Monday, May 31, 2010

François-Emile Barraud (1899-1934)

"Les songes creux" Oil on canvas, 1933.
"Le Malcontent" Oil on canvas, 1930.

Amazing, but little known Swiss painter, François-Emile Barraud (1899-1934) worked in Paris in the 1920s, but died at age 35 of tuberculosis.
He reminds me of Antonio Donghi and Moise Kisling and the reclining nude I just blogged by Miklós Bánovszky...naturalistic realism of the early 1930s.
I discovered him here (see more images):
ART INCONNU
The Art of Amy Crehore

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

Secrets of Jacques Tati

Richard Tatischeff Schiel McDonald, grandson of Jacques Tati, writes a long letter to Roger Ebert about the real story behind his grandfather's script of The Illusionist and how this new animated film misrepresents history and brings more pain to the family:

Saturday, May 22, 2010

My Neighborhood


Yesterday I went out for a hike and saw a white wild turkey all by his lonesome walking up the hill. I really wished I had my camera. Well, today, I took my camera and managed to take some close-ups of flowers around my neighborhood. You can see the raindrops on them. Everything is lush and overgrown around here from all the rain. In fact, it's been rather like winter for the past week. Enjoyed a fire in the fireplace last night.The pink peonies are heavenly, aren't they? But, alas, no white wild turkey to be found today.

Friday, May 21, 2010

1883 Circus in Vermont

Photo courtesy Shelburne Museum
Colchester, Vermont, 1991- the removal of siding revealed five beautiful circus posters pasted onto the boards beneath the siding of a house. The posters were mounted on the house when a circus came to town in 1883, and they remained hidden for the next 108 years. The home owners, Gladys and Harold Degree, donated the posters to the Shelburne Museum, boards and all.
The newly conserved posters will be one of the centerpieces of Shelburne Museum’s new exhibit, "Circus Day in America", (May 16 through October 24)
Shelburne Museum
(Rt. 7, Vermont)
Have a look at these fascinating images:
Flickr set Shelburne- preserving the posters
Read Story: Northeast Document Conservation Center website

Thanks, Tom!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Girl on a Miniature Horse and a Clown-child (Crehore)

Background detail of "The Angel at Gossamer Creek"painting by Amy Crehore 2010 (direct scan)
Background detail of "The Waiting Pool" painting by Amy Crehore 2010 (direct scan)
Here's just a glimpse of my two new paintings. They have lots of layers of paint. I am waiting for the weather to clear before I can take slides of the completed paintings. Then I will scan the slides for you. "The Waiting Pool" has 10 figures in it. I allowed myself to work on them for as long as I wanted to and they took me... a long time! I scanned these small details directly from the paintings.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Mrs. Crehore is Mentioned in Shaw's Civil War Letter

I knew we had ancestors in Milton, MA (Benjamin Crehore -maker of the first pianos in America). In the film "Glory", Matthew Broderick plays Col. Robert Gould Shaw, white commander of the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War. In a letter written by the real Col. Shaw to his mother on May 17, 1863, he indicates that he is staying with a "Mrs. Crehore" in Readville, MA which is very close to Milton.
Blue Eyed Child of Fortune is a a book of letters by Shaw.(shown above-amazon) I came across a few of these letters on Written in Glory , a website with letters by the soldiers of the 54th Regiment. A letter by Shaw to his sister states- " Will you please tell Mrs. Crehore to expect us on Tuesday? No matter whether she wants us or not, we are coming."
1863, Readville, MA
This is so interesting! There are 3 letters mentioning Mrs. Crehore on this website.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Vintage Steamship Travel Posters from Japan





Early 20th century travel posters for Japanese steamship companies (from the book Miwaku no Funatabi, published by the Museum of Maritime Science, 1993) via pinktentacle
Aren't these cool? The expressions of the people are a bit blank, except for the one at the top with the handkerchief and daisy. That might be my favorite because it shows emotion. The rendering is beautiful. Most are from 1909-1919.
Thanks, Internet Weekly for pointing them out.

Legs

Photo by Willy Ronis, Dessous de l'Opera, 1948.
kraftgenie has some interesting sets
on flickr including this one called "legs".
This reminds me- my own paintings
have a lot of legs.
Love this photo.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Winner of My Contest

Okay. I've decided. The winner of my "Name the Monkey in the Sailor Hat" contest is Sugarpie with the name "Romeo". Please contact me by email for your prize.
I really enjoyed reading all of the entries. Very clever and creative. Thank you all for playing.

Thanks...

Detail of face from new painting- enlarged- painting 2010 Amy Crehore

Thanks to everyone for entering my contest. And, thanks to all of the people who have ordered prints and t-shirts, bought my original art, and shown interest in my art. I really appreciate your support. I am planning more surprises in the future, so stay tuned. I will sort through all of the names and pick one for my little monkey in the sailor hat. I hope to have the results very soon!
The Art of Amy Crehore

Friday, May 07, 2010

New Interview and "Banana Eater" Give Away!

"The Banana Eater" painting by Amy Crehore 2005
I want to tell you about a brand new, fun interview with me over at
Uke Can Play. (Thanks, Beatnik!)
In celebration of this new interview, I'd like to give away an artist signed, framed giclee on canvas by the famous printers at Pressure Printing. (printer of Porterhouse/Mark Ryden) This print has a value of $750. and there are only 23 framed prints in existence. (product shown above, click to enlarge)
This oil painting was the first painting in my Monkey Love series. It appeared in the very first Blab! Art Show at Track 16 in Santa Monica in 2005. It was also published in Blab! 17 by Fantagraphics.
MY MONKEY IN THE SAILOR HAT NEEDS A NAME.
NOTE: This particular contest is only for people who are located in the USA (preferably mainland due to shipping concerns). Please leave only ONE comment per person (if you leave more than one comment you will be disqualified). You can enter up to 3 names for my monkey in the sailor hat. The name that I like best will win the framed print (#21, unopened-mint condition-in the box it came in). You have until Wed, May 12th midnight pst to leave your entry in the comment section of this blog. Thank you and good luck. I will announce the winner on this blog by the end of next week. The winner will need to contact me by email.
recent boingboing about my ukes: here and here

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Etchings as Illustrations 1922


I like these. They are illustrations by Stefan Eggeler for a 1922 edition of Gustav Meyrink's Walpurgisnacht. From the collection of Richard Sica.
Read more at A JOURNEY ROUND MY SKULL blog. Thanks, Will.