Art of the Zodiac & Artists' Astrological Signs

I thought it would be interesting to find art related to the 12 signs of the Zodiac; in addition, to look into the astrological signs of famous artists. An encouraging discovery is that all signs are artistic. Many sources speculate that Pisces is the most artistic of the signs, though some say that it is Sagittarius. I don't put much stock in the ranking of artistic ability or sensibility according to birth sign. However, it is fun to see where your favorite artists are on the astrological spectrum.

GEMINI

"The Two Fridas" (1939), Kahlo

Since we're in the month of June, let's start with Gemini (May 21 - June 20). Curiously, Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy were Geminis. Mary Cassatt, John Constable, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, and Leroy Neiman were Geminis. As is my doppelganger the ventriloquist, Terry Fator.

Here we have a double self-portrait by Frida Kahlo. It's a rather creepy depiction of two women (twins?) connected by veins flowing between two hearts. The sky background seems appropriate for the location of the constellation Gemini.

I much prefer these Pop Art images of Marilyn Monroe (a Gemini) by Andy Warhol (a Leo). His art was on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum when we visited in 2018.

CANCER

The next sign, Cancer (June 21 - July 22), a.k.a. the Crab is an easy one to depict. Van Gogh's "Two Crabs" (1889) was on display at the National Gallery in London when we visited the UK in 2017. Coincidentally, Frida Kahlo was a Cancer, along with many of my favorite artists, including Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Edward Hopper, Gustav Klimt, Amedeo Modigliani, Camille Pissarro, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, and Andrew Wyeth.

LEO

Our third sign is of course Leo (July 23 - August 22) the Lion. French artist, Marcel Duchamp, and American artists, Thomas Eakins and Andy Warhol were born Leos. In London's Trafalgar Square, around the base of Nelson's Column, are the four 'Landseer Lions' statues created by Sir Edwin Landseer.

VIRGO

"Peasant Woman Binding Sheaves"
(1889), Van Gogh (after Millet)

Famous Virgo (August 23 - September 22) artists were Grandma Moses and my personal favorite, local Seattle artist, Jacob Lawrence. Actress, Salma Hayek, famous for her movie portrayal of Frida Kahlo, is also a Virgo. The closest I can get to Virgo holding wheat is this painting by Van Gogh. He often copied the works of Jean-François Millet and painted the images in his own style. Here, he colorized the woman in blue gathering yellow wheat, colors much like Vermeer chose for his classic Dutch paintings.

"Woman Holding a Balance" (1664), Vermeer

LIBRA

Caravaggio, El Greco, Jean-François Millet, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and N. C. Wyeth all share the sign of Libra (September 23 – October 22), a.k.a. the scales. Johannes Vermeer's painting is a fine example of one containing scales (hard to see but it's there!).

SCORPIO

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) is the zodiac sign of painters, Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso, Bob Ross, and Johannes Vermeer. I am unable to find a painting containing scorpions, although I'm certain that they were used, along with snakes, in some religious art of the Renaissance. Here is a graphical depiction of a scorpion using patterns one might find in Zentangles.

Botticelli (1482), Uffizi, Florence

SAGITTARIUS

Helen Frankenthaler, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Edvard Munch, Diego Rivera, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Diego Velázquez were born under the sign of Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21), the Archer or the Centaur. Some sources say that Velázquez was actually born in June, which would make him a Gemini. Sandro Botticelli (a Pisces) painted "Pallas and the Centaur" in 1482. We went to Florence in May 2011, though I can't recall seeing this painting.

CAPRICORN

Famous artists having the sign of Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) include Paul Cezzane, Henri Matisse, and my favorite portrait artist, John Singer Sargent. The most famous Goat I can think of is the one in Marc Chagall's "I And The Village". At least I think it's a goat...maybe a sheep? I'm pretty sure that the smaller animal being milked is a goat (and a large one at that!). This painting depicts Chagall's birthplace, making it even more appropriate for this topic, although he was born under Cancer.

I recently watched Steve Martin's (a Leo) 1987 movie, "Roxanne", starring Daryl Hannah (a Sagittarius) and immediately noticed his character's references to Chagall's Blue Man paintings. He painted several works that fall into that category. Chagall's Over Vitebsk (Above the Town) (1913) was hung prominently over C.D. (~Cyrano de Bergerac) "Charlie" Bales' fireplace in the movie. BTW, also look for one of Giuseppe Arcimboldo's fruit-faced portraits on the wall in C.D.'s home.

Chagall's La Mariée (The Bride) (1912) also appeared in the 1999 movie, "Notting Hill", starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. If you ever get the chance to travel to Nice, France, you need to visit the Chagall Museum. Many of his paintings are so huge that they fill an entire wall!

(1618-1622) Velázquez

AQUARIUS

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18), the water carrier, was the birth sign of Thomas Cole, Fernand Léger, Édouard Manet, and Jackson Pollock. The best I can do is "The Waterseller of Seville" by Diego Velázquez (a Sagittarius). The hippies and new agers of popular culture spoke of the "Age of Aquarius", though the song and lyrics popularized by the movie, "Hair", got it wrong, according to Astrologer, Neil Spencer. Wikipedia quotes him as saying, "Jupiter aligns with Mars several times a year and the Moon is in the 7th House for two hours every day." I'd imagine that even the Barber of Seville (not the water seller) would disapprove of "Hair" until the part when George Berger (Treat Williams) gets his cut off!

PISCES

The Fish sign, Pisces (February 19 – March 20) belongs to artists, Michelangelo, Piet Mondrian, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Winslow Homer. I love the 3D goldfish painted in layers of resin by Japanese artist, Riusuke Fukahori. His painstaking process of painting his goldfish is amazing and the results look truly three-dimensional because they pretty much are.

ARIES

Aries (March 21 – April 19) the Ram belongs to Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, and Raphael. "Shearing the Rams" (1890) was painted by Tom Roberts. Had the flying ram (Aries) been sheared then Zeus' efforts to save the children of Athamus would have been in vain. Only the King's son survived the long trip and sacrificed the ram to Zeus, its fleece becoming the golden fleece. Lucky for Jason, who benefitted from its healing powers.

"Landscape With Steer" (1937), Pollock

TAURUS

Salvador Dali, Eugène Delacroix, Albrecht Durer, Thomas Gainsborough, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Willem de Kooning, and J. M. W. Turner were all born under the sign of Taurus (April 20 – May 20) the Bull. Mexican artist, Diego Rivera may have influenced this unusual painting by Jackson Pollock. It's a departure from his later abstract expressionist drip paintings.