ArtExpertOnLine

     A very special thank you to the National Gallery of Art for allowing us to use this painting this week.  The artist is Joan Miro (1893-1983), a Spanish artist usually considered a surrealist.   This past week I did google some information about the painting and read several "expert" opinions on its merit.  Their highly educated views gave me reason to pause, as mine will be a little more "humble".      I have never been to Spain, but I have been to many farms. Because of the nature of the business, they all have many things in common, and we see them all portrayed here. Without background history, viewing the painting on its own merits, it is amazing to see all Miro has included.  Everything is here!  As our eyes scan across the canvas all kinds of life and objects are discovered; even a snail!  Miro must have loved this place.        The landscape is divided in half horizontally, with the bot...

If you checked in early, you will have noticed I changed paintings for this week.  I discovered my original selection needed permission to be used. So hopefully, we will be able to use it in the future.  So, today we have a sweet and romantic substitute.     Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is our artist, and he did this painting in 1878.    On the Stile is the title, and not knowing what a stile is, I looked it up. Stile are the steps which allow the young people to pass over the fence that is a barrior to sheep or cattle.     Homer created this work during his mature period.   Previously he had earned income as an illustrator depicting scenes of rural New England life, near where he lived.  When the Civil War broke out he was at the battlefield recording the life and horrors of war.   So now, in 1878, he has seen war, traveled to Europe and has fully matured as a complete artist.  He returns to his home area and ...

  Of all the subject to select from in painting, I believe portraiture can be the most difficult.  Not only must the artist be able to handle the medium, but also to capture a likeness, usually to satisfy the tastes of the subject.   So today we have one of the greatest portrait painters of the late 20th century, Alice Neel, (1900-1984).      This painting is taken from a career-spanning exhibition of her work that is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which is a huge accomplishment signifying the acclaim she is now experiencing some 40 years after her death.     Neel had an extremely difficult life which I will not write about, but she is worth Googling.  What I want to write about is this painting.  It was done in 1978 when she was living in New York City.  I hope you find it as amazing as I do.     Let me point out a few things: first, much of the figures are outlined in a bright blue...

 I love to mix-up the selections on this blog, so today I am tossing out a drawing and watercolor.   Charles Demuth (1883-1935) is the artist.  He was an American, living most of his life in Lancaster, Pennslyania  where he drew on the city's architectural forms for much of his subject matter.  But he also traveled, especially to Paris and New York where he discovered the new movement, cubism.  He did not wholly adopt the style but rather adapted it to create his own version.        Roofs and Steeple is primarily handled as a drawing.  But it makes no difference. As a two dimensional statement, the guidelines of composition still apply.  So here we have an interesting arrangement of line and shape where the primary focus is directed at the exact middle, and almost completely surrounded by unused space, bare paper.   But this "unused" space is equally as important as the subject, and the artist must take it into c...

      For this week, we have one of my favorite Picasso works.  Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is easily considered the greatest artist of the 20th century primarily because he was so very inventive, always on the move discovering and taking on new challenges.  Most people know him by his cubistic work but what I have always admired about him is his ability to draw, execute realistically.     Our subject for today is his portrait of his first wife, Olga Khokhlova.  They were married in 1918, the same year this painting was done.  At the time Picasso was heavy into his cubism phase, but he took time out to create this wonderful painting.      What is fun about this painting is what is NOT included.  She is very realistically done, but where is the chair?  Is that the beautifully embroidered fabric to her right?  A close examination shows line sketches, but the heavy shadow behind her suggests she is very clos...