Modern Art Study....of a sort

[Skylar]

So I need to brush up on my 'modern' art history.....say everything from Impressionism to last week. Book learning is great and all. But I find I really learn a topic is to debate it, discuss it, take a position, do research to back an idea and the like.

Pick your favorite artists from the 1870s through today. We can discuss their styles, influences, significance, legacy, favorite colors....whatever. All respectful, cordial and for the fun of it.

Anyone interested in joining me? I'll even start with a few topics

1) Camille Claudel, one my favorite sculptors. Some have argued that she, a student of Auguste Rodin, actually acted has *his* teacher with Rodin copying Claudel.

I argue that's a steaming pile of revisionist nonsense. Lets explore their work.

2) DuChamp and Warhal. Both talented artists. But I argue that they mark the first and second wave of marketing as art, where the artistic value is determined by the context and story that accompanies the art rather than the craft, skill and originality that went the execution of the piece.

Though 'Nude Descending a Staircase #2' is still one of the most startlingly beautiful works I've ever seen.

 

[OldLady]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

 

[OldLady]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Just realized, you wanted Modern Art paintings, huh?

 

[Skylar]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Just realized, you wanted Modern Art paintings, huh?

Paintings, scupltures, whatever. Rodin worked in bronzes. DuChamp was most famous for 'found art'......being the first to have the brass balls necessary to bolt a urinal to a wall and call it high art.

So whatever you like!

 

[Compost]

I took an art course once and learned about the styles, realism, impressionism, modernism, etc. After I'd learned that stuff, I looked at lots of art, to art museums... It was surprising. Being someone who likes to look at trees and animals and birds in real life, I found my favorite artist was John Singer Sargent. A guy who mostly painted portraits of people.

I don't have the terms to describe why I like this guy the best. It just seems to me he made boring old portraits of people interesting. Maybe it's the color, or the framing of the figure...I don't know. But I've bought very few "art books" and two of them are about Sargent.


Slideshow - John Singer Sargent

 

[Skylar]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

 

[Skylar]

I took an art course once and learned about the styles, realism, impressionism, modernism, etc. After I'd learned that stuff, I looked at lots of art, to art museums... It was surprising. Being someone who likes to look at trees and animals and birds in real life, I found my favorite artist was John Singer Sargent. A guy who mostly painted portraits of people.

Holy shit, Sargent is amazing. Even his doodles with watercolor were just stunning.

That's a damn *sketch*. Something he tore off with the effort and consideration you or I might put into a game of hangman.

Here's another one that's just stunning:

The guy worked with a very tight palette and the tiniest of watercolor sets. And yet mixed on site and created these exquisite works. And here's when he took just a little more time to do a more impressionistic painting:

The dude definitely had an extra lobe. Though he's still best known for his portrait of the rich.This is one my favorites:

Madam X. Holy shit that guy was amazing.

 

[Compost]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

It is mind blowing who someone can create a sense of motion in a statue!

When I was a kid I remember at my grandparents house there was this reproduction of a sculpture of an Indian on horse. The man's head was down, his arms hanging limp, the horse seemed to be moving slowly. You could sense fatigue, defeat...

 

[Iceweasel]

John Singer Sargent is probably my favorite painter. Much of his work was commissioned but he managed to put himself into it. Kinda told it like it was too, one account said a woman complained her nose was too big and he told her a little powder might help.

But it isn't modern art. The art world got hijacked by whackos where the most bizarre gets the most accolades. I majored in art in college and studied quite a bit, including on my own. I'm not saying it's all bad, good abstract paintings are a favorite but most of it is just junk. Expensive junk.

 

[Skylar]

John Singer Sargent is probably my favorite painter. Much of his work was commissioned but he managed to put himself into it. Kinda told it like it was too, one account said a woman complained her nose was too big and he told her a little powder might help.

But it isn't modern art. The art world got hijacked by whackos where the most bizarre gets the most accolades. I majored in art in college and studied quite a bit, including on my own. I'm not saying it's all bad, good abstract paintings are a favorite but most of it is just junk. Expensive junk.

There is definitely plenty of crap out there, agreed. But some of it is just jaw dropping. Ron Mueck for example is just amazing.

And this is mid installation so you can get a better idea of his process:

With my current favorite being a little......odd. But its just so fascinating.

That's real craft, skill and beauty.

Another favorite is Lucien Freud. Sigmund's grandson. He's on par with Sargent for stunning portraiture.

And another artist with work that will amaze......is the glasswork of Dale Chihuly. Not bad for a cyclops, eh?

 

[Skylar]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

It is mind blowing who someone can create a sense of motion in a statue!

When I was a kid I remember at my grandparents house there was this reproduction of a sculpture of an Indian on horse. The man's head was down, his arms hanging limp, the horse seemed to be moving slowly. You could sense fatigue, defeat...

End of the Trail, perhaps?

 

[Compost]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

It is mind blowing who someone can create a sense of motion in a statue!

When I was a kid I remember at my grandparents house there was this reproduction of a sculpture of an Indian on horse. The man's head was down, his arms hanging limp, the horse seemed to be moving slowly. You could sense fatigue, defeat...

End of the Trail, perhaps?

That's similar, but not the one I remember. This piece is extra sad, the horse looks like his hind legs are about to crumble.

 

[Skylar]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

It is mind blowing who someone can create a sense of motion in a statue!

When I was a kid I remember at my grandparents house there was this reproduction of a sculpture of an Indian on horse. The man's head was down, his arms hanging limp, the horse seemed to be moving slowly. You could sense fatigue, defeat...

End of the Trail, perhaps?

That's similar, but not the one I remember. This piece is extra sad, the horse looks like his hind legs are about to crumble.

 

[Compost]

I never knew you could "debate" any work of art. Except to say I like it/I hate it.
I'm not scholarly, but one of the most wonderous things I've seen in an art museum is one of Remington's bronzes. There is a horse, and some kind of guy on it--can't recall exactly. What is absolutely amazing is that you can practically see the horse breathing, feel the warmth, the smooth stiff coat. Then you touch the bronze and it is deeply cold and hard as ice, as death, as unfeeling metal.
It just blew my mind. And no, I wasn't supposed to touch it, but I couldn't help it.

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

It is mind blowing who someone can create a sense of motion in a statue!

When I was a kid I remember at my grandparents house there was this reproduction of a sculpture of an Indian on horse. The man's head was down, his arms hanging limp, the horse seemed to be moving slowly. You could sense fatigue, defeat...

End of the Trail, perhaps?

That's similar, but not the one I remember. This piece is extra sad, the horse looks like his hind legs are about to crumble.

I think that's it! Thanks!

 

[Skylar]

Fredrick Remington!

Frederic Remington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love that guy. He was more a commercial artist rather than a high artist....but then, so am I. I had two of his pieces from original castings....and they were exquisite.

Cheyenne

And Trooper of the Plains:

The pieces were so beautifully composed. They always conveyed such a sense of motion and life. I always wondered what role his family history played in his art. He was a cousin to the founder of the Remington gun company, and had famous American mountain men in his immediate family tree.

His sculptures are public domain now.

It is mind blowing who someone can create a sense of motion in a statue!

When I was a kid I remember at my grandparents house there was this reproduction of a sculpture of an Indian on horse. The man's head was down, his arms hanging limp, the horse seemed to be moving slowly. You could sense fatigue, defeat...

End of the Trail, perhaps?

That's similar, but not the one I remember. This piece is extra sad, the horse looks like his hind legs are about to crumble.

That's it! Thanks!

End of the Trail by Fraiser. That's the full sized piece. It makes you want to weep.

 

[OldLady]

Speaking of Dale Chihuly, have you ever seen the glass botanical models at Harvard? Some of the grasses are so real looking that I was convinced the exhibit had a bundle of real grass next to the glass model for comparison. Nope. All blown glass. Next time you're in Boston, it's worth a ride over on the T. There are some stuffed exotic animals, etc. there for the kiddies, as well.

 

[OldLady]

unbelievable realism blows me away, but I do like some modern art, too.
Who was the Russian painter with the floating people?