Georgia O’Keeffe: In Her Own Words

Georgia O’Keeffe - Black Iris, 1926, oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (click photo for larger image)

"If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.

 "...Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don’t."

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)

Jack Levine: American Social Realist

Jack Levine - The Patriarch of Moscow on a Visit to Jerusalem - 1975 - Oil on canvas - 213.2 x 237 cm (84 x 96 in.) - Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection (click photo for larger image)American painter Jack Levine (1915-2010) was a Social Realist, who became well-known for his satirical paintings on modern life, political corruption, and biblical narratives. Born of Lithuanian Jewish parents, Levine grew up in the South End of Boston. He was part of the WPA program established by FDR, and he served in the Army during WWII. Levine loathed the abstract art that was so heavily touted in his day, and drew inspiration instead from such masters as Titan and Velázquez. In their New York Times obituary, he was described as “...an unrepentant and much-admired realist artist whose crowded history paintings skewered plutocrats, crooked politicians and human folly.”

Thomas Pollock Anshutz: An American Realist

Thomas Pollock Anshutz - A Rose - 1907 - Oil on canvas - 147.3 × 111.4 cm (58 × 43.9 in) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThomas Pollock Anshutz (1851-1912) was an American painter and teacher. Co-founder of The Darby School and leader at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Anshutz was known for his award winning portraiture work and working friendship with Thomas Eakins (who was also his mentor). Unfortunately, Eakins was forced to resign from the Academy in 1886 when a scandal was sparked by his use of a fully nude male model in a class where female students were in attendance. Anshutz did not defend his mentor. In fact, he turned against him. 

An American Original - Thomas Cole

Thomas Cole - View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow - 1836 - Oil on canvas - 51 1/2 x 76 in. (130.8 x 193 cm) - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

“Long known as "The Oxbow," this work is a masterpiece of American landscape painting, laden with possible interpretations."

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Thomas Cole (1801-1848) was an American artist and founder of the Hudson River School of painting--considered by many to be the first truly American art movement.

Happy Independence Day!

Gilbert Stuart - George Washington - 1795 - Oil on canvas, 77 64 cm - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (click photo for larger image)