Dancers

Dancers in the Wings, 1880
Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
Pastel and tempera on paper, mounted to paperboard
27-1/4 x 19-3/4 in.
Norton Simon Art Foundation M.1977.06.P
Norton Simon Museum

I love when you fall a work of art at first glance and then upon research and more you find out it is even more awesome than you originally thought. I have never been a fan of Degas, I found his subject matter a bit dull (sorry ballet fans) and have never been particularly attracted to the pastel colors of so much of impressionism. I never once doubted the awesome talent of the artist, it just wasn't for me.

While searching for something else I came across this gorgeous piece by Degas. Drawn in by both composition and the colors, which are almost juicy, I was excited to discover that the work is actually made up of at least 10 pieces of paper (Norton Simon Museum website) which were used to enlarge the drawing. I've always been fascinated by what pastel can be in the hands of someone like Degas. The work is also part tempera, but this is definitely something that cannot be discerned via the digital world (see as much art as you can in person!). I would love to see this work and really understand how the mediums are used.

Dylan does Drawing

Bob Dylan
Three Chairs
Image: http://www.poplifeart.com/blog/2009/08/bob-dylan-artwork-drawn-blank-series.html

I've always found something intriguing about the popularity of visual art by celebrities (actors, singers etc.). Did you know that Bob Dylan drew? A gallery in Germany put together an exhibition of his work last year. I've only been able to find a few examples but they're not bad. Of course, being famous helps greatly in getting your work into a gallery and work will sell for that reason as well. I even discovered a blog dedicated to art by celebrities.

http://www.poplifeart.com/blog/front.html

A really interesting aspect to the recent show of Dylan's work is that the curator asked Dylan to rework his drawings into paintings. I think I'll stick with his music.

Better art to come this week!

Elizabeth Neel

Elizabeth Neel (b. 1975)
Count to Ten, 2008
Oil on canvas, 83 x 96 inches

A discovery in the most recent issue of Harper's is Elizabeth Neel. A wonderful blend of abstraction and representation. I find her work interesting but am more attracted to this work in particular, due to its sketched out, draughtsman like quality as well as the limitation of color.

Granddaughter of the painter, Alice Neel

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. (unknown date)
Tracy A. Sugarman


Tracy Sugarman is a freelance artist and illustrator who, as a WWII naval office was never far from his drawing tools. See a collection of his works at the Library of Congress Veterans History Project in addition to a wonderful collection of archival material. A simple, yet rich portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sugarman was active in the civil rights movement and hist artistry brought us portraits of historical figures and events. "In 1964, he accompanied the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to work with the black community in the Mississippi Delta, recording the nonviolent civil rights struggle in drawings and photographs." (Rediscovery films). Sugarman was the only artist/photographer allowed in the courtroom of the trial of the murderer of Malcolm X.


The Civil Rights Movement through One Man's Eyes - slide show of Sugarman's work with accompanying audio.

Drawing Conclusions: An artist discovers his America - Book

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas (Yuletide Revels), ca. 1910
William Glackens, American, 1870-1938
Black conte crayon, ink, transparent and opaque watercolor, graphite, and paper attachment on cream, thick, smooth pulp board
Illustration for Collier's, The National Weekly, December 10, 1910.
24 3/8 x 18 1/2 in. (61.9 x 47 cm)

I will be signing off for the better part of 2 weeks (you might get a post here and there, my internet access will be intermittent) for the holidays. I wanted to leave you a with a fun Christmas image. I realized how hard it is to find Christmas art, a lot of it is horribly cheesy (but sometimes cute and sweet), much of it is illustration (which is surely often art but I was trying to find something a little more "fine"), and much of it is of course religious (not a bad thing, but was seeing if I could find fine, secular holiday art).

There is only so much time in a day so I've picked this fun drawing by William Glackens. Glacken was associated with "The Eight", Ashcan School of Artists, based in nyc. Glackens was a painter and worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines. Glacken's illustration was part of the Brooklyn Museum's 2006 exhibition: Urban Views: Realist Prints and Drawings by Robert Henri and His Circle.

Happy Holidays to all my Art of the Day readers! Thanks for reading :).

The Lady on the Horse

The Lady on the Horse, ca. 1900-01
Alfred KUBIN (1877-1959), Austrian

Pen and ink, wash, and spray on paper.
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Kubin-Archiv

I discovered a new artist yesterday. Alfred Kubin, in the ranks of the odd and strange (Dali, Bosch, Goya, Ernst...) Currently, the focus of a show at the Neue Galerie in New York, Kubin's drawings are nightmarish, creepy, symbolic, intriguing and fantastical. Created predominately with pen and ink and wash, they elicit the strangeness of the psyche (Kubin began his career soon after Freud's Interpretation of Dreams was published)

Thematically linked to Odilon Redon and Max Klinger, all were heavy into literature which infused their creative work. Kubin also did illustration for works by Poe and more.

NY Times slide show of some of Kubin's drawings

Have a fantastic weekend! Christmas is coming!

A Broader Definition

Untitled, 2006
Jasper Johns
Ink on plastic
26 1/2 x 31 in.
image - Matthew Marks Gallery

Since this image is currently hanging on the wall in front of me, it seemed fitting to share. John's drawing is a great example of the broad spectrum which the term drawing covers. (Here is a an exhibition focused on a broader definition of drawing at the Met). Drawing also typically falls into the category of works on paper in most museums. My own work (when I get to it) consists of what I call drawing, which is conducted with ink and a brush on paper. The lack of a formal canvas as well as paint (though paint is often a part of drawing as well) are often consistencies in "drawings". This is a particularly abstract image (though affinities with celestial objects, trees and water all come to mind) and I like it because of the material as well as the sectioning of the overall image. Very different things are going on but alll come together through the liquidity and touch of the ink.

Head

Study for the head of Leda, c.1505-1507
Leonardo da Vinci
Image: wikimedia commons

Study for a painting that apparently was never executed. While most of da Vinci's drawings were studies for what might be seen as grander projects, the studies flourish on their own as works of art. Drawings allow us to see the process of the artist, each and every line, a sketched surface, something that is often lost in the smoothness of a painting (particularly in more traditional work).

Looks like this image is only part of an overall page of drawing in the Royal Collection, UK. You can see the same shadow of where the arch of her should was originally. Note the difficulty in finding images on the web, they are so often cropped with no lead on where the original came from (of course I sometimes add to the problem, though I try to avoid it).

More drawings of Leonardo.

Ocean

Vija Celmins (American, born Latvia, 1938). Untitled (Ocean with Cross #1). 1971.
Graphite on acrylic ground on paper
17 3/4 x 22 3/4"

Ocean begins a week with a focus on drawing. I was struck by this work when I first saw it at a show at MoMA. I've come across Celmins a number of times since and this work in particular again recently. The detail of the drawing is mind-blowing. This reproduction lends itself to the look of a photograph and this is not much different than seeing it at any sort of a distance in person. Once you move very close to the work you see that it is not a photograph (though I still needed a look at the label to confirm it was a drawing). Celmins has also created this image as a woodcut, just as incredible (maybe more so now that I am aware of the intensity it takes to get comfortable with let alone become adept at any kind of detailed woodcut).

Celmins is particularly interested in the artistic process which explains the attention she has paid to building up surfaces and tackling labor intensive printing processes such as mezzotint and woodcut. Celmin focuses on grand surface landscapes such as the ocean, desert and the surface of the moon. Her drawings and prints are soothing and beautiful.

Twombly

Leda and the Swan, 1962
Cy Twombly
Oil, pencil and crayon on canvas
6' 3" x 6' 6 3/4" (190.5 x 200 cm)
Private collection or MoMA

So I thought I would break very far from my comfort zone and pick something that I don't like. Triggered by today's artdaily.org I thought of Cy Twombly. Twombly has been the artist that I decided I would not put any effort into. There are surely more, but I was allowing myself a well-known artist critically revered by many to fall into this camp. I'd wander Modern art galleries (1940s-1960s my happy element) but Twombly was one I could never get a handle on. His works simply push me away. I've decided to take another look now when I see one but I have yet to be drawn in on any level of interest or enjoyment. Even when my Modern art guru friend attempted to share with me some insight into the artist (and this was when I was in grad school and was supposed to be open to all) I said, no, thanks, I don't do Twombly, let's talk about something else.

I would be curious to hear what others (especially those without much art background) think of this piece and his other work (if you are interested in checking out more). Unfortunately I do agree with that reproductions of his work do them no justice (which is technically true of most all work, particularly large-scale work) but it surely gives you an idea of the content. Through a quick search it appears that his more recent work might hold a bit more interest for me, but I'll have to get back to you on that.

Okay and in a tangential relationship, looking for a good definition of Modern art online I discovered the Modern Art Board Game!!!

Letter Ghost

Letter Ghost, (Geist eines Briefes) 1937
Paul Klee
Pigmented paste on newspaper, 13 x 19 1/8"
Museum of Modern Art

Paul Klee today. My love for Klee wavers depending on the work. There is a wonderful little work at a wonderful little show at my museum right now, Between the Wars, which enabled me to discover the wonder of the works on paper that the museum has in its collection. That, plus my current preoccupation with printmaking has sparked an interest in drawings and graphic works so bear with me if I inundate you with them (I'm sure my interest will easily be swayed any day now but...).

"In much of his work, he aspired to achieve a naive and untutored quality, but his art is also among the most cerebral of any of the 20th century. Klee’s wide-ranging intellectual curiosity is evident in an art profoundly informed by structures and themes drawn from music, nature and poetry."(MoMA)

Enjoy this open-eyed ghost, slightly alien in appearance, its face constructed as the overlap of a letter.

Giacometti

Walking Man II, 1960
bronze
Alberto Giacometti
Swiss, 1901 - 1966
National Gallery of Art, USA
Detail images here

Giacometti for today. It's hard to pick just one. I always find myself walking by them in museums only to walk right back and around and closer and farther away to really see them. While his sculptures are usually cast in bronze the texture that he creates from his original clay creations is still evident and is one of the many things that makes Giacometti's work stand out. This man is posed as if walking but is more than solidified to his base as the amount of material gathers at his feet. It is as if he figure has been pulled up from the ground in its creation (and may very well have been when drawn from clay.

His figure also look like a 3 dimensional drawing, only with more of the physical aspects of the hand. You can see this also in his drawings and paintings (which I LOVE, falling into them when I am fortunate to come across one in a museum or gallery)

For more on the artist, an online resource for the
2001 exhibition, Alberto Giacometti at MoMA

I also highly recommend reading A Giacometti Portrait, by James Lord. A short book, it highlights the time Lord spent with Giacometti while he was doing his portrait. It delves into the daily work of the artist, and shares his life, philosophy and more. A really great read.




The Artist's Mother
1950, oil on canvas
35 3/8 x 24" Museum of Modern Art

Expressionist Drawing

"Fall VI" Pen, ink and gouache on white paper ~20"x30"
Helen Gotlib

This drawing by Helen Gotlib, is one we wanted to buy at the Ann Arbor Art Festival last weekend. (Click on the title for image details) Alas, it was out of our price range, but noticing some affinities with yesterday's work Ben suggested I post it. Gotlib also does figures in a similar vein which are excellent, but I am drawn to the decrepit beauty of her flowers.

My first thoughts were of the German Expressionist, Egon Schiele's figure drawings. I commented that they looked like Schiele flowers. I

Self-Portrait with Arm Twisted Above Head
1910, watercolor and charcoal on paper.
Private Collection, New York

recommend checking out some more of both Gotlib's work and Schiele's. He also spent sometime doing landscapes which whenever I see them, I have trouble taking my eyes away. If you are in NYC definitely take a trip to the Neue Galerie, a little treasure amongst the endless spaces of the nearby Guggenheim and Met. The Neue also has a fantastic cafe, I suggest the bavarian sausage :)

I am having some formatting problems, so I apologize if things look a little funny, I am fairly new to blogger, I'll be working on it. I plan on getting up at least 5 posts a week, but will try for more... Have a great weekend, I am off to a beer festival in Ypsilanti!