Strange Famous

I think there are certainly other valid forms of art than painting, but both of mine are painters, and I make both choices not as an art critic but based on the personal reaction I had to their pictures when I saw them "in the flesh" so to speak.

Modern

Winstanley. I hope you will forgive me showing an example of what he paints. I think the single word that would most describe it to me is haunting. I remember at about age 20 walking round the Tate and coming across a picture of his (a room with a turned off TV and empty seats) and just staring at it for 30 minutes feeling it eating into me, saying something wordless and I think terrible to me.

His paintings to me speak of alienation so powerfully, of lonliness, of institutions, of heart breaking sadness and poignancy... I dont mean to sound pretentious, but it really is to me a fuck of a lot more than a dimly lit empty office

Maybe its again the thing about the yearning for religion - but I couldnt in any number of words say about modern life what this painting seems to say to me. I think it really is like a true image of the soul of a soulless world.






Ever

Caravaggio

I knew a bit about him before, but the time I really got into him was when I was walking round the National Gallery one Saturday. I'd tagged along with a coach trip from work to London, assuming there was a pub crawl happening, but none did I ended up on my own and so wandered round the National to kill the time... and came across a painting which just struck me dumb. It's of Jesus, at a table with two disciples and the landlord of the pub, just at the moment the disciples realise who he is (he isnt wearing a beard and they dont recognise him) - the lighting, the way he captures the moment and emotion, is just incredible and awe striking. I'm not an incredibly religious person, but to me I guess it did feel a bit like actually looking at the human incarnation of God in the face - which isnt even something I necessarily believe in - but if he was, somehow that felt like what he would have been - if that makes any sense.

After I read and watching a bit more about Caravaggio, I guess he was by any standards a madman, but to me he is the greatest genius of art. He pained things that no one before and since could have done, he pained religious scenes in a way that probably very few people who are ever genius' could even conceive of.

I'm not an expert on art history or anything, but from prints I have seen there are a number of his paintings which simply are stunning.

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Im not very eloquent about things like this I guess, but please other people post what you feel about your greatest artists. I didnt put up a Caravaggio image, because I guess that most people who are interested in art will know who he is.

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Derwood

Mark Rothko is probably my favorite, though I also enjoy Pollock and Magritte. Renaissance era painting does nothing for me.

Manic_Skafe

It's hard to choose a favorite but I most admire Duchamp for his Readymades.

In Advance of A Broken Arm:


Fountain:


Great stuff.

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"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

FelixP

My childhood favorite was Keith Haring. I still like him, but nowadays it's not as clearcut. I really like the abstract modern and post-modern stuff, like Deborah Remington (great piece of hers at my local museum), Wassily Kandinsky, etc.

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Free will lies not in the ability to craft your own fate, but in not knowing what your fate is. --Me

"I have just returned from visting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world." --Douglas MacArthur

ngdawg

Keith Haring.

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

FelixP

Alright!

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Free will lies not in the ability to craft your own fate, but in not knowing what your fate is. --Me

"I have just returned from visting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world." --Douglas MacArthur

thirdsun

I never get tired of looking at anything by Franz Kline.

Ever would be a toss-up between Monet, Pollock, and Winslow Homer, depending upon my mood.

mixedmedia

Modern.
Odd Nerdrum

Ever.
Rembrandt

Honorable Mention.
Rothko

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Baraka_Guru

Modern: Henri Matisse

Ever: Pierre-Auguste Renoir



Both for their depictions of people each in their own fascinating ways.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Bear Cub

Modern: Esao

All time: Tie between Esao and Dali.

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Living in the United Socialist States of America.

seamaiden

I've always liked Alex Colville. So simple, yet almost surreal.

doodlebird

edward hopper
mark rothko

both are modern in the grand scheme,
but could also be considered all time
in that they're part of art history now.

roy lichtenstein is probably the greatest influence personally tho.

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xoxo
doodle

GreyWolf

Modern - Picasso/Dali (have loved Santiago el Grande since I first saw it as a child)

All time - Vermeer

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The secret to great marksmanship is deciding what the target was AFTER you've shot.

Charlatan

Francis Bacon




Lucien Freud


Gustav Klimt has become a tad cliche and overexposed but I still love him.




Tom Thompson

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

ikandiggit

Far too many to list.

However, I never get tired of looking at Anselm Kiefer's work.

hotdogg

I like all forms of art. I have found a web site that has my favorites painters and sculpters all in one place...If you like traditional work from the best of the best ceck out...Art Renewal Center Scholarships and Programs with On-Line Museum
My favorites are all in the top 50

Shell

Going with Gustav Klimt for the moment...

DANAE:

Attached Images

klimt_danae.jpg (69.5 KB, 34 views)

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..."Say what you think. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ~ Dr. Seuss

genuinegirly

Present: Bruce McAllister




Past: Theadore Gericault

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"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy