"The Picasso"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

In 1963, the great Pablo Picasso was commissioned to create a public art sculpture by the architects of the Richard J. Daley Center in the loop in Chicago.  Picasso completed a maquette, or a small-scale version, featured in my new painting.  The cost of the 50-foot sculpture was $351,959 (equivalent to $2.7 million in present day) - paid for thru foundations and gifted from the artist himself to the city of Chicago.  The maquette resides in the Art Institute of Chicago, also gifted by Picasso.

The Chicago Picasso, known as The Picasso, was dedicated in 1967 by the Mayor Richard Daley ...

... and met with mixed reactions.  The famed journalist Mike Royko ripped it to shreds in his newspaper column, saying "The fact is, it has a long stupid face and looks like some giant insect that is about to eat a smaller, weaker insect.  Its eyes are like the eyes of every slum owner who made a buck off the small and weak.  And of every building inspector who took a wad from a slum owner to make it all possible."  Quintessential Mike Royko.

Mayor Daley responded, at the dedication, saying "We dedicate this celebrated work this morning with the belief that what is strange to us today will be familiar tomorrow."

And it is familiar to anyone who lives in Chicago or has visited - or has watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off or The Blues Brothers.  It's a well-known "meet me at the Picasso" spot, enjoyed by the public with a farmer's market surrounding it in the plaza and many seasonal affairs.  So there Mike Royko.

"Here Comes The Sun"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Before I started on my 11th painting for the upcoming show, I knew I needed a warm up - choosing one of my personal favorites in the Art Institute of Chicago, Jules Breton's The Song of the Lark.

Breton was a French realist painter, born in 1827.  During his childhood, his father tended land for a rich landowner and this subject matter of his native region was prevalent throughout his painting career. 

The Song of the Lark made news a couple of years ago, in an interview by Bill Murray in the Huffington Post, where he recounted his first experience on a stage, which did not go well.  Murray headed towards Lake Michigan thinking 'If I'm going to die, I might as well go over toward the lake and float a bit."  Before he made it to the lake, he stopped in at the Art Institute of Chicago and saw Breton's painting and he thought "Well there's a girl who doesn't have a whole lot of prospects, but the sun's coming up anyway and she's got another chance at it.  So I think that gave me some sort of feeling that I too am a person and I get another chance everyday the sun comes up."

'Any form of art is a form of power. It has impact, it can affect change - it can not only move us, it makes us move.'   ~  Ossie Davis

"Catching Waves"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Geezaloo - I wanted to tell you about J.M.W. Turner, the painter of Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for Fish the day after I posted this painting, but, when an A/C guy came to my house to check on a simple thing, he ended up breaking my A/C.  No sorry ma'am, just said he'd order the broken parts and he'd call Monday.  I promptly told the jerk never to return and someone else find the parts.  I was kinda in a snit most of the weekend.  I still have no word on the parts.  And no A/C.  In Atlanta.

About Turner - an Englishman born in 1775, he was a talented, budding artist at age 13 selling his drawings and at 17, the Royal Society of Arts gave him the top award for landscape drawing and he was off and running.  He sold his drawing designs to engravers and gave private lessons at that young age.  He exhibited his works up until 1850, sold approximately 2,000 paintings, 19,000 drawings and close to 300 finished and unfinished paintings were still in his studio by his death.

Turner was known as the 'painter of light'.  Not to be mistaken for the hack artist, Thomas Kinkade. (is that too personal?)  There was a great movie that came out a couple of years ago, Mr. Turner, and if you've seen it, you know as an older man, he became an eccentric.  He was a recluse, had few friends except his father, who lived with him for 30 years.  He never married but had two profound relationships with two women, the second one, Sophia Booth, became a widow and Turner took his place in her home as Mr. Booth for 18 years until his death in 1851.

Turner died and left a small fortune that was grabbed up by his first cousins, who contested his will and won a portion.  The remainder went to the Royal Academy of Arts, which named an award given to accomplished students the Turner Medal.  His paintings were scattered around, into museums in Europe and beyond and some selling for millions in auctions in the last two decades.  Stephen Wynn, the casino magnate, bought one in 2006 for $35.8 million.

So if someone ever asks you who the most famous landscape painter was, it's J.M.W. Turner, hands down.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman viewing Turner's dramatic seascape.

"Tender Loving Care"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

It's high time I featured a woman artist - the very recognizable Mary Cassatt.  

Cassatt was American, born in Pennsylvania in the mid-1800's, in a well-to-do banking family.  She was one of seven children who were raised with high education, traveling and living in Europe for an extended period, all the while learning French, art and music.  She was around 11 years old when she first saw the great French artists like Corot and Ingres among others.

Her family objected to her becoming a professional artist - regardless, she began studying art and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philly - being one of the few women students in a male dominant environment.  It wasn't easy for women at that time to be taken seriously so she moved to Paris at the age of 22, with her mother, and began more formative studies.

She returned to Pennsylvania for a while, tried to capture attention in several galleries, but was discouraged over and over until the Archbishop of Pittsburgh commissioned her to paint copies of the Italian artist, Correggio, and all expenses paid to travel back to Europe - which she happily accepted.

Cassatt continued her stay in Europe - suffered the same setbacks a woman had to deal with until her big break when Edgar Degas invited her to show her works with a group who called themselves The Impressionists.  For years, she blossomed as an artist and relished their cause and notoriety.

I find the most interesting part of her life was in her later years,  at around 66 years old, Cassatt traveled to Egypt, followed by a crisis of creativity (haven't we all felt that at one time) - so impressed with 'the strength of this Art' that it almost defeated her.  She suffered from cataracts, crippling arthritis and diabetes but kept on painting but was forced to stop painting at the age of 70, as she was almost blind.  She then took up the cause of women's suffrage, contributing to the movement by showing and selling her paintings.

Cassatt is best known for her depictions of women's daily lives and their closeness to their children - as seen in 'The Child's Bath' (featured in my painting) which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"A Peek In The Bedroom"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Two things inspired me to paint this on Valentine's Day.   The couple, of course, enjoying time together and this article in the Chicago Tribune about Vincent van Gogh's famous painting 'The Bedroom', which hangs in the Art Institute.

"Hopper"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I'm happy to resume my series ArtistZ  today - and it was hard to choose between Hopper and Hockney for H, my choice came down to the artist who always inspires and blows me away.  Edward Hopper has been one of my most-influential painters - his settings, his feeling of solitude, his color harmonies and his light.  Oh the light.  

To choose a favorite of Hopper's is nearly impossible for me.  I can say I've experienced the iconic 'Nighthawks' a number of times in the Art Institute of Chicago and every time it's a fresh look.  Aside from the numerous parodies done of this masterpiece and the fact it is one of the most recognizable artworks,  it's really a brilliant composition that moves me every time I visit it. 

"Net Earnings"

7-1/2 x 9"

oil on panel
sold

A new painting that features on of my hero artists, Winslow Homer.  A young lady is viewing Homer's  'The Herring Net' in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view.

"A Visit to the Rabbi"

6 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

A quiet visit with Marc Chagall's 'The Praying Jew', which hangs in the New Modern Wing in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Sunday Best"

8 x 10"

oil on panel
sold  

A woman dressed for such an occasion as 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte'.   George Seurat's famous painting can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view.

"On a Lark"

9 x 11"

oil on panel
sold 

I have my personal favorites in the Art Institute of Chicago - 'The Song of the Lark' by Jules Breton is one of them.  A picture says a thousand words...

Back when the movie 'Monuments Men' was premiering, Bill Murray, a part of the cast, opened up during a promotion gig about the painting saving his life.  You can read about it here.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Coffee Pod"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

A gentleman nestled in a booth with his newspaper and coffee in Chicago.

"Curvy"

5 x 7"

oil on panel

sold 

I finished just in the nick of time.  The cracking of thunder over my painting hut means time to turn off the computer and go home.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a curvy woman admiring a curvy woman in Joseph Stella's 'A Vision'.

"Hat Day"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

A patron enjoys some French Impressionism in the Art Institute of Chicago.  In full view is 'Young Girl With Hat' by Berthe Morisot.

"Under The Dome"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

The sculpture 'Cloud Gate' in Millennium Park reflecting the Chicago skyline, visitors and the clouds above.

As I was going thru earlier photos of Chicago, back in 2004, on Halloween, Brett and I were at the new 'Cloud Gate' when about 50+ Star Wars fanatics descended on the scene.  People loved it, the guards, not so much.

Just thought you'd get a kick out of that.

"Ticket Please"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

I l-u-r-v-e this painting.

And I loved this whole afternoon holed up in my little hut, away from the traffic jams and long lines and crowds of sweating people all over this city.

That's my idea of a holiday.

A visitor waiting at the ticket counter in the lobby of the Art Institute of Chicago.

"A Casual Look"

9 x 12'

oil on panel
sold

Brand-new, hot of the easel, a woman looks closely at Grant Wood's iconic 'American Gothic' in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"The Blues"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Often I am asked how I am so prolific with painting.  First there's motivation and mine, right now, is to raise enough money to take a trip to Chicago in September.

As for prolific - I have a simple method - I find something to binge-watch while I'm painting.  I once finished 32 paintings in 2 months while watching the entire series of The Sopranos.  I kid you not.  The trick is, I stay put in my seat and cut out any distractions except what's on the tube and on my easel.

Lately,  I've gone thru Top of the Lake, Durham County and now Lost.  I will take this opportunity to plug Roku, which streams in Netflix and tons of others.  

And that's my method of cranking out painting after painting.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman in blue views Claude Monet's 'Irises'.

"The Shorter Version"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I wanted to do a larger version of this scene, so I thought I'd get a better idea of colors and composition with a smaller study first - then I got a bit carried away.  That's what happens with painting a Sargent, it's mesmerizing.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman stands before John Singer Sargent's 'Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth)', one of my personal favorite paintings in the museum.

"A Look Of Disapproval"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

A museum visitor getting a seemingly disapproving look from 'Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle' by Vincent Van Gogh.  She does look a little disheveled.

 From the Art Institute of Chicago.

"How Thoughtful"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

I'm so very pleased with this painting I did today.  It's just the right balance of tight and loose.  Yay.

From the side garden outside of the Art Institute of Chicago.