Artist Spotlight: Francisco Goya
So I had heard of Francisco Goya before riding the Metro in Madrid, but I had never really heard about him. One of the stops before mine was named after him, and to my regret, I never alighted there to find out why. But I remember turning the name over in my mind, and when we finally […]
Artist Spotlight: Alejandro Cesarco
Today’s featured artist is Alejandro Cesarco! Heads up: today’s article is a shameless plug for one of my favorite artists living and working in the art world today. Alejandro Cesarco’s Conceptually-influenced pieces bring attention to ideas of art historical codes, linguistics in a refreshingly witty, non-elitist manner. Alejandro Cesarco was born in 1975 in Montevideo, […]
Henry Ossawa Tanner and Biblical Paintings
For much of the history of western art, what is considered a “good” painting was judged by how well a painting conveyed a visual narrative—that is, how well a painting told a story. From just before the Renaissance onwards, the implicit hierarchy for what would make a painting “good” was as follows—history paintings (paintings such […]
Artist Spotlight: Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Summer is just around the bend! With lazy days filled with sun and sea ahead, it’s only fitting to celebrate the fact that warmer days are coming in beautiful California. Bulgarian-born artist Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and his wife Jeanne-Claude Danet, better known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were clearly fans of California summers as well. Their […]
Paint in the trenches: front-line artists in World War 1
As the world spends today remembering those who have fallen defending their country, we thought we would share this fascinating and timely article published in August by Smithsonian Magazine. In his article “This Riveting Art From the Front Lines of World War I Has Gone Largely Unseen for Decades,” Max Kutner reveals the history of […]
Behind every great man: 4 things to know about Jo Hopper
This week in Artist Spotlight, we take a look not at an artist’s lesser-known work, but at a lesser-known artist herself that you should really get to know. Have you seen this woman before? You may not realize it, but you probably have. Here she is again, in Hopper’s “Room in New York.” And […]
Degas: the Original Awkward Family Portrait
Have you heard of Awkward Family Photos? What began as a small online blog collecting – you guessed it – awkward family photos went viral almost immediately, and the proud owners of the site have now branched out into coffee table books and even a board game. Here’s two examples: […]
Science + Art = Whoa, with Andy Warhol
For those who don’t see much overlap between science and art, just read this. It will surprise you. Andy Warhol, best known for pop art paintings of Campbell’s Soup and Marilyn Monroe, started working with a new personal computer, the Amiga, to create art only a couple years before his death in 1987. Now, this may […]
Happy Memorial Day from favorite American artists
This Memorial Day weekend, we would like to introduce you to a new bi-monthly series, Artist Spotlight, in which we share some lesser-known works by famous artists in the Art Docent Program. Memorial Day: a day of reflection, thanksgiving, and (of course) barbecues. Oh, and if you’re so inclined, it can be a day of painting […]
How to not starve as an artist, brought to you by Diego Rivera
Aspiring artists certainly should be aware of the fact that, at some point in their life, they will possibly be broke and on the edge of starvation. It appears to just be standard activity for all the great artists: Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, El Greco, just to name a few! Of course, telling students in […]