainsSometimes the sound of silence can actually be very informative. I’m talking of course about the sort of silent narrative that some of the old Master’s used to convey quietness, closeness and intimacy. Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (c.1632 -1675) is a good example of capturing the private moment and sharing it with you.
When you look into his paintings, there is a feeling that you have just stepped into the room and have just missed something: some kind of activity or movement, and now all is still (until you leave…….) It’s a bit like the childhood fancy about toys coming alive whilst you are asleep and then going back to the inanimate objects they really are when you wake up.
Vermeer’s paintings look deceptively simple: a woman with a letter, a young woman at a virginal, another pouring a ewer of milk, a girl with a pearl earring: pictures of quite domesticity (or so it would seem on the face of it). Vermeer was particularly outstanding in his use of light. He loved to light his figures up by painting what looks like natural daylight. This light illuminates the figures, bringing them to life.
It has been argued that Vermeer may have used a camera obscura to help him paint details: if he did he wasn’t the only artist (more about this later).
A complete catalogue of Vermeer’s paintings, some of them interactive too! HERE
There’s even a Vermeer blog HERE
To be continued tomorrow
‘Happy Birthday Dear Dali!’
Posted in ART with tags paintings, salvador dali, surrealism on May 11, 2009 by echostains
It’s legendary artist Salvador Dali’s birthday today! He would have celebrated his 105th birthday (and been in the Guinness Book of Records) is he’d have lived! He died in Figueres Spain (his birthplace) of heart failure in 1989, aged 84.
He is in my opinion the personification of a painter: talented, original and as mad as a hatter lol! We went to the Dali Universe in London a few years ago.
Apart from the easily recognised Dali sculptures (lobster telephones etc), the best bit was Dali’s actual drawings and illustrations: absolutely exquisite pieces of work and lots of them. Each one a marvel and absolute delight to gaze upon. Dali was an excellent draughtsman and his sculptures are well…surreal like the man himself!
Facts about Dali here
Here is a list of links to post I have made so far concerning artist’s birthday. I have tried to make it a rule that I actually LIKE the artists’ work! Some artists I do like, I have not included so far, as their birthdays have clashed with something else I was writing about. Some birthdays I have only found out about when it was too late to include them , I mean to rectify this at a later date.
Apart from the easily recognised Dali sculptures (lobster telephones etc), the best bit was Dali’s actual drawings and illustrations: absolutely exquisite pieces of work and lots of them. Each one a marvel and absolute delight to gaze upon. Dali was an excellent draughtsman and his sculptures are well…surreal like the man himself!
Facts about Dali here
Here is a list of links to post I have made so far concerning artist’s birthday. I have tried to make it a rule that I actually LIKE the artists’ work! Some artists I do like, I have not included so far, as their birthdays have clashed with something else I was writing about. Some birthdays I have only found out about when it was too late to include them , I mean to rectify this at a later date.
More of my posts that feature Surrealism;-
‘Sleight of Mind and Psychic Art’
And what about the Women Surrealists? Read my review of the ‘Angels of Anarchy’ exhibition HERE
Fellow Surrealist Marcel Duchamp HERE and Photographer Man Ray HERE
The Latest artist’s birthday is Pable Picasso
Rubens
Gauguin
Leonardo da Vinci
Hart Benton
Turner
Van Gogh
Morris
Pollock
Chagall
Kahlo
Modigliani
Degas
Hopper
Duchamp
Hogarth
Beardsley
Munch
Hepworth
A Little Light relief: Euphoria Borealis
Posted in ART, ART HISTORY, ART PORTFOLIO MY PERSONAL ART, HISTORY, HOME with tags ART, aurora borealis, dissertation, Echostains, euphoria borealis, northern lights, paintings, personal project on December 30, 2008 by echostainsHaving recently watched a programme about the Northern Lights, (it’s one of my ambitions to see this strange phenomena one day). It put me in mind of a painting I did in my final year at Uni. It was the last painting I completed for my degree. I had done a massive Art History dissertation, two 1.500 word essays and a 2,500 dissertation on my Personal Project (Echostains) as well as all my paintings. It is no wonder the final painting came to be named ‘Euphoria Borealis’! This summed up the feeling of pure relief (a belly laugh) at having actually completed such a workload on time!
http://www.greenlandholiday.com/AboutGreenland/NorthernLights/tabid/67/Default.aspx
A Bohemian at heart? or an Ass in Bohemia?
Posted in LONDON (JAUNTS) with tags artists, billy childish, bohemia, Bohemian, boho, colony rooms, dean street london, drawings, dylan thomas, fitzrovia, francis bacon, frenchhouse pub, gone not forgotten, jeffrey bernard, john, john deakin, London, memorabilia, minton, nina hamnett, paintings, pen and ink drawings, poets corner, pubs, queen of bohemia, soho, stuckist, watercolour sketches, wheatchief pub fitzrovia on December 18, 2008 by echostains
Boho’s that we are (at heart) we were Pottering round Soho and popped into the French Bar, Dean Street. Packed out of course. The smokey atmosphere may be gone, thanks to the ban, but the pub still a kind of ‘aura’ lingering over it. This bar has a great history and some very interesting photo’s and art on the wall of bygone customers: all characters, nearly all dead.
The pub itself is lively enough though, full of all different ‘types’. Lol! Wonder what ‘type’ people would call us? (hence the title). Not keen on stereotyping myself: do not wish to join. However, one of the barmen was NOT very pleased about us taking pictures at all, he told us so in no uncertain terms-
‘Do you know, there are actors in here who don’t want to be recognised or photographed’ he said (in a very loud stage whisper lol!)
Actors who don’t want to be photographed or recognised! A novel concept eh …… The beggers should take their chances the same as everyone else! After all it’s a pub, not an exclusive club (like the Colony Rooms, which we tried to gatecrash once… and failed). You’d have to be EXTREMELY ‘recognised’ by the owner to get in there: disguises must NOT be worn
The offended man himself was sporting a large handle bar ginger moustache, glasses and curly hair: a cross between Mr Pastry and Billy Childish (and yes, we have got a pic of him, it would be rude of me to put it on this blog though.. … oh OK then, if you insist: it’s not like anyone is going to see it..)
We did ask him if he WAS Billy, he said he wished he was. So did we. We like Billy, both as an artist (Stuckist) and a songwriter. In fact I must write about Childish later. But I digress as usual.
http://www.billychildish.com/home.html
Earlier on we had gone to Fitzrovia. Now we ADORE Fitzrovia! I prefer it to Soho. All the interesting characters that used to hang round there. So many to write about, so many talented and interesting lives. Favorites include Bacon of course (got to write about the exhibition yet), John Deakin, FANTASTIC photographer and a well, not a nice character, but a character. John Minton, tragic artist. Nina Hamnett: artist in her own right and Queen of Bohemia, Jeffrey Bernard, the journalist.
We went in the Wheatchief which was one of Dylan Thomas’s haunts, though you wouldn’t know it as they don’t exactly draw attention to the fact. I’m sure there used to be a plaque or something over the seats called ‘Poets Corner’ , but that’s gone now. Him and Caitlin had many a Ding Dong in this pub. But then they had rows any time, anywhere.
Back at the French House, before we were interupted by the barman, this is what we were trying to taking photos of.
Amongst all the memorabilia on the walls, I was rather quite taken with these. Now I don’t know if they are actual little watercolour sketches, pen and ink drawings or just pieces of wall paper, but I just LOVE them and had to snap em! I can recognise a few of the artists in the drawings/paintings. And I am sure that a lot of them would be really pleased to be remembered…….. and recognised.