Art Thread

[MS1]

Nah, this is a new one. It was my liguistics professor this time. She's a very tiny and very old lady.

You know what I'm going to say . . .let's see it, then! Do it and I'll consider my commission on the thing I'm gonna do as well paid.

I'm not modest. I know I'm a reasonably good draughtsman. I just don't think there's any reason why I should praise my own 'talent' when there are many people who are better.

The way I read it, this statement and modesty are rather in sync. Besides, I've read a lot of your posts over the years. You are modest. Accept it, it's a virtue.

[Katuschka]

The way I read it, this statement and modesty are rather in sync. Besides, I've read a lot of your posts over the years. You are modest. Accept it, it's a virtue.

Ok, but that creates a great gap between modesty and pretentiousness. People often think that if you're not this, you must be that, and vice versa. Me no like it.

[Bonham]

Here's one I did a while ago entitled 'Bonzo the Bear'. I'm no Art freak, I mean, I don't know everything about art. But I innocently grew up loving art as a kid, but grew away from it as age progressed, and turned to a new kind of art - Music.

But here right now, for your eyes only, is some of my amazing art:

Bonzo the Bear

He has a widdle patch on his head, from falling from his widdle drumkit one night.

[MS1]

Ok, but that creates a great gap between modesty and pretentiousness. People often think that if you're not this, you must be that, and vice versa. Me no like it.

Fair enough. Suffice to say that I've seen people of similar talents take a far more pretentious attitude than you do. To your credit.

In any case, you do well with the art you post here, so keep it up. I'm asking this from a totally selfish place, no polite indulgence here at all.

[MS1]

More Rockwell Kent. I think some of these really show the influence of William Blake.

[MS1]

More from Aubrey Beardsley, one of my favorite Art Nouveau artists:

[MS1]

Here's one of my own I did a year ago or so.

[MS1]

From Tom Killion, a west coast woodcut artist

[FuzzyMerkin]

Here's one I did a while ago entitled 'Bonzo the Bear'. I'm no Art freak, I mean, I don't know everything about art. But I innocently grew up loving art as a kid, but grew away from it as age progressed, and turned to a new kind of art - Music.

But here right now, for your eyes only, is some of my amazing art:

Bonzo the Bear

He has a widdle patch on his head, from falling from his widdle drumkit one night.

He rocks!

[MS1]

Here are three from my favorite Japanese woodcut artist, Kwame Hasui:

[dragster]

I'm see that this thread is meant for real artists But my husband was trying to talk me into posting some of the drawings I've done of Led Zeppelin members...

Anyway, here some of them are. I did all of them in '03. Now that I look back on them, I could have done them better...each of them took me about an hour and a half, that's probably why (All inspired by magazine pics....)

Bonham

Young Plant

Bulge-y Plant

Jonesy

Skinny Jimmy...

Very nice indeed ZSD!!

[dragster]

My fave artist has gotta be SALVADOR DALi'......does he count?!!

[dragster]

Unfortunately, I had a stinky teacher for art in high school who made us depreciate art!!

Luckily MUSIC saved my life !!

Here's some artwork related to Jimi by a MYspace friend:

[GioBrasil]

My fave artist has gotta be SALVADOR DALi'......does he count?!!

Dali, Da Vinci, Monet, Michelangelo, Goya, Van Gogh, Picasso...

You cannot post'em, coz they didn't know paint...

Don't worry, genius also are/were artists

[dragster]

Oh, is it like saying that some big musicians out there didn't know how to read a music sheet and Einstein didn't know his arithmetic?!, hehehehehhehehheheh

[MS1]

A lot of people here like Mucha, so . . .

Mucha and Bernhardt

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) had success before he began his association with the great Parisian actress Sarah Bernhardt; he worked as an illustrator, as a muralist, as a theater painter, as an interior decorator. But it was only when he began to create theater posters for Bernhardt that Mucha achieved public recognition.

In 1883, while still a teen, Mucha was commissioned by the Austrian Count Khuen-Belassi to decorate his castle and also design and produce a three panel screen. In exhange for these the Count would finance Mucha's studies at the Munich Academy of Arts from 1885 to 1887.

In 1892, Mucha received a commision from Messrs Lorilleux to create lithographs for a calender depicting the signs of the zodiac. Alphonse's son Jiri remembered the result thusly:

_{He received 2,500 francs and a considerable amount of publicity, as Lorilleux was an important paint manufacturer and the calendar went to painters, art schools, theatres, and periodicals. There was, however, nothing striking about the work. The technique was traditional, using Renaissance motifs and a profusion of allegorical figures}.

And so, it was not until 1895 that Mucha made his true breakthrough. Around Christmas in 1894, Mucha made a fortunate stop into a Parisian print shop and discovered that there was a commission available for a theater poster for Sarah Bernhardt's new play. It was a rush job and Mucha won the commission, promising a poster in two weeks.

Sarah Bernhardt (October 23, 1844 – March 26, 1923) was nicknamed "the Divine Sarah" and has often been referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world".

During her early acting career she also supported herself as a courtesan and frequently slept in a coffin she acquired around 1865, claiming that it helped her understand the tragic roles she played. By the 1870s she had toured Europe and was in demand in London and New York. She was arguably the greatest actress of the 19th Century.

On New Year's Day 1895, Mucha's advertisement for the play Gismonda appeared on the streets of Paris:

Now, when Art Nouveau posters are a staple of fashionable interior decoration, it is difficult to appreciate the impact of Mucha’s Gismonda, in many ways the most impressive poster he ever produced. In 1895 its distinctive shape, muted colouring and exquisitely simplified draughtsmanship, allied to a Byzantine richness of decoration, were completely novel. The poster’s obvious merit, together with the publicity value of anything or anybody connected with Bernhardt, ensured that within a week, Mucha was the most talked about artist in Paris.

- Anna Henderson, Women and Flowers’: The Life and Work of Alphonse Mucha, 1980

As a point of interest and contrast, here is an illustration by a different artist of Berhardt in Gismonda:

Mucha's work is often referred to as highly stylized, but by comparing the two drawings we can surmise that his depictions of Bernhardt may be a more accurate record of her costuming than might be immediately apparent.

(to be cont.)

[MS1]

Mucha and Bernhardt Part 2

Berhardt starred in an acclaimed production of Hamlet in 1899.

The climactic fencing scene between Laertes and Bernhardt's Hamlet was made into a silent film entitled Le Duel d'Hamlet(1900). It is a notable film in that it is considered the first movie screened with a synchronized soundtrack, (The sound effect of clashing swords was recorded on a non-extant cylinder recording,) and the first fiction film with a major star in the lead role. And, in the fourth year of what would be a six year partnership, Bernhardt's Hamlet would be adorned by Mucha as well:

Again Mucha's fidelity to the design of the theatrical production is evident.

Bernhardt's theater provided Mucha with some of his most uncharacteristic subjects, such as this poster for Medee (1898)

The filicide of Medea is a bit of a departure from the usual pastoral scenes.

In 1899, Mucha produced this poster to promote Bernhardt in La Tosca:

In a 1905 performance of La Tosca, Bernhardt injured her knee in a stage jump from a high wall. The knee would never fully recover- gangrene set in and in 1915 the leg had to be amputated. A circus showman offered her $10,000 to display the severed limb in shows (an action often mistakenly attributed to P.T. Barnum), but she declined. Undaunted, Bernhardt continued a successful stage career on one leg until her passing in 1923.

Bernhardt had been something of a muse for Mucha, and their partnership had been a potent marriage of art, theatrics and celebrity, to the benefit of both parties.

[Katuschka]

[MS1]

I'm glad you liked it, it took some work. Enjoyable work, though.

[MS1]

Some leftovers from the Mucha/Bernhardt stuff:

Another Bernhardt Hamlet shot:

A nice detail from the La Tosca poster:

And two more:

[redrum]

The Anatomical Theater, Padua, Italy. Built in 1594

[Cali]

Alchemy by Brett Whiteley, one of my favourite artists.

You really have to see this one live to get the full effect. There are so many fascinating little details in it that you can't see that well over the internet. So if you're ever in Australia ...

[TypeO]

I did this chop at Worth1000 a couple years ago - I could do much better now, maybe I'll try re-doing it. The original was 4 statue columns.

[redrum]

I did this chop at Worth1000 a couple years ago - I could do much better now, maybe I'll try re-doing it. The original was 4 statue columns.

That's pretty cool.

[MS1]

Some new Rockwell Kents that I found:

An interesting contrast in these two pieces. The first one is Kent's own personal expression, and the second is an advertisement for coal.