Vincent Willem van Gogh was a famous Dutch Post-impressionist artist whose paintings and drawings have become some of the most popular and most expensive works of art in the world today. His use of color as the chief mode of expression has led him to create some of the most beautiful paintings, the mix of color and dramatic content of his works display his genius as an artist. Van Gogh’s posthumous success despite the tragic life he led seems to be in line with the lives of other great artists that achieved renown only after their death.
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. His father, Theodorus van Gogh was a minister of the Dutch Reformed |Church. His mother was Anna Cornelia Carbentus. As a child, Van Gogh was serious and silent. But generations of the Van Gogh’s have been associated with either art or religion. Early relatives seem to either lean on a life of art or religion. So it can be safely said that art runs in Van Gogh’s blood.
Van Gogh learned about drawing and the arts while attending middle school. He was taught by Constantijn C. Huysmans, a teacher at Willem II College in Tilburgand an artist who have achieved a certain success in France. But this did not motivate Van Gogh to lead a life of an artist.
In 1869, at the age of fifteen, Van Gogh decided to find work after deciding to leave school abruptly the year earlier. He was able to find work as an art dealer in The Hague with the help of an uncle. Van Gogh was later on transferred to London in 1873 where he started to become successful. This was considered as one of Van Gogh’s happy life periods.
But unfortunately, Van Gogh’s behavior began to change after being rejected by a woman he fell in love with. From that point on, Van Gogh became increasingly isolated and seem to become fervent in religion. Van Gogh also began to notice and became dismayed at how art was being treated as a commodity rather than as an admirable body of work. He began to express his sentiments to his customers. This later on led to his termination as an art dealer in 1876.
After stints of becoming a minister’s assistant at a Methodist church, Van Gogh decided to study theology but failed a three month course at a Protestant missionary course. But this did not hamper him from having a brief and temporary stint as a missionary in Belgium. His erratic behavior slowly began to come out, baffling some of the people who came to meet him.
Afterwards, Van Gogh went home after having a bad experience with the church authorities as a missionary in Belgium and in part to the insistence of his family to go back home. But then, his strange behavior began to show increasingly at home which even led his father to make inquiries of committing Van Gogh in a lunatic asylum, mostly due to the growing tension happening between them. Van Gogh decided to go someplace else and found himself going back to Belgium. There he began to harbor a growing interest of the everyday scenes around him and began to capture them in his drawings. (to be continued)
May 14th, 2008
Some drawings may require the artist to achieve a higher level of accuracy. This is true when one tries to copy a photograph with a pencil drawing. For the pencil drawing to look great, there is no room for errors. A small error may not give the artist the same result in closely getting the exact replica of the photograph on paper.
Artists make use of different way in order to increase the accuracy they have with copying a certain photograph in their pencil drawings. The easiest would be tracing the outlines of the photograph. This is especially ideal for beginners in drawing by tracing some key points of the photograph to achieve better accuracy. Professionals do it by using a projected image of the photograph over the drawing surface and tracing the key points and elements for better accuracy.
A less direct way of achieving accuracy in drawing a photograph would be using a grid. The grid is a series of vertical and horizontal lines drawn initially on the drawing surface as well as the photograph to give the artist a sense of relative proportion and shape of the image within each grid square. In essence, the artist is given a means of drawing the image a square at a time. The lines of the grid gives the artist a reference from how each part of the image can be outlined.
Having a grid for reference of the outlines of the image on a smaller scale can achieve better accuracy than doing the drawing free hand. This would be an easy way for beginners at drawing to learn how to train their hand and eye coordination. Little by little,
beginners may have a better feel of how lines can be copied from the grid on the photograph to the corresponding grid on the drawing surface.
The important thing about grid drawing is to discern the relative proportion of the image. This is especially important if one is to scale up or scale down a drawing of a certain photograph and yet acquiring the same accuracy. It is not important that the distances of the lines on each grid square is measured to achieve accuracy. It is more of the proportion of the lines between each grid square that is to be achieved. When scaling up, the grid drawn over the photograph to be copied become bigger squares on the drawing surface. When scaling down, smaller grid squares are used on the drawing surface than on the photograph being copied.
May 7th, 2008
Minimalism is considered as an art movement that covers various forms of art and design. It is an artistic style used where work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. This style of art thrives on simplicity in both from and content and aims to remove any signs of personal expressibility in the artwork or design. The reason for this is to allow the viewer to experience the work without the distractions of theme, composition etc.
In art, minimalism and the theory behind it were already being exercised as early as the 18th century. One example would be when Goethe made the Altar of Good Fortune which is a plain square cube 3 x 3 feet in size. But the actual movement started sometime after World War II where distinctive developments in minimalist art began to come out. In the visual arts, minimalism emerged sometime in the 1960’s in New York. It was a reaction against the works based on Abstract Expressionism.
In architecture and design, minimalism is being described as a trend where the subject is being reduced to only its essential elements. Influences on minimalist design can be traced to Japanese traditional design and architecture. Works of De Stijl artists may also be considered as a reference to minimalism where basic elements such as lines and planes are organized in a particular manner.
It was architect Ludwig Miles van der Rohe who adopted the motto, “Less is More”, which is the actual aim of the movement. This motto described the style of design where numerous essential components of a structure is arranged in such as way as to create the impression of extreme simplicity. With this concept, structures designed by van der Rohe makes use of simple yet elegant designs. The structure’s beauty is determined by outlining the basic geometric shapes, the use of striking color combinations, light effects, and clean and fine finishes.
April 30th, 2008
Georges-Pierre Seurat was a noted French painter that is also considered as the founder of Neo-impressionism in the 19th Century. He was born on December 2, 1859 to a well-off family in Paris, France. His father, Antoine Chrysostom Seurat was a known legal official in La Vilette. Seurat’s mother, Ernestine Faivre came from a family of prosperous middle class Parisians.
Early influences for Georges was his uncle, an amateur painter from his mother side, who introduced the young Seurat. In 1875, Georges started attending a drawing class that was taught by Justin Lequien who was a sculptor. In 1878 to 1879, he was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. After serving a year of military service, he returned to Paris where he devoted his time in trying to master the art of black and white drawing.
In 1883, Seurat was able to finish his very first painting but was rejected by the Paris Salon, a big and popular art exhibition in Paris. This rejection led Seurat to instead ally with the other independent artists in Paris. It was in 1884 that Seurat, along with other independent artists, formed the Societe des Artistes Independants. It was with the group that Seurat begin to share his ideas on a new painting technique called pointillism, which became the art movement that he founded called Neo-impressionism.
In 1884, Seurat began working on his most well-known work, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La GrandeGrande, which took about two years to finish. The painting showed members of the different social classes participating in various activities at the park. The painting was done using the pointillism technique that Seurat started. This new technique allowed viewers of the painting to blend the different colors optically through the positioning of the multi-colored dots instead of blending the color using pre-blended pigment on canvas.
Seurat died unexpectedly on March 29, 1891 in Paris. The cause of his death was uncertain but was later on attributed to a form of meningitis, pneumonia or diphtheria.
April 23rd, 2008
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Arts is a unique building in terms of design that is located in Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. This building has been quite well known for its controversial concrete facade. The building was built as a museum that was named after Herbet F. Johnson, head of S. C. Johnson of Racine, Wisconsin who funded the construction of the said building.
The museum was designed by noted architect I. M. Pei. Its design is notable in which is top two floors cantilever over the open air sculpture garden of the museum. The architect so designed the museum because of the challenges that the site presented. The design was also followed as such so that the building would not be blocking the view of nearby Cayuga Lake. The design of the building also offers visitors a more panoramic view of the lake from its fifth floor. The overall design of the building was to create a dramatic statement and at the same time do it in a way so as not to block the scenic view in the area.
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Arts has ten floors and covers a total floor area of 61,000 square feet. It houses a varied collection of artifacts with the exhibit spaces located in the nine-level tower of the museum. There are also additional galleries and function room located below ground of this unique museum. Windows in the building for horizontal bands fixed upon the upper floors of the museum. These windows provide a panoramic view of the surroundings to complement the art exhibits inside.
A notable design aspect of the museum is its spiral stairway that streaks down like a strand of DNA on a polished oak column. The team of architects that worked with I. M. Pei aimed to create a building with interiors providing people with a sense of continuous space and openness. Skylights in the lobby were included in the design to provide some wonderful openness to the building interiors.
April 16th, 2008
The Palace of Versailles is an impressive piece of architecture that is located in Versailles, France. The palace started out as a hunting chateau that Louie the XIII had built in 1624. The first chateau was designed by Philibert Le Roy and was built of stone and red brick with a slate roof. It was later on that the Palace of Versailles went through an extensive reconstruction under Louis’ successor, Louie XIV.
It was Louie XIV that took great interest on the royal chateau in Versailles. He wanted to make it the center where he can rule France, so he can distance himself from the greater population of Paris. Over the succeeding decades, he was able to expand it into one of the largest palaces in the world. The reconstruction began in 1669 where it was designed by Louis Le Vau together with the landscape architect Andre Le Notre. It was on May of 1682 that Louie XIV formally established the royal court on the palace.
The Palace of Versailles has many interesting features. Its grand scale is typical of the various buildings of Baroque architecture during its time. The grandness of the palace includes many of its lavishly decorated rooms that is big enough to house 6,000 members of the royal court. Not only that, the palace is also known for its more than 250 acres of gardens formed out of swamps and whole forests. The French style formal gardens contained landscaped tree-lined paths, lakes, manicured flowerbeds as well as over 1,400 fountains.
A royal compound in the palace, called the Grande Apartements is lavishly designed with murals depicting Greek deities, paintings, velvet draperies, gilded bronze and tinted marble. Another spectacular feature of the palace is its Hall of Mirrors. The hall is a 235 foot long drawing and ballroom that is lined with 17 huge mirrors lined up on one side. During the reign of Louis XIV, mirrors were considered as incredibly expensive fixtures that only the richest of the rich can afford. And with huge mirrors installed in the palace, the royal courtiers can admire their own fabulous costumes as they danced.
The mirrors were also specially installed so as to reflect the frescoes of the room’s ceiling. The other side of the room contains a row of windows that open up to show the vast gardens and provide the king and his court a view of the sunset. It was in the palace that Louie XIV married Marie Antoinette in 1770 at the Chapel Royal situated inside the palace compound. Due to its grandness, the cost of building the huge and lavish palace has continued on to be debated upon. Some estimates put the costs at around the USD 2 billion in today’s monetary value although many consider it as an undervalued estimate. This alone can have one imagine on the lavishness and grandeur of this impressive palace in Versailles.
April 9th, 2008
The Casa Mila is a unique and attractive apartment building located at 92, Passeig de Gracia in the Eixample district of the city of Barcelona in Spain. This captivating architectural masterpiece was the work of well-known Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. The Casa Mila has been considered among the works of the revered architect to be considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Casa Mila is also popularly known as the La Pedrera or “the Quarry” mainly because of the building’s cliff-like walls. The Casa Mila stands on an asymmetrical lot and took about six years to construct. The building was built in the years 1906 to 1912. This unique building is known for its surrealistic look and design, typical of the crazy imaginations of its architect, Antonio Gaudi. It was designed and built by Gaudi for a wealthy married couple Rosario Segimon and Pere Mila.
There have been various theories as to what inspired Gaudi to design the building as such. Some say that the famous architect was inspired to instill the character of ocean waves into the building characteristic of its rippled stone facade and curved balconies. Others say that Gaudi wanted it to look like a mountain in the midst of other man made buildings in the area. No matter what inspired Gaudi to design the Casa Mila, it truly became quite an arresting presence.
The Casa Mila is considered as one of Gaudi’s most identifiable and unique masterpieces. People seem quite in a difficulty trying to describe how it looks. Some say that it resembles the honeycombed structure of a beehive. Some say, upon seeing the unique building, that it looks like a sand castle in terms of its texture that is on the verge of collapse. The fanciful aura that this Gaudi building evokes wasn’t as accepted then as it is today. When the building was nearing completion sometime in 1911, it received rather a less enthusiastic response. Fast forward into current times, the Casa Mila has become quite a masterpiece in terms of design and form. It has also become one of Barcelona’s must-see attractions, a building that seem to spring out of fantasy.
April 2nd, 2008
The Statue of David is perhaps one of the most famous sculptures in the world. It is a Renaissance masterpiece sculpted by Micheangelo from 1501 to 1504. It is considered as one of the greatest works of the famous Renaissance artist along with his other sculpture, the Pieta.
The Statue of David can be found in the city of Florence in Italy. The original statue is now located at the Accademia Gallery where it is being protected from damage. A replica of the statue now stands in its former place at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio in 1910. The replica statue still attracts many visitors at Florence. There is also another replica of the famous statue that is located at the Piazza della Signora which also attracts throngs of spectators passing by.
The original statue of David was commissioned by the guild of wool merchants in the city, or Arte della Lana. This guild was responsible for the maintenance and the decoration of the Cathedral of Florence. The guild was tasked to oversee the creation of 12 large sculptures for cathedral. Michelangelo was given the task of finishing the statue of David after previous artists commissioned to form one from a single block of marble. The statue was first started on at around 1464 and Michelangelo was awarded the commission sometime in the 1500’s. By this time, the previous artists were able to form the legs, feet and the figure from the huge block of statue. Michelangelo started working on it in 1501 and was able to finish it in a span of three years.
Michelangelo’s David was created following the style of the artistic discipline called disegno which tries to mimic divine creation. Its positioning is based on the contrapposto style of human pose depicted as a human form standing with most of its weight on one foot giving the figure a more dynamic appearance. With this style, Michelangelo was able to create a statue that became widely known fas a symbol of strength and youthful human beauty.
March 26th, 2008
Paul Gauguin was a famous Post-Impressionist painter whose bold experimentation with color helped develop the Synthetist style in modern art. His painting style also led to the development of Primitivism and a return to the pastoral. He is also known for his woodcuts and wood engravings from which he became one of its influential proponents.Paul Gauguin was born on June 7, 1848 in Paris, France. His father, Clovis Gauguin, was a journalist while his mother, Aline Maria Chazal, was the a half-Peruvian daughter of a socialist leader and feminist. It was unfortunate that Paul’s father died while on a voyage to Peru when he was three years old, leaving his mother to raise him along with Paul’s sister. The fractured family lived in Lima, Peru for four years before returning to France.
When Paul and his family returned to France when he was seven, they stayed with his grandfather where he soon learned French and did very well on his studies. His interest in art started when he was young. Free time he spends painting and visiting galleries to purchase work by emerging artists. This led him to get in touch with a network of other artists which led him to rent his own studio and exhibit his paintings in Impressionist exhibitions in 1881 and 1882. After trying out work as a stockbroker in Copenhagen in 1884, he decided to devote his time in painting and returned to Paris in 1885.
Although trying to develop his craft in painting, Paul started to suffer from the poor subsistence that his profession brought with him. Painting wasn’t providing much of what he needed just to survive. This is what probably driven him to bouts of depression. But yet, his love for art prevailed and he continued on painting in Paris until 1891.
Throughout his stay in France, Paul Gauguin became frustrated for not being recognized for his work and still in the state of financial disrepair. He resolved to sail into the tropics in order to escape the conventionalities and supposed unnatural state of European civilization. This led him to briefly stay in Martinique and become a day laborer during the construction of the Panama Canal.
He later on moved to Tahiti where he did a number of masterpieces influenced by the culture and style he experienced while staying in the tropics. The style that he employed also influenced the Primitivism art movement in the late 19th century. The style is characterized by exaggerated body proportions, geometric designs and stark contrasts from which Gauguin was the first artist to make use of such styles and achieve broad public success. His works fascinated and intrigued a number of the European elite who were just discovering the art coming from foreign cultures in Micronesia, Africa and the tropics. Paul returned to France only once after that and lived out the rest of his life in the Marquesas Islands. Paul Gauguin died in 1903 and was buried in the Marquesas Islands.
March 18th, 2008
Alexander Calder is a well known American sculptor and artist who was credited to inventing the mobile or the kinetic sculpture. It is a sculpture that takes advantage of the principle of equilibrium to achieve balance. A mobile usually consists of a number of rods from which weighted objects or other rods hang. The different objects hanging from the rods balance each other making them remain more or less horizontal. The display of rods and objects usually hang from only one string giving them freedom to rotate about.Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. He came from a family of artists with his father, Alexander Stirling Calder, already a well-known sculptor of many public installations in Philadelphia. Calder’s mother, Nanette Lederer Calder, was a professional portrait painter who has studied in Paris. Calder also had an older sister, Margaret “Peggy” Calder, who was born in 1896.
Calder made his first sculpture at the age of four. This and other early works showed the talent of this budding sculptor at a very young age. Calder’s parents encouraged their children’s creativity in art but somehow discouraged them to lead a career as artists due to the difficulties and uncertainties that usually come with having such a profession. And because of this, Calder decided to study mechanical engineering after graduating from high school in1915 at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He received his degree in the school in 1919. Thereafter, Calder went on to work on a variety of engineering jobs and even worked on a passenger ship as a fireman in the boiler room. Eventually, Calder decided to pursue a career as an artist.
Calder then moved to New York to study art at the Art Students’ League. In 1926, he relocated to Paris where he took the job creating toys. During his stay in Paris, Calder started making out his Cirque Calder which is a miniature circus fashioned out of wire, string, wood, cloth and other discarded objects, small enough to fit into suitcases. His miniature circus became popular with the avant-garde crowd in Paris.
Calder returned to the US in 1927 where he designed several kinetic wooden toys for children. In 1928, he had his first solo exhibit at the Weyhe Gallery in New York. During this time, Calder was already fascinated by wire sculptures and kinetic art. It was in 1931 that Calder made his popular mobiles. He also went to create self-supporting, static abstract sculptures that he called as “stabiles” to distinguish them from his mobiles. He went on to do several other artworks using other media. Calder died on November 11, 1976.
March 12th, 2008
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