A few simple lines, a simple form, and yet… it’s so evocative that our minds are tricked into seeing things that aren’t there.
Month: August 2019
Friday
This is straight up one of my favorite pieces. It has a richness of tone, color, composition and yet a simplicity about it. I enjoy the way it invokes a sense of dreamy, almost surreal wonder.
Thursday
Whenever we talk about some of my favorite pieces of art, I have to stomp on my urge to just drag people straight to this painting and go, “THIS IS EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT ART AFTER IMPRESSIONISM ENDS.” It is slashes of color; it is expressionism and indistinct, yet it is coherent. It is bold and succinct. It is poignant and direct and to the point. It has no problem telling you exactly what it is and why it’s here and that you are just a fly on the wall. This is a particular kind of unapologetic art for art’s sake, and I love it so much it makes my little heart burst.
Wednesday
This is simple, beautiful, and pure. There is no ulterior motive or sentiment: it just is.
Tuesday
I just want to put my hand in the spray of the water. Is that weird? I think it’s weird. Maybe I should go put myself in the corner?
Monday
Shining example of Art Nouveau here! In many ways, the whole movement was about the feminine ideal: flowing, feminine lines and ethereal idealizations. This bronze sculpture encapsulates both ideas in a very classical but (for the times) modernized way.
Sunday
This, in and of itself, is a very simple image – both stylistically and color-wise. There is nothing complex or challenging about it. However, in a room full of paintings, it is the one that draws you in and tugs you across the way to look at it. It radiates peaceful serenity and the gentle harmony of a world that is at rest before the oncoming storm of a new day.
Saturday
Pointing out an important distinction between yesterday’s sculpture and today’s sculpture: yesterday’s was made by a woman and today’s by a man. Yesterday’s was fully clothed; today’s has a breast hanging out. It’s pretty much like that across the board when you put artwork side by side: even nudes of the same relative time period are generally partially or artfully draped more often in female-driven works v. male-driven ones. Also, I’m not sure what a boob hanging out has to do with faith as a virtue, even in a classical sense of morality, so I’ll just leave that hanging out there like the proverbial elephant in the room.
Friday
To be honest, there are very few American sculptors. There are even fewer American sculptors of the feminine persuasion. Feminist feminine sculptors can probably be counted on one hand. And, boy, do we need more of them if this is what they can achieve.
Thursday
THIS PAINTING. This painting, you guys. This is the one painting that I always come to when I need to stop, take stock, and unwind, unravel, and put my sanity back together into a cohesive piece. This is a miracle in paint. From afar, it doesn’t look real. The closer you get, the more insanely realistic it becomes. By the time you’re within a few feet, you could swear you can hear the waves cresting and you’re going to get splashed with water. It’s some crazy mind trickery, but oh… oh, what wonderful trickery. It is, without a doubt, in my top twenty pieces of art ever – but it has such stiff competition.