Leslie Garland Bolling's Nudes (1898-1955)

The Library of Virginia recently held an unusual exhibition of masterful wood carving: figurative sculpture by an obscure artist named Leslie Garland Bolling. He was an African-American self-taught artist who lived in Richmond and made more than 80 carvings of working people and nudes from the period of 1926-1943. His nudes are particularly wonderful in their stylization of women's curves. A lot of feeling went into these pieces.

In this series of photos, you can see him working on one of these pieces in his home studio.(Credit: Bolling Carving "Queen of Dreams", Harmon Foundation).

Read more about him and view more works on the Library of Virgina website here:

Leslie Garland Bolling

Pagebull.com Launched

A unique new search engine was just launched on November 28, 2006. It shows a layout of 12 different screen shots per page with highlighted search words. Here's what a search of my name looks like on Pagebull:

Pagebull.com

(Thanks to Marshall Sponder at webmetricsguru for the link)

Published!

Cover by Jonathan Rosen

I finally got my copies of the new "Blab! 17" in the mail this week.

It was a long wait for me - a couple of years almost since I first started doing sketches for "The Banana Eater". The drawing took me months to work out. I decided that Devil's Island would be my backdrop and I had to do some research on plants, animals and people. I also had to make it really entertaining.

The painting was finished in June or July 2005, it was shown in the first Blab! Art Exhibit of Sept. 2005, and has just now been published in Nov. 2006.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Magritte at LACMA

The Rene Magritte exhibit opens November 19, 2006 at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
There will be 68 works by Magritte. The exhibit was designed by John Baldessari and it looks super cool. Hope to make it down there before it closes.

Read about it here and see more images:

LACMA

Thomas Woodruff is Back!

Root Hare Painting copyright 2006 Thomas Woodruff from Freak Parade

There was a gorgeously painted fashion spread in "Swindle" magazine a couple of months ago and now this: an art show at Illinois State University Galleries.
Thomas Woodruff

is back in full force with a new large-format book out

called "Freak Parade" available through Last Gasp.

These are the paintings that he was working on over the last five years.

His work glows with animated, super-magical otherworldliness.

He paints a fanciful universe of weird beauty with an incredibly unique touch, using richly layered paint and subdued colors.
Lucky were the people who got to see this show Sept.25-Nov. 5, 2006. I already know what I want for Christmas this year! I saw some of his series paintings in person at the art museum in Eugene, OR and I will never forget those baby heads and sacred scrolls.

Check out the paintings here:

Freak Parade by Thomas Woodruff

and buy the book!

L.A. Art Shows

Painting by Michael Hussar 2006
Painting by Camille Rose Garcia 2006

Looks like it was an interesting Saturday night for art show openings in Los Angeles. Supertouch blog has photos of Camille Rose Garcia's new show at Merry Karnowsky and Michael Hussar's as well (at Mendenhall-Sobieski). Both are masterful painters with unique styles. I like Camille's new vibrant color palette and what Hussar can do in a minimal way with just red and white. Read about it on:

Supertouch

Antonio Lopez Garcia's Apparitions

Atocha 1963
Woman on the Beach 1959 Pencil Drawing
Antonio Lopez Garcia (born 1936)Standing Girl

Antonio Lopez Garcia.

He paints and draws surreal apparitions...with so much love.

I like his soulful sculptures as well.

More images: pintura.aut.org

Mark Frauenfelder, Wonderful Painter!

Mark Frauenfelder of boingboing.net
is having his first major painting exhibition of nine new works at

Roq La Rue Gallery

in Seattle, WA opening November 10 (6-9PM) though December 1, 2006.

He'll be showing his art along with with Wednesday Kirwan, Chris Reccardi, Lynne Naylor and Johnny Yanok in a show entitled Retrorama!

This looks like so much fun! Go see it if you are in the Seattle area.

(Permanent link: Mark's Art Show at Roq La Rue on Friday)

Botero's Political Nudes

Fernando Botero is pictured here in front of one of his new canvases depicting the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. This photo accompanies a fascinating interview at ARTINFO with the well-known Colombian painter.

He is having a show in the United States at Marlborough Gallery until November 18, 2006.

Marshall Sponder's review of the show at ArtNYC .

A Lanky Pair

Balthus

Detail of hair and face

Nu au miroir 1981-83 Copyright Balthus (from the book,"Balthus")
Le drap bleu 1981-82 Copyright Balthus (from the book, "Balthus")

I could not resist posting about Balthus again. These two portraits of lanky teens have such rich layers of paint. The green undertone makes their skin seem realer than real. I can remember standing like that with my knees in, belly out. And look at the way the golden hair is painted! It's all crazy-looking yet somehow it's just right. There is plenty of scumbled texture and a keen sense of design. In "Le Drap Bleu", the table legs are echoing the girl's out-stretched leg. Everything is reduced down to it's most basic, simple form.

Balthus

art
Amy_Crehore

Italian Nudes - Felice Casorati

Merrigio 1923 Felice Casorati
Le Signorine 1912 Felice Casorati
Felice Casorati by Herbert List 1949
Nude Study by Felice Casorati

I always admired the studio nudes painted by Italian Painter Felice Casorati (1886-1963), a contemporary of Antonio Donghi. He went from being part of the Symbolist movement in 1912 to being associated with the Italian Metaphysical painters ten years later. "Le Signorine" could mean "The Young Ladies" or it could mean "The Spinsters". Either way, the picture is humorous and psychological. Dolores F., Violante, Bianca (the "white" nude) and Gioconda are their names.

And, in the painting above it, "Merrigio", we want to know what the one nude is thinking while the other one sleeps. The hat and shoes are a nice contrast. And who is that naked guy in the background? Reminds me of Balthus with his mysterious background figures, but it is also a still life. It's all about form, texture and composition.

Felice Casorati

Foxtrotting Gal

Blues Gal Sketch #6 Copyright 2006 Amy Crehore

Here's a drawing I did a week or so ago. My gal's a little fox-trotter. She's headed off to parts unknown with her guitar. Don't ask me what it all means.

Genius of Goyo

Woman Washing Her Hair 1920 Goyo
Woman Washing Her Face 1920 Goyo

Here are two more wonderful images of women by Hashiguchi Goyo. I had read that his prints are very rare and he only did 8 prints of women on his own, but this website shows us more images:

Hanga Gallery

(Thanks again Internet Weekly)

Always in Style- Japanese Prints

Hashiguchi Goyo 1915 Bathing

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1888 Shy Woman
Hashiguchi Goyo 1920 Thin Garment
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1888 Looking Delighted

I love these Japanese woodblock prints of women. The economy of the line and the elegance of the style. They are the same ones that inspired so many artists who came before me (Mary Cassatt, for instance). Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's 32 Aspects of Women Series and Hashiguchi Goyo's 8 prints of women- the only ones he did in his lifetime.

Bosch Action Figures

Tree Man
Devil on a Night Chair

These figures are from the Parastone Mouseion Collection . They were directly inspired by the painted masterpiece, "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch.

Thanks Internet Weekly for another great link.

Small is Big

"Nude Seated on a Rock" 1921 Pablo Picasso

The last time I went to the Museum of Modern Art, one painting seemed to stand out for me. It was teeny-tiny- measuring only 6 1/4"x 4 3/8"- but it simply glowed with color and feeling, dwarfing all of the large paintings around it. It's an oil on wood by Pablo Picasso done in 1921 - one of his best years in my opinion. He had a way of painting the human form that was so solid and peasant-like, almost sculptural. This painting was a magnet that pulled me in and held me there. Everyone wanted to stand in front of it and get personal with it. Small can be powerful.

MOMA collection