Yuri Klapoukh's Magic Paintings

"Sheperdess", painting by Yuri Klapoukh

"Rain Through Sunshine", painting by Yuri Klapoukh

I got an email invitation to look at a Russian Painting website. And there I found a remarkable painter named Yuri Klapoukh. Here are two of his paintings that I like. They are very different from anything that I have seen before. Go here to see more of his work as well as the work of other contemporary Russian painters:

Russian Paintings

The Art of Amy Crehore

Leonetto Cappiello 1875-1942

I love this guy's posters. The designs are so charming and animated. Leonetto Cappiello was an Italian designer who lived in Paris. He is now called the "father of modern advertising". Read here:

Leonetto Cappiello

The Art of Amy Crehore

Old Engravings from Paintings

These are some very nice prints from

Intaglio Fine Art

The Art of Amy Crehore

Herbert James Draper 1864-1920

Pot Pourri 1897
Lamia 1910
A Water Baby
Ulysses and the Sirens

"Herbert James Draper was one of the finest painters of nudes in the last years of Victoria's reign. As we begin a new century, we are more able to reassess the prejudices and snobbery of some of the last generation of art historians and see the qualities of the work of the last stance of Classicism in British art."

Read more about painter Herbert James Draper at the Victorian Web and see more paintings there. And more painting at: Illusions Gallery.

The Art of Amy Crehore

(Thanks to Tom C. for sending me the postcard book of mermaids.)

Little Men Inside of Big Cat

I painted a little woman on top of a big cat, but here are some little men inside of a big cat.

I got this image from Make blog and they got it from Miss Mary's Victorian Halloween. It's a costume-built-for-two.

The Art of Amy Crehore

3 Reminders from Amy Crehore

"Wild Cat Fever", oil painting, 2007 by Amy Crehore for Venus Show
"Homage to the King of Cats", oil painting, 2001 by Amy Crehore (Monovita Magazine) "Bubble Gum Encore" 2005 "Little Pierrot" series by Amy Crehore
" The Two-Timer" 2006 "Monkey Love" series by Amy Crehore

There's another week or so left to catch the Venus Show at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, WA where you can see my new painting, "Wild Cat Fever". Monovita Magazine has a little feature about me in their June Issue: Link
And, last but not least, all of my limited edition, signed prints have free shipping:
Click here to view my prints:

Little Pierrot or Monkey Love
The Art of Amy Crehore

Girl Cicada with Guitar

Click to enlarge

I found this beautiful hokum image on cannibol's live journal page.

(Thanks, Vince.)
The Art of Amy Crehore

The Crehore Skyscraper

I blogged about playing cards designed by Tom Crehore (1802) and I blogged about a piano built by Ben Crehore (1800). Both were thought to be the earliest known in America. I am now blogging about my great grandfather's skyscraper in NYC which is still standing at 150 Nassau Street. The building is thought to be one of the earliest skyscrapers ever built in this country. You can see it towering over the other buildings in this picture. It's called The American Tract Society Building and William W. Crehore was the chief engineer on the project and Robert H. Robertson was the architect in 1894. Read about it here:
NYC Architecture
The Art of Amy Crehore

Girl and Sea Monster

Steel engraving by Flemeng after the painting by Ingres. Pre1900prints
Andromeda exposed to the sea-monster (1869) Paul Gustave Dore

Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids (1840) Theodore Chasseriau

Girl in peril! Look at these dramatic and beautiful renditions of Andromeda. "Andromeda was a Greek mythological figure who was chained to a rock to be eaten by a sea monster and was saved by Perseus, whom she later married." Of course, she was naked! Thank God for Perseus!:

Andromeda

The Art of Amy Crehore

Art Toys

I like these! Now you are talking. These whimsical wooden toys are replicas of renowned mid-century designer ALEXANDER GIRARD’s 1963 originals. Find out more here:

Supertouch

The Art of Amy Crehore

Malcontents- part two

Louise Brooks, looking positively come-hither

John Brownlee at "Table of Malcontents" (wired.com) blogged about me a couple of times last week. He picked up the "Demons" post (as did drawn! and boingboing), but he also liked "Black Cat Tease" post. Just the mere mention of Louise Brooks has him dashing over to my blog. "I love Amy Crehore, a vivacious and talented minx if there ever was one......" quote from John Brownlee, read more here:
Amy Crehore Paints Louise Brooks
and "Amy Crehore — the perky little marvel who sets the gold standard for all artists devoted to painting topless Luau dancers strumming guitars and the monkeys in funny hats who love them"- another quote from a John Brownlee post:
A Zoo of Fantastical Beasts
Hey, what's a girl to do?
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There once was a time....

Here are some silly clowns, pierrots or what-have-you. I don't like all clowns, mind you. Just the ones with intriguing costumes like the European ones or the early P.T. Barnum clowns. The later American clowns with big red noses and crazy orange wigs that scare kids at birthday parties are not my ideal.

Images from: Old Postcards

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Take a Matchbook Road Trip!

Vintage matchbook art is cool and Mike Snyder wants to take you on a little trip: Matchbook Road Trip

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The Serpent was a Woman

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
" Temptation" by Hugo van der Goes 1470 Vienna
"Temptation of Adam and Eve"by Masolino 1425, fresco in Florence

Click on images to enlarge

"Medieval Christian art often depicted the Edenic Serpent as a woman, thus both emphasizing the Serpent's seductiveness as well as its relationship to Eve." quote- about Adam and Eve (Notre Dame sculpture) from Wikipedia

Christopher Witcombe writes more about Eve:

"Eve and the Identity of Women"

I like the placement of a blue iris (instead of a fig leaf) in the Hugo van der Goes painting. He paints Eve as a very beautiful, but spindly woman with a twisted arm. She looks pregnant, too. His serpent is less of a snake and more of a big lizard, looking like she could be Eve's little sister. All of the images above are compelling and surreal.

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Nuns, Madonnas, Pierrots

"Icon" 1990, 18"x22", oil on linen by Amy Crehore

"Tree of Life" 22"x26" oil on linen,1990,Amy Crehore (private collection Santa Barbara, CA)
"Italian Landscape",oil on linen, 16"x34" 1990 by Amy Crehore

I actually painted my first "little pierrot" back in 1990, a year or two after my trip to Italy. The inspiration for the painting, "Icon", was Giotto's Madonna and Child (year 1320). My madonna is holding a little version of my "Tree of Life" painting and a baby pierrot adapted from one of my earlier works called, "Banquet Days". There are definitely recurring motifs in my art over the years. Sometimes it's unconscious. I painted a monkey, a snake, palm trees, and Titian's odalisque in these earlier works. I also painted nuns. These 3 paintings were exhibited at the Portland Art Museum in the early 90's.

The Art of Amy Crehore

"Black Cat Tease" by Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks Black Cat Tease copyright 2005 Amy Crehore "Little Pierrot" series

I had mentioned in an earlier blogpost that I used pictures of Louise Brooks as references for just a couple of my "Little Pierrot" paintings. Here is one of the paintings I did. This painting is a tribute to Louise, her sense of humor and her sex appeal. The rest of the paintings in my pierrot series were done without using any references. My girls are all imaginary.
Little Pierrot Series

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More Chinese Beauties

Pre-communist Chinese advertising 1930's (Xie Xing Long #18). I like the floral motifs, patterns, colors, and compositions. Postcards from

The Art Werx

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Ukulele at the North Pole

Richard Konter with his famous 1K Martin ukulele.

During the 1920's the Martin Company actually produced twice as many ukuleles as guitars. The Hawaiian uke craze was in full swing at the time. Here's an interesting tidbit - in 1926, a seaman named Dick Konter was a volunteer for Robert Byrd's first exposition to the North Pole. He smuggled his Martin uke onto the plane hoping to play it for some eskimos. However, there were no eskimos at the North Pole when he got there. But, the uke did become the first musical instrument to travel to the North Pole. Link

If all goes well, I should be unveiling my first hand-painted "fine art" uke (Tickler Brand) soon. It's a Martin copy that was lovingly hand-crafted by Lou Reimuller (Teenar's creator) from a Stew Mac kit. The second uke is already in production. It will be made from scratch by Reimuller and designed by me. I am painting them with original motifs from my "Monkey Love" and "Little Pierrot" series.
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Magical Films of Joseph Cornell

Construction: “Tilly Losch,” circa 1935, by Joseph Cornell, artist, 10 x 9¤ x 2⁄ inches

Film: Jack's Dream, late 1930's
Film: Rose Hobart 1936
Film: Nymphlight 1957

Did you know that artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) who made beautiful constructions also made surrealistic, short films? Here are some stills from a few of his creations.

The Voyager Foundation is a place where you can order the collection of films on DVD/video: Joseph Cornell Films

Cornell lived in in a wooden frame house on Utopia Parkway in a working-class area of Queens, NY for most of his life with his mother and his brother, Robert, who was disabled by cerebral palsy. One of the best biographies of an artist that I have ever read is about Joseph Cornell. It is called "Utopia Parkway" by Deborah Solomon. You will be very moved by this book. Unforgettable and poignant.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Giotto is My Man

Giotto's Bell Tower in Florence, Italy (Piazza del Duomo)


I have derived a lot of inspiration from Giotto (1267-1337) over the years. My trip to Florence in the late 80's was a high point of my life as an artist. The gothic-style of the Piazza del Duomo with Giotto's beautifully constructed Bell Tower is my ideal as far as architectural design goes. And Giotto as a painter is unequaled in my estimation. His narrative frescos in Assisi (above) show his architectural leanings, his unlimited creative imagination, a gift for depicting emotion in his figures, a strong sense of color and design. He created some very surreal masterworks. A true innovator. I will never tire of looking at Giotto's art.

'"He converted the art of painting from Greek to Latin and brought in the modern era" - this is Cennino Cennini's synthesis fifty years after Giotto's death, underscoring the revolutionary character of Giotto's painting'- see more images and read more here:

Giotto

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Naked Witchcraft and Severed Heads

Here are three more wacky images from the amazing Cornell University Library that I blogged about earlier. These are from: Roland Brévannes' "L’Orgie Satanique à Travers les Siècles", Paris 1904, Publisher- Offenstadt.

Boingboing and Wired blogs picked up on my "Demons" post which has brought many people over to Little Hokum Rag. Apparently, people are fascinated by these old engravings and woodcuts of demons, witches, angels, freaks, monsters, the grotesque, the marvelous, etc.

I know that I am.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Pan Yuliang's Controversial Nudes

Pan Yuliang's life (1895-1977) was an interesting story that was made into a movie in 1994 starring Gong Li. The movie is called "A Soul Haunted by Painting"(or "Hua Hun"). I will have to rent it soon! Apparently her parents died when she was young and she was sold to a brothel at 14. But, at age 21, a customs official rescued her and sent her to art school in Shanghai. From there, she went to France to study and also studied in Rome. She returned to China from 1929-1937, but after that lived in France for the rest of her life. She won countless awards, lived a full life and loved to paint nude women. Her paintings were considered "depraved" in China by conservatives from 1930-40.

Read about Pan Yuliang's life and see more paintings.

Thanks to Internet Weekly for turning me on to this remarkable woman painter.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Free Shipping-Amy Crehore's Limited Signed Prints

"Backstage"copyright Amy Crehore, Little Pierrot Series Prints
"The Nibbler" copyright Amy Crehore, Monkey Love Series Prints

I am offering free shipping on all of my limited edition, signed, museum quality giclee prints. I will reimburse the shipping fee through paypal after ordering.
The Art of Amy Crehore

How Thomas Nast influenced Vincent Van Gogh

Thomas Nast Cartoon 1876

"Sorrow" by Vincent Van Gogh 1882

"Thomas Nast (1840-1902) perhaps the most important American political cartoonist of all time, is best known for his invention and development of popular symbols like the Republican Elephant, Democratic Donkey, a fat, jolly Santa Claus and a lean, goatee-wearing Uncle Sam. Nast’s most important forum was Harper’s Weekly, the leading illustrated American periodical of the last half of the nineteenth century. HarpWeek has identified the 2200-plus cartoons that Nast drew for Harper’s Weekly—the first in 1859, the last in 1896, and the rest mainly between 1862 and 1886." quote from John Adler, publisher HarpWeek.

Apparently, Van Gogh collected newspaper illustrations and hoped to become an illustrator himself. 21 cartoons by Thomas Nast were in Van Gogh's collection. Albert I. Boime, Professor of Art History at UCLA, wrote an interesting essay on the possible connection between Nast's illustrations and Van Gogh's art.

Read Boime's essay here:

Thomas Nast

presented by HarpWeek

The Art of Amy Crehore

John Tenniel's Surreal Alice

Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914) was a political cartoonist for "Punch", a book illustrator and a watercolorist. 'His forty-two illustrations (1865) for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" had involved Tenniel in much acrimonious debate with Carroll, who insisted that the first edition be withdrawn because he was displeased with the reproductive quality of the prints. Reluctantly, Tenniel agreed to work on Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass" (1872), his last book illustration. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1893, and continued his life-long association with "Punch" until 1901.' See and read more here:

A Tenniel Gallery

on Victorian Web. Be sure to click through "next" to see all of his "Alice in Wonderland" illustrations which are a predecessor to surrealism and some of the most striking examples of Alice illustrations ever done (in my humble opinion). Inspiring!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Amazing Jack Hall

Jack Hall made playable musical instruments out of used wooden matches. Check out the photos and read about this incredible one-of-a-kind folk artist who made a guitar, uke, fiddle, banjo, etc:

Matchstick Man

and here

The Art of Amy Crehore

Demons- like you have never seen before!

J.A.S. Collin de Plancy. Dictionnaire Infernal. Paris : E. Plon, 1863
J.A.S. Collin de Plancy. Dictionnaire Infernal. Paris : E. Plon, 1863

Lucifer, Roland Brévannes 1904

Jose Guadalupe Posada woodblock 1930

There is the most amazing collection of fantastic images in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections of Cornell University Library. You must check it out! This is just the tip of the iceberg. I will definitely bookmark this site. Click here to see more, like you have never seen before:
Fantastic in Art and Fiction
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Rumors about me

"The Tickler" - Monkey Love painting by Amy Crehore
There are some rumors floating around that I am painting a Lolita painting for an upcoming L.A. show and a Krampus painting for another upcoming L.A. show. I wonder if they are true? Or maybe it was Lolita and Krampus combined into one painting. Then there was the rumor that has me starting a line of hand-built one-of-a-kind fine art ukuleles under the "Tickler Brand", built by Lou Remuller of Teenar fame and painted/designed by me. Another rumor has me doing a painting on a fishing lure...of all things. I mean what about those hooks, eh?
We shall see if any of these crazy rumors come true in the next couple of months. Oh, and I heard that Teenar has a new outfit, too!
The Art of Amy Crehore

Be sure to check out my current Monovita magazine profile and my new Venus show painting (as seen on boingboing ).

Edward Gorey and Surrealism

Edward Gorey, a prolific and wonderful artist/illustrator, died in the year 2000 and this is an excerpt from his obituary: "Gorey's fascination with surrealism came to the fore in The Object-Lesson (1958), whose story tumbles through artful non-sequiturs while the artwork shows increased mastery of balance and design. This led to Edmund Wilson's 1959 New Yorker appreciation of the early books - Gorey's first major critical notice. Later the Doubtful Guest was developed into a more disturbing, eyeless being with long rubbery arms, known as Figbash and partly echoing Max Ernst's protean figure Loplop. Other recurring Gorey icons are cats and the armless, featureless Black Doll; other acknowledged influences include Chinese, Japanese and Symbolist art." read more here: Guardian Obituary April 20,2000

It looks like there will be a documentary film about Edward Gorey coming out in the near future. Here is the myspace page where you can view some previews:

Edward Gorey Documentary by Mooncusser Films

Christopher Seufert, director

You can also follow the progress of the film here: Edward Gorey Film

I own a copy of "The Willowdale Handcar or the Return of the Black Doll" which is charmingly surreal and I also have a book of interviews with Gorey (shown above). He is very inspiring, plus he loved cats. I can't wait to see this documentary film. I also heard that the Jim Henson Company is developing a feature length live-action film of "The Doubtful Guest".

The Art of Amy Crehore

Madame Talbot's Victorian Lowbrow

Let me introduce you to the most amazing and wacky website of an artist that happens to live in Oregon. Here's a description from her myspace page:

"Madame Talbot's Victorian Lowbrow™features the hand-illustrated pen-and-ink artwork of Ashleigh Talbot,who lives in a haunted house on the very edge of the Oregon Coast.Her many talents include her hand-drawn offset printed dark art posters, exquisite one-of-a-kind framed curio exhibits, old school sideshow items, limited edition hand-sewn and hand-painted mourning dolls, tombstone art, t-shirts, her own original pen-and-ink illustrations for sale, her handmade limited edition books as well as a strange collection of macabre collectibles."

Be sure to check it out. It's beautiful work! You will not be bored. And, you can't get much more hokum than this:

Madame Talbot's Victorian Lowbrow

Yes, I am now on myspace, too, but I can never get the link to work, so you will just have to find my page by searching "people". I invite you to come and be my friend. There you can make comments.

The Art of Amy Crehore

The Crehore Piano

Square piano about 1800 by Benjamin Crehore, American, 1765–1831 Milton, Massachusetts Museum of Fine Arts Boston
" Dangerous Curves- The Art of the Guitar" book by Darcy Kuronen

Apparently, a "Crehore" made the first pianos and bass-viols in America. In 1992, Darcy Kuronen wrote an award-winning article called "The Musical Instruments of Benjamin Crehore" which was published in the Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Crehore piano (above) is in the museum collection and Darcy is curator of musical instruments there.

I dug up this information on Benjamin Crehore:

"In 1798 Benjamin Crehore, who was born in Milton, MA, was assisting in getting up machinery and appliances of the stage for the play of "Forty Thieves," which was soon to be introduced in Boston. His inventive skill was so admired by the leader of the orchestra that he applied to him to repair his broken bass-viol. Mr. Crehore undertook the job, and is said to have improved the tone of the instrument. This resulted in his beginning the manufacture of bass-viols, the first ever made in this country, and said to rival those imported..... Mr. Crehore's reputation in the musical world of that day caused all sorts of disabled musical instruments to flow into his shop for repairs. Among these was a piano. After analyzing it and mastering its movements, he entered upon the manufacture of pianos. The first piano in this country was made by Benjamin Crehore, in Milton." Dorchester Atheneum

Darcy Kuronen of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston also put together an exhibit and wrote a book called "Dangerous Curves" which presents 400 years of guitar design and history, from ornamental models of the 17th century to modern electric guitars. It's a beautiful book which we picked up some years ago.

"Dangerous Curves" can be purchased here:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston shop

The Art of Amy Crehore

Marie-Guillemine Benoist's Beautiful Portrait

" Portrait of a Negress" 1800 by Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Louvre
"The Cat's Passenger" 1992 oil painting by Amy Crehore

Marie-Guillemine Benoist, born Marie-Guillemine de Laville-Leroux (1768-1826), was a French neoclassical painter. In 1800, she exhibited "Portrait of a Negress" in the Salon de Paris. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights. This picture was acquired by Louis XVIII for France in 1818. The bottom painting I did back in 1992 and I used the "Portrait of a Negress" as a reference for my little women perched on the back of a large house cat. Don't ask me what it means. It's surreal...or maybe it's folk art. Just a mood I was in at the time. But, I do love Marie's painting. It's a masterpiece!

Read more here: Marie-Guillemine Benoist

The Art of Amy Crehore

(thanks to www.printwomen.blogspot.com for reminding me of Marie)

Edward Lear was a Nut

Edward Lear (1812-1888) is hard to beat for humor and pure imagination. I like him almost as much as Heinrich Hoffmann, the creator of the "Slovenly Peter" book (which came out in 1845). In 1846, the first edition of Lear's "A Book of Nonsense" (pictures and funny limericks) was published under the name of Derry Down Derry. That same year, Lear gave 10 drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. He travelled all over the world in his lifetime and he sketched and painted as he went along. What I am showing here is just the tip of the iceberg of Edward Lear's works. He also painted in a very naturalistic style, mostly landscapes and birds.
Follow the link to read the limericks and to find out more about the incredible

Edward Lear
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Works in Progress by Finkbuilt

Light Bulb Painting by Steve Lodefink at Finkbuilt
Finkbuilt blog is a fun and funny blog written and designed by Steve Lodefink. He painted this beautiful light bulb a while back. Right now, Steve is creating an oil painting of his kids in tones of blue. He lets us see his progress on his blog as he goes along. (Scroll down to June 2, 2007 for the beginning of the process.)
I also like his "mini-blog" that runs along the right side of the page. There you can find some lunch meat with a face on it (clown meat).
Finkbuilt
The Art of Amy Crehore

Yoko's Blog and some others

"Sleeping Gamblers" copyright Amy Crehore oil on linen, 24" x 20" 1995

At the moment, this painting ("Sleeping Gamblers") is hanging above my fireplace.

Yoko's Blog

(here is the English version) from Toledo, Spain has picked up on some of my larger, earlier works.

Perhaps they saw my profile in June's Monovita Magazine.

Also, here are some recent posts about my newest painting, "Wild Cat Fever" : Celebrity at Work, ArtNYC , Syntagma and Boingboing .

Don't forget to check out the Venus Show at Roq la Rue opening June 8, 2007!

The Art of Amy Crehore

People Who Live Underwater

The Underwater Sculpture Museum in Granada, West Indies

Sculpture by Jason Taylor 2006

(Thanks to Alison at Red Patience and boingboing)

The Art of Amy Crehore

East Asian Ads from 1920's and 1930's

Here is a beautiful and sometimes surreal collection

of East Asian Ads on Flickr from the 1920's and 1930's.

East Asian Ads

The Art of Amy Crehore

(Thanks to Internet Weekly- glad you are back!)

Little Nemo and Gertie

Poster from Gertie the Dinosaur 1914
Page from "Little Nemo in Slumberland" by Windsor McCay
I have always loved the comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland" by Windsor McCay. He created the strip from 1905-1911 for the New York Herald. His superb sense of design and his subtle, mischievous humor never goes out of date. It's classic! Just look at the beauty of this full page example (above). It is surreal and abstract at the same time- making use of geometry, forms and color while telling a fantastic story. I think I've seen some of those drippy backgrounds in some art being done today (green dreamy drips above). His bio says he never completed grade school, but he certainly completed a lot of great art.

"Winsor McCay (1869-1934) was one of the founding fathers of the US newspaper comic. His 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' Sunday page, with its world of magic, fantasy and dreams, visual virtuosity and inventive use of frames and page lay-out has not been equaled. But also McCay's other comics, like 'Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend' still stand out for their originality and artistic quality. In addition, McCay was a pioneer in animation art as well, and his 1909 film 'Gertie the Dinosaur' stands as the first commercial successful animated cartoon."-read more here: Lambiek.net and about Gertie here: McCay
The Art of Amy Crehore

Monovita Magazine!

Check out this brand new feature about my art at

Monovita Magazine

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. June 4, 2007 -This article just got boingboinged along with my newest painting, "Wild Cat Fever", which will go up to Seattle for the "Venus Show" at Roq La Rue. Don't miss this show! And buy the art. Contact Kirsten at Roq La Rue for purchases.