(Ohara Koson, foto of the 1930’s/Image source: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)
This Japanese artist and printmaker was born in Kanazawa in 1877… He was a master of the bird and flower style. Throughout his life he created over 500 print images… Ohara studied painting and design at the Ishikawa Prefecture Technical School (1889–1893). It is believed that later he also studied painting with Suzuki Kason (1860–1919)… He was active and working until about 1935 and his prints sold internationally doing very well in the United States… Ohara died in 1945 in his home in Tokyo.
Art is something special, almost spiritual, therapeutic and liberating. It is a way that one can try to correct the things that one sees that are just not exactly right. Colours fill our life everyday. Colours God has placed upon this earth, so naturally, the most important element in a painting, the one that catches your eye is colour… However, that does not mean that drawings in black and white are less than a colourful canvas. After all black and white are colours too.
I would like to ask you to check out this video of my work and tell me what you think…
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(Bodo Vespaciano, a.k.a. Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Actor portrayal/All Rights Reserved)
Why is it important to know (learn) about Art History? I ask you. I know why I studied, and continue to study, Art History. But I want to know what you think. And since I truly believe it is quite important, for artists and non-artists alike, because everybody loves art in one way or another. All you have to do is walk by one of the museums in your city and if your museums are some of the famous ones you will immediately notice long queues in front.
So I have tried to make the experience easy and appealing by creating short videos that deal with important artists that have shaped art history in one way or another. I will be continuing the series little by little if I see a good response. But at the moment I have not noticed much interest. The artists I have chosen are not in any order and the ones I have chosen are not my favourites or least favourites. They, whether I like them (some) or not, are part of this great history, so they are included. But you will immediately understand and know whether I like them or not.
In any event, here is one of the videos that has not had much views and really, this is one of the great artists, at least for me. I hope you enjoy it.
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(Sailing with Bodo V/actor portrayal/All Rights Reserved)
A fine art print is a quality reproduction of an original work of art. And a very affordable way to own original art… The only company I have entrusted to do my fine art prints (in many styles) is Fine Art America. I invite you to visit my gallery at Fine Art America and do it often as I change the images regularly.
Now how about checking out the following video with many more images found at Fine Art America…
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El Anatsui is 81 years old. He was born in 1844 in Anyako, Ghana. This contemporary African sculptor has spent most of his career in Nigeria…
He is mostly known for his «bottle-top installations» which he makes out of thousands of pieces of aluminium which he gets from alcohol recycling stations. He sews them together with wires of copper and transforms them, artistically into sculptures seemingly of cloth.
El Anatsui studied art at the University of Kumasi in Ghana. Later he relocated to Nigeria where in 1977 he began teaching Sculpture and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria. There he joined the group Nsukka, an artists group that created mostly abstract forms, sculpture and contemporary art.
He has exhibited his work throughout the world and as well has received several prizes. He was awarded the Imperial Sculpture Prize from the Japanese Art Association as well as the Lorenzo the Magnificent Prize at the Florence Biennale. He is an honorary academician of the British and American Academies of Art and Sciences.
Definitely an interesting and important artist to get to know.
Another scam I would say created by «experts» that now say that a painting found at a garage sale is the work «Elimar», an original by Vincent van Gogh… I say that if that is a van Gogh then I am the reincarnation of Frida Kahlo! It doesn’t look anything like anything that van Gogh ever painted. And if it was a painting that he made mistakes on and did not like, he would have destroyed it, like all of us do when we don’t like something, no?
The «experts» say that van Gogh painted it in 1889 during his stay at a psychiatric hospital in the south of France. That already raises red flags with me because in all my research into van Gogh I always read that during his most stressful (psychotic) times he did not paint. And it makes sense. When a person is suffering a neurotic or psychotic episode, artist or amateur, they are not in the position to create, much less go through all the complexities of the task, craft and artistry of painting. So I do not believe it.
According to CNN: «Experts commissioned by art research firm LMI Group International have said after analyzing (sic) the canvas weave, paint pigment and other characteristics.» Well they accredited it to the Dutch painter. I reckon they would not be paid if they told the antique collector who brought it to them (from Minnesota) that it was painted by John Doe…
In any event, I thought it was interesting enough (up to this point) to bring it to your attention as it adds a part two to the El Greco that was found in Mexico. But, between you and me, I do not believe it…
What do you think? Look at the painting, compare it with the work of Vincent van Gogh and tell me what you think…
(«Y sale el sol»/Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
I don’t usually wake up thinking about art, but on a foggy July morning, watching the sun rise amidst the absurdity of the meteorological conditions, my thoughts went immediately into creating a record of such a daybreak. So, all morning I have been thinking about art, and especially about the new painting I am working on. I still have not put a single drop of paint on the canvas, but I have been «painting» it for about a week. Of course it is all in my head, as well as some ideas in a sketchbook. But yesterday I finally decided upon the composition. Funny thing, I decided to ignore all the previous sketches and create a brand new one of a thought that suddenly came to my head. So, now I know what the new painting is going to be.
For me that is the «process» of art. It involves trial and error, improvisation, allowing the subject to take centre stage and do it’s solo, and of course I must take into good consideration the rhythm of the entire work. That is the process of «JaZzArT» to create a surreal-expressionist work out of a bunch of ideas. Now I am thinking about the colours it will have. Colours are very important for my surreal-expressionist art as there is a lot of abstract within these figurative compositions. Colour creates the mood, the intention, the message and also attracts attention, and that is very important.
For me the process of art does not include inspiration, or muses, or intuition or the thought that I «am» or «have» talent. My talent is developed with every painting I create as I work, diligently and hard to make it «work». Talent is not a possession, nor is it something you are born with. Talent is developed through hard work, repetition, trial and error and with the desire to create. If people were born talented, they would have a genetic condition, and then be pre-disposed to create but what they create would not be art. Art has to be the result of effort, of enthusiasm and of discipline, and of course, the unquenchable thirst of the artist that guides him to the waters of creativity, which is art.
I am an academic artist. I graduated from Fine Arts at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. Since those days I have grown as an artist because I always considered that art was the search. So I searched and am still searching. I am also finding, I am also learning. I have sought out knowledge from any source, be it a book, a video, another artist, but always from somewhere or someone. There is no such thing as a «self-taught» artist (or anything). No one can teach themselves what they do not know. The knowledge comes from somewhere.
And at this point in my life and career, and after what I am seeing that goes on in art schools at unis almost everywhere, I no longer advocate a Fine Arts degree in Art. I would instead suggest an art academy where you can register and define your course of studies. If you are interested in abstract art you need not waste your time learning figurative (although you should have a good introduction to it), just like if you wish to pursue sculpting, why waste time doing watercolour landscapes.
But the worst thing that I see in the Faculties of Fine Arts is the way the professors want to guide their students to the art forms they like. The worst one is conceptual art and performance art. It seems like there is an overabundance of performance artists as well as conceptual artists. Fine, for whoever likes that, I’ve no beef with them nor with their style. But I think that if you are training to be an artist, an artist that draws, paints, models and sculpts, then you should not be influenced to veer your course of studies towards conceptual or performance art. And that is not the job of the professor. I never wanted a professor to guide my head or thoughts, all I wanted was for them to teach me the basics of art and of the art world (business), which they rarely touch upon.
El Anatsui is 81 years old. He was born in 1844 in Anyako, Ghana. This contemporary African sculptor has spent most of his career in Nigeria…
He is mostly known for his «bottle-top installations» which he makes out of thousands of pieces of aluminium which he gets from alcohol recycling stations. He sews them together with wires of copper and transforms them, artistically into sculptures seemingly of cloth.
El Anatsui studied art at the University of Kumasi in Ghana. Later he relocated to Nigeria where in 1977 he began teaching Sculpture and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria. There he joined the group Nsukka, an artists group that created mostly abstract forms, sculpture and contemporary art.
He has exhibited his work throughout the world and as well has received several prizes. He was awarded the Imperial Sculpture Prize from the Japanese Art Association as well as the Lorenzo the Magnificent Prize at the Florence Biennale. He is an honorary academician of the British and American Academies of Art and Sciences.
Definitely an interesting and important artist to get to know.
(Photo courtesy of Art Basel Miami Beach/Image source: ARTNews)
This piece by Philp Guston sold at Art Basel Miami Beach (2023) for $20 million… Think of all the good artwork you could purchase for that amount of cash…
For this piece by Marlene Dumas someone paid $9 million at Art Basel Miami Beach (2023).
But we must also bear in mind that these prices were reported by the gallerists that sold (or supposedly) the paintings…
Just a little background in case you do not know who these artists are…
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980): Canadian-American painter and muralist. He did a little bit of everything from Abstract Expressionism to what they call «social realism» (good grief!).
MARLENE DUMAS (1973): South African artist. I have written about her and about her magnificent sales. Please follow the link.
CONCLUSION: To be fair and honest I must say that I do not dislike the piece by Marlene Dumas. Actually her work is quite good and at times interesting. But for the Guston I would not have paid a bloody penny…
Now it is your turn. What do you think. If you had that kind of money just lying around to buy art would these be the pieces you would buy?
The «experts» that have analysed this painting have attributed it to El Greco. What has been said is that the painting reached America during the Spanish Civil War and had remained hidden, (or away from the public eye) for over fifty years. Experts say that it is a Greco from 1590, that a family kept it in the Mexican city of Coyoacán without knowing that it was from the famous painter. They say that the painting represents Saint Andrew.
I am no «expert», and I totally dislike and distrust the so-called «experts» (good grief experts!), but I would not call this painting that you see above in the featured image an original El Greco. If that is an El Greco then I am the reincarnation of Michelangelo! There is nothing about this painting that would even remind me of any of the phenomenal works of El Greco, who is, by the way, one of my favourite artists. El Greco was a master, ahead of his time, and an artist that would never paint something like that.
But now you tell me what you think. Do you believe the «experts»?
JaZzArt en València 