The Art Thread

[Giovanni]

It a long time i'd like to open up a thread about Arts.
This is not supposed to be a erudite thread it's open to everyone to express his appreciation for some artistic expression of every kind, may be a gallery, museum, new building or simply your favourite painters.

Art is such a rich subject, and is able to communicate without mediation of languages.
When i watch an artistic masterpiece i feel immortality,and for few seconds i think that the time can be stopped or come back at the moment that masterpiece was actually made.
I few words, through art the human being can touch a super-human dimension, IMHO.

To start the discussion here a few artists i like in a nutshell:

Painters: Giotto, van Eyck (but all the flemish renaissance as well), Caravaggio, Mantegna, Canaletto, The Impressionists (esp Gauguin Van Gogh and Cezanne), the Italian renaissance,the english romanticism, Jacques Louis David and many others.

Sculptors: Michelangelo ( as Vasari said "more divine than human thing on Earth" :pr115: ) Donatello, Giambologna, Bernini

Architects: Filippo Brunelleschi, Bernini, Sir Christopher Wren, Palladio, Michelangelo


Hope this thread will entertain and spur everyone to discover/ get deeper into Arts

[SANT]

Good idea Gio...

among the architects, I'd add Antonio Gaudi... if anyone has had a chance to visit Barcelona, will understand why... of course, he's a lot more modern than the previously listed...

[Kui]

Ditto on all your choices Gio! I do surprisingly like some of the FRENCH impressionist artworks of Monet and Renoir.
I'm a closet "art fart"... as I call it. I like a lot of non celebrity artist and their works. I expect originality of course as there are those who are very guilty of using too much inspiration from known artists. If you got the eye for it you can tell the difference, if one painter truly created the work from his own inspiration.
I since childhood liked the creations of Norman Rockwell. He epitomized the "good" that America possesses within, though it would be quite hard for people to understand this. His works were at first not considered "art", but no one has come close to master his genre. Most of his best works were destroyed by fire and the big tragedy is that they werent even published or photographed for the world to see.

[Giovanni]

I forgot Rembrandt and Vermeer, but also Masaccio and Botticelli

The Birth of Venus is among my most fav paintings. http://www.johnmitchell.org/venus.htm

Have you ever noticed that the shoulders and the arms are completely unproportioned to the whole figure. It's clearly a mistake, but one of those who actually make the painting even better


I like the flemish school, esp Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, Campin. The inspired so many artists of the italian school as well even Leonardo; Antonello da Messina has been named "the most flemish of the italian artists" and at National Gallery they have many of his paintings.

The Arnolfini Wedding http://emp.byui.edu/DavisR/202/Exam1Art/pages/Van%20Eyck%20%20%20Arnolfini%20Wedding.htm is outstanding. Look at the precision of details. Look at the mirror. This piece is small in reality, they had outstanding accuracy

http://courses.essex.ac.uk/AR/Ar100/webctfiles/wiltonimages/Van_Eyck_Louvre_Rolin_Madonna.jpg

http://courses.essex.ac.uk/AR/Ar100/webctfiles/wiltonimages/Van_Eyck_Brugge_Madonna_Child_canon_VanderPaele.jpg

Look at the details: isn't it unbelievable, maybe these oaks tables are as big as a book!
I think the Flemish school has settled a new dimension in art. Think that we are in the first half of 1400. The Italians in the meantime were doing completely different things, we aren't already in Renaissance but in pre-Renaissance.
The Italians, differently from the Flemish, didn't bother about the enviroment, in other words, didn't give so much importance to the other parts of the painting other that the characters. The Flemish were more naturalistic, while the Italians idealised their figures.


I've been astonished by the amazing level of details in Flemish paintings, but the simbology is as important, they aren't just skill exercises of well done paint. Professors, esp from the German school, dedicated entire books about one masterpiece!

[Miss S.]

Gio I hope that your Art thread is open to all works that move us is some way and not just the classics or the most historical or most storied. I have grown very attached emotionally to the works of a Canadian artist named Austin. His works are sculptures dominately of children and being able to see into their innocence. They are peaceful and calming. The texture is visual, and dominate whic to me greatly contrasts the actual feel of the pieces. I have several pieces and still enjoy today what I saw in them when they were purchased many years ago.

But truthfully, to me the greatest works of art are things I see everyday when I am on my way to work or taking Milan out for a walk. I need only to look to the sky or horizon to find a rare beauty and true inspiration

[SANT]

I'd like to suggest we try to add a link to a picture of whatever piece of work we mention.

[Giovanni]

Gio I hope that your Art thread is open to all works that move us is some way and not just the classics or the most historical or most storied. I have grown very attached emotionally to the works of a Canadian artist named Austin. His works are sculptures dominately of children and being able to see into their innocence. They are peaceful and calming. The texture is visual, and dominate whic to me greatly contrasts the actual feel of the pieces. I have several pieces and still enjoy today what I saw in them when they were purchased many years ago.

But truthfully, to me the greatest works of art are things I see everyday when I am on my way to work or taking Milan out for a walk. I need only to look to the sky or horizon to find a rare beauty and true inspiration

Sant i definitely agree
Staci it's open to every expression, even provocative, but it must be meaningful for some reasons.
My intention is to open a thread where people can comment or talk about art, but in the meantime learn something from other people. Maybe we just ignore some artists because they are less publicised, but reading some comments on here can push people to get deeper into that artist or that movement.

For ex. if you have discovered an artist you like, post some pictures and explain why he's innovative or can be considered meaningful. Explain what are the main characteristics of his personal artistic research.

I'd love to have feedbacks from some architects to understand more about different styles of Gothic.

I'm also interested in artists biographies, and strange infos: for ex. Gordon Willis, one of filmmakers of Godfather trilogy (and many other filmmakers )clearly inspired himself with the art of Caravaggio, so dark and full of shadows and lights.

http://www.ti-amo.at/kunst/caravaggio-christus-martersaeule.htm

http://www.godfatherfilms.com/images/mike_scream1.jpg