Celebrities Who Dabble in the Visual Arts

Taken from gardenandgun.com

Continuing with the theme of celebrity art, I thought it would be fun to showcase art created by celebrities. This post is inspired by my wife's suggestion as well as People Magazine's 21 Celebrities Who Are Also Artists. In 2020, I posted Presidential Portraits, highlighting the portraits of George W. Bush. He has painted the portraits of over 66 American military veterans. They are collected in his book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. You may also enjoy Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants. You may be surprised to know how many U.S. Presidents spent their free time painting. Three other presidents -- Ulysses Grant, Dwight Eisenhower, and Jimmy Carter --  fancied themselves as painters. Even Prince Charles of the UK has painted watercolor landscapes and sold them to benefit his charitable foundation.

Cancer (1989), Pierce Brosnan

Two years ago I posted Movie Art Cameos, including René Magritte's "The Son of Man". It was spoofed in the 1999 version of the movie The Thomas Crown Affair starring Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan. Apparently, Mr. Brosnan started out as a graphic artist prior to being bitten by the acting bug. He paints while on vacation, a tradition I have started myself during Palm Springs visits.

JM (1979), John Mellencamp

Another celebrity who started out as a student of the visual arts is singer songwriter John Mellencamp. I like that he is mainly a portrait artist and that he was influenced by German Expressionist Max Beckmann (one of my favorites). This one is an early self-portrait. Other musicians who paint include Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, and the late David Bowie. Joni Mitchell dropped out of art school at the age of 19 to pursue a career in music. Her art can be seen on her album covers.

Endless Highway (2017), Bob Dylan

Singer songwriter Bob Dylan began painting in the 1960s, then studied art in 1974 at the Ashcan School, a movement in the Modernist style of early twentieth century America, and learned to paint what he saw rather than what he imagined. Dylan's urban landscapes are particularly compelling and have been exhibited all over the world.

The above landscape reminds me of Edvard Munch's The Scream, mainly for the color scheme and the mood it projects.

Night Time in St. Louis (2020), Bob Dylan

I also enjoy his Night Time in St. Louis, which reminds me of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. Dylan is a true multi-media artist, who has drawn, painted, and sculpted a huge body of impressive work spanning six decades. His urban subject matter includes his German and Asian Series, but always with an American flair.

Kickin' Up Dirt 1 & 2 (2001), Benedetto

Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in 1926) is best known as a singer although as a child he wanted to be a painter. In 2001, he was commissioned as the official artist of the Kentucky Derby, producing the watercolors seen here.

Berlin Landscape with JO (1978),
Portrait of Iggy Pop (James Osterberg),
by David Bowie

Few people knew about the paintings of David Bowie (1947-2016) until his DHead portraits of family and friends were made public in 1994. In 1974, he and his friend, Iggy Pop, traveled to Berlin, Germany where he painted in a style similar to German and Neo-Expressionists. You can see the influence of artists such as Francis Bacon, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and even Max Beckmann in his paintings.

Hercules O'Clock, Sylvester Stallone

Most impressive are the works of action film star Sylvester Stallone. Having painted over several decades (like Bob Dylan), the artist turned to writing and acting after his early paintings, inspired by the art of Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock, didn't sell. In 2015, Stallone exhibited a retrospective at Galerie Contemporaine du Musee de Nice, France. Recently, in late 2021, Sylvester Stallone: The Magic of Being, an exhibit of 50 of his paintings, opened at the Osthaus Museum in Hagen, West Germany.

Murphy Brown's Candice Bergen (now 75) paints portraits of animals on one-of-a-kind handbags and totes and sells them for $1,000 each. Apparently, she has been doing such customized paintings for years. Who knew?!

Aloha Nui Loa (2009), Hopkins

Even actor/comedian Jim Carrey paints. Much of his artwork is politically motivated, so I won't display it on my blog. I do find it curious that actor Anthony Hopkins paints, since he portrayed Pablo Picasso in the 1996 film biopic, Surviving Picasso. I'd call his art 'primitive' because his faces look somewhat generic. Some even look like self-portraits. In this painting, he seems to be channeling Gustav Klimt.

Forever Goodbye (2010), Lucy Liu

Actresses, Michelle Pfeiffer and Charlie's Angels' Lucy Liu also paint. Liu is an all around artist who creates paintings, ink drawings, collages, silkscreens, and sculpture from recycled everyday objects in her New York studio. She has created this erotic lesbian embrace even more reminiscent of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt.

While I am surprised to find so many celebrities who could have second careers in the art of painting, I am even more amazed at how long some of them have been at it. I appreciate how some of these artists use ordinary house paint and large 6-inch wide brushes in their large-scale artwork.

10 Famous Artists with Aquarius/Pisces Birthdays

Balloon Dog (Red)
(1994-2000), Koons

This post is inspired by the astrological signs of Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) and Pisces (February 18 - March 20). I decided to write about famous artists born under these signs, starting with American Pop Artist, Jeff Koons, who was born January 21, 1955. The Aquarian is famous for his pop culture sculptures of everyday objects. His balloon animals (e.g. dogs) are especially iconic. I stumbled upon his red dog while browsing for clipart to use for a Valentine I was making. I've always been fascinated by such imaginative creations made from those hard-to-inflate long, slender balloons that look like they are about to pop. Koons' (red, blue, yellow, orange, or magenta) dogs are made from stainless steel that has been covered by transparent varnish.

Blown Away Balloon Dog
(2020), Josh Mayhem

My daughter and I have watched the Netflix TV series, Blown Away, where contestants compete to make objects out of glass. Given the scale of such a sculpture, it probably wouldn't have worked in glass. Although I haven't seen anyone create balloon animals out of glass, I did locate some online that were made of acrylic resin on resin. Personally, I prefer the stainless Koons' steel version as opposed to Mayhem's mass-produced acrylic objects.

The Kiss (1907-08), Gustav Klimt

Originally, I was looking for artwork relating to Valentine's Day or the topic of Love. I had previously posted my Top 15 Paintings that Use Primary Colors -- Red, Yellow, and Blue, including Gustav Klimt's (born under Cancer) The Kiss (Lovers). I received a jigsaw puzzle of it this year for my Capricorn birthday. I've also posted about Famous Capricorns Throughout History and 10 Artists with April Birthdays. Another one of my favorite posts is Things That Go Together in Art – Subjects, Portraits, Landscapes/Seascapes, Still Lifes, and Couples.

AQUARIAN Artists

I've already covered examples of Art of the Zodiac & Artists' Astrological Signs. Let's take a deeper look at the work of other famous Aquarian artists -- Édouard Manet, Jackson Pollock, Norman Rockwell, Max Beckmann, and Joan Mitchell.

Bouquet of Flowers
(1882), Manet

Édouard Manet (born January 23, 1832) is famous for his paintings of peonies. I often use Manet's peonies when I teach about the concept of positive and negative space. 

Convergence (1952), Pollock

Blue Poles (Number 11)
(1952), Pollock

Jackson Pollock (born January 28, 1912) is most famous for his Abstract Expressionist drip paintings. These are two of my favorites.

Triple Self-Portrait (1960),
Norman Rockwell

My favorite Norman Rockwell (born February 3, 1894) painting has to be his 1960 Triple Self-Portrait which I blogged about in August of 2020. He also famously put his own head in the peanut gallery of his baseball painting, The Dugout.

Self-Portrait with Green Scarf
(1917), Max Beckmann

Aquarian German Expressionist Max Beckmann (born February 12, 1884) painted this and several other self-portraits. I love his bold style with its use of black outlines!

No Birds (1987-88), Joan Mitchell

In 2017, I visited the Palm Springs Art Museum where they were exhibiting the Women of Abstract Expressionism, which included the works of 12 groundbreaking female expressionists. Here is one of the works of Aquarian Expressionist Joan Mitchell (born February 12, 1925). It is an homage to Vincent Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows (1890). This year, the work of her contemporary, Helen Frankenthaler, will be on display at PSAM.

PISCES Artists

Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81), Renoir

Now let's highlight the works of famous Pisces artists -- Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841), Michelangelo, Piet Mondrian, and Kehinde Wiley. Renoir's most famous painting has to be Luncheon of the Boating Party. It's a wonderful composition with the yellow hats, white fabric and offsetting striped awning to frame the group portrait.

David (1504), Michelangelo

Italian sculptor Michelangelo (born March 6, 1475) needs no introduction. On our trip to France and Italy in 2011, I saw his statue of David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Italy. If I had a bucket list, visiting Florence would definitely be on it.

Composition with Large Red Plane,
Yellow, Black, Grey and Blue
(1921), Piet Mondrian

I did an art lesson with kindergartners about LINE, inspired by the Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian (born March 7, 1872). His iconic geometric compositions may be recognized by his use of black lines and rectangles in primary colors. Mondrian is definitely one of those artists whose work is metaphorically an actor who has been typecast to repeatedly portray the same character .

Willem van Heythuysen (2005),
Kehinde Wiley

Let's end with Pisces American portrait artist, Kehinde Wiley (February 28, 1977). I saw his impressive work at the Seattle Art Museum's A New Republic exhibition in 2016. I love the intricate and often floral backgrounds he uses to highlight and celebrate urban black individuals in aristocratic poses. While the clothing is modern, his treatment and symbolism reach back to ancient Greece, imperial Rome, and the conquests of European Kings and Queens. Here he reimagines Frans Hals' portrait from 1625. You simply have to see these life-size portraits in person!

Egyptian Art, Sculpture, and Tombs

The way my mind works, visuals like the one in this ad often jar memories for me. For example, the positive space reminds me of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti (bust shown below in painted limestone), but I can't tell you what's being advertised! I know it's a stretch, but the ad sparked a memory and inspired this post about Egyptian art.

Nefertiti Sculpture (1350 BC),
Thutmose

It amazes me what I can remember from my childhood and what we studied in grade school. When I was in 6th grade, we had to give a presentation and report in Social Studies and I chose the topic of Egyptian Culture. Back then we didn't have MS-PowerPoint as a visual aid. I was, however, able to use a photocopier and was pretty good at drawing.

I also remember The Mummy movie (1999) starring Brendan Frasier, with Rachel Weisz as the reincarnation of a young Nefertiti.

The Mummy (1932), Grosz

The original 1932 film, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff, was advertised on this poster by artist Karoly Grosz. It was expected to fetch $1M-1.5M at auction in 2018.

One of my wife's favorite movies is the epic 1963's Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor as the Queen of the Nile. Check out this list of 11 movies filmed in Egypt as compiled by Trafalgar's The Real World. I bet you didn't know that Bond Movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, was filmed in Egypt in 1977. Can you guess which other Bond movie was partially filmed in Cairo? Hints: Connery, casino.

William (c. 1961 BC – c. 1878 BC)

So, what else do I remember about Egyptian art? I recall an Egyptian blue (turquoise) hippo that is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Frankly, I didn't know him as William the Faience Hippopotamus. Faience refers to the sintered-quartz ceramic material from Ancient Egypt. The black lotus flower designs resemble Zentangles (organized doodling). I think I just came up with another art project for studying Line. It would be fun to decorate animal shapes cut out from brightly colored neon oaktag using black Sharpies.

The lotus flower represents reincarnation; after it closes at night, and disappears below the water surface, it emerges again in the morning. See the Top Important 35 Ancient Egyptian Symbols.

Tutankhamun & Ankhsenamun
(c. 1336-c.1327 BCE)

Much of Egyptian art was never meant to be viewed by the living but was created to be enjoyed by the entombed in the afterlife. Statuettes were placed in the tomb as eventual servants of its noble occupants. Its walls were painted with scenes of life activities and to show the path to the afterlife. This relief painting is from the golden throne of King Tutankhamun. The primary colors of yellow, red, and blue make the figures stand out against the golden background.

Sarcophagus Interior

San Jose, California houses one of the largest museums of Egyptian artifacts -- The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum -- including this sarcophagus of the Chantress of Amun-Re Dynasty 22. I am impressed by the artisan's ability to paint the interior surface of this wooden coffin with so many colorful details that have survived millenniums.

Death Mask of Tutankhamun

Probably the most recognizable work of ancient Egyptian art is the death mask of Tutankhamun. Housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, this golden treasure has traveled the world's museums. Such items are collectively known as Pharaonic antiquities.

Bastet (664–30 BC)

Many of the Egyptian deities were depicted with the head of a cat. The goddess Bastet had the power to transform herself into a cat. So respected and valued were cats that they were treated like royalty and even mummified when they died. The Sphinx has a human head and a lion's body.

Artists

Sphinx, Night (1925), Hiroshi Yoshida

Japanese artist, Yoshida Hiroshi, painted the Sphinx in watercolor in both daytime and night. The Great Sphinx of Giza is located on the west bank of the Nile River. Long ago, the limestone carving lost its nose and beard. Archaeologists have claimed that its likeness is of a Middle Kingdom pharaoh, Amenemhet II. From this angle, I see a profile of George Washington!

The Egyptians (c. 1893), Bernard

French Post-Impressionist, Émile Bernard (1868-1941), developer of Cloisonnism, painted The Egyptians during the decade when he lived in the Middle East beginning in 1893. He was friends with fellow artists Van Gogh and Gauguin. Gauguin's paintings of Tahitian women were much more colorful. This particular image reminds me of the work of German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. Both expressionists used simplified forms and flat areas of 'unnatural' colors separated by dark outlines.

Self-Portrait with a
Cigarette (1947),
Beckmann

Self-Portrait with a Cigarette
(1923), Beckmann

Somehow these three self-portraits of Beckmann resemble the figures in the above portrait of the three Egyptian women. The colors that Bernard chose and the highlighting of the faces, arms, and hands against the darker tones clinches it for me. Perhaps I'm simply recalling the hand next to the face. Or the torch burning (incense) like Beckmann's cigarette.

 

Self-Portrait in Tuxedo (1927),
Max Beckmann

Ta Matete (1892), Paul Gauguin

Finally, I'd like to finish with a painting by Paul Gauguin that shows five Tahitian women seated on a park bench. It is reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian two-dimensional paintings seen on the walls of tombs. Most of the figures are also shown in profile view, much like those painted in ancient times.

Shamrocks, Bowler Hats, and Irish Artists

Do you know the significance of the shamrock symbol?
St. Patrick used it to explain the Holy Trinity (three) to the Irish while trying to convert them to Christianity. Nowadays it stands for faith, hope, and love. It is often mistaken for the four-leaf clover, although an actual shamrock has only three rather heart-shaped leaves. The British bowler hat or American derby hat was created in 1849 and would have been unavailable to Leonardo da Vinci.










The Girl With a Shamrock Earring is actually wearing a four-leaf clover.

Ben Franklin's family left England for America to escape religious persecution; they were Puritans. Even if he were wearing the bifocals he invented, he still makes a lousy leprechaun!

In modern times, the American derby was worn by Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, and British-American actress, Olga Petrova.

Also, don't forget René Magritte's "The Son of Man", who is also wearing a bowler hat (See Movie Art Cameos post).

Indulge me a bit longer as I share some TV and movie characters and actors famous for sporting the bowler hat. Obviously, Mr. Banks from "Mary Poppins" wore a proper British bowler as did Mr. Steed from TV's "The Avengers" and even Stymie from "The Little Rascals".

How about Oddjob from the James Bond movie, "Goldfinger"? Or Liza Minnelli in Cabaret? 

Or the creepy character Alex from "A Clockwork Orange" starring Malcolm McDowell?

Let's talk about some notable Irish artists: Francis Bacon, Dorothy Cross, Conor Harrington, and Sean Scully. Personally, I am not impressed with their works. The works of two of these artists have been described as grotesque (I agree). Three of them are contemporary and have art as recent as 2013. The fourth, Francis Bacon, is a more established 20th-century artist. I liken his works to artists such as Surrealist Salvador Dali and Abstract German Expressionists Max Beckmann and Willem de Kooning. Beckmann and de Kooning, like Bacon, were largely portraitists. I much prefer the former two artists to the latter.




Bacon and Beckmann loved painting figures in triptychs (3 panels). The threes are in keeping with this post's shamrock theme.

I recall teaching about Beckmann years ago when I was an art docent in my daughter's elementary school classroom. The work we used was Beckmann's "Departure" (1932-35).









Here's a self-portrait of Beckmann wearing a bowler hat
(Are you sensing a theme?)












Another German Expressionist that I taught about is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and his pastel work entitled "Street Scene". My lesson involved the scribble drawing of elongated figures, and I think we made the teacher model for us.