FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY - JOAN MIRO i FERRA

I haven't done one of these artist birthday blogs for a while. With the troubles in Spain over CoVid19, I thought it appropriate to celebrate one of its most famous sons. Sadly, when I was in Barcelona a few years ago, there were so many tourists and everything was so expensive, that I had to choose between venues and Miro didn't make the cut.

One of the bonuses of the viral lockdowns are that most museums and galleries have pumped up their online presence and in some ways it’s better to view the collections online. For those with disabilities and/or aging bodies, that is a good thing. Mostly access to worldwide online collections is free, at least during the pandemic. I predict paid memberships or pay-per-view will be more common when things settle down, so now is a good time to enjoy them.

Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975 ... Wikipedia

Born: April 20, 1893, Barcelona, Spain

Died: December 25, 1983, Palma, Majorca, Spain (wow he was 90!)

Periods: Surrealism, Modern Art, Dada

Influenced: Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, Alberto Giacometti, Arshile Gorky

THE GARDEN - Joan Miro

Joan Miró was one of my partner Alberts favorite painters. We never owned one of his works, although for a short time we had a Salvador Dali, an artist that was influenced by him. I love Mirós sense of color, but I find his work a bit mid century, which is not my favorite period in art. He did live a long and productive life, transitioning through some of the modern eras most outrageous styles and was highly influential in European and American art. 

In Barcelona there is a large museum and collection dedicated to Miró and its website is well thought out and fascinating. https://www.fmirobcn.org/en/colection/catalog-works/joan-miro. Works date from his early childhood to late in life and show how his style developed through one of the most radical centuries in history. He was nearly 30 before he had established the style we are familiar with. One of the most interesting sections is his biography, which details the evolution of one of the 20th Century greats. 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR POST IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING LOOK LIKE AN ORIGINAL

SISTERS
by Sea Dean
(after Two Women with Mango Blossom
by Paul Gaugin)
Approx 18" x 13" Canvas Panel (European Canvas Size)
NFS

This painting was a commission for a Paul Gaugin work. It has been sitting in the purchaser's closet waiting for the right frame for over a year. When I asked why, it was because there was no reasonably priced frame available in the local area. The original has a beautiful antique handmade frame and the patron wanted something similar.

Two Women with Mango Blossoms - Paul Gaugin - Original Frame

So I put my thinking cap on. Luckily there was a handy frame shop in the area selling very basic frames, but the owner was willing and had the equipment to cut and assemble, if I could find the right fancy frame it could be fitted. I looked high and low and came up with some gold framed religious icons which were nice but very flimsy.

Then I had an AHA moment. What if I took an inexpensive mirror that had a nice quality gold frame and cut it to fit the painting. The search was on. I eventually found the right look in a low end department store; my friendly framer did a great job cutting and assembling for a reasonable price and this is the result. Much nicer in real life of course. The owner is thrilled.

Do you crave a real Monet or Vermeer? I'm happy to copy any public domain painting and even go the extra mile to find a spectacular frame for it. It's much more reasonable than you imagine.

FAMOUS ARTISTS BIRTHDAY - GUSTAV KLIMT - SYMBOLIST - SUN GAZER ACEO

Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which sold for a record $135 million in 2006, Neue Galerie, New York

Gustav Klimt  was born July 14, 1862 in Baumgarten near Vienna, Austria. Ernst Klimt, his father, was a gold engraver formerly from Bohemia. Klimt was a symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement.

Klimt took his father's love of gold into the painting world. Any painter that has tried to emulate Klimt, knows how difficult it is to include iridescent paint and gold leaf in a painting; it either looks too garish or cartoon like. Although I'm still experimenting, I am also a jeweler, turned fine artist, and I long to include shiny texture in my work. I think the trick is to apply texture to the canvas before the gold.

I don't actually remember seeing a Klimt in a gallery, although I'm sure I must have, possibly before I became a fine artist. Looking at this painting I can see a lot of texture and I would be extremely interested in how he achieved the effect. A bit quirky, but here is a YouTube video which attempts to explain.

The painting above has also been aptly named "The Woman in Gold". It has been described as the final and most representative work of Klimts gold phase and if I had $135 million I would buy it too. See more here. 

I'm always interested in the chemical properties of the paints and additives I'm using and I investigated gilding size which is the glue used to adhere the leaf. I found this information with Google and you will be as surprised as I was to learn it is made from gelatin. Gelatin is manufactured from animal bones and other parts processed to extract the hydrolyzed collagen, therefore non-vegetarian and non kosher.

Klimt died February 6, 1918 at only 56 years of age.


SUN GAZER ACEO

This ACEO was an experiment to duplicate the look of Verre Eglomise which is a golden effect on glass. The horse is after the style of Franz Marc, my favourite painter. The ACEO is sold unframed at Daily Paintworks, but contact me if you would like it matted and framed as well.

SUN GAZER by Sea Dean - Example Framed

SUN GAZER by Sea Dean

VIew my online Gallery of large works and Limited Editions at ARTFINDER

View my online Gallery of small works at DAILY PAINTWORKS

Shop for Limited Edition ACEO and printed products here

Art Cards $5 and Art Postcards $3 here

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY - ODILON REDON - MINI MASTER SERIES - POST IMPRESSIONIST - SYMBOLIST

FLOWER TREE - MINI MASTER by Sea Dean after Odillon Redon

FLOWER TREE - MINI MASTER by Sea Dean

"Composition: Flowers," by Odilon Redon
 Oil on panel, 21.13 in. x 19.5 in.

FLOWER TREE
MINI MASTER
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN
4" x 4" on canvas panel

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

For this homage to Odillon Redon on his birthday, I decided to play with the palette of "Composition Flowers" without worrying too much about duplicating the painting itself. I simply love the combination of violet, bright red, lemon and lashings of copper and gold. (Trust me, it doesn't show in the image, but there is plenty of metallic on this panel). Odillon loved metallic effects, but avoided the ornate embellishment of Klimt and used it to add light and flow freely throughout his work.

ODILON REDON 

On 20 April 1840, Bertrand-Jean Redon was born to a prosperous family in Bordeaux, Aquitaine. Redon started drawing as a child and at the age of ten he was awarded a drawing prize at school. The boy was nicknamed "Odilon" after his mother, Odile.

At fifteen, he formally studied drawing, but his father insisted he change to architecture. He dropped architecture when he failed the entrance exam at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1864 he studied painting under Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris and then sculpture, etching and lithography under Rodolphe Bresdin.

In 1870 he served in the brief Franco-Prussian War and then moved to Paris to focus on charcoal drawing and lithography. He called these visionary works his noirs, because they were black and white.

Self-Portrait, 1880, Musée d'Orsay

In 1878 his work, "Guardian Spirit of the Waters" gained recognition and in 1879 he published his first set of lithographs, titled Dans le Rêve. Redon remained relatively unknown until 1884 when his work was featured in a cult novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans titled À rebours (Against Nature). The story featured a decadent aristocrat who collected Redon's drawings.

In the 1890s he moved on to pastel and oil. In 1899, he exhibited with the Nabis at Durand-Ruel's. In 1903 he was awarded the Legion of Honor.

His popularity increased in 1913 when a catalogue of etchings and lithographs was published he was given the largest representation at the New York Armory Show.

Although prolific, Redon has remained relatively unknown because his work was so different to his Impressionist contemporaries. He was a rebel in many ways, choosing the bohemian lifestyle of Belle Epoque Paris over a more acceptable career. He produced radical, dark, moody and intense works that leave you feeling vaguely uneasy as can be seen in his Self Portrait.

Odilon is an Artist's Artist, and for those who prefer the defiant attitude of modern art, he is a good one to study. You can read more about him here.

Died 6 July 1916 Paris, France

FAMOUS ARTISTS BIRTHDAY - MINI MASTER SERIES - VINCENT VAN GOGH - POST IMPRESSIONIST, EXPRESSIONIST

VAN GOGH TREES
PAINTING BY SEA DEAN AFTER VINCENT VAN GOGH
4" x 4" Mini Master on Canvas Panel
Homage to Famous Artists on their birthday

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.

Vincent Van Gogh stood out amongst his contemporaries because of his expressive brushwork and it is this technique which intimidated me so, that I almost didn't celebrate his birthday. This is not because it is difficult to copy his work in oil and in the original size, but converting it to miniature and painting in acrylic, now that IS difficult. Acrylics resist impasto style work and tend to flatten when drying, even with skillful use of gels, while oils do the opposite, resisting mingling and flattening.

Always one to take on a challenge, here is my MINI MASTER version of detail from "Wheatfield with Cypresses" from July 1889


VINCENT WILLEM VAN GOGH

30 March 1853 Born at Groot-Sundert, north Brabant
He was the son of a clergyman. Three of his brothers were Art dealers and both he and his brother Theo followed suit.
1869 Vincent was an Art dealer for Goupil & Co at The Hague
1873 Transferred to London branch
1875 Transferred to Paris branch
1876 Was dismissed and tried several things including preaching.
1880 He turned to painting and his more successful brother Theo gave him an allowance
1886 He changed his colour palette when he visited Paris and saw Impressionist, Neo-Impressionist and Japanese prints
1888 Painted in Arles
1889 Argued with Gaugin and entered asylum at St Remy and Auvers
1890, in July, he died by his own hand at Auvers



Cat # 14065 Van Gogh Trees

FAMOUS ARTIST BIRTHDAY - TOULOUSE-LAUTREC - POST IMPRESSIONIST

IMAGE OF HENRI TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

Henri Marie Raymonde de Toulouse-Lautrec was born 24 November 1864 at Albi, France. His ancestors were the Counts of Toulouse. He was not born with a disability as many think; he broke both legs in 1879 and this stunted his growth. Prior to that he was an avid sportsman, but was forced to find a new interest and turned to painting.

Henri was schooled in Paris at the Lycee Fontanes and afterwards he returned to Albi in 1878. From 1882 on he studied with Bonnat and Cormon alongside Emile Bernard and Vincent van Gogh. In 1884 he set up a studio in Montmartre, Paris. He painted his friend Vincent in 1887, somewhat mimicking the artist's wild brushstrokes but with pastels.

His style was quite unique, very graphic and lending itself well to the poster art he is famous for. He was inspired by Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism but his main influence was Edgar Degas. He also adapted Japanese print design.

Henri loved the night life of Paris and was famous for drinking and debauchery. He painted what he saw and gives a fascinating glimpse of street life in the Belle Epoch era. In 1898, as a result of his life of excess, he ended up in a sanitorium, and on 9 September 1901 he died at Chateau de Malrome, Gironde, France. He was only 37 years old.

FAMOUS ARTISTS BIRTHDAY - PAUL SIGNAC - POST and NEO IMPRESSIONIST - JUNO's DREAM by SEA DEAN

The Papal Palace, Avignon, oil on canvas, 1900, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

11 November 1863 Paul Victor Jules Signac was born in Paris, France. Interestingly, he had the same birthdate as Edouard Vuillard who I will honour in June on the anniversary of his death.

1882 Signac was painting on the quais in Paris. Imagine, you could have walked along the Seine in 1882 and bought a Signac straight from the artist and the paint would still be wet!. He then moved to Asnieres wher he painted till 1884.
In 1884 he met Claude Monet and Georges Seurat. He was struck by the methodical working methods and colour theory of Seurat and became a faithful friend, supporter and heir. Under Seurat's influence he abandoned the short brushstrokes of Impressionism to experiment with small dots of pure color, intended to combine and blend not on the canvas but in the viewer's eye, a defining feature of pointillism. This has always captivated me and I use some of the theories in my own work. One day I intend doing a neo-pointillist series but at the moment I don't feel I would do it justice.

Georges Seurat Portrait of Paul Signac, 1890, conté crayon

In 1886 he showed in the 8th Impressionist exhibition. During this period he often painted with Van Gogh and his influence can be seen when you compare the painting above with works by Van Gogh like his Wheat Field series.

On 7 November 1892 he married Berthe Roblès and his witnesses were fellow painters and archists, Alexandre Lemonier, Maximilien Luce, Camille Pissarro and Georges Lecomte. The marriage didn't last, but they remained friends for the rest of their lives.

1899 Signac published D'Eugene Delacroix au Neo-Impressionnisme which included his description of Neo-Impressionism and Divisionism He wrote several books and other articles which make an interesting read.

Signac loved to sail and after his marriage he began sailing his boat to almost all the ports of France, Holland, and around the Mediterranean as far as Constantinople. He brought back vibrant, colorful watercolors, sketched rapidly from nature, from which he created large studio canvases, carefully worked in small, mosaic-like squares of color, quite different from the tiny, variegated dots previously used by Seurat.

The top painting was completed at the same time Monet created his water lilies at Giverny; a prolific period where Monet produced many large canvases showing large, fast, almost wild brushstrokes and unusual colour combinations. At the same time Paul Signac was still carefully laying down separate dashes of colour, each one mixed with care and perfectly placed. He must have worn his shoes out going back and forth across the studio with loaded brush to lacate just the right spot.

Like many Neo Impressionists, he experimented with many styles and different media so he can be found in searches classified as a Post Impressionist, Neo Impressionist and a Pointillist.

15 August 1935 Paul Signac died in Marseilles, France.

For more information on Paul Signac click here.


Today's Daily Paintworks auction ...
JUNO'S DREAM 
Essence Painting by Sea Dean
14" X 7" Gallery Wrap Canvas
Professional Acrylic with UV protection and Peacock Feather

"Juno's Dream" ESSENCE PAINTING was inspired by the legend of Juno and the Peacock. It is one of a series of paintings which include real peacock feathers.


Buy now, gift wrap and relax with a smile when everyone is still rushing around in December. Everyone purchasing from now till 25th December 2013 receives a free print as a thank you.

To view my Gallery or purchase this painting please visit Daily Paintworks. Larger originals or prints may be available by contacting me.




Cat 12016 Juno's Dream