the list of 9 for august 13, 2009:
MY NINE FAVORITE ARTISTS
Not many people talk about fine art anymore, unfortunately. But I still get excited about it, and I think everybody should have a favorite artist. Here are my nine favorites, the artists whosework I will always make a beeline towards in museums. If you don't recognize their names or theirwork, I encourage you to look them up.
- JOSEPH CORNELL, American 1903-1972. Far and away my favoriteartist, Cornell wasn't even a painter. He was mostly famous for his surreal and beautiful boxconstructions, sort of like dreamlike dioramas using found objects. A self-taught artist, not tomention a Christian Scientist who lived with his mother and crippled brother and died a virgin,Cornell was one fascinating character.
- PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, Flemish c.1525-1569. Bruegel'sbusy, often funny, often satirical canvases that depicted peasant life and religious proverbs aregreat fun to look at. Similar to Hieronymous Bosch's wild paintings but without the monstrouscharacters - at least most of the time. (I like Bosch too.)
- CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH, German 1774-1840. Landscapepaintings rarely hold any interest for me, but I can look at Friedrich's deeply haunting work,filled with mysticism and mood, for hours.
- FRANS HALS, Dutch c.1580-1666. Though not as cherished as other "Dutch Masters" such as Rembrandt and Vermeer (both of whom I also like very much), Hals' quick, lively portraits of Dutch folks at home and in the tavern are great to see up close. Here was a guy who was in complete control of his paintbrush.
- VIJA CELMINS, Latvian/American 1939-. "Wheresa girls?" youmight be asking. I do feel bad about not having more female artists on this list, but the fact isthat not many women working in the fine arts before the 20th century are known today. And sincemany of the artists on this here list predate the modern era, there aren't many gals I can dig up.For the record, I greatly admire the work of Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, LeeBontecou, and many great female photographers including Sharon Lockhart, Cindy Sherman and DianeArbus. But Celmins' incredibly precise star fields, spider webs and rippling seas, usually done incharcoal, draw me in the most. I have a Celmins reproduction hanging on my living room wall, in fact.
- EDGAR DEGAS, French 1834-1917. It's my personal - andunpopular - opinion that most of the Impressionists were overrated. I do not like Monet, Pissarroor Cezanne, and am indifferent to Manet and Renoir. But Degas - now, there was somebody whounderstood composition and took it to dramatic new heights. He was far more confident, talentedand daring than any of his contemporaries. The man could do it all.
- DONALD ROLLER WILSON, American 1938-. You know thatfamously kitschy painting "Dogs Playing Poker"? Well, Wilson didn't do that, but his art takesthat concept into the stratosphere. Concocting a rich narrative that ties together variouswell-dressed monkeys, cats and dogs in highly detailed surrealist settings, and laying thegroundwork for the "Pop Surrealists" who are all the rage today (e.g., Mark Ryden), "Roller"is one of a kind. I even paid big bucks for an artist proof of one of his prints, though Istill haven't framed it yet, years later.
- MARK TANSEY, American 1949-. One of New York's art starsof the 80s, Mark Tansey isn't quite as major a figure in contemporary art today, but his work isstill great: giant, monochromatic realist paintings that comment on art history and pop culturewhile remaining accessible to the common viewer.
- VINCENT VAN GOGH, Dutch 1853-1890. It's almost a cliche tolist the hugely popular Van Gogh here, but have you seen his paintings in person? They glow inways that cannot possibly be replicated in a book or a print. Usually I try to separate the artfrom the artist, but as with Joseph Cornell, the heartbreak of Van Gogh's life is there in everybrush stroke on his passionate canvases.
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