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What other paintings do you know depict a light bulb?My very first thought was of course, Van Gogh.
Night Cafe
Well, maybe it doesn't directly show a light bulb, but it is alluding to it nonetheless.
I believe that van Gogh's Night Cafe would have been lit by gas, not electricity. But the idea is the same.
Don't forget how Picasso uses a bare incandescent light bulb as a witness, an all-seeing eye in Guernica:
Notice two how he likes to make everything tangible, touchable and on the surface of the painting, even light, when he depicts a light source.
You are absolutely right, Ed! Honestly, I've never noticed the light bulb. In the article above it says, "By the mid-20th century, the incandescent bulb was such a commonplace object that you tended to ignore it,". I guess that is true in my case.
What about the violin? What does this instrument mean to various artists? To you?
Marc Chagall Green Violinist 1923-24
"The Chabad Hasidim of Chagall's childhood believed it possible to achieve communion with God through achievement and dance, and the fiddler was a vital presence in ceremonies and festivals" Jennifer Blessings
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/co...
William Michael Harnett The Old Violin 1886
"The public was fascinated by The Old Violin, the somber trompe l'oeil still life created by William Harnett in 1886. People would reach out to touch the violin or try to grasp the envelope to determine if the objects were real or painted. Thanks to a widely distributed chromolithograph, The Old Violin would become an icon of American art, inspiring a group of illusionist painters—including John F. Peto—to make their own versions."
http://www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/...
John F. Peto The Old Violin 1890
Edgar Bundy (1862-1922) painting of Antonio Stradivari in his workshop 1893
Antonio Stradivari (1644? - December 18, 1737) was an Italian luthier (maker of violins and other stringed instruments), the most prominent member of that profession. The Latin form of his surname, "Stradivarius" - sometimes shortened to "Strad" - is often used to refer to his instruments.
http://www.theviolinsite.com/violin_m...
What other famous art/artist(s) depict musical instruments in their work?
Heather wrote: "What about the violin? What does this instrument mean to various artists? To you?..."I believe most artists have painted/drawn at least one still life with a violin in it.
In Europe, the violin can be traced back to the 9th century, with its origin possibly in Asia. The violin emerged in its definitive form between 1520 and 1550 in northern Italy. It symbolizes harmony and stability in life, music, contentment and joy. Believed by some to be one of the most perfect instruments ever invented and hence a symbol of perfection.
More artists/images, sorry I can only give you links --
"Oldest Violin in History" -- check out the angels at the bottom of the page
Gaudenzio Ferrari: Consort of the Viola da braccio Family, c. 1535
http://www.orpheon.org/oldsite/seiten...
Caravaggio, The Musicians c. 1595
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Car...
Degas, Violinist and Young Woman,
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/vi...
more Degas, study http://www.awesome-art.biz/awesome/sh...
Gris, Violin, 1916 http://en.wahooart.com/A55A04/w.nsf/O...
Braque, Violin and Candlestick, 1910
http://davidtmiller.wordpress.com/200...
Matisse, The violinist at the window -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/snarfel/...
It turns out that Ingres's well-known passion for playing the violin gave to the French language a colloquialism, "violon d'Ingres", meaning a second skill beyond the one by which a person is mainly known. The American avant-garde artist Man Ray used this expression as the title of a famous photograph of his model Kiki in the pose of Ingre's Valpinçon Bather.
(source: Wikipedia)
Valpinçon Bather
Stringed instruments with a double curve, can symbolize the female form.
violon d'Ingres, by Man Ray
I never thought of the violin as meaning something cause I listen to them. Man Ray had a thought there, and I like his execution cause it's kind, not dark like lots of surrealism. I'm partial to fiddle of the Irish variety but I guess everyone here who knows me could have guessed that. And I'm partial to Ingres and pleased to know of him as someone who played violin. It's unfair to pigeonhole artists only as artists. http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3... These are from old cylinders and performed on squeeze box and they are also performed on "fiddle"!
Monica wrote: "It's unfair to pigeonhole artists only as artists...."Here's some oddball facts about painters and others in the arts. I'll bet some of our other illustrious members can supply more....
The abstract painter Joan Mitchell was a champion figure skater in her teens. She won the bronze medal in pairs with partner Joan Mitchell at the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1941 with Bobby Specht. Was also a published poet at the age of ten. Decided to concentrate on painting.
The poet Wallace Stevens was a vice president of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. Didn't want to be president, as that would take him away from his poetry. Used his company dictaphone to compose his poems.
The painter Peter Paul Rubens was also an ambassador and diplomat. Seems to have gotten some painting in on the side.
The famous Irish novelist James Joyce, whose birthday is coming up, possessed a beautiful Irish tenor and was admonished by his family to turn professional, rather than stick with that writing nonsense.
Thank you for the interesting facts, Ed. I didn't know that about any of them.
I'm with whoever suggested that Joyce sing rather than write.
What does the FISH represent in art?What famous paintings contain fish?
Goldfish Henri Matisse
"I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish."
Henri Matisse
How many paintings by Matisse involve goldfish?
(view spoiler)
ok, that was the answer that was given, but for the life of me I can't find other works by Matisse involving fish...
Still Life with Goldfish 1974
Roy Lichtenstein, American, 1923 - 1997
J Vincent Scarpace
"The original works of J. Vincent Scarpace (best known for his abstract fish art) represent, in his own words, “a personal journey through the use of basic of art elements: line, shape, and color - resulting in an arrival, just past experimentation, at unique works of art which purposely resemble fish.”
http://www.ca-houston.com/pages/scarp...
diptych Watermelon Kiss Fish
Furtive Friendship Found for Four
http://www.ipaintfish.com/diptychs_in...
Heather wrote: "Goldfish Henri Matisse
"I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish."
Henri Matisse
How many paintings by Matisse involve goldfish?
... for the life of me I can't find other works by Matisse involving fish... ..."
One of my favorites
Very nice, Ed. If there was a "like button" I would have clicked it.
Monica wrote: "Very nice, Ed. If there was a "like button" I would have clicked it."Yes, thank you, Ed. I love Matisse anyway.
Are dachshunds the most artful of dogs?by Nathan Ihara
Melville House
Nabokov admired one. Chekhov cuddled with one. E.B. White wrote poetry to them. Gary Shteyngart tweets about one.
(Also: Warhol had two. Picasso drew one.)
At The New York Daily News‘s Page Views blog, Alexander Nazaryan makes an inspired case that “no dog has been more widely loved by writers and artists than the dachshund.”
Perhaps the most feline of all dogs in its temperament, the dachshund is the perfect writing companion: sensitive, complex and, above all, thoughtful….They are thinking, pensive creatures. And like writers, they can be both prissy and stubborn, selfish and saturnine. Given its elongated back, the dachshund has a fragile constitution – an artistic constitution, one might say….Perhaps what has attracted all these writers to the dachshund is its inate inquisitiveness: low to the ground, with an excellent nose and a propensity to burrow (the dachshund was originally bred to hunt badgers), the dachshund is eternally curious about the world. Like any great writer, it has an ineradicable desire to always dig deeper – for badgers, for sublime truth.
Picasso's doodle of his hotdog "Lump"
Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Andy Warhol
His dachshunds were 'Amos' and 'Archie.' The above photo of Warhol and Archie was taken in 1973 by photographer Jack Mitchell.
Dachshund (Archie), 1976
Earl Wettstein
Dachshunds in Art: Earl Wettstein
Wettstein's The Howl
Wettstein's The Bitches of Avignon
Heather wrote: ">Earl Wettstein
Wettstein's The Bitches of Avignon ..."
That is hilarious!
I remember once seeing somebody who did parodies with hot dogs, and I will always remember a travesty of "La Grande Jatte" called "Seurat with Wieners" where all the hot dogs were slanting down like rays of the sun. Very memorable....
I would have liked to have seen that, Ed. Sounds really fun!
Heather wrote: "I would have liked to have seen that, Ed. Sounds really fun!"Sadly, that was in the 1970's long before the advent of the web.
Ed wrote: "Monica wrote: "It's unfair to pigeonhole artists only as artists...."Here's some oddball facts about painters and others in the arts. I'll bet some of our other illustrious members can supply mor..."
I just found out that Sylvia Plath was a very proficient draftsperson but finally focussed on writing poetry. (Some editions of The Bell Jar include her pen and ink drawings.)
Ansel Adams was a classical pianist.Orwell, a journalist. So was Steinbeck, (most unsuccessfully)
Eric Ambler and Lawrence Durrell were in the diplomatic corps,foreign affairs, (British embassies)
As for Joyce, the story was that he competed with Caruso for the Dublin Opera prize, lost to only garner second place, and only then at that time decided to devote his efforts at writing. Don`t know if that one is true.
Tanguy was just about everything. I believe he was a seaman at the time he passed by a gallery window in Paris, and seeing some surrealist paintings, realized he could do that.
Joni Mitchell is a painter.
So is the director of BLUE VELVET.
Very interesting info, Ed and Geoffrey. I'd be interested to hear some of the music of Ansel Adams. It's amazing the diversity of talent that's out there.
Felix Mendelssohn, in addition to being a highly prolific composer and child prodigy (in the same way Mozart was), was also an artist who produced 300 or so drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings. Sample:
Joni Mitchell's self portrait in the style of Van Gogh:
Viggo Mortenson is a painter although I can't say I'm a fan....of the paintings.
[image error]
Oooo, love that self-portrait by Joni Mitchell.Peter Falk was a painter.
By RACHEL WOLF
The Wall Street Journal
Pablo Picasso's 1962 'Still Life Under a Lamp'
It's been cast in bronze, stuffed in a jar and painted by the likes of Jasper Johns, Man Ray and Alexander Calder. Introducing one of the art world's lesser-known icons: the light bulb.
Artists were among the first to fully embrace the incandescent light bulb as "a beautiful sort of found object," not to mention a nighttime studio aid, when the bulb came onto the commercial market in the late 19th century, says exhibition curator Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst.
Sculptor Alexander Calder's "Cat Lamp," from 1928, inserts a shaded bulb into a feline's wiry form.
Another early work, "Untitled Rayograph (Light Bulb with Nails)," from 1930, by avant-garde photographer Man Ray, depicts the bulb as a mystical, almost divine object radiating energy and hovering in space.
I couldn't find the (Light Bulb with Nails) but here is another Man Ray with a light bulb.
Untitled Rayograph with Cigarettes and Light Bulb Man Ray
By the mid-20th century, the incandescent bulb "was such a commonplace object that you tended to ignore it," says Stephanie Hanor, director of the Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, Calif. and the organizer of the traveling 2008-'09 exhibition "Jasper Johns: Light Bulb." In the 1960s, Mr. Johns was making metal casts of bulbs, one of which is in the show. "Johns wanted to get us to see" the bulb, Ms. Hanor says. "But it's about the beauty of the object as well—the shape is kind of feminine and it has a sort of lounging feel, depicted on its side. There's something anthropomorphic and sensual about it. Artists were playing with that idea too."
Jasper Johns, Light Bulb I (1958).
n British painter Francis Bacon's 1984 "Still Life—Broken Statue & Shadow," a light bulb suspended from the ceiling illuminates a characteristically nebulous form. Robert Rauschenberg affixed a line of bulbs to a rusted metal arrow in his 1992 "Soaring Dribble Glut," part of a series about greed.
Francis Bacon's 'Still Life -- Broken Statue & Shadow'
Now, of course, the incandescent bulb is dimming, as LED-powered, eco-friendly models replace it. It's a turn of events that Ms. Dent-Brocklehurst hints at with the inclusion of Jeanne Silverthorne's 2007 "Untitled (Bad Ideas)," in which a trash can overflows with silicone sculptures of spent and shattered incandescent bulbs. The duo of Tim Noble and Sue Webster might be toying with this notion as well: Their "Special Edition Silver Dollar," also from 2007, is a 6-foot-tall stainless-steel dollar sign studded with 204 brightly lit, energy-burning orbs.