A Century of Italian Drawings

The Renaissance was a time that many believe was the peak era for figurative drawings.  No one studied the human form as seriously and as aesthetically as the artists working in the Italian Renaissance.

Want to see 70 original Italian Renaissance Drawings spanning a Century?...including the likes of Michelangelo?  A coincidence that you ask, because between now and April 5th, you can see these drawings from the Prado Museum collection brought from Spain now at the Block Museum of Art, on Northwester Univeristy's campus.

Click on the link for more information, and the address is listed below.

Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci: A Century of Italian Drawings 

from the Prado

Block Museum of Art   

40 Arts Circle Drive   

Evanston, IL   60208

"Focusing on the period from roughly 1520 to 1620, this exhibition highlights the exceptional technical proficiency achieved by artists of the time while demonstrating the importance of drawing in the creation of multiple types of art, including ceramics, frescos, prints, tapestries, and stained glass."

If you are interested in drawing, or the figure, this is a regional show you won't want to miss!  Otherwise, you can always see these drawings the next time you are in Spain!

P.S.  A Robert Mapplethorpe Photography show is there as well.

Why I think Contemporary Art is really exciting.

I've been browsing some great art blogs/sites and gallery sites, checking out the pulse of today's art.  Wow.  It is striking how diverse it is.  It does not matter what your tastes, medium, subject matter, style is...there is something for everyone in the world of contemporary art and you are bound to find something you like.  

Donald Judd

In the 1950's, word on the street was, if you wanted to fit in, then you had to paint non-objectively (no objects) in the Abstract-Expressionist style.  Those who did not step in line were considered to be artistic dinosaurs with antiquated notions about making art (read about art critic Clement Greenberg to learn more).  In the 1960's, Pop Art was popular, and recognizable imagery came back as strong as ever.  By the 1970's...painting was considered dead...forbidden to be taught in respectable art schools, shunned by major galleries unless you were ok with being considered a kitch puppet for the masses.  Minimalism broke a lot of painter's hearts :-(.  Then came Neo-Expressionism of the 1980's and BOOM!  Paint exploded passionately across canvasses from Berlin to Los Angeles!  Art movements seemed to come and diseappear as they came to be replaced by new dogmas and styles to follow.  Freedom seemed to mean rebelling against the old style to become the new artistic tyrant of the day, stuck in their ways and ideologies about art.

Tim Hawkinson

So, what goes today?  A little bit of this, a little bit of that.  There is so much room to experiment and follow your chosen path that the only problem is figuring out what your path might be.  They are all so appealing.  That is why many artists are hard to define today.  A sculptor may also be an  installation/performance/neon/video/Maya artist as well.  The arts have not been this multi-media since the Renaissance, when artists would work as architects, furniture makers, painters, sculptors, metalworkers, etc.   During these times of cultural growth, much like the Italian Renaissance, it is foolish not to study it all, even if you have a focus.  Does not the ceramicist learn from painting about glazing?  A painter learn from sculpture about form and shape?   Does not Photography benefit them all as well?

Soak up all the artistic processes you can because they are all interconnected and can be relevant for exploring your artistic vision.

There artists that inspire me move in every which direction.  The wind is always changing and there is something new and interesting in any place you look.  Confusing, but exciting.

P.S.  Goodbye Andrew Wyeth, great American Realist Painter who died last week at 91.  Thank you for the wonderful paintings.

Andrew Wyeth