Contains interview video clips, commentary and visuals of Ansel Adams’ outstanding nature photography and source materials.

PART 1

Part 2 of this series will be published Wednesday.

Contemporary Art :: Fine Art :: Top Artists :: Art Reviews, Art Fairs & Exhibitions. Copyright , e ART FAIR .com, All Rights Reserved.

Adams always had a eye for the extra-ordinary in nature.  His photography of the Yosemite National Park and natural reserves in and around California is breathtaking. He received his first camera, a Kodak Brownie box camera, at age 16 on his first trip to Yosemite, an event which changed his life forever.

Moon and Half Dome, Yosem… Ansel Adams Buy From Art.com

It is also well-known that Ansel Adams was one fo the greatest environmentalists of the twentieth century. By exhibiting & publishing his art and writings, his presidency over the Sierra Club, Ansel Adams effectively advocated the preservation of America’s wilderness.

Ansel Adams Books

However, besides being a fantastic photographer and an environmentalist, Ansel Adams also was a great teacher of his art.   He did the whole gamet: wrote series of instructional books, taught photography workshops and college classes, and was involved in research. At first, Adams published essays in photography magazines. Then in 1935, he wrote his first instructional book ‘Making a photograph: An introduction to photography. ’. This is now a ‘rare’,photography ‘how to’- book.

Another well-known book by Ansel Adams is ‘The Camera‘. It is a photography classic, which is illustrated with some of the most welll-known photos by Adams.  A second book is called ‘The Print’. And a third instructional manual is called The Negative‘. These three books form the core of the legendary series of technical instructional manuals, first published by And Adams in the early 1950s.

Ansel Adams Workshops & Classes

In 1940 he began teaching a series of workshops, which then evolved into the annual photography workshops he led in Yosemite – Carmel from 1955 to1984.  He taught at the San Francisco Art Institute. There is well known for his work in codifying a method for negative and print exposure, called the Zone System. The zone system is still taught today at the institute and beyond, amongst others as the basis for intuitive photography.

Other Articles Relating to Ansel Adams

The Best of Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams: Art from His Secret Closet, ON EXHIBIT

Photography as Fine Art

Timeline of Art History ~ United States & Canada  ~ 1900 to present

Contemporary Art :: Fine Art :: Top Artists :: Art Reviews, Art Fairs & Exhibitions. Copyright , e ART FAIR .com, All Rights Reserved.

Today, 19 January, was Cézanne’s  birthday, so let’s bestow him with some honor….

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) ~ Famous Works

In particular, let me show you a couple of Cézanne’s most famous paintings and why I include them here. There are several subjects (which Cézanne called ‘motifs’) that were most precious to him.  These are 1) still life paintings with apples (akin to Van Gogh’s obsession with sunflowers), 2) landscapes and  particularly those featuring Mont St Victoire, and 3) bathers.  I am showcasing an artwork for each motif.

1.

Apples and Oranges Paul C??zanne Buy this fine art print From Art.com

Arguably, Cezanne’s still life paintings are most appreciated by the public. This is possibly because Cezanne’s still lifes are not so still, and seem to be quite alife.

Though Cézanne painted still life compositions from the start of his career, it was only in later years that this genre began to occupy an essential place in his work. Apples and Oranges belongs to this period. This most famous artwork ‘Apples and Oranges’ is probably painted in the last 5 years of the 19th century, however, as the painting is not dated, none actually knows exactly when it was finished.

It forms part of a series of six still lifes produced in 1899 in Cézanne’s Parisian studio. Each painting features the same accessories: earthenware dishes and a jug decorated with a floral motif. Their arrangement is also similar, with a draped cloth, reminiscent of 17th century Flemish still lifes, closing the perspective. However, the dynamic effect created by a complex spatial construction and Cézanne’s subjective perception of the arranged objects illustrate his essentially pictorial approach. 

This artwork is currently in Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France. According to this prestigious art museum, Apples and Oranges, which combines modernity and sumptuous beauty, is the most important still life produced by Cézanne in the late 1890′s.

2. 

Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine-… Paul C??zanne Buy this fine art print From Art.com

The painting motif which held his interest through his years in Aix-en-Provence was the mountain depicted here, Mont Sainte Victoire.  This lime stone mountain is not impressive by Alpine standards, but it dominated the landscape of his Provence in a noble and commanding manner.  As Cezanne grew up in Aix, he grew up with this mountain.  As an artist, it could be said that Cezanne studied Mont Sainte Victoire the way Monet studied his water lilly pond garden.

To Cézanne, the mountain was alive. Firm as a rock, however always changing. Either Cézanne changed his perspective of the mountain by focusing in on a particular part of it, or the light changed transforming the colors and energy the mountain transmitted. He painted Mont Sainte-Victoire a many a times in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s.

3.

Study of Bathers, circa 1895-98 Paul C??zanne Buy this Fine Art Print From Art.com

While I think that his fruit still lives and his landscape paintings outnumber his paintings of ‘bathers’, this painting could be called one of his most famous paintings. 

About Cezanne ~ a Role Model on How to Never Give, Even if you have “NO Talent’”

Paul Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, on January 19, 1839.  He was raised in a well to do family and poised to become a lawyer. However, after initiating his law school, he confronted his father with his wish to become a painter in Paris instead. Eventually his father agreed to support him in his dream, however he already returned from Paris after 6 months, disillusioned with his own capacity to paint. He had destroyed many of early paintings.   A year later, he went to Paris to try again, however he failed the entrance exam for the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (the official Painting School in Paris).

It took him till he was 30 years old for his fate and self-confidence as an artist to start taking a more positive turn.  He changed subjects (moving from morbid blacks to more colorful landscapes), he met Hortense Fiquet, who became his girlfriend. 

Subsequently he had a son, moved to the countryside and met Pissarro, a fatherly figure to him, who became his mentor.

Interior of Cezanne’s Studio at Aix-E…   Buy From Art.com

Cezanne’s Influence on the Art of Painting

Paul Cézanne was a leading French Post-Impressionist. He bridged the way from 19th century Impressionism to a revolutionary new world of 20th century Cubism. Both Matisse and Picasso are quoted saying Cézanne was “the father of us all.”

Although his radical departures were underappreciated and even ridiculed in his time, Cézanne’s studies of visual perception, geometric simplification, and experimentation with complex fractured forms kept his style changing significantly over his lifetime. Cézanne was an eccentric, solitary enigma, often working in isolation, removed even from his own family.

More on Cezanne

http://eartfair.com/blog/the-other-museums-of-paris/

http://eartfair.com/blog/the-modern-art-movements/

references:  Musee d’Orsay, gardenofpraise.com/

Contemporary Art :: Fine Art :: Top Artists :: Art Reviews, Art Fairs & Exhibitions. Copyright , e ART FAIR .com, All Rights Reserved.

This #2 edition of the no name for ART CARNIVAL is flavored with fine art photography ~ which I ** LOVE **. I hope you enjoy the interesting articles on photography also.

Art Review

eArtfair features the work byfine art photographer Barbara Kruger with her feminist and social commentary artwork. Barbara Kruger juxtaposes mass media photographs with biting slogans. Her art both questions and condemns mass media’s ways of control self-identity, desire, and public opinion. This article features a video showcase of her artwork, as well as offering a review.

Art Collecting

“Art patron William Bowmore, who gifted $17+ million to museums,” has recently passed away. William Bowmore was a life-long art patron and one of Australia’s most generous philanthropists. Get to know your (fellow) art patrons and read the article here.

Artwork – Photography

Deb Serani presents Crying Men posted at Dr. Deb , saying, “This post features the photography by UK artist Sam Taylor-Wood of famous actors crying.” This is actually a good, interesting post on contemporary fine art. Thank you Deb for your contribution!

Kurt Hohberger presents Photo Feature: Tristan Thiel posted at BMXunion.com 2008. Tristan Thiel is a photographer and rider from Minnesota who is not only super nice and very talented, but just an all around interesting guy. The article showcases his photographic artwork.

Artwork – Painting

Albert Decker presents “Riffing” Off Movies, posted at Resonant-Enigma, and reveals how art inspires art. Albert shows how movies inspire his abstract work.

Art Education

Dwayne Tucker presents an excellent technical photography post ‘How To Take A Photograph Of A Traffic Light.’ posted at DwayneTucker.com, saying, “I hope you readers utilize my tips on this article I wrote from a photography taken by a member of my I Love Photography groups. I use the photo to teach you how to take a photograph of a traffic light.”

Galleries & Museums

Lokendra Rathore presents ‘Jajpur gets a new art gallery‘. The gallery, Artchill, focuses on Modern & Contemporary Art, featuring the works of 225 emerging and established artists.

More

P.L. Frederick presents Small & Big: 15 Things I Learned At Art School posted at Small and Big, saying, “Humorous truths.”

Amy Dyck presents No, MY art is REAL art! posted at Because I must…. This article is an artist’s contemplation of what Real Art actually is. Join her internal conversation.

SeaBird from the Seabird Chronicles showcases Artist Trading Cards.

That concludes this edition.

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Contemporary Art :: Fine Art :: Top Artists :: Art Reviews, Art Fairs & Exhibitions. Copyright , e ART FAIR .com, All Rights Reserved.

Balance is the perception of visual equilibrium, and relates to our physical sense of balance. It is an appeasement of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual stability. Most successful compositions attain balance in one of two ways: symmetrically or asymmetrically. Balance in a three dimensional object is simple to understand. If balance isn’t achieved, the object tips over.

Symmetrical balance means having equal “weight” on equal sides of a centrally placed fulcrum. You can also call it formal balance. When the elements are arranged equally on either side of a central axis, the result is Bilateral symmetry. The axis can be vertical or horizontal. It is also potential to build formal balance by arranging elements equally around a central point, resulting in radial symmetry.

There is an alternate to the symmetrical balance called approximate symmetry – here equivalent but not identical formulas are placed around the fulcrum line.

Asymmetrical balance is more complex and difficult to foresee. It involves placement of objects in a way that will allow objects of varying visual weight to balance one another around a fulcrum point. You can imagine this best by foreseeing a literal balance scale that can represent the visual weights in a two dimensional composition. For example, it is possible to balance a heavy weight with a cluster of lighter weights on equal sides of a fulcrum. It is also possible to visualize objects of equal weight but different mass on equal sides of a fulcrum. You can even place unequal weights by shifting the fulcrum point on our imaginary scale.

Rhythm can be easily explained as timed movement trough space; an easy, connected path along which the eye follows a regular arrangement of motifs. The presence of rhythm creates certainty and order in a composition. Visual rhythm may be best understood by relating it to rhythm in sound.

Rhythm depends largely upon the elements of pattern and movement to achieve its effects. The parallels between rhythm in sound/ music are very exact to the idea of rhythm in a visual composition. The difference is that the timed “beat” is sensed by the eyes rather than the ears. You can create rhythm in a number of ways. The actual characteristic flow of the individual line is called linear rhythm. Accomplished artists have a common manner of putting down the lines of their drawings that is a direct result of the characteristic gesture used to make those lines, which, if observed, can be seen to have a rhythm of its own. Patter isn’t important to linear rhythm, as linear rhythm is more dependent on how the viewer’s eye moves in time.

Repetition comprises the use of patterning to achieve timed movement and a visual “beat”. This repetition may be a clear repetition of elements in a composition, or it may be a more subtle kind of repetition that can be observed in the underlying structure of the image.

Domen Lombergar is a surrealist artist obsessed with cyberpunk and occasionally publishes photoshop video tutorials

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Domen_Lombergar

By Astrid Lee, http://www.eArtfair.com/blog – Copyright 2007

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) honored our beloved photographer Ansel Adams with special exhibit ‘Ansel Adams at 100′ in 2001. The lines in front of the museum were long at that time, the lectures well attended. Everyone went to the show.

A little known fact is that SFMOMA created a lasting feature of this show. It is available from its website, free for use by the public. It is wonderfully informative.

The interactive multimedia feature allows you to explore the world of ideas behind Ansel Adams’ photography through archival footage of the artist at work, audio commentaries by art historians, and words from Adams himself.

Find here the best photographic artworks of Ansel Adam. A click on the image launches your own interactive show.

The exhibit shows a series of tiny 5 inch square photo proofs by Ansel Adams that he never intended anyone to see. The small museum is not far from the inland waterway where Adams shot the pictures in 1940.

They are taken of a landscape that lacks the majesty of his photographic series of the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park. The works were photographed with a hand-held camera. It comes as no surprise that the Trust which controls the use of Adam’s work objects to the exhibit, disputing photo proofs as art.

1. “They are basically snapshots, not works he ever would have shown in a museum” according William Turnage, one of three Adams’ trustees. “I think it’s unethical in terms of museum ethics and behavior. It’s something that never would be done at MoMA or the Art Institute of Chicago.”
2. Adams’ art included both the making of the negative and the interpretation of the negative into a print.
   Photo proofs are half-finished artworks, not the final thing. Each proof could be night and day from what Ansel would have interpreted.”

A quirk of inheritance law mixed with some art world connections, and the proofs were nonetheless exhibited, on the following grounds:

1. “Adams’ prints are perfection,” exhibit curator Stephen Jareckie said. “But these proofs have a certain vitality that you don’t find in a finished print. It gives them an educational point of view and shows the public what Adams’ work is like at that stage — a work in progress.”
2. Jareckie found the proofs in the estate of McAlpin’s second wife. McAlpin and Adams collaborated on founding the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where McAlpin was a trustee.
3. The proofs are part of the historical record, documenting Adams’ life, his travels and friendships.

This unique Ansel Adam exhibit of 50 photo proofs runs through Dec. 2. Seven attributed to McAlpin.

If you are interested in learning about the best photographic artworks of Ansel Adam, visit the website of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s feature on this great photographic artist. A click on the image launches your own interactive show.

This article ‘Diving Into Drawing‘ reminds me of this little investment in the artistic pursuits of my friend. Enjoy!!

“Drawing has been around for centuries. In fact, wonderfully vital drawings and paintings by primitive peoples have been discovered, which proves that many thousands of years ago the art of drawing was there, innate, in mankind. Everyone can draw, for it is an inherent human trait far more natural than writing.

Unfortunately most people lose this power as they grow older, or rather it is overlaid by more complicated mental processes. It needs only the desire to reawaken it and the courage to proceed and rapidly the power to express what one sees, in drawing and in paint, comes back again.

So take courage and go ahead.

The first thing to get is a sketchbook: not too big a one but a handy pocket size that you can carry about at all times. You can of course buy a children’s drawing book for a few cents, but this has a flimsy cover and has to be folded or rolled to carry, and that spoils the page, so a sketchbook with thinnish cartridge paper and a good stout cover is the best investment in the end. See that the paper is not too thick or too rough in surface. Nothing harder than a 3B pencil is much use. Get a black Conte crayon or black chalk pencil with the wood round it, for this is the kind of pencil that will give you most satisfaction in sketching. Of course you will need a razor blade or sharp penknife because the breaking of points is a very frequent occurrence. Do not sharpen the pencil to a fine point – just a blunted point.

Now you have your sketchbook and your pencil, what are you going to look for? What are you going to start on? Don’t start straightaway on a landscape. Just focus your attention on a few simple things that are before you in the room you are in. Something the shape of which attracts your interest, say a decanter, or a wine glass, or a vase of flowers. Draw a definite shape on the blank page of the sketchbook with a firm, thick line – say a rough oblong. Count this as your picture space: into this defined shape you are going to put your drawing.

Then begin with the part of the selected object that interests you most. Perhaps it is the bulge of the decanter – boldly draw the curve of the right-hand side and then look across and draw the corresponding curve of the other side; then go upward to the lip and the stopper, drawing first one side and then the other; then look at the base, the dark curve where the decanter rests upon the sideboard. You now have the shape of the object – then relate this to the glass that is near it; notice the size of the glass in relation to the decanter and repeat the process, taking into account where the two objects are placed in your oblong space.

Continuing to practice these techniques will help you get a grasp for the way drawing should feel and ultimately look.”

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