Thursday, July 28, 2005

This one's for RH

This is a work by Henri Matisse. It is a mandala of dancers.  I believe it's called "The Dance."  It, or a reasonable facsimile, was emblazoned on the Activity Building at Unity College in Maine for many years until some prude decided we needed to paint over it.  But RH loved the painting.  I appreciated it as well.  It made a statement about what the college wanted to be.

 

Some of my favorite artists are Joan (pronounced Juan) Miro and Georgia O'Keeffe.  I like them for drawing attention to small details.  Miro's work can be so playful. O'Keeffe puts your face in a flower.  (That you see people parts is not her fault.)  I love folk artists simple depictions of life.  I like flights of fancy and I like the glimmer of an eye.  I like Winslow Homer.  I like a deceased local artist you've probably never heard of, A.E. "Beanie" Backus. He painted rustic and gorgeous landscapes.  I love the detail of the greats like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Fra. Filippi.  If I had to choose just one genre to look at on my walls... I think it would be wild landscapes, not concrete.  Maybe native peoples by the water... or not.  I love paintings of women.  Olympia by Manet.  I made a point to see that at the Musee D' Orsay.  You always see her, rarely the cat on the bed or the maid by the bedside.  I love oriental paintings. Simple brush strokes make cats, monkeys, mountains.  When I was a kid I enjoyed Ukiyo-e and Dada.  There's a lot of art out there.  Chihuly has a whole room of his glass in the ceiling at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach.  Very cool.  One word: Putti! (and squid;0D)

OK, I'm rambling because it is so slow here today at the library.  Quack, quack, quack.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

never enough art.... I adore Chihuly's glass. Saw a big show in Orlando last year. judi