Communication through Visual Art
April 13, 2008
In his article ‘Visual Arts as Communication’, Quentin Engles explains how images give people food for thought. Fine art hold messages in its own language. Art says something to us and helps us see things in different ways. “Most of us are used to regular conversational words that we may use in day-to-day life. We may even take for granted some of the things we say or hear when we have those conversations. With this there are many more sources of information that may be found from another kind of language. The language of images is all around us. In the changing of the seasons,... Read more »
Analysis of The Sunflowers - Vincent van Gogh
March 14, 2008
Vincent’s Sunflowers “The sunflower is mine in a way.” –Vincent van Gogh Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” are among his most famous paintings, but few people realize he did many sunflower pictures, not just the most famous “Vase with Twelve Sunflowers” and “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers.” These were canvases he made to decorate the Yellow House in Arles in anticipation of his friend Paul Gauguin’s visit, and in the hope that other artists would follow and form a Utopian art community. Some of Vincent’s sunflower paintings are all but... Read more »
Photography as a Fine Art
March 5, 2008
By Matthew Smeal Compared to most art forms, photography is a relative newcomer. Having been around for less than 200 years its place in the art world is still being established. Interestingly, there have been many arguments against photography being considered art, one of which is that the camera is a ‘machine’. However, one must ask if a camera is any more a machine than a musician’s instrument, a sculptor’s chisel or a painter’s brush? Another argument is that because of the nature of photography, endless prints can be made from the one negative. While true, it is for this reason that... Read more »
Correctly Displaying Fine Art Photography
March 4, 2008
By Sam Zaydel Though most quality prints are printed on Archival papers, such as Fuji Crystal Archive Papers or Kodak Endura Professional Papers, it is essential to consider a few important aspects to maximize the life of any print you are planning to display. Things to Avoid * Avoid placing your Fine Art Prints in direct exposure to sunlight. * Avoid places with high levels of moisture or humidity. * Close to a source of direct heat, like near a wall heater, or a furnace. Consider the Sun If you are going to frame the print, and are planning on hanging it on the wall, you should consider the... Read more »
Outsider Art - Is It Really Art? - part 2
February 29, 2008
Continuation of part 1 of the article: Naive and Primitive Artists Dubuffet was working with the mentally ill artists, while “Outsider Art” outside of France was known to be a much more general term. It included not just the psychotic art, but also naive, self-taught, and primitive art as well. On the American scene in the early to mid twentieth century we had Grandma Moses, the renowned folk artist painting such countryside favorites as “This Old Checkered House in Winter” which was the subject of many paintings, one of which was appraised on “Antiques Roadshow”... Read more »
Outsider Art - Is It Really Art? - part 1
February 28, 2008
What actually is art? Give me ten people and I’ll give you ten different definitions of the word. What it means to you is as unique to you as your fingerprints. But who’s to say what qualifies as art, or fine art? What distinguishes the art of Jean Michel Basquiat from Rembrandt van Rijn? Besides the time differences, each artist’s art have been met with different types of criticism. Was one art, and the other just crummy art? Who’s to say? What we can say though is there is an unmistakable mainstream art circuit with art dealers and galleries, critics and fine artists with... Read more »
Art’s Impact on Society
February 11, 2008
Art is an extremely private experience, yet, it is meant to be shared with the public. Society, as a whole, examines the art produced and has the right to approve, disapprove, acknowledge, ignore, praise and abuse it. The public or society has not remained constant over the years. In the time of the Renaissance, for example, only a select few were “society.” They commissioned art, were patrons of the arts and their artists. Today, almost anyone can share in the experience of art. They can attempt to create, view and act as a critic. Does art make the world a better place, or is it... Read more »
