Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Giovanni Boldini

I love paintigs of Giovanni Boldini very much and would like you open the art of this genius artist for yourself. Giovanni Boldini (December 31, 1842 - July 11, 1931) was an Italian genre and portrait painter, belonging to the Parisian school. According to a 1933 article in Time magazine, he was known as the "Master of Swish" because of his flowing style of painting.



Boldini was born in Ferrara, the son of a painter of religious subjects, and went to Florence in 1862 to study painting, meeting there the realist painters known as the Macchiaioli. Their influence is seen in Boldini's landscapes which show his spontaneous response to nature, although it is for his portraits that he became best known.



He attained great success in London as a portraitist. From 1872 Boldini lived in Paris, where he became a friend of Edgar Degas. He also became the most fashionable portrait painter in Paris in the late 19th century, with a dashing style of painting which shows some Impressionist influence but which most closely resembles the work of his contemporaries John Singer Sargent and Paul Helleu.



He was nominated commissioner of the Italian section of the Paris Exposition in 1889, and received the Legion d'honneur for this appointment. He died in Paris in 1931. (From Wikipedia)

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, one of the most famous Irish born English artist of 20th century was was born October 28, 1909, in Dublin. At the age of 16, he moved to London and subsequently lived for about two years in Berlin and Paris.

It's well known that Francis Bacon was a homosexual artist that sometimes depicted male lovers making love and this Two Figures Painting reflects that as well.



"The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It is not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it’s a little like making love, the physical act of love."
Francis Bacon



"Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men. "
Francis Bacon




Bacon's dramatic and riveting work gained international recognition and acclaim. He did not belong to any art movement, but developed his own style. "Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid", he said.The artist died April 28, 1992, in Madrid.