The Fine Art Appreciation Thread

[Hitch]

My tastes tend to gravitate towards tradition, representative and a bit of realism in the art (and quite predominantly European), such as Tissot's "A passing storm" -



I adore the lighting and composition. I like how the Lady and the Still life in the foreground balance each other out with regards to the fixation of my eyes. Clearly, the man is boiling in his head and the title as well as the storm clouds in the background is a nice twist to what went on between the two.

[Janszoon]

I'm a big fan of Chuck Close though unfortunately the impact of his absolutely massive paintings doesn't really translate well to a little jpeg on the internet. His stuff really has to be seen in person to be appreciated.

[PoorOldPo]

I have always been very inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat. Was pointed towards him about a year ago.

[Paedantic Basterd]

Some awesome stuff being posted. I'm taking note.

Mark Gilbert, who does a lot with deformities and open surgical wounds.

http://www.markgilbert.co.uk/

Spoiler for graphic content:

[Frownland]

I don't know much of her work, but I saw this amazing piece of Yayoi Kusama's at the Phoenix Art Museum. It's called "You Who Are Being Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Dragonflies" and it's a dark room with hanging LED lights and mirrors for floors, walls and ceilings. When you walk into the room, it's like stepping off of the Earth and into a particularly vivid area of infinity. It was nothing short of amazing.



EDIT: As you can tell, a jpg doesn't do it much justice.

[Paedantic Basterd]

I love those types of exhibits, and contemporary galleries in general. A jpg just does not convey enough.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by Frownland

I don't know much of her work, but I saw this amazing piece of Yayoi Kusama's at the Phoenix Art Museum. It's called "You Who Are Being Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Dragonflies" and it's a dark room with hanging LED lights and mirrors for floors, walls and ceilings. When you walk into the room, it's like stepping off of the Earth and into a particularly vivid area of infinity. It was nothing short of amazing.



EDIT: As you can tell, a jpg doesn't do it much justice.

That looks amazing!

[Burning Down]

I'm sure you're all familiar or vaguely familiar with David Hockney. I always liked his paintings and prints and my mom has a couple of prints framed in the house.

American Collectors:



A consistent theme in Hockney's artwork is swimming pools:

A Bigger Splash (you've probably seen this one somewhere):



Day Pool (wish this one was bigger):

[CanwllCorfe]

Originally Posted by Frownland

I don't know much of her work, but I saw this amazing piece of Yayoi Kusama's at the Phoenix Art Museum. It's called "You Who Are Being Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Dragonflies" and it's a dark room with hanging LED lights and mirrors for floors, walls and ceilings. When you walk into the room, it's like stepping off of the Earth and into a particularly vivid area of infinity. It was nothing short of amazing.



EDIT: As you can tell, a jpg doesn't do it much justice.

That's awesome! Along that same line is an awesome piece by Olafur Eliasson called The Weather Project.

Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air via a mixture of sugar and water, as well as a semi-circular disc made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps which radiated yellow light. The ceiling of the hall was covered with a huge mirror, in which visitors could see themselves as tiny black shadows against a mass of orange light. Many visitors responded to this exhibition by lying on their backs and waving their hands and legs. Open for six months, the work reportedly attracted two million visitors, many of whom were repeat visitors.

[FRED HALE SR.]

Originally Posted by Burning Down

I'm sure you're all familiar or vaguely familiar with David Hockey. I always liked his paintings and prints and my mom has a couple of prints framed in the house.

American Collectors:



A consistent theme in Hockney's artwork is swimming pools:

A Bigger Splash (you've probably seen this one somewhere):



Day Pool (wish this one was bigger):

Lots of interesting stuff in here. My favorite artist of any period is Diego Rivera. I think he can cover all aspects of painting so well and I could not choose just one so here is his Complete Works to check out. My favorite is The Flower Seller/El Vendedor De Alcatraces from 1942. I love his choice of color always and he can paint abstract or traditional so very well.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...sy3ii8PVYMfcRQ