Gerard Dou

Happy Birthday Gerard Dou!! Dutch painter born in 1613, Dou was a pupil of Rembrandt. He painted small genre scenes filled with activity. His work was totally dissimilar however, when compared to Rembrandt’s dark, rather heavy portraits. Dou was said to use a concave mirror to aid in creating the finely intricate work, using a grid of silk thread. He painted subjects in candlelight with incredible clarity. One of his most famous portraits is the Dutch Housewife.

Raphael

Happy Birthday Raphael!! April 6 (I am in Hawaii and having a slightly tough time getting computer access, so I will post a couple of days in the future). Italian born in 1483, he was one of the three instrumental artists of the Renaissance. To put it into perspective, he was 17 when Leonardo was 48 and Michelangelo was 25. He was greatly influenced by Leonardo’s portraiture, specifically the dark background emphasizing the chiaroscuro in the Mona Lisa. In just 10 years he attained the status of Leonardo and Michelangelo. Raphael moved up quickly not only in the eyes of the art world but those of Pope Julius II as well. He was commissioned for several large projects including the Papal apartments. Sadly, Raphael’s life was cut short with his death at 37, imagine what he could have accomplished if he’d lived twice that long! Below is Raphael's most famous vatican fresco, The School of Athens, in it are representations of nearly all the Greek philosophers. It is a great example of perspective painting as well!

Nadar

Happy Birthday Nadar!! This French photographer, illustrator and balloonist was born in 1820. Nadar is a pseudonym for Gaspard-Félix Tournachon. He was the first to do aerial photography. He began as a caracturist, then moved into photography, using the catacombs as his dark room. He built his own balloon around 1863, using it to pioneer aerial photography. He is credited as the one to open his studio for the first Impressionist exhibit in 1874. The photo I have selected to show is of the Catacombs in 1861.

Grinling Gibbons

Happy Birthday Grinling Gibbons!! You will have to excuse me, but I am in Hawaii for one of my second daughters' weddings: Celeste Cline, and I have been slightly preoccupied with Easter Sunday (He is Risen!) and all...But, anyway...Gibbons was born on this day in Holland in 1648....A woodcarver, some even say the best in the world, ever, and I tend to agree...especially after seeing some if his work!! Wow! Gorgeously intricate!! It is said that the flowers in one of his carvings were so finely carved that they would sway in the breeze. He was a carver for the king...and no wonder! His work could be found in St Paul's Cathedral, the Palace of Windsor, and the Earl of Essex's house. Below is an exquisitely delicate carving by Grinling Gibbons.

Henri van de Velde

Happy Birthday Henri van de Velde!! Belgian architect, born in 1863, van de Velde was an instrumental artist in the Belgian Art Nouveau style. He worked primarily in Germany and helped found the School of Arts and Crafts , which would later become the Bauhaus. Van de Velde worked in furniture, craft, and architecture. The School of Arts and Crafts (1907)is pictured below.



Bauhaus-German school founded by architect Walter Gropius. The main principle was that art was meant to be a total picture encompassing art, architecture, interior design, and furniture. The school moved to three different German cities, with the focus shifting slightly from each city. It was closed after pressure from the Nazis in 1933.

Max Ernst

Happy Birthday Max Ernst!! Ernst was born in 1891 in Germany. He is best known for his collages and use of frottage. He began as a Dada activist but relocated to Paris and aligned himself with Andre Breton and the Surrealist movement in 1924. Both groups stressed not “letting the artist get in the way of the art”. Ernst was influential in introducing collage and frottage techniques to the artworld. The image below is his Two Children are Threatened by a Nightingale. The open gate beckons us into the dreamlike vision. Ernst did not believe in imposing a title upon a work, simply let the picture suggest the title, or in this case, the title came first, from a line of his own poetry.


Collage-picture made up of many materials, snippets of quotation and poetry, frottage.


Frottage-Rubbing soft medium over a thin paper placed over a textured surface to create an approximate image of the texture.


Surrealism-Began in 1924 by Andre Breton, Surrealism was an attempt to free artists’ minds to allow for creation from the irrational wanderings of one’s subconscience. Breton wrote the Surrealist Manifesto, among his circle were Ernst, DeChirico, Duchamp, Klee and later joined by Magritte, Tanguy and Dali. Breton described Surrealism as being “based on the belief in the superior reality of…the dream, in the disinterested play of thought.”

Edwin Austin Abbey

Happy Birthday Edwin Austin Abbey!! The American painter and illustrator was born on April Fool’s Day in 1852. His training was at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Early in his career he had illustrations published in Harper’s Weekly. He moved to England in 1878 and was made an official member of the Royal Academy. He did eventually return to the US. His illustrations of Victorian and Shakespeare images are well known. Below is an illustration for Hamlet.