ART 233

Permalink Jan Zrzavy was born in Okrouhlice in the present Czech Republic. He began studying privately in Prague and then attended UMPRUM until he was expelled. His art association was through fairy tales and his fairytale inspired paintings. He traveled for many years all the while keeping close ties with his homeland. Later in his life he became a professor at  Palacký University of Olomouc for a few years. He maintained a private studio practice in both Prague and Okrouhilce for quite some time. In the 1950’s and 1960’s he began to become both nationally and internationally recognized was given the honorary title of National Artist in 1965. He later died in 1977 at his home in Prague.
Permalink This work is Pareja/ Couple by Xul Solar who was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires Province under the name Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari. His education was based in Buenos Aires. He was first trained as a musician but later as an architect. He was a schoolteacher for a short time before traveling between parents during the war and adopted the name he now goes by. During this time he hung close to lifelong friend and fellow artist Emilio Pettoruti. Also during this time Xul began to focus on the art of painting, specifically watercolor, which would later remain his main medium. When he first starting using his new name he was thrilled at the sound of Xul because it is the inverse of lux meaning intense and Solar meaning sun. Thus his name meant the intensity of the sun, the universal source of energy and light.
Permalink Felix Arauz is an Ecuadorian painter. He studied painting at the School of Fine Arts under Caesar Andrade Faini. During his second year in school he was impacted greatly by the death of his father and the emotions that came from that lose helped him to create some of his most beautiful, heartfelt and dreamlike imagery to date. His composition and use of color is unlike any other and really draws the audience in. Felix spent years traveling the globe working with other artist inside and outside of museums. in 1966 he began teaching at the School of Fine Arts and continues to do so today along with painting in his studio in Ecuador.
Permalink Constantine Andreou is Greek but was born in Brazil shortly after his parents moved there. During WWll him and his family moved back to Greece and he took up carpentry while studying technical design. When he graduated in 1935 he began to study sculpture, the art form for which he later became well-known. Constantine and his family were drafted into the Hellenic Army but he maintained his art practice. In 1947 he began using welded copper sheets in his sculptures when this had never been widely used. Constantine was very driven by the personal “language” he shared with his close friend Le Corbusier. In 1999, the library in La Ville-du-Boiswas named in honor of Constantine after he had lived there.
Permalink L’état major à Laval (1989) acrylic and india ink on XVII century military map laid down on canvas 26 3/8 x 39¾in. (67 x 100cm.) Pierre Alechinsky, a Belgin artist, was born in 1927. He lived and worked in France since 1951 creating work that is said to be related to Tachisme, Abstract expressionism, and Lyrical Abstraction. At the age of 17 he studied illustration techniques, printing and photography at l’Ecole nationale supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts décoratifs de La Cambre, Brussels. He became inspired by the works of  Henri Michaux, Jean Dubuffet and, friend and art critic, Jacques Putman. He was heavily involved with the Cobra exhibitions before deciding to study engraving at Atelier 17 under the guidance of Stanley William Hayter in Paris. During his first exhibition in 1945 he became very interested in oriental calligraphy. This art led him to becoming the Paris correspondent for the Japanese journal Bokubi. After a bit of encouragement him and his wife moved to Japan and made the film called “Japanese Calligraphy”.
Permalink Joan Miro was born in 1893 in Barcelona, Spain but moved to Paris in 1920 at the age of 27. He is said to have been an artist similar to Picasso and Matisse. His work, although similar to Picasso and Matisse, had a hard time choosing a place between abstraction, experimental and surrealism. Joan originally attended school for business and art but followed his artistic path. His main areas of work were painting, sculpture, mural and ceramics. He was a inspired by André Masson, Pablo Picasso, Tristan Tzara and André Breton and in turn inspired Arshile Gorky. in 1979 he recieved a doctorate honoris causa from the University of Barcelona only four years before he died on Christmas day in his home in Palma from heart disease.
Permalink Arshile Gorky was an Armenia refuge who came to the United States in 1920. Two short years after arriving here he taught at New School of Design in Boston, Massachusetts and continued to do so for three years. In 1925 he began studying at Grant Central School of Art in New York and eventually became one of the faculty members for five years. Arshile’s early influences consist of Cezanne and Picasso but he eventually found Kandinsky and Miro more influential. In the late 1940’s a fire destroyed many of Gorky’s paintings but that was only the tip of the iceberg for him. He later was involved in a horrible accident that paralyzed his arm and was then diagnosed with cancer. In 1948 he took his own life at the tender age of 43.
Permalink Philip Guston was born in 1913 in Canada. His Ukrainian-Jewish parents escaped persecution by moving from Ukrain. Guston grew up around many Klan activities that were aimed against Jews in California where he moved to as a young child. He was unfortunate enough to find his father’s body after he had committed suicide by hanging himself in their shed. Four years later he began painting and later enrolled in the Los Angeles Manual Arts High School where he studied Los Angeles Manual Arts High School along side Jackson Pollock. His first works were considered figurative and representational. Guston was largely self taught and at the age of 18 he presented himself as a politically aware painter. This photo is Philip Guston’s Lamp 1979 oil on canvas 32” x 36”
Permalink Amze Emmons has a laundry list of artistic titles. He was born in New York, received degrees in Ohio and Iowa and now lives and works in Pennsylvania. He bases his studio work on systems of research. He scans the news in search of current life narratives. Amze stated that the world we live in, where we are connected 24/7 with everyone everywhere, has led us to a loss of place and community. He also mentions that “this nomad consciousness contributes to the sense of transience and dislocation that is common in our global age. [Amze describes his work as]…engage[d] in hybrid methods, working at the point where drawing, print and painting intersect. The images have a sense of minimal realism that is inspired by architectural illustration, comic books, cartoon language, old signs, graffiti, graffiti removal, information graphics, news footage, consumer packaging, instructional manuals and cinematic space/time” (Emmons). Modern Popular Movement, Graphite, gouache, acrylic on panel, 20x24”, 2011
Permalink Andy Warhol is practically a household name. His works are easily recognizable by almost anyone whether they are a fan or not. Everyone has seen his Campbell’s soup can and his colorful prints. What many may not know is that “Andy…is also notable as a gay man who lived openly as such before the gay liberation movement. His studio…was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy patrons” (Wikipedia). His best work is said to have been done in the six years after the showcase of his soup cans up until he was shot. This photo is just one of his many depictions of the long time household favorite.