B.Y.O.P

What we don't think about when we look at older paintings by the masters is that they (or a tireless apprentice) mixed the paint using ground pigment and oil and egg (for tempera). Here, a beautiful French travel case of pigments in original tubes. Note the graceful penmanship on the labels...so lovely!

A Maira timeline

Maira Kalman. I've loved her work since seeing it for the first time in 1989 

(Stay Up Late).    24 years and counting, that love is officially a part of me.

Truly, madly, deeply

As part of their senior thesis exhibition at Musashino Art University,

Saiko Kanda and Mayuka Hayashi created portraits of couples

using a CT scan  and x-ray machine.

Eerie and spectacular!

Subject matters

Ordinary meets extraordinary.

Still life paintings by Vija Celmins.

(love the blunt titles!)

 Pan, 1964

 Heater, 1964

 Eggs, 1964

Lamp #1, 1964

Knife and Dish, 1964

Yesterday

Paul, still the cute one.

Illustration by the great Paul Thurlby

Moon, Light

They Watched at Night, by Sean Lewis

So lovely

Available at Nucleus Gallery

Private tour

Scaf the Seal, 1936

Illustrated by Rojan (Feodor Rojankovsky)

Because a seal is truly your best guide to the sights

of the Arctic Circle.

Scattered bones

Phoebe Richardson's 10-plate installation

Supermodel

available here

Incredible!

Cats and girls

The Tate Gallery wrote to Balthus requesting a biography to include in their 1968 retrospective of his work. Balthus responded by telegram, "NO BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS, BEGIN: BALTHUS IS A PAINTER OF WHOM NOTHING IS KNOWN. NOW LET US LOOK AT THE PICTURES.

REGARDS, B."

The sometimes sinister, often erotically-charged images of young girls in dimly lit rooms will always be controversial. I really want to see the Balthus exhibition, Cats and Girls currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

PS  How great is that exhibition title?  I'm like Ernest Hemingway when it comes to titles of paintings or exhibitions. Simpler and to the point is better!  The Last Supper, The Raft of the Medusa, The Guitar Player, Haystacks, Starry Night, The Scream, Nighthawks, Portrait of Madame X and so on.  The exception--Paul Klee's titles, which are inventive and can be so funny (Ghost of a Genius).

Caricature is power

Artwork I fancy:

Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957)

Self-taught artist, designer, ethnologist.

 Map of Good Eating, 1947

Malibu, 1933

Mrs. Ella Boole & Miss Texas Guinan, 1933

Marked

Four versions of promotional posters for

Michael Powell's 1960 film, Peeping Tom.

Paler still

Neon art by Leo Babsky. Love it.

A love that lasts

Herb and Dorothy Vogel shared a vision and passion for art and collecting.

Their 5000 piece collection was donated to the National Gallery of Art and

to galleries in all 50 of the United States.

Herb passed away in 2012. I have to watch the Megumi Sasaki
documentary of the Vogels, Herb and Dorothy.

Head case

Belle Helmets protect your noggin.

Colorblind test

 Earth from space

 Diagram of the Water Cycle

The Solar System

Folds

In art school, I somehow managed to have life drawing as my first class of the day for several years. This, before I had taken to drinking coffee, was met with bleary-eyed angst.  The human body is a complex form full of unique details and markers. Starting at 8 AM and lasting 3 hours, I wasn't always up for the task of studying flesh.  Sometimes, not consistently, there was drapery available. 

  (Attributed to) Leonardo da Vinci, Study for a Seated Figure c.1470-1484

 Domenico Ghirlandaio, Study of Garments c.1491

Albrecht Durer, Study on the Garment of God the Father c. 1508

Imogen Cunningham, The Unmade Bed c. 1957

Utilitarian, only better

Amazing metal work by Denice Bizot.

Yes, those are shovel heads!

Mr. Men and Little Miss

While looking for Mr. Right, no doubt you'll run into Mr. Clumsy, Mr. Cool and Mr. Forgetful.

There's a Mr. Men or Little Miss that describe each of us, thanks to the lasting appeal of Roger Hargreaves library of paperback books.

iam8bit

celebrates Hargreaves beloved characters with a gallery exhibition of 50 artists and their versions of the Mr. Men & Little Miss universe.

Colorful language

Paintings by Franz Lerch (Austrian, 1895-1977)

I love the deep colors and the austereness. There's a modern graphic quality, and illustrative style I find so appealing.

Memento mori

In Latin, Memento mori translates to remember death, and refers to an artistic tradition of symbolic paintings, sculptures and photographs that remind the viewer of our inescapable mortality.

 Young Man Holding a Skull, Frans Hals (1626)

 Saint Jerome, Albrecht Durer (1521)  

Still Life with a Skull, Philippe de Champaigne (1671)

Postcard (1926)

 Carved ivory rosary, Metropolitan museum (circa 16th century)

Mayan Pre-Columbian sculpture, National Gallery of Victoria