Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

Where the traditional visual arts go I'm no Friedrich or Donald, god knows. But darn it, I have my pleasures too. It just occurred to me to put together a posting linking to other postings that I've done about painters and artists. As with books, my list of painter-and-artist faves doesn't overlap much with the standard list. That may mean that I'm crazy or that I have no taste, of course. But it may also mean that a few visitors who feel perplexed or put off by the usual art-crit, art-history thang will find an artist or two among my faves who will suit them as well.

(I'd love to be a gent and present a posting-full of links-to-postings by my co-bloggers about paintings and artists. But, y'know, given how tedious it is to pull together postings like this one -- copy, paste, link; copy, paste, link... -- my colleagues are just gonna have to fend for themselves.)

So, herewith, a few of the painters and artists whose work stirs me deeply:

• The jazzy and sophisticated collagist Romare Bearden.

• The one of a kind avant-gardist known as Jess.

• A few modest, fan-ish words about the English colorist Howard Hodgkin.

• A few modest and fan-ish words about the erotic/freaky still-life painter Raymond Han.

• The LA conceptualist, wit, and teacher John Baldessari.

• A group of contemporary figurative artists, including Kent Bellows and Robert Cottingham.

• The onetime '80s bad-boy Eric Fischl.

• Almost no words, but -- what the heck -- an image by the austere British master Euan Uglow.

• The lyrical Canadian watercolorist David Milne.

• The group of loosey-goosey but sensual San Francisco painters known as the Bay Area figurative artists.

• The comic book artist Frank ("Sin City") Miller, who for reason made me muse about the French classicist Nicolas Poussin.

• A nod to and some links about Edgar Leeteg, the father of painting-pretty-girls-on-black-velvet.

• A long essay about the brilliant and now largely forgotten American Beaux Arts painter and stained-glass artisan, John La Farge.

• Some examples of (and links to) ultra-talented and ultra-accomplished contemporary realists, including Edward Schmidt and David Ligare.

• The poetic miniaturist and "postage-stamp" specialist Donald Evans.

• Hugh MacLeod and his "business-card art."

• The figurative-action painter (and legendary film critic) Manny Farber.

• And Ken Kewley, whose current show I visited today and found intensely pleasurable.

Note to self: Blog about more of the artists whose work you love, dammit -- Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Eduard Vuillard, Aristide Maillol, Cecilia Beaux, Frederick MacMonnies, John Kensett, the Japanese Rimpa painters, Samuel Palmer, Correggio ...

Best,

Michael

Athenaeum

I picked up about 150 LaFarge scans from the Athenaeum in June and July. Mostly watercolors of Japan and Tahiti, I liked many of the Japanese works. I don't know how active that site is, but it is pretty good on 19th century American artists.

Posted by: bob mcmanus on September 29, 2005 9:21 PM

This is going to be a huge generalization, so I apologize in advance, but -- the level of technical expertise that many contemporary realist painters bring to bear in their work is impressive, I might even say intimidating; nevertheless there is a lack of fire, a carefulness, that keeps their work from coming to life -- for me.

Painting almost seems to demand some level of sloppiness, or awkwardness, to be vital. It's as though there has to be some evidence of the painter's struggle to almost get it, for the viewer to be allowed in. All this is highly subjective of course. Just my take.

Posted by: ricpic on September 30, 2005 8:51 AM

Rick, what about of this? Look at my favorite, Stingy Rabbit (1995)

Posted by: Tatyana on October 2, 2005 5:26 PM






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