Reeling from a front-page scandal threatening to derail his career, the American painter John Singer Sargent spent the summer of 1885 healing his emotional wounds at a country estate in England. Though he was fantasizing about [...]
Artists have delighted, over the years, in giving visual form to imaginative ideas and passages from literature, doubly so when the source itself is straight out of imagination. Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “double, double, [...]
By daring big leaps from one plateau to the next, Dwight Tryon (1849-1925) became a famous early 20th century Tonalist, a poet-in-paint of the raw New England countryside. Like his fellow Tonalists (most of whom [...]
By Kelly Kane Ever since our prehistoric ancestors dipped into the earth with sticks and fingers to make images on cave walls, we’ve understood the merits of natural pigments and chalks for drawing. Meet the [...]
What interests me most is neither still life nor landscape: it is the human figure. – Henri Matisse The term “figure painting” (or “figurative painting”) typically refers to representational art related to the human form. [...]
“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” -Robert Henri Define art however you like, but the act of making it is a gesture of hope. [...]
Art historians call George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923) one of the leading "Amsterdam Impressionists." However, his paintings don't align with the kind of artwork we commonly associate with Impressionism. That’s because Breitner and his peers ignored [...]
“Light is therefore color.” - JMW Turner Surely one of the reasons we go to painting is for the light. But not just any light! Numerous artists throughout history have used light as a visual [...]
By Jill Stefani Wagner When I first dipped my toes into the world of becoming a professional artist, I must admit I was a bit naive. Looking back I realize I had the silly notion [...]
There’s a true-to-life scene in the 2014 movie Mr.Turner, where the Royal Academician John Constable is drawing a crowd for a colorful painting with a middle-ground full of dynamic red paint. In reaction, Turner adds [...]
