Pierre Bonnard - The Splendid French Painter: By Annette Labedzki

One of the most renowned French painters & printmakers, Pierre Bonnard was especially famous for his ingenious experimentation with color. He though, was not revolutionary in his style of painting, but he definitely was a master in portraying human emotions through colors. His fluency with colors fetched critical acclaim and appreciation from all art lovers.

Pierre Bonnard was born on October 03, 1867, in Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris, to a highly placed French Ministry official. His childhood was therefore, spent in luxury and accordingly he had a very careless and idyllic youth. Due to parental pressure, Bonnard graduated in law and practiced briefly. He however, was always interested in art and took extra courses for the same during his free time. On March 11, 1887, he enrolled at the Scole des Beaux-Arts and resolved to be a full time artist.

In his youth, Pierre Bonnard co-founded a group of young 'Symbolic' and 'Spiritual' artists, called Les Nabis. He exhibited his works as a Nabi in the Gallery of Le Barc de Boutteville. During this phase, he heavily experimented with patterns in textile & furniture, while also exhibiting a Japanese effect in his work. His friends even lovingly called him 'a highly Nipponized Nabi.' In March and April 1891, Pierre first exhibited his work at the Société des Artistes Independants, gathering the much-needed support from all art critics. From then on, he exhibited yearly with the society.

In 1893, Pierre married Marthe de Méligny, who later modeled for a majority of his paintings. He obsessively portrayed her in her routine activities, stretching up to covering her nude. His works post marriage, therefore, turned quite personal in essence. Some of the famous paintings of those times include "Indolence" (1899) and "Man and Woman" (1900). In 1896, he had his first solo show at Galerie Durand-Ruel. Here, the great French artist Toulouse-Lautrec appreciated his award- winning poster. In 1910, Pierre left Paris for Southern France.

All the while, the painting range of the artist spanned from portraits to still life and landscapes. Bonnard would transform the mundane, simplest day-to-day objects into vibrating, iridescent, faintly represented subjects in his paintings. Small brush strokes imparted a marked influence of 'Surreal' mystery in them. The distinctive thing about Bonnard's paintings was the genuine time warp in them. The same objects in the room, such as tablecloths, teapots, and platters, rotated through the paintings. The subjects looked faint, creating a bizarre mystery. Some such renowned paintings are "The White Interior" (1932), "Still Life with Fruit" (1936), "The Dining Room in the Country" (1913), "Woman in Front of a Mirror" (1908), and "The Terrasse Family" (1902).

The artist died on January 23, 1947, leaving behind a great legacy of art. Pierre's passion for art is evident in his use of color with much vivacity and emotions. In 1998, his works were exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The series of his paintings was titled, "Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors." He once quoted, "Before you add color, you must see things once, or see them a thousand times."

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com

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Weekend Big Screen Feature: "The Secret of Drawing" Episode 4: "Drawing by Design"

Every weekend we feature a full length art movie / Documentary! So grab the popcorn and enjoy!

Weekend Big Screen Feature: "The Secret of Drawing" Episode 2: "The Line of Enquiry"

Every weekend we feature a full length art movie / Documentary! So grab the popcorn and enjoy!

Weekend Big Screen Feature: "The Secret of Drawing" Episode 1: "The Line of Enquiry"

Every weekend we feature a full length art movie / Documentary! So grab the popcorn and enjoy!

5 STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR ART!

Brushstrokes (Part 3) - The Modern Era

Female 20th Century German Expressionist Painter - Kathe Kollwitz

Born in 1867 to a father who was a radical social democrat who became a mason and house builder and educated by her grandfather on matters of religion and socialism Kathe Kollwitz dedicated her life to political activism. From an early age she was confronted by death when her younger brother died, leaving her deeply affected.

Her father's encouragement beginning at the age of 12 saw her progress artistically until she was old enough to go the Women's School of Art in Berlin, at a time when women were not allowed to study like men. At the age of 17 she got engaged to a medical student Karl Kollwitz whom she would not marry until 1891 when he was a qualified doctor. In the years in between she studied at Munich woman's art school, discovering there that she was a more talented draftsman than painter, then she returned to her home and rented a studio where she continued to draw Germany's working class laborers.

Two of her greatest works were The Weavers: an etching cycle inspired by the oppression of Silesian Weavers in Langembielau and their ultimately unsuccessful buy violent revolt in 1842, and The Peasant War: and etching cycle equally inspired by a violent revolution this time in southern Germany during the early years of the reformation when, in 1525, the peasants took arms against the feudal lords of the church who treated them as slaves.

During WWI she lost her one of her sons to the fighting and lost a grandson to WWII. All throughout her life she was a pacifist and produced anti-war art. She provided prints for the left-wing publications of pre-Nazi Germany and during the power struggle which followed the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II sought to ally the workers with the communist Soviets.

When the strongly anti-communist Nazis came to power they banned her from exhibiting and stripped her of her teaching post at the Berlin Academy of Art. Despite all this she stayed in Germany. She left Berlin in 1943, and during the latter days of the war her house was destroyed by an allied bomb, taking with it the majority of her work, all except a small portfolio she took with her.

In 1932 she finally finished her monument to the son she had lost in 1914: sculptures called The Grieving Parents. She was the first woman to be elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts. She died in 1945 in Moritzburg.

Works: The Weavers

Peasant War

Death and Woman

Death Woman and Child

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A Rose Grows in Rehab - Using Watercolors as a Healing Tool

As a visual artist, I am always discovering ways that art can be used to enhance the lives of others. One of those ways is to aid in the healing of those mentally or physically ill.

My Tools

This year I started traveling with a small watercolor kit. The size of the kit is a "4x6" block. I also use the Strathmore blank post cards. The imperial watercolor paper works well for this kind of thing.

I went to a physical rehabilitation facility on a Monday evening equipped with these tools. The woman and friend I was visiting was in her seventies and recovering from surgery on her neck.
After we chatted for a while, I asked her if she would like a picture for her room. Her answer was a resounding YES. I should note that she already had an assortment of my prints in her home. Consequently, it was not a hard to convince her to allow me to paint.

My wife entertained her with a modern day version of a familiar bible story while I worked. I drew the rose first and completed it with the watercolors in her favorite color-Yellow. This enabled me to complete the work quickly.

When the rose was completed, this woman with hands still fighting for mobility reached out to touch the painting. Her face glowed as she looked with awe at her picture. I signed it and wrote a note of encouragement before I hung it where she could see it at all times.

Her roommate then begged me to paint a picture for her also. I did.

I am convinced, as many artists reading this will agree that artists must constantly work on their craft. Therefore, if you work on your art while visiting someone it can be a win-win situation.

Please know that I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT YOU GIVE AWAY YOUR MASTERPIECES. However, believe that the person who is ill will see what ever you can contribute as a masterpiece. You will also be donating your time and healing concern. Isn't that what art is all about?

Lets all keep working to bring healing art to the world.

Ray Horner is a fine artist, inspirational speaker and art instructor

http://www.hornerartworkshop.com

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Sand Art by Fatmir Mura-Love

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The Greatest Renaissance Painter and Engraver of All Time

When Albrecht Durer died in 1528 he left some 80 paintings, over 100 etchings, about 200 wood carvings and 800 drawings behind as his cultural legacy. His artwork has deep stories and hidden inner meanings of which many have only been theorized on. Below are some of his works and the theories on the meaning behind them.

Knight, Death and the Devil (also known as The Rider):

An engraving carved in 1513 by Durer, Knight, Death and the Devil, also known as The Rider, represents an allegory on Christian salvation. Unflustered either by Death who is standing in front of him with his hour-glass, or by the Devil behind him, an armored knight is riding along a narrow defile, accompanied by his loyal hound. This represents the steady route of the faithful, through all of life's injustice, to God who is symbolized by the castle in the background. The dog symbolizes faith, and the lizard religious zeal. The horse and rider, like other preliminary studies made by Durer, are derived from the canon of proportions drawn up by Leonardo da Vinci.

The Knight and the Landsknecht (Soldier Servant):

This woodcut was created in about 1497. It has been suggested by Friedlander (universally recognized as the greatest expert on Dutch and German paintings) that the subject is Saul on the way to Damascus to pursue the Christians who had fled Jerusalem.

Three Peasants in Conversation (Marketplace Peasants):

This scene has been connected by a number of commentators to the peasant uprisings of the period. It should be remembered, however, that Durer's wife Agnes sold her husband's woodcuts and engravings in a stall in the market square of Nurenberg , as well as at the fairs in other cities. Peasants were ever-present at these events, as vendors as well as buyers. The sword which the pheasant uses for a cane is similarly used as a satirical accessory in Martin Schongauer's engraving, Pheasant Family Going to to Market.

This engraving is related to the Sol Justitiae and to the Rustic Couple in technique, especially in the horizontal shading devoid of crosshatching.

The original plate was sold to Prince Dolgorouky, a Russian collector, in 1852. Its present wherabouts is not known. An impression of this engraving is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Peasant Couple Dancing (also known as Dancing Peasants):

There are different views and theories on what Durer intended by this image.

Koehler describes this print succinctly as follows: For individuality and for the happy expression of a transient mood in face as well as pose, these Dancing Pheasants are quite as much without rivals in Durer's oeuvre as knight, Death, and Devil.

Wolfflin comments that in spite of the elephantine stamping of their feet, the impression and the form are magnificent. The pheasants are not shown sneeringly as earlier, but as a character study.

Tietze finds that the group fills the picture area in a magnificent manner and, in spite of the massiveness, a feeling of their being swept off their feet is conveyed.

But Panofsky, in contrast, commented that it is a spectacle of statuesque heaviness and immobility; unambitious in content.

Evelyn Whitaker writes articles for German Toasting Glasses http://www.german-toasting-glasses.com which specializes in custom engraved wedding gifts from Germany.

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Sir Winston Churchill - The Painter

It was the summer of 1927. King George V was in Scotland at his northern home, Balmoral Castle. Staying with him for a few days was his Finance Minister (or "Chancellor of the Exchequer"). While most visitors enjoyed the outdoor life of the Scottish countryside, during this visit the minister spent much of his time indoors with canvas, oils and brushes.

Winston Churchill painting at Miami Beach, FL. Photo by Bettman/Contributor, via Getty Images

The king had an idea. He was sponsoring a charity auction in the neighbourhood of the castle, and was on the lookout for good items for the sale. Now he knew where he could get something that would raise a fair price. "Minister, how would you like to donate your painting to the local charity?" Although by no means an authoritarian monarch, a request from the king was as good as a command, and duly the painting was sold to the highest bidder, raising a sum equivalent to around $10,000 today.

Shortly afterwards the Chancellor joked in a letter to the king's private secretary that maybe he should sell some more paintings to raise funds to reduce the national debt. More than sixty years later the story was included in a book about her father's paintings by the youngest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill.

Churchill's paintings (more than five hundred of them over a forty year period) were suited to far more than charity auctions. From Paris galleries to Royal Academy exhibitions in London his works were given honoured place - frequently submitted and displayed under pseudonyms to avoid any favouritism.

How good was he? Maybe we can assess that by the fact that one leading expert almost succeeded in have a Churchill painting excluded from the judging of a prominent amateur competition because, he said, although it was anonymous it was so easily identifiable as having been painted by a professional!

Churchill first took up his hobby only at the age of forty, when he was out of office with more time on his hands, and needed some form of therapeutic relaxation. From then onwards, almost wherever he went, either on private or public business, his artist's kit went with him. In the 1950s an exhibition of more than fifty of his works toured the world. Today there still exist hundreds of his impressions of places he visited, many of them now on display at Chartwell Manor, his former country home which is in the care of the National Trust and open to the public.

Our web site the-churchill-file.co.uk explores the career of this remarkably talented human being and provides links to books on varied aspects of Churchill's life and work, including many available from our own stock.

David Murray has been an adviser on managerial and ethical issues to companies, governments and voluntary agencies for almost thirty years, and as a speaker has addressed appreciative audiences on every continent except Antarctica. He has also been an avid book collector for more then forty years. and now advises the family book-selling business, including acting as creator of its new initiatives, http://www.Read-the-World.com and http://www.the-Churchill-file.co.uk

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DO'S & DON'TS: How To Draw A Face | Step By Step Drawing Tutorial

Acrylic Paintings

Acrylic paintings are relatively new as acrylic paint for painting was first introduced around 1950. Acrylic paint has now become an essential element of the arts and craft market. Many artists consider acrylic paint as a viable option for oil paints. Acrylic paints differ from the conventional oil paints in terms of their physical and chemical properties and thus necessitates special care of acrylic paintings.

Typically, acrylic paints are of two types, namely water-based and solvent-based. However, water-based acrylics are more popular among painters. Acrylic paints dry quickly as compared to oil paints and may hardly require half an hour for the entire painting to dry. Acrylic films are not very hard and may easily gather dust and grime.

Various types of additives, such as stabilizers, defoamers, coalescing solvents, thickeners, and preservatives, are added to the acrylic paint to produce the desired results.

The chances of acrylic paintings cracking are relatively low as the paint is flexible and can withstand pressure. However, acrylic paintings may become very brittle and crack in freezing temperatures. Sometimes acrylic paintings may develop a gray veil on the surface or form a yellow discoloration over a long period of time.

Since acrylic films are soft at room temperature, dust particles can settle on the surface and become mixed with the paint, resulting in stained paintings. Protective framing can combat this problem up to a certain extent. Varnishes can protect the paintings considerably from scratches and dust. Many artists do not like to varnish their paintings. Another major problem faced by acrylic painters is that of mold growth and as of now, no perfect solution has been devised for this problem.

There is a wide range of acrylic paints available in the market. It is imperative for acrylic painters to purchased superior quality products as poor quality paints fade easily when exposed to ultra violet light.

Regardless of high standards of care and maintenance, many artists continue to use acrylic paints because of their fast-drying quality and versatility.

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Help! My Watercolor is Broken

I've learned through many years of my own watercolor mistakes and others that when you think your watercolor is broken... that that's not necessarily true! I taught art at the secondary level for 15 years so through fifteen years of helping students with their "broken paintings", and of course my own, I've learned to fix a lot that has been thought to be "waste basket material." You know what's really neat is that that particular painting sometimes becomes even better because of the creative fix.

I've always heard that watercolor painting is one of the most difficult types of mediums to paint in because it is unforgiving. I've found out though that with a good watercolor paper you can rub and scrub and scrape a lot of those mistakes away. Sometimes you can even run the paper under the water faucet to wash away all your paint, except for of course, the staining colors. I do believe though, that in order to paint a successful, non- frustrating watercolor painting, you must learn about the paint and also you must learn the basic watercolor techniques first. So take a class, watch a video, or read a book, whatever works best for you, to learn some of the basic watercolor techniques such as: graded washes, wet into wet, glazing, lifting and so on. You must most certainly learn to paint in stages, in other words, patience. Here's an example: You're gung ho and ready to paint a beautiful landscape so you paint the graded wash for the sky first. You must stop and let the sky completely dry before you paint the hard edged sawtooth mountains jutting up into the sky because if you don't wait, you'll end up with the fuzzytoothed mountains blurbing up into the sky. You will be more successful by beginning your painting with your watercolors in light values first and then build the darker values into the painting as you go. You can always get darker later, that's for sure. Sometimes you can't get lighter with watercolors unless you add an opaque white, which in my book is still o.k. to do, but you then are not a pure transparent watercolorist, if that is what you were striving to be.

So my point is, there are ways to fix a broken watercolor so don't give up. Learn the basics first to avoid many beginner problems but then remember.... With a tough watercolor paper, you can wash, scrape, erase, rub and scrub lots of those mistakes away. Don't give up and don't believe that watercolor is too difficult, because if I can do it, anyone can! That's that!

Paint like no one is watching!

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The History of American Painters

Painting is one of the most interesting forms of art. It depicts life in vivid colors and speaks so much about oneself, the painter's aspirations, his surroundings, and his nation. It has become a tool not only for personal expression but most importantly, a tool for preserving good memories of history's most significant people and events.

Below are some of the highlights in America's painting history. Let's take a look at how painting developed in America and some of the best American painters who in one way or another marked a lasting imprint in the history of American art.

Early Years

The puritan values of early English settlers in North America were so severe that they shunned all sorts of luxury including artistic expressions such as painting, a flourishing art in Europe especially in England. Beginning to settle in a strange land was very hard for these new settlers so they busied themselves with only the most essential things.

However, there were already some portraits noted during the early years of their settlement. These paintings were done by painters who identified themselves as "limners." They were the earliest known American painters. They were naturally artistic as they only trained themselves by going from one place to another to paint portraits of common folks. Training in an art school was contrary to their strict Puritan way of life.

Growth of American Art

Apparently, early Americans' interest in painting grew bigger that several years later after having established their life in America, American painters began to go to England to study.

Although early American painters were highly influenced by artistic styles already developed in Europe, as years passed by they began to create their own style in painting. In 19th century in particular, notable difference between paintings of American painters and those of their European counterparts began to show up. This distinctive American style was not only shown by American painters but as well as other American artists, especially in the field of architecture.

Diversity in painting styles of American painters was also promoted by the country's big geographical size. American painters from each region showed variations in their works. Moreover, there were differences in the works of American painters living in the cities and those of American painters living in rural areas.

National Academy of Design

The National Academy of Design, formed in 1825, was an honorary association of American artists, including American painters. Today it is now called The National Academy, which is also a museum and a school for fine arts.

Society of American Artists

First members of the Society of American Artists include American painters Robert Swain Gifford, an American landscape painter; John Henry Twachtman, most popular impressionist landscape painter in his time; John LaFarge who was also famous for his stained glass windows and writings; and Albert Pinkham Ryder, famous for his seascapes. These American painters left the National Academy of Design and formed their own association because the first failed to meet their needs as artists.

Ten American Painters

Due to the Society of American Artists' rising commercialism, ten significant American painters resigned from the association and were know as the "Ten American Painters." Among them were John Henry Twachtman, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Edmund Charles Tarbell, and Frank Weston Benson. The group was identified as impressionists.

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Things You Should Know About Pop Art Paintings History

Pop art was an artistic movement that represented a strong shift from the influence of the abstract expressionism. Pop art paintings brought an original form of making art by introducing techniques of commercial art and everyday life illustrations.

This movement first occurred in Great Britain in the late 1950s and it was meant to be a redefinition of the metaphysical gravity of the abstract expressionism. Pop art paintings were mainly characterized by the insertion of everyday life images of soup cans, comic strips, Coke bottles or even stuffed animals into the artistic expression. The expressed aim of the pop art paintings was to provide a meeting point for artists and public. Inserting commercial art symbols in their work, the artists intended to blur the boundaries between art and common people in order to make art ideas accessible for everyone.

The birth of this art movement during the 1950s-1960s wasn't a coincidence. Artists were getting tired of the inwardness and opacity of the abstract expressionism; the American society (and the British one, but on a less extent) was enjoying deep changes in terms of economic revival after the constraints of the Second World War. Therefore, the artist community mocked the shallowness and the materialism of the Americans, employing symbols of mass culture (Coke cans, magazines or comic strips) in their pop art paintings.

The artists who had embraced this art style used different symbols: American flags (Jasper Johns), comic strips (Roy Lichtenstein) and soup cans (Andy Warhol) or stuffed animals (Robert Rauschenberg).

Pop art paintings also represented icons of the artists' reaction against the dullness and complexity of the abstract expressionism. Abstract techniques were replaced with more accessible ones like humor or surface appearance. The central idea of this art movement was to express messages to the mass by transforming the ordinary things into art objects.

Although the pop art stream was very popular among the layman public, it was highly controversial among the art critics community. Some considered pop art paintings as cheap, tacky imitations of everyday life symbols; others regarded them as icons of the shallow American society at mid-century.

Nevertheless, this art movement represented a breath of vivid, fresh air in an art characterized until then by opacity and seriousness.

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