Discovering Art and Artists
I’ve been looking at a LOT of art lately. Not in museums or galleries, primarily internet searches.
For my new online course, Elements, I’ve been putting together a slide show for each element and am combing the internet for examples. In doing so, I’m discovering artists I’d never heard of, artworks I’d never seen, and favorites I’d long forgotten!
It’s a part of the course I really enjoy putting together, although it IS extremely time consuming. It might not be so if it weren’t for the fact that I am limited to Public Domain Art. I might have the perfect painting in mind, only to find it is- of course - copyright protected. And as it should be- no arguments from me there!
Come to think of it, the fact that it IS limited is probably a good thing. I’m the kind of person who wants to see every possible option before I settle on something! However, in this case - every possible option - is well… IMpossible!
I get excited about Art. There are certain artists I was always drawn to in art school: Marc Chagall, Cartier Bresson, Paul Klee - to name a few… I could go on and on.
But what I’m discovering are names like David Burliuk; not mentioned in any of my art history books*. And I’m re-discovering the work of Odilon Redon; who I did study- but had never seen many of the works I’m seeing now. There are many more, of course, but because these two artists pull me in repeatedly, I’d like to share some of the images I’ve found (public domain, of course!) that resonate with me.
David Burliuk
The image above, Advent of Spring and Summer, by David Burliuk, is one I especially enjoy. I’m trying hard to pin down “Why” - “What is it I’m responding to?” Is it the color? The shapes? The Symbolism? All of the above?
Scanning this page on Artnet, I can see the influence of many famous artists I’ve studied -a number of my favorites… maybe that’s what draws me to his work.
Here’s another one by Burliuk.
Odilon Redon
If my scribbles in my art history book are any indication, Odilon Redon is an artist I was drawn to in my youth - but had never been exposed to much of his work.
This one, Flower Clouds, captivates me on so many levels: I know it is in big part the color. But also, again, the Symbolism, the feeling it evokes?
Then, there’s this one, too: The Smiling Spider. Can’t be just the color.
And I love this quote I found on Wikipedia from his journal A Soi-même (To Myself).
“I have often, as an exercise and as a sustenance, painted before an object down to the smallest accidents of its visual appearance; but the day left me sad and with an unsatiated thirst. The next day I let the other source run, that of imagination, through the recollection of the forms and I was then reassured and appeased.” -Odilon Redon
Maybe that’s what sums up what I love in both these artists.
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* When I couldn’t find mention of either one in my old art history books, I remembered my son’s text books were still in his room so I went on a hunt. Curiously, both these artists are only mentioned in passing in the more recent textbooks, too.