[Okonkwo]

I don't get it, why do you find western pop art distasteful but Japanese pop art from the 17-19th centuries is "interesting"?

Do you realise how quick you jump to completely unfounded conclusions? It's astounding really.













"Pop Art is actually industrial painting, it is what the whole world will soon become."
(Roy Lichtenstein)

[Cheesecake_Marmalade]

Do you realise how quick you jump to completely unfounded conclusions? It's astounding really.

That and comic books are my favorite form of literature.

[Okonkwo]

That and comic books are my favorite form of literature.

Comic books are sadly relegated to social outcasts and the like these days, even though it has gotten better. They have been completely ignored in the past, nonetheless they contain both great art and writing.

[froggo]

I don't know why Okonkwo, but for some reason I have never been too terribly fond of Lichtenstein. I generally greatly enjoy pop art, but his pieces have never really appealed to me. I've never found the colour selections appealing, and I have never found the characters within the pieces to be of much interest. They seem almost... as if they have boring or dull personalities. I feel no emotion when I look at them.

[Okonkwo]

You might enjoy LIFE Magazine article from 1964, called Is He the Worst Artist in the U.S.?

[froggo]

Hmmm. I do not think he is a bad artist, his intent(from my understanding) is humorous and a bit interesting, I just do not like his pieces. I find the actual manifestation of his artistic endeavours to be dull and lacking depth, in regards to me being able to personally find much inspiration drawn from them, as in exploration of ideas and issues that can be taken from the piece. The message is presented weakly is what a mean. I've never been able to view pre-80's comics as something that contains depth, so it is only natural that I cannot see depth in his comic pieces.

[Syd]

Okonkwo is ripping this thread. Great contributions once again.

[Holt]

Hokusai is great, though I prefer Hiroshige.

[Okonkwo]

Hokusai is great, though I prefer Hiroshige.

I particularly love the first painting you posted, Great Bridge, Sudden Shower at Atake. It is one of my favourite paintings.
The influence of the Japanese masters on artists such as Monet, Van Gogh and Klimt is often neglected, take a look at Van Gogh's rendition of that particular work of Hiroshige's as an example:

[Syd]

Asian art = .

[Sgt Pepper]

All hail Van Gogh!

[Syd]

Fantastic. What painting medium was used here?

[Okonkwo]

Fantastic. What painting medium was used here?

While I do not know about the specifics of this particular painting, the usual technique for ukiyo-e painting was drawing the image onto washi, a special Japanese paper and then gluing it onto a plank of cherry wood. A small wooden hard object called baren would be used to press or burnish the paper against the inked woodblock, thus applying the ink onto the paper.

Shoki striding by Okumura Masanobu:

[Nets]

[Okonkwo]

A Cantor set egg, very nerdy, I like it.





I am still in love with Japanese art, the above is by Fujimoto Hideto. This is so retro and colourful.

[Quantum]

This artist here is Stephen Wiltshire and he has amazing drawing capabilities. As a result of his autism, this autistic savant can draw with precision after viewing it just once. Having just a tenth of his gift would be awesome and I would definitely utilise it to my advantage, if I had it.



[youtube]95L-zmIBGd4[/youtube]

[Abood]

Alfried Krupp, by Arnold Newman.

The guy was an industrialist and a war criminal, and here he is looking so evil.

He was actually not very pleased that Newman deceived him into posing like the devil.

[Nattering Nabob]

Maxfield Parrish...

[Quantum]

This is an interesting photograph of a model by Craig Tracy. You could see that the model blends well into the surroundings and has fully camouflaged herself in the photograph as a leopard.

[Okonkwo]

Ah, Bouguereau, most of his work I perceive to be too campy and unimaginative, but that does not mean that there aren't some interesting - and unquestionably 'beautiful' - paintings to be found of him. This particular one is able to transcend the constrictions of Classicism:

Dante and Virgil in Hell
It is one of his first works, he painted it when he was only 25 years old and I must say it remains by far my favourite one of his.

"Their sighs, lamentations and loud wailings
resounded through the starless air,
so that at first it made me weep;
Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements,
words of pain, tones of anger,
voices shrill and faint, and beating hands,
all went to make a tumult that will whirl
forever through that turbid, timeless air,
like sand that eddies when a whirlwind swirls."
(from: Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy)