#willemdekooning #pablopicasso
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Willem de Kooning, Lucio Fontana, Eva Hesse - Exhibition - Andrea Rosen Gallery
Many works went for below their low estimates, but a new high mark was set for Frank Stella
/PRNewswire/ -- A rare, original painting by abstract expressionist master Willem de Kooning and a large glass sculpture by renowned artist Dale Chihuly are...
I ran the astrological charts of an Era of the many women who helped expand the new art of America (the men got the glory fame and money) but she inspired them (and their husbands) and did twice as much work. Artists Lee Krasner, Elaine DeKooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Grace Hartigan, Charlotte Park, Lynne Drexler, Amaranth Ehrenhalt, Claire Falkenstein, Perle Fine, Sonia Gechtoff, Buffie Johnson, Jeanne Miles and more. Nice Documentary (short) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu1Yxz_exbM
Painting an abstract painting is so much harder than it looks. I put paint on the canvas and push and pull with the paint: addressing color and value, shapes and mark making until I achieve a balance and sense of space that feels complete. Unlike making a representational painting, abstract work takes its cues not from outside—from a landscape or bowl of fruit or face—but from within. Underneath the finished painting, there are a myriad of paintings the viewer doesn’t see. All of those buried layers represent equations that were wrestled with before I moved on. For years, I had a gnawing desire to understand abstract work. I would look at a deKooning, for instance, and think, “I don’t get it.” Then, I started to focus on the paint—at what you can achieve just with the paint—and everything changed. Having the guts to try that myself is where I was hesitant. Once I did try, I found I was still afraid but simultaneously obsessed. When I am away from the studio, going through my day, I am always thinking about the painting I am working on, which waits for me back in my studio. I can’t let go of the struggle to solve the problems being posed on the canvas; I can’t let go of thinking about how I will move it forward. I find it fascinating that struggling with an abstract work can parallel struggles I have in my life, both past and present. I have learned in my life if I let go a little and let nature take its course, things have a way of working out, often in a way that was better than I could have ever planned. So too with my art, allowing beautiful things to happen with the paint can turn the artwork into something far more interesting and with unexpected surprises. “How do I know when a painting is done? I don’t. I just have to stop.” Parkman also does portraits by commission. She can easily work from high quality photographs supplied by the client. Sketches are approved before advancing to the final painting. Capturing the likeness and freshness of a person is a gift she has. Mary is originally from Cleveland Ohio. Later she lived in New York City where she showed extensively. Her travels to Italy, Maine and Naples serve as the subject of many of her landscape paintings. Often painting her landscapes 'en plein air' she finds she is able to capture real light and space by being physically in the landscape. Having received her BFA from Cornell University, she continued her studies at The New York Studio School, the Art Students League and the International School of Art in Umbria, Italy. She teaches here in Naples and continues to show in Italy, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland and Naples.
I have two more classes to teach this semester and I am a little amazed that it is already over. I have loved teaching my little artists. I did not have any full classes this semester. But I guess for starting off in a new town I think I did pretty well. In my Little Machines class ( 4-5 yr olds) we had a fantastic time learning about some famous artists. We studied George Seurat, we made pointillism finger paintings, and we learned about mixing colors at the same time. We were introduced to Pablo Picasso. We had a great time talking about his silly faces. And we made some crazy face-collages of our very own. Pablo's Mine Marc Chagall taught us about space and we made big dream drawings together. We also looked at the use of the line in recent art history. We saw images from artists like Dan Flavin, to the well known Piet Mondrian, to the very minimal Fred Sandback, who makes his quiet installations using string. Dan Flavin at the LACMA retrospective in 2007 Fred Sandback string installation We explored the world of Van Gogh, reading books about his life, and made wet chalk drawings of a swirly night sky. We also talked about the way he used color and aggressive marks in his paintings to make them so compelling. Van Gogh, The Red Vineyard, 1888 At the end of the class I was pleased to hear my four-year old chanting, "George Seurat, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Vincent Van Gogh!" over and over to herself. I bet she's the only one in her pre-school that knows that little ditty. With my Big Machines (7-10 yrs old) we dove right into mono-prints the first day, squishing paint, spraying water, and smoothing paper with delight. It was so fun to hear the exclamations of: "Wow! I love mine!" and "Awesome, this is so beautiful!" When one of the students said she had decided she was staying with me--for the rest of the night, in my house--when class was over, I knew it had been a success. Over the course of their classes they tackled a very challenging blind contour drawing lesson, made their own decorative paper using all manner of utensils to apply paint, and created fantastic animal collages in the style of Eric Carle. Our paper They also loved learning about Abstract artists like William DeKooning, Jackson Pollock ("Those drips are so cool, this one is my favorite."), Cy Twombly, Alexander Calder ("He looks like a grumpy grandpa."), John Chamberlain, and Robert Motherwell ("Wow, that's a giant splat!"). While we worked we talked about school, what their Halloween costumes would be, and what they love about art. We do lots of laughing, encouraging, and collaborating. Thursday has been my favorite afternoon of the week. Alexander Calder Robert Motherwell John Chamberlain I have students signing up for next semester which starts mid-January. I can't wait to get started with some new kids, and some who are continuing from this semester. I am dreaming up paper mache sculpture in the style of Claes Oldenburg, Sistine Chapel drawings done lying on our backs under the tables, and more "teaching our eye-balls how to see" drawing lessons. I have just discovered a whole slew of new books to read in class, and I am ordering some art games from Amazon this month. I can't wait until January! For more information on ArtMachineStudios, or sign your 8 children up, go here. :)
