My Art Blog Index by Artist

While my most recent post touched on more contemporary artists, I seem to write about the well-known Modern or Post-Modern artists dating from 1850-1970, as are discussed online in the Artst blog, 10 Most Famous Modern Artists. I use my own MS-PPT collage of artist self-portraits as a  warm-up exercise when teaching art to 5th-graders. Such guessing games may be used to gauge how much students already know about art or to test whether they've been paying attention to my lessons all year.

Blog Archive

Now that I have posted over 100 articles about various art themes, I wanted to make sure that it is easy to find the specific topics that are of interest to you. My posts are listed in the Blog Archive at the top right of my blog arranged chronologically by date from newest to oldest. Even I have had difficulty finding the older ones and I know approximately when I wrote them.

In order to find topics more easily, I have implemented Labels, a set of categories you may click on to filter down to the select topics that may interest you. These labels are listed alphabetically below the Blog Archive. Although it may clutter the browser, I am adding the names of the artists whom I most often reference in my posts. Hopefully, you can find your favorite artists on the list!

Most of the time you will filter on an artist's name and get 1-4 articles to read. My most popular subject is Van Gogh, and when you click his name you'll get a dozen or more articles.

If you are using the PC or Web version of Blogspot, you can see the label links at the end of each post, allowing you to read further on associated topics or artists.

When viewing from a cellphone or iPhone, click on the View web version link below the Home button and above the About Me section. Similarly, there is a View mobile version link accessible from the web version. Now you know everything I know about navigating this blog!

Birds in Contemporary Art & Photography

Contemporary Art

Bird Spectrum (2019), James Prosek

This post is inspired by artist, writer, and naturalist, James Prosek, who was born on this day in 1975. His main subjects are birds and fish. He has written several books, including his first book, Trout: An Illustrated History (1996), which included watercolors of seventy species and subspecies of North American trout. His Art, Artifact, Artifice exhibition was on view from February through June 2020, at the Yale University Art Gallery. It showcased his Bird Spectrum, a color arrangement of 200 digitally photographed bird specimens from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History collection. At first glance, it looks like schools of colorful fish swimming in a rainbow formation.

2018

2003

Prosek has also written books about fly fishing. You may also enjoy reading The Art of the Fishing Fly by Tony Lolli  (Author) and Bruce Curtis (Photographer). I have a friend from Montesano, Washington who makes his own flies and he is another inspiration for this post.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum had a wonderful exhibition from October 2014 - February 2015, called The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art. Check out the beautiful artwork by multiple artists, including Prosek's mural depicting the migration of a flock of passenger pigeons.

What once was is no more: Passing like a thought, flight into memory (2014), James Prosek

Modern Art

Wheat  Field with Crows (July 1890), Van Gogh

By contrast, we have Vincent Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Crows, which though colorful creates an ominous scene with a road that prematurely ends. One of his last compositions, it remains one of my all-time favorite bird paintings. I recall how in grade school we used to draw birds as squiggly 'V' shapes.

Sailboat At Le Petit Gennevilliers
(1874), Monet

Magpie (1868-69), Monet

I also love Claude Monet's subject bird perched on a fence amidst a marvelous snow scene. And his very impressionistic cloud of birds swarming above a sailboat.

Sea Gulls (1938), Newell Convers Wyeth

You may also be aware of how much I am in awe of the works of the amazing Wyeth family of Chadsford Township, Pennsylvania. The family's patriarch, N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), is known for having illustrated many books, including Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

Soaring (1942-50), Andrew Wyeth

His son, Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) began by painting watercolors and then tempera paintings such as his iconic Christina's World. The Seattle Art Museum showed his In Retrospect exhibit from October 2017 thru January 2018.

The Rookery (1977), Jamie Wyeth

Andrew's son, Jamie Wyeth was born one year after his grandfather's death and has carried on the Wyeth legacy with great skill.

In researching this topic, I stumbled upon this biography of British artist and bird illustrator, Eric Ennion (1900-1981). You'll have to check out the link, as his illustrations are copyrighted by his estate. Also, check out these 10 Stunning Bird Photos to Inspire You.

Photography

And one of my favorites by my sister-in-law. Karen Patterson of a bird on horseback. It looks like the bird is contemplating a snowy mountain climb.

Coopers Hawk, Enumclaw, WA

Here's a wonderful photograph by my friend and Black Diamond Arts Alliance colleague, Zbig Kasprzyk. The softened texture of the background with its lines and muted colors is a subtle contrast that harmonizes and unifies the composition. Even the stump repeats the same green, blue, and tan colors.

Pumpkin Carving

Let's finish with my 2020 pumpkin carving of a raven spreading its wings in front of a harvest moon. I look forward to selecting and carving pumpkins every year, taking my inspiration from multiple sources. I copied the design from an image I found on the web to challenge myself and hone my carving skills. 

Mother's Day Dedication and Artist Inspirations

Mom (ca. 1958)

I'm dedicating this post to my Mom, a very snappy dresser who expressed her artistic side through clothes, costume jewelry, handbags, and shoes; she was the Imelda Marcos of the U.S. My favorite photograph of her is a black-and-white portrait with me and my older brother. Her haircut is reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor’s short 1950s hairstyle from Father of the Bride. Even Lucille Ball dons a new hairstyle during the Black Wig episode of I Love Lucy (1954) where she tries to fool Ricky into believing she is an Italian temptress.

Liz Taylor (1963-5), Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol famously silk-screened portraits of Liz, Lucy, Marilyn Monroe, among others. Warhol and Ball share August 6th birthdays and iconic hairstyles -- Andy with his white wig and Lucy with her red henna-dyed hair. We saw his Marilyn exhibit while visiting Palm Springs in 2018. His work is currently on display at the Tate Museum in London, the birthplace of Ms. Taylor. As a mother, she had three biological children and one adopted child.

Vue de l'asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Rémy
(1889), Vincent Van Gogh

She once owned a rare Van Gogh painting. Apparently, her art dealer father paid $130,000 for it in 1963 on her behalf, and it later sold at auction at Christie's in May 2018 for $39,687,500.

Portrait of the Artist's Mother
(1888), Van Gogh

Vincent's mother, Anna Carbentus Van Gogh, an amateur artist herself, is credited as having introduced him to art. He colorized her portrait from a black-and-white photograph.

Green Acres (1965-71)

Mom sported many hairstyles. One day I came home from school and was shocked to find a blonde woman talking on the phone in the kitchen. It was my Mom, but she looked like Eva Gabor from the 1965 sitcom Green Acres. Her hair was in a French twist, the signature hairstyle of Ms. Gabor. Mom remained a blonde from then on and even wore her hair like that as the mother of the groom in my wedding.

I bet you recognize the couple's pose as that of Grant Wood's American Gothic (1930). You may see it hanging today in the Art Institute of Chicago.

We even compared Mom to actress Dina Merrill, who appeared as a brunette in 1963’s The Courtship of Eddie's Father opposite Glenn Ford with little Ronnie Howard as Eddie. Earlier in 1959, she starred with Tony Curtis in the Cary Grant movie Operation Petticoat as a blonde. We’d watch her in the 1970s on the game show Match Game.

Mom was also on TV as a 3-day winner on the game show Concentration, hosted by Hugh Downs. I remember watching her in my older brother’s 3rd-grade classroom where we made Christmas wreaths on paper plates. It felt like I was the Beaver, spending time with Wally and watching Mrs. Cleaver on a game show. The show inspired us to create our own rebus puzzles after we exhausted all the ones that came with the board game.

One of the most prominent game show stars was Betty White, who often appeared on her husband’s show Password. In Mom’s later years, she was definitely channeling this Golden Girl. Mom also caught the acting bug when she imitated Betty Hutton by lip-synching a song for a church variety show. 

The song, "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life?", was actually from a Fred Astaire movie and was sung by actress Jane Powell. Ms. Hutton was famous for her portrayal of sharpshooter Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun (1950).

Mother and Child (1914), Mary Cassatt

Now let's look at some of the more famous artwork depicting mothers. I included this beautiful pastel painting by American portrait and figure artist Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) in my April Easter Eggs post.

Whistler's Mother (1871), James Whistler

One of the most iconic American paintings is James McNeill Whistler's portrait of his mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. Known simply as Whistler's Mother, its actual title is Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1. Not the most flattering image, though it made it into the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Pietà (1498-99), Michelangelo,
St. Peter's Basilica

Michelangelo’s Pieta, a common subject in religious art, is certainly one of the most well-known sculptures in the world. Sorrowful Mother Mary is compassionately cradling her dead son. She seems so robust compared to the frail Christ. Even under the magnificent amount of folds of her garment and his shroud you can see her strong lower legs supporting his weight. 

When we visited the Vatican in May 2011, St. Peter's was unfortunately too crowded for us to visit. The lines were too long and we had just finished winding our way through the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel. Maybe next time!

Horse Art & Photography -- In Honor of the Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is May 1, followed by Preakness on May 15, and Belmont on June 5. Let's explore painters and photographers who use horses and jockeys as their subjects. You can view my Animal Art & Wildlife Photography post to see some of the artists and photographers that I blogged about last year in May 2020. Perhaps I am starting to repeat myself. This time, I will try to include other works to keep the topic interesting.

Edgar Degas

Jockeys in the Rain (1886), Edgar Degas

Besides painting ballet dancers, Edgar Degas also painted jockeys and their horses. His brushstrokes in the foreground, the streaky sky, and even his treatment of the horses really give you the sense that it is raining. It's a simple composition using vanishing linear perspective.

Apparently, he spent dozens of years perfecting some of his pastel versions.

Blue Lock the Queen (1916), N.C. Wyeth

N.C. Wyeth

One of the artists we've studied in my elementary school art docent classes is American Illustrator, N. C. Wyeth. His Blue Lock the Queen illustration is perfect for teaching about the concept of movement in art. It was published in Colliers Magazine on 21 October 1916 along with a wonderful story about a white mare. I love the use of color and shadowing. Although it is an oil painting, its softness reminds me of a watercolor painting.

From Blue Lock (1916)

This one with the buffalo running alongside Blue Lock is another of Wyeth's amazing horse illustrations. If you like to read adventure books, there are many that have illustrations produced by Wyeth.

Contemporary Artists

Derby Day Paddock (1997),
Leroy Neiman

American sports artist, Leroy Neiman (1921-2012) created artwork for a poster in 1997 celebrating the 123rd Kentucky Derby. I love how he uses colored shapes and silhouettes to compose his expressionistic compositions. His figures are reminiscent of those of German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) who was famous for his Berlin Street Scene series painted from 1913-15. Although Kirchner's fancy hats emulated those worn by women and men at horse races, his subjects were prostitutes and their clients.

Check out these six contemporary artists in my Art of the Pacific Northwest -- The Art of Helena, Montana post: Sculptors Bill and Julie Ryder, Painters Charles Marion Russell, Edward Charles Abbott, Meagan Abra Blessing, Robert F. Morgan, and J.K. Ralston.

Also, check out The Tradition of Horse Paintings in Art.

Early Horse Painters

Whistlejacket (1762), George Stubbs
Courtesy of the National Gallery of London

After spending a year and a half dissecting horse carcasses, George Stubbs became famous as “the horse painter”, producing many anatomical drawings of the animals. I can't recall whether I saw this splendid specimen in person on our trip to the UK in 2017.

Francis Dukinfield Astley and his Harriers (1809),
by Benjamin Marshall

19th Century artists, such as Benjamin Marshall, James Ward, and Henry Thomas Alken, painted horses in the hunt, belonging to famous military leaders, or racing in a steeplechase. In Marshall's painting, the horses are somewhat stagnant compared to the active dogs in the foreground. I love how the artist has captured the distant landscape, albeit dark and mysterious.

Napoleon's Horse, Marengo at Waterloo (1824),
by James Ward

I enjoy this painting by James Ward, mainly because of the background. The brightly colored sky and fiery foreground contrast visually with the white horse, but possibly tell us something of the wild or spirited personality of Marengo.

Steeplechasing (c. 1845), Henry Thomas Alken

There is a series of cross-country horse racing by artist Henry Thomas Alken, many of which show various stages of the race, including action shots of jockeys falling off their steeds mid-jump. I feel like most of the detail is in the riders, who seem almost too upright and not matching the stride of the horses.

Three Horses a Water Trough (1847),
John F. Herring Sr.

Like the Wyeths, John Frederick Herring Sr. had sons who carried on his painting tradition. Herring Sr. enjoyed painting headshots of 2-3 horses in order to show their personalities. Such portraits were often matted in circular frames (It.: tondi).

In 1845, he was awarded the title, “Official Animal Painter” of the Duchess of Kent, later being permanently commissioned by Queen Victoria. This painting has been copied by multiple artists.

Bay Middleton (1836), Herring Sr.

Here's his painting of Bay Middleton, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1836. He has placed all the detail on the horse and diminished both the size and coloring of the jockey, who blends into the sky.

The first race of the Kentucky Derby took place in 1875 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and was won by Aristides. The 147th Kentucky Derby was won on May 1st, 2021 by Medina Spirit and was ridden by John Velazquez (not related to artist Diego Velazquez). I should mention that Medina Spirit's mother was Mongolian Changa, which means: a picky or spoiled person. Sounds like a mother! At least, we should be spoiling mothers on Mother's Day.

Romanticism French artists

Derby at Epsom (1821), Géricault

The French painter Théodore Géricault painted a series of horse racing paintings. While the movement of both the jockeys and horses is evident, some say that the stretched-out legs of the horses would not actually look like that even in full stride. It also looks like they are out-running a rainstorm.

Horse Frightened by a Thunderstorm (c. 1824),
Eugène Delacroix

Influenced by artists such as Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) and Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), Eugène Delacroix is famous for his expressive brushstrokes, as is evidenced in this watercolor painting. The positioning of the legs and twisting of the head and neck show the fear of the startled animal. It reminds me of the James Ward work (above) though not as peaceful or pleasant to look at.

Abstract Art, Expressionism, and Cubism

Lyrical (1911), Kandinsky

Two of my favorite artists are Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and German artist Franz Marc, both from the group known as the Blue Rider. You can see two of Kandinsky's paintings (covers of the Blue Rider Almanac) in the 1999 thriller Double Jeopardy.

Two Horses Red and Blue
(1912), Franz Marc

I enjoy Kandinsky's abstract compositions and Marc's brightly colored portraits of animals.

Horses (1911), Francis Picabia

Known as a French avant-garde painter, Francis Picabia dabbled in Impressionism and Pointillism before switching to Cubism and eventually a short period of Surrealism. His 'abstract' impressions of horses make use of flat areas (planes) of color in contrasting hues and values. I'd like to return to Paris and view this painting up close and from across the room. It's hard to see but there is a foal standing perpendicular to the orange-colored mare. I also like the use of violet and teal in the background.

Painting (The Circus Horse)
(1927), Joan Miró

The head of Spanish painter Joan Miró's abstracted version of a horse looks more like that of a peacock. He has further abstracted its shadow into a skewed rectangle and its legs down to a pair of thick white lines. In keeping with his primary color scheme, he has balanced his predominantly blue composition with four small balls.

Racing Art & Photography

Three Dates With Destiny, Fred Stone

Fred Stone (1930-2018) is one of the best-known painters of thoroughbred racehorses. My brother owns a print of his famous Secretariat painting entitled Three Dates With Destiny.

My brother and his wife, who photographs horses and other wildlife, also collect prints by artists whose work they've seen at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY. They also own a book, Saratoga (2005), by equine photographer and author, Barbara Livingston, who is based in the area.

Another great site for the art of equine photography is the Photo Review website. In it, Australian photographer, Nicole Emanuel shares tips and tricks for capturing the beauty and personalities of her subjects.

Anthropomorphic Art -- Animals as Humans (100th Post)

Nerdy Squirrel, Wicks

My brother's optometrist's office displays whimsical watercolor prints of animals wearing glasses. One of the artists is Deidre Wicks. It seemed appropriate as a transition from medical art to once again rely on observation as inspiration for talking about art. This post will investigate how artists use animals in their paintings, often in strange and unusual settings. Such anthropomorphic art replaces human figures with animals.

Poker Game (1894), C. M. Coolidge

One of the most recognizable examples of kitsch art is American artist C. M. Coolidge's Dogs Playing Poker. The artist created two such paintings in 1894 and 1910, along with a 1903 series of commissioned works for the advertisement of cigars. My Animal Art & Wildlife Photography post also shows how dogs, in particular, are used in today's advertising. Subaru commercials employ a family of golden retrievers known as the Barkleys with Dad, Auggie, driving the car. I once raised a spaniel mix named Auggie, in honor of the Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters.

Barbershop with Monkeys and Cats
(c. 1647), Abraham Teniers

Painting animals exhibiting human behavior is nothing new. It apparently originated in ancient Egypt and became a visual art genre in 16th- and 17th-century Flemish painting, making fun of humans and downgrading them to monkeys. In 18th-century France it was called singerie, meaning 'monkey trick'. It was popularized by French artists, Jean-Baptiste Deshays, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. Such paintings often included cats. Personally, I'd much rather be compared to a dog!

This painting reminds me somewhat of Diego Velázquez's 1656 painting Las Meninas (or Ladies in Waiting) with the dark wall and the figure peeking in through the doorway in the background.

Anthropomorphism was also a popular practice in Asian art, though more for symbolism than satire. In Korean culture, folktales often begin, “In the old days, when tigers smoked pipes...”, which is akin to the English "Once Upon a Time." In Shamanism, the tiger represents evil and the rabbit good. So, what is the rabbit smoking?

Bar Barber Ram, Michael Thomas

I found this print from the Society6 website, which sells art prints for decoration. It's definitely kitschy! The artist is a contemporary surrealist whose paintings seem like they're from another century. His titles include words like, 'Vintage' and 'Victorian'.

"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my..."
(1899) by Howard and Emerson

My all-time favorite anthropomorphic cartoon character has to be Michigan J. Frog, from the Warner Bothers' Looney Tunes One Froggy Evening, created by animator Chuck Jones. And don't forget the alien reprise in the movie, Space Balls, starring Bill Pullman and John Candy. Classic!