Ship of Fools: Works of art

Thread: Works of art Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=026793

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Following a recent visit to London's National Gallery, I fell in love with this painting all over again.

I have a lot of favourites, classical and modern, but this one gives me particular pleasure at the moment. The small screen size doesn't do it justice. Admittedly the artist's perspective is a bit off on some of the tables, but to create a whole gallery of mini-paintings in the style of several other artists is a real show of skill. Seen close up in person it's amazingly well detailed.

I hope others will link to their own favourite work(s) of art and share their enthusiasm on this thread for whatever painting, sculpture or other work of art may have particularly impressed them.

(It doesn't have to be an Old Master or classical statue. Variety is the spice of life. It should just be something artistic that really impressed you.)

Posted by cattyish (# 7829) on :

I love Banksy.
Cattyish, stealing wherever it's good.

Posted by Kitten (# 1179) on :

I'll never forget my first sight of this painting several years ago, so much detail, I stood in front of it for ages.

A more modern painting that I enjoyed meeting is this

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

I saw The Matchmaker for real for the first time last year, and I really liked it.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

When I visited the Wallace collection for the first time I was stunned by the number of famous paintings I was seeing for the first time - Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, Fragonard, The Laughing Cavalier by Hals ...

I went looking for the Bernard Palissy pottery

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

We have a Hurley, with different colours than this one, inherited from my wife's grandmother who neighbour to the artist. Ours is more orange and deep purple shades, but this gives you an idea.
http://www.mendel.ca/homeshow/portfolio/robert-hurley-58/

The Canadian prairies are rather stark and we look to art to pull own perceptions into beauty, hence the like of warm colours and exaggerated angles.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

Here is one of my favorite paintings.

Moo

Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :

I have a fondness for the Pre-Raphaelites, and Isabella and the Pot of Basil is hanging over my sofa.

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

I love any of the works of Chinese artist
He Qi

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

My favourite sculpture is of a bear.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Kitten, I like Brueghel a lot and your second link is just how Docklands would be if it were painted.

A fascinatingly diverse selection altogether on this thread. (It would be great if people could say a little about why they like them?)

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

I keep returning to the work of Greg Dunn although I have only seen it on the internet.

Jengie

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

I rather regret that, many years ago, I didn't blue my life savings on a painting I saw in a gallery. Now I am of the opinion that You Can't Look at Money, and will buy artworks when I can. I am currently sharing a room with 5 works by 4 artists - 2 anonymous Nepalis, and 1 contemporary Scottish and 1 contemporary Irish artist.

I'm not against reproductions, but I do find our motley collection of oils, pastels, watercolours, pen-and-ink and prints - quality variable - afford a satisfaction over and above the Great Paintings in a Gallery experience.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

Father in law is an oil painter and we have one of his waterfalls in the kitchen (painted from one of my husband's photographs from Skye) and 2 paintings of Cambridge backstreets in the the lounge. But my favourite painting is by a friend from church, Heather Gardner, it is a huge painting of Jesus Green in oils, beautiful pastel colours and almost mpressionist in style. It takes the central spot above the fireplace and was my birthday present from my husband last year. It makes you feel that you can step into the picture, it's very enticing. We also have one of her river paintings. I'll see if there is a photo online.
My husband has his eye on a farm painting by another friend at church.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

My favorite sculpture of a bear.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

We own the first two paintings on her page Heather's artwork

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
When I visited the Wallace collection for the first time I was stunned by the number of famous paintings I was seeing for the first time - Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, Fragonard, The Laughing Cavalier by Hals ...

I went looking for the Bernard Palissy pottery

I used to love visiting the Wallace Collection when I lived in London. And I thought the ladies' toilets were beautiful, best toilets in London [Smile]

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

I prefer Wallace upstairs (e.g. Canaletto) to Wallace downstairs. I can take only so much still life and shot pheasants before I run out gasping into the fresh air. But my favourite gallery of all time is the National Portrait Gallery (always a lot less crowded than the National Gallery), particularly pictures of the past and present Royal Family.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

Not to mention this, which always turns my legs to jelly and leaves me blissfully gibbering...

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

Last time I was at the Portrait Gallery, looking at the new exhibits, a group of us were most rude about the perspective on the background of Dame Maggie Smith portrait - hadn't met the others before, but we all had the same sort of expressions on our faces. I prefer the Dame Judi Dench portrait.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

As it happens, yesterday I was in the NPG looking at the photo of the Actors' Last Supper, which is quite remarkable.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

The Wallace Collection is one of my favourite art museums. They have a roomful of 17th-century Dutch interiors that just makes me go all squealy.

But, for an example of the genre in another gallery, I love "A man seated reading..." at the National Gallery. Zoom in and look at the way the artist has rendered sunlight, passing through imperfect glass, onto a rough wall. It's a combination of thick, flat brush strokes combined with thin paint washed over - probably repeating the process several times to build up a combination of opaque and translucent layers. It's just gorgeous (and very modern).

Posted by Hawk (# 14289) on :

I like modernist and symbolic art, which attracts both the sense of beauty and the imagination. Vrubel's work is fascinating, and my favorite is the Demon Seated and the Demon Overthrown, which, I think, show ideally the conflicting feelings Russian intellectual class had over the last years of the Tsardom.

Another favorite is Goya. All of his works have a terrible awful beauty to them but the black paintings and Saturn devouring his son is especially powerful.

For a less dramatic, yet equally melancholic bittersweetness I enjoy Lowry. Something like The Park or Seascape is fantastic, though makes you shiver and want to wrap a blanket around you just looking at them.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Favourite art? That's hard because TP & I have favourites in different periods. 16th century would be Vermeer for me - though I did love seeing this modern take on his style: very clever!

17th century - TP has many prints from the Wallace collection, but this is the one that makes him go weak at the knees.

We also love Morris, Klimt and Bakst - I have lots of Ballet Russe prints around the house. This is my fave and hangs over the bed.

Favourite Australian artists would be Christian Waller and Tudor St.George Tucker. Worth googling!

I also love Banksy.

[ 15. December 2013, 20:33: Message edited by: Banner Lady ]

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

For clotted gorgeousness, it's hard to beat Peploe. He starts off rivalling Velazquez, Out-Cezannes Cezanne before taking on the Fauves.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
For clotted gorgeousness, it's hard to beat Peploe. He starts off rivalling Velazquez, Out-Cezannes Cezanne before taking on the Fauves.

O my! Those are phenomenal!

The only one of the Scottish Colourists I'm even vaguely acquainted with is Francis Cadell. I always visit his Interior with Lady Seated when I'm in Manchester City Gallery. I love how bold he is with the amount of white he uses, with dashes of bright colour that just jump off the canvas at you. (I think the Scottish Colourists are what you get when Fauvism comes to live in a cold climate.)

Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :

When I looked at the Lowry link (thanks, Hawk) I noticed a picture of Clifford's Tower in York - I never knew that Lowry had painted in York before!
One of my favourites is a local artist, Meg Stevens. She paints very detailed grasses and flowers in the foreground, with a distant landscape beyond, usually round the Brecon Beacons.
For sculpture, it's got to be Sally Matthews - she makes animals out of sticks and wire and wool and straw. The first time we saw her work, we entered the gallery from the lower floor and came up the narrow stairs. "What are Jenny's deerhounds doing in there?" my husband asked. Then: "Hang on - they're not moving!" The sculptures of the deerhounds really were that realistic.
( www.sallymatthews.co.uk )

UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0