Understanding the Artist

Emotional Art

Rene Magritte1898 –1967Belgian Surrealist artist

‘Art for me is not an end in itself, but a means of evoking that mystery’

Witty and thought-provoking images

Challenges viewers perceptions of realityOrdinary objects in an unusual context

Giving new meanings to familiar things

evoke mystery poetic imagery

contradiction ordinary objects in unfamiliar spaces

reality and illusion

The Empire of light 1950-1954

Le Beau MondeOil on canvas 1962

Personal Values

Franz Marc1880 –1916 German Painter & Printmaker Expressionist Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) movement

Characterized by bright primary colour

Use of colour and futurist method futurism and cubism woodcut and lithography

portrays animals, usually in natural settings Increasingly stark and abstract in nature

stark simplicity profound sense of emotion

BLUE used for masculinity & spirituality YELLOW represented feminine joyRED encased the sound of violence

Tiger 1912

The Fate of the Animals 1901

Die großen blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses)

1911

Salvador Dali1904 –1989

Spanish Surrealist painter

striking and bizarre influence of Renaissance masters highly imaginative

film, sculpture, and photography eccentric manner and attention-grabbing indulging in unusual and grandiose behaviour

classical and modernist techniquesaccessing the subconscious extraordinary universe

personal obsessions and fantasies

The Persistence of MemoryOil on canvas

1931

• Theory of "softness" and "hardness",

• The soft watches are an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time. They are inspired not by the theory of relativity, but by the surrealist perception of a Camembert cheese melting in the sun

• The strange "monster" that Dalí used in several period pieces represented himself – an abstract form was a self-portrait, reappearing frequently in his work

• Dalí often used ants in his paintings as a symbol for death

• The fading figure in the middle of the picture, often appears in dreams where the dreamer cannot pinpoint the creature's exact form and composition

• The creature has one closed eye with several eyelashes, suggesting the creature is also in a dream state.

• It may refer to a dream that Dalí himself had experienced

• The clocks symbolize the passing of time as one experiences it in sleep. • Dali uses images more likely to be found in dreams than in waking consciousness.

Swan Reflecting Elephants1937

http://wallpaper-s.org/13_~_Sleep_-_Le_Sommeil,_1937,_Salvador_Dali.htm

Frida Kahlo1907 – 1958Mexico CityPainter / self portraits

"I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best”

Began painting after she was severely injured in a bus accident.

Self portraits suggestions of pain Surrealist Graphic Personal

Christian and Jewish themes are often depicted in her work

symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds She painted to occupy her time during her temporary illness

Drawn from personal experiences, marriage / her miscarriages / numerous operations

symbolic monkey portrayed as tender and protective symbols

“I painted my own reality." Influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, Bright colours, dramatic symbolism and primitive style

classic religious Mexican tradition with surrealism

What The Water Gave Me

Environmental Artist

Damien Hirst1965

Young British ArtistContemporary British artist

“I believe that art is more powerful than money”

Life Death Existence

Dead animalsdirect and challenging

Beauty question our awareness and convictions

glimmer of hope

4 important things in lifefear, life, death, reason, faith, love, hate

iconography of science and religion

‘Mother and child, Divided’Cow, formaldehyde, vitrine1993

‘For the Love of God’

Damien HirstHuman Skull, platinum, dimonds2007

£50,000,0008,601 diamonds £15,000,000 worth of diamondsPlatinum human skull

“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the mind of Someone Living”Tiger shark, formaldehyde, vitrine1991£50,000

‘a portrait of the artist touching the earth’

Richard Long1945BritishLandscape artist

Relationship with the landscapephotographs, maps, drawings and sculptures

lines or circles Gathers natural materialsarranging objects

concern for the planets condition Impermanencetime, distance, geography and measurement

action of walking in a natural landscape

Circular outlines, circular spirals, solid circles and concentric ringsgeometric mobility, lightness and freedom.

Simple creative acts of walking and markingplace, locality, time, distance and measurement.

raw materials and the human scale

.

‘Small White Pebble Circle’Marbled pebbles40 x 2000 x 2000 mm1987

‘the whole work should look balanced and circular’

‘South Bank Circle’

Delabole slate100 x 1997 x 1997 mm1991

A LINE IN SCOTLANDCUL MOR 1981

WHITE RIVER LINE  

BRAZIL  1994

Andy Warhol1928 - 1987AmericanPop artist

"I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're so beautiful. Everything's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.”

relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement mass-produced images from American

popular cultureconsumerismsilkscreens, films, sculpture

POP ART Fascination with Super-stars

appreciation for intense Hollywood glamour

Controversial artistcomic, decorative, and whimsical

open embrace of market cultureHollywood celebrities reproductions based on advertisements Bohemian

Campbell's Soup Cans1962

MarilynSilkscreen1967

Brillo Soap Pads Box 1964silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on wood

SculptorBritish1956

“I think it’s incredibly brave to be working with flowers and leaves and petals. But I have to: I can’t edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole.”

Andy Goldsworthy

Ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature,

rocks, leaves, icicles brightly-coloured flowers, mud, pinecones, snow, stone, twigs, and thorns

Intensity Each work grows, stays, decays

looks into the heart of natureExplores and experiments The seasons and weather determine the materials

Relies on what nature will give himnatural materials Energy from nature

‘Stone Egg’

‘Yellow and Gold leaves around a hole’