Thursday, March 11

What Do Vincent VanGogh, J.W. Morrice, and Orangutans Have in Common?


Today’s Image
The Bedroom by Vincent VanGogh, 1888
In the Public Domain

They are all part of today’s art blog. Rather than my usual highly intellectually stimulating, must-read blog on art aspiration/inspiration, today’s blog provides several worthwhile tidbits of unrelated but art-related commentary.

Here goes.

From AP and Google news. If you are a VanGogh fan, and there are so, so many of you, then you’ll be glad to know that not only is one of his most famous paintings being restored, but there is also a blog where you can follow along while it undergoes its refurbish.

It’s his famous The Bedroom, described as one of the public’s most favorite VanGogh paintings, and it’s being restored by Amsterdam’s VanGogh Museum. The painting is of his bedroom in Arles, which he painted in 1888. In addition to being 122 years old, it also had water damage and the colors were fading, so it is about time.

If you’ve had any art education or such, you may remember this is his painting that defies gravity with its fun-house perspective. I would like to think VanGogh did this (odd perspective) for artistic purposes rather than a sketch gone awry, but when I view it, I can't help but think, “Really?”

Next.

You may never have heard of the following artist unless you’re a Canadian art historian or maybe you have. I never knew about him until I purchased a book with his work in the art section of a nearby used book store.

It’s J. W. Morrice, which is the title of the book by Lucie Dorais. It was published by the National Gallery of Canada in 1985. Morrice lived from 1865 until 1924 during the Impressionist and post-Impressionist eras and the rise of modernism in art.

As I said, you may have never heard of him but he is described as “Canada’s finest post-Impressionist painter.” He completed his watercolor and oil paintings living alternately in Canada and Europe throughout his career. To let you know how good his work is, he painted alongside Henri Matisse in 1912-13.

I really like his Impressionistic landscapes and city scenes, many of which used tones of pink and gray. I think you’ll be glad OrbisPlanis art blog introduced you to him.

Finally.

An article in the local newspaper today got my attention. It’s for a great cause, the Clinton Bush Haiti relief fund, so that makes it all OK. But, as an aspiring artist, it was somewhat off-putting. I’m talking about the latest fund-raiser for the local zoo in which paintings, done by orangutans, elephants, pigs, and leopards, are being auctioned off on eBay.

It said the orangutan was a soulful, sensitive artist while the elephant was impetuous. “Each has a different painting style,” some described as sensuous swirls. Cool, but how do you think that makes me feel as an artist?

Cheers!

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