Safe at the Museum

 

I recently discovered that the Phoenix Art Museum owns a painting by Willem de Kooning, a painter I posted about last year after visiting one of his paintings that was stolen in a rather bold way.

He is not an artist that I'm particularly fond of but I do have to admit that this painting poses more appeal to me than the one that was stolen.  You can read that incredible story here.  

Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist born in Rotterdam in 1904.  This painting is called "Woman in the Pool".  I'm not sure I see her unless that is her in the upper right corner.  

If you enjoy a good mystery, check the link above.  The story of that stolen painting is fascinating. 

A Zen-Like Experience

 

Here is an artist I discovered while strolling the gallery streets in Laguna Beach California.  His work spoke to me immediately,  Each painting exuded an air of mystery and quiet peacefulness.  The quote from his website below, says it best.

"Martin BeauPre was born in Quebec Canada in 1961.  Over the years Martin has found his point of balance by associating art with energy. As a full-time painter Martin's paintings are a reflection of his inner world.  Martin takes us on a zen journey which reveals a search for beauty and harmony in muffled tones, with serene, uncluttered compositions inspired by Asian art."

82 Portraits & 1 Still Life

 

In 2018, there was an exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) of works by well known artist David Hockney.  It was a group of portraits that he painted of people who fill his life in Los Angeles.

His subjects are from all walks of life.  He invited family members, fellow artists, art dealers, curators, employees, and close friends to sit for him.  He painted one portrait of each and the one still life painting was because of a last minute cancellation.

The painting to the left is of Barry Humphries, a comedian and actor.

I'm posting more than one photo today to give you an idea of how this exhibit was presented.  The paintings were created between 2013 and 2016 in the artist's Hollywood Hills studio.  Each painting was completed in three days.  

David Hockney is a prolific artist and a key figure in the pop art movement.  One of his paintings sold for 90 million dollars in 2018.  It was an exhibit well worth seeing.  

Swirls of Paint

 

I'm featuring an artwork today that seemed to grab me and sweep me into its torrent of paint.  This is a recent purchase by the Phoenix Art Museum. It's by the artist Marina Perez Simao.  I don't know much about Ms. Simao except that she is Brazilian and was born in 1980.  A search of her name found many links to galleries who have represented her or featured a show of her paintings but I could find very little about her life or education.  All I know is that the brilliant swirls of paint in her paintings create dreamscapes that one can float right into.  Here is a link to an ArtNet article about her work.

Ophelia!

 

Ophelia is a painting by John Everett Millais (1829-1896).  It is meant to be Ophelia from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet".  Millais was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  He went to great lengths to get every detail right in all of his paintings.  For this painting he spent days painting by the side of a stream to capture every detail of the growth around the water.  Then he spent hours painting his model who was submerged in the tub of water in order for him to get every detail of her floating image.  She was in the cold water so long that she became very ill from the cold.  Her story is just as interesting as the painter himself.  She was an artist in her own right but because of era, never received the recognition due to her.  There is a wonderful video, 6-minute video produced by the Tate Britain that tells the story of this painting and gives honor to his model Elizabeth Sidel.  It is a fascinating story. You can see it here.  

My Favorite Lion

 

I found this painting hanging in one of the hallways at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago.  I have always loved those fabulous lions who stand guard in front of the Art Institute of Chicago so I was drawn to this wonderful painting.  The artist is Don Yang and it turns out that he teaches art from his studio in the Fine Arts Building.  

Yang was born in Seoul Korea but came to the United States in his teens.  After 7 years in the U.S. Army, he pursued his dream of becoming a full time artist.  

He has many wonderful paintings on his website.  

The Rock

 

We are stepping to the world of surrealism with this painting called "The Rock" by Peter Blume (1906-1992).  Blume was born in Smorgon, Russian Empire, now Belarus.  He emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1912.  He studied art in New York City.  This painting is a difficult one to interpret but it is thought to point to the devastation and reconstruction after WWII.  The painting was commissioned by Edgar Kaufman for Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Pennsylvania.  It took several years to complete and in the end was too large for the home so it never hung there.

It's an interesting painting to look at with all that destruction going on.  Or, is some rebuilding happening too?

The Crowd

 

This week's featured artist is Edward Middleditch (1923-1987).  This painting is called "Crowd, Earls Court" and it is part of the collection at the Tate Britain  in London.  

Middleditch was born in Chelmsford, Essex and after serving in the army during WWII, he attended classes at the Royal College of Art.  His early works tended to use a lot of water and reflective scenes but later in is career, his work took on a more abstract nature with repeating patterns present.  

This painting caught my eye because it seemed to mimic rush hour traffic at many tube stations in London.  

The Rebel

 

This painting is called The Rebel (Elizabeth Ruskin) and was painted by Lew Davis (1910-1979).  

Davis was born in Jerome Arizona but left Arizona when he was 17 to study art in New York City.  He became adept at painting human figures and often depicted women laboring in oppressive conditions.  

The Phoenix Art Museum describes the painting this way:

"This painting features one of his fellow students, Elizabeth Ruskin.  Although she stares directly at the viewer with an unsettling intensity, we know very little about her story except that she was a student in one of his classes.  That  she was attractied to Davis is suggested by the two apples on the plate on the floor that allude to Adam's temptation of Eve."

I love seeing this painting whenever it is on display at the museum.  

Painting Nature

 

This week's featured artist is someone local.  Frank Gonzales was born in Mesa Arizona and raised in Tempe Arizona and his interest in art began early in life.  He was encouraged to apply for a scholarship which he received.  He graduated from the Laguna College of Art & Design.  

His stay in California turned into 6 years and then in New York for another 6 years before returning to his roots in Arizona. 

His signature "raindrops of color" is something I recognize right away.  This painting was featured in an exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden but I've seen his work in other locations as well.  I did a post about that exhibit at the garden on my Phoenix Daily Photo blog.