Influences Leading to the Unique

Hieronymus Bosch - Paradise and Hell - c. 1510 - Left and right panels of a triptych: oil on wood - Each panel 135 x 45 cm (53 1/4 x 17 3/4 in.) - Prado, Madrid (click photo for larger image) Fernando Botero (born 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor. His signature style, known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism, humor, or fondness, depending on the piece.

“In 1948, he started work as an illustrator. In 1950, he went to Europe, where he attended the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, copied Velázquez and Goya in the Prado and admired the frescoes in Florence.

He went on a long visit to Mexico in 1956-57 and the experience of Muralism significantly influenced his future direction. In his own work, he introduced inflated forms, puffing up to an exaggerated size human figures, natural features, and objects of all kinds, celebrating the life within them while mocking their role in the world.

He combined the regional with the universal, constantly referring to his native Colombia and also creating elaborate parodies of works of art from the past - whether Dürer, Bonnard, or David. Not without humour, the symbols of power and authority everywhere - presidents, soldiers and churchmen - are targeted in his attacks on a society still infantile in its behaviour."  (From ART20, The Thames and Hudson Multimedia Dictionary of Modern Art”.)

Quote of the Day

“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life - the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.” - Claude Monet

Hieronymus Bosh: The First Surrealist

Hieronymus Bosch - Paradise and Hell - c. 1510 - Left and right panels of a triptych: oil on wood - Each panel 135 x 45 cm (53 1/4 x 17 3/4 in.) - Prado, Madrid (click photo for larger image) Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 - 1516), one of the greatest Netherlandish artists of his time, turned “reality” inside out and upside down to send moral messages—and render the intangible tangible. Bosch became famous for his terrifying representations of the powers of evil. His art is truly surreal, and existed centuries before the movement of the same name.

The images here show two wings from one of Bosch's triptychs. “On the left we watch evil invading the world. The creation of Eve is followed by the temptation of Adam and both are driven out of Paradise, while high above in the sky we see the fall of the rebellious angels, who are hurled from heaven as a swarm of repulsive insects. On the other wing we are shown a vision of hell. There we see horror piled upon horror, fires and torments and all manner of fearful demons, half animal, half human or half machine, who plague and punish the poor sinful souls for all eternity.

For the first and perhaps for the only time, an artist had succeeded in giving concrete and tangible shape to the fears that had haunted the minds of man in the Middle Ages. It was an achievement which was perhaps only possible at this very moment, when the old ideas were still vigorous and yet the modern spirit had provided the artist with methods of representing what he saw….” (From E.H. Gombrich, “The Story of Art”)

Bansky: Resonant Messages

Bansky - Love Rat - Street Art - LiverpoolBanksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, the artist’s satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti using a distinctive stenciling technique. 

Whether Banksy is one person, or a group of people we don't know for sure. But it is a fact that he (she, or it) has created some of the most powerful, controversial, witty, and brilliant contemporary art.

On May 21, 2007 Banksy was selected to receive an award for Greatest Living Briton, credited with transforming graffiti from the typical "bubble writing" style of the 1980s to the "narrative-driven street art" of today. 

The work featured here is Banksy's signature rat image, which acts as a self-portrait of the devious, nocturnally active artist. Love Rat first appeared as a mural on the streets of Liverpool, before being reproduced in 2004 as a highly sought after limited edition of just 150 signed and 600 unsigned prints. It certainly suggests a more positive characterization of rats than is typically associated with them.

Bansky’s “art has sold for extremely high prices at auction, with pieces being purchased by collectors and celebrities alike for millions of dollars, making Banksy one of the first street artists to become part of the commercial art market. However, this commercial success troubles the artist, who says that "Commercial success is a mark of failure for a graffiti artist," and "We're not supposed to be embraced in that way.” (The ArtStory)

Did You Know?

3D trick-of-the-eye murals as those painted on the sides of buildings by artist Eric Grohe and John Pugh take months to complete.