Quote of the Day

"It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing." - Mark Rothko

Sir Anthony van Dyck, Two Studies of a Bearded Man.

Art Daily reports that Sotheby's New York just sold the painting featured here for a grand $7,250,500. Van Dyck (1599-1641) was the most prominent Flemish painter of the 17th century, after Peter Paul Rubens. Indeed, there are some who believe that younger Flemish painters owe far more to Van Dyck than to Rubens. An excerpt from Sotheby's catalogue notes that, "In Two Studies of a Bearded Man Van Dyck paints the same man in bust-length from two slightly different positions: one in three-quarter view looking down and the other full face, glaring out at the viewer. The sitter is an unidentified model whose domed forehead, deep-set eyes and full beard and hair make him an ideal type for a variety of figures in Van Dyck's early religious and mythological paintings, as well as for Rubens's studio compositions.... One of the most remarkable aspects of the present work is the way Van Dyck created two distinct personalities from a single model."

Quote of the Day

"Art is made to disturb. Science reassures. There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain." - Georges Braque

A Work of Futurism...PLUS!

Gino Severini, Abstract Rhythm of Madame M.S., c. 1915, oil on canvas, 83x65 cm, Mizne-Blumental Collection, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

The museum of Tel Aviv holds numerous works by important Italian artists, several of which are presently on exhibit there. Gino Severini is represented by one of his famous Futurist paintings from c. 1915, featured here. Severini (1883-1996) was an Italian painter, born in Cortona. In 1901 he moved to Rome, where he met painters Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla (who gave him lessons in Divisionism). Severini moved to Paris in 1906, and forged friendships with such figures as Picasso, Apollinaire, and Max Jacob. While living in Paris, however, he remained in close contact with his Italian associates, and joined the Futurist movement in 1910 . Although much of his Futurist work remains influenced by Divisionism, from c. 1912 forward his work also shows a strong awareness of Cubism, a movement he highly recommended to his fellow Futurists. Futurism developed primarily in Italy, in around 1910. Its objective was to express the energy and values of the machine age.

Quote of the Day

"At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since." - Salvador Dali

Quote of the Day

"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels." - Francisco Goya

Hieronymus Bosch

Hieronymus Bosch. Temptation of St. Anthony. Central panel. 1500. Oil on panel. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Portugal.

Bosch was a brilliant and highly original Flemish painter of the late Middle Ages. His work is characterized by unusual, fantastic, iconography--and embodies a complex and wholly individual style. Bosch was regarded as a highly imaginative “creator of devils” and a powerful inventor of seeming nonsense full of satirical meaning--which in and of itself is quite a feat. Closer scrutiny also reveals a demonstrated insight into the depths of the human mind and spirit. Hieronymous Bosch is most definitely one of my greatest mentors--and a powerful source of inspiration for me, as a painter. When examining such creations as his--and of other medieval painters, like Ambrogio Lorenzetti, I cannot help but wonder what all the fuss is about with regard to the characters in James Cameron's film, Avatar. Frankly--they cannot hold a torch to these guys!