Art and Photography Blog

Painting of Red Delicious Apples

Here is a 18" x 24" acrylic painting of a bowl with red delicious apples. It is a redo of Still Life with Apples Phase 2. I did not like the apples in the original and ended flipping the light source and changing the background so the entire painting was redone.

Photographic Innovation from Central Europe 1918-1945

Between the two world wars, there was a brief flowering of independence in the parts of central Europe not controlled by the Nazis or the Communists Then things got real bad for a long time. The time and place provided us with some of the most innovative photography of the last century according to the organizers of Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945,” at the Guggenheim Museum.  I have always liked Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s work and I hope I can get to New York to see this exhibit before it closes on Jan. 13, 2008. It includes works for many others, less well known. There is an enticing description in the New York Times, Views of Tumult Between Two Wars. It included a slide show of ten images from the exhibit.

There is a sad edge to the show as “many of the images mesmerize as the tips of exotic icebergs — surviving evidence of talent, bodies of work and life stories that may never be fully known.” Watching the recent Ken Burn’s series of World War Two gives another layer of context to the work.

Akos Szilvasi - Photos of People

Recently, I went to an event of the Cambridge Art Association and saw the photographs of Akos Szilvasi. They have a very direct quality. Akos said he often crops off the top of heads to focus more on the eyes and mouth were there is much more information. You see this in the four portraits on his opening page. He talked mostly about black and white and explained the digital process for black and white photography.  With digital you have to start with color but then you can take the color out.

Akos puts his subjects in front of a white background to focus only on them. He takes the picture vertically to make the most of the pixels but then adds white on either side to create a horizontal format. Akos said he does this as we see the world horizontally.

Akos also has a blog, Invitation to discussion: Portraits: How Do We Photograph People?  It is nice to see the complementary web site and blog with the blog providing more of the back story.  He needs more entries in the blog as Akos has a lot of interesting things to say.

Eliza Stamps has New Work and Upcoming Exhibits

I have written about Eliza Stamps work on this blog before, Eliza Stamps - Abstract and Conceptual Work through Lines. She really pushed the drawing a textile media in new directions that are quite pleasing. There is now new work on her site. I especially liked her drawing “ceaseless” for the playful nature and strong sense of movement. It reminded me a bit of the post-WW1 Russian graphics that have a playful spin on industrial themes but there is more movement in Eliza’s work.

She also has some new shows: “Intertwine” at Sam Quinn Gallery in Philadelphia in February 2008 and “Serial Mediations” at NurtureArt in Brooklyn in March 2008. I encourage you to go see her work in person.

Photo of Model and Painting

Here is a picture of my dog looking at his painting. I wonder what he sees.

Painting: Portrait of a Dog

Here a painting of my dog. Bela. He is an Italian Greyhound, weighing in at 11 pounds. We refer him as an Armani dog. It is a 18" x 24" acrylic.

Painting of Model on the Floor

Here is a 18" x 24" acrylic painting of a woman lying on the floor. I was focusing on depth perception.

Photos of Costa Smeralda, Sardinia

This is the "gold coast" of Sardinia that has plenty of upscale resorts and homes.  It was done to minimize the environmental impact.
     

Drawing and Painting - Monet

There was a great exhibit at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. I was unable to get there but I did order the catalog. As the museum site writes, “This book is the first to focus on Monet’s pastels, drawings, and sketchbooks, offering a revolutionary new interpretation of the artist’s life and work. 

Monet has long been seen as an anti-draftsman, an artist who painted his subjects directly and whose rarely seen graphic works were marginal to his artistic process. In an effort to develop his public image, Monet denied the role of drawing in his working method. In actuality, Monet began his career as a caricaturist and as a teenager developed a passion for drawing that was never extinguished. He went on to master the medium of pastel and included seven in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.” 


The book arrived and it is wonderful. Written by  By James A. Ganz and Richard Kendall, the book is full of illustrations and explores the relationship of his drawing and painting. You can even see sketches of his haystacks. There is work about Honfleur, a place in Normandy I recently visited and put photos elsewhere on this blog. I highly recommend this book.

This is something I have been exploring. Here is a comparison of a drawing and a subsequent painting completed a bit afterwards.   

Photos of Maddalena Islands, Sardinia

These islands are off the north coast of Sardinia.