Carlo Carra and Metaphysical Art

La Figlie di Loth 1919 by Carra

Madre e Figlio 1934 by Carra
Daughters of Lot 1940 by Carra
Italians Carlo Carra and Giorgio De Chirico were friends. They created an art movement called Pittura Metafisica or Metaphysical Art (1917) which influenced surrealism and dada. Mysterious, poetic and dreamlike, their paintings looked to the past for inspiration - to the work of Italian artists like Giotto in particular. They made poetry out of familiar objects by isolating them or placing them together in claustrophobic rooms or outdoors in shadowy Italian squares. Both painters were concerned with giving the objects an inner life of their own through odd juxtapositions and simple, almost stark rendering that pointed to a "higher, more hidden state of being" (Carra). This selection of Carra paintings are later works, but they still show his metaphysical tendencies. I have always been very inspired by the works of Carlo Carra (I don't really relate to his early futurist works, however) and by the metaphysical works of Giorgio De Chirico.
Metaphysical Art
The Art of Amy Crehore

Der Golem

Strange Monster from German Expressionist Cinema: Der Golem

"In the 16th century, the Jews of Prague face persecution. Rabbi Loew creates a giant golem out of clay to protect the people. Unfortunately, the creature rebels and wreaks deadly havoc. In the end, a small girl stops the golem by removing the magic star from its chest."

Starring Paul Wegener as the clay monster which inspired other monsters in cinema.

It ran in NYC for ten months in 1923. I like the poster art.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Kazoos and Old Lures

Cat Kazoo with Plaid Britches

1907 Kazoo fishing lure
Rhodes Mechanical Frog lure - before 1910
Antique Lures
Electrizooka via Makezine (How to make an electric kazoo)
Tin Man Tin Toys (Cat Kazoo)
Kazoos (Kazoo in Popular Music)
Here are some links that I found while surfing around. The Hokum Scorchers always played kazoos, a popular instrument in hokum music. I like this cat kazoo that I found on a tin toy site. Kazoos come in all shapes and sizes, but the metal ones are best. Makezine blog featured an "electrizooka" that someone invented. I also found an old fishing lure called the "Kazoo". This antique mechanical frog lure is pretty cool, too.
I will actually be painting a fishing lure sometime soon. I'll tell you more about that later.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Paintings

Armand Point painting
Robert Henri Painting
Bernhard Gutmann Painting
Arthur Hacker Painting

Paintings by painters. A timeless art form.

Even in this digital age, people are still sucked in by the quiet power of soulful painting.

The Art of Amy Crehore

And Venus was Her Name

Oncilla-spotted South American wild cat

This exotic creature may just show up in my next painting.
I'm currently working on something for a show at Roq la Rue gallery in Seattle, WA -opening June 8th -"Venus" - an invitational group show exploring the theme of the feminine as muse, in whatever incarnation that may take - Artists: Lori Earley, Audrey Kawasaki, Travis Louie, Marion Peck, Glenn Barr, Kukula, Stella Im Hultberg, Isabel Samaras, David Bowers, Lynne Naylor, Chris Reccardi, Sas Christian, Gail Potocki, Joshua Petker, Fuco Ueda, Boomer, Krysztof Nemeth, Derek Nobbs, Jessica McCourt, Nicole Steen, Sarah Joncas, Amy Crehore, Rik Garrett, Sarah Bereza and Robert Pitt. Stayed tuned. (P.S. Actually had a cat named "Venus" once and she was wild, too.)
The Art of Amy Crehore

Sappho - A Passionate Muse

Sappho by Dannecker 1800

Sappho 1877, Charles-August Mengin (1853-1933), Oil on canvas
Sappho, World Noted Women. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1883.
Sappho , (Le coucher de Sappho), Charles Gleyre, 1867
Sappho was a Greek poet who lived around 600 BC. She wrote about love, yearning and reflection. "Most of her poems (Aeolic dialect), which were always set to music, describe erotic passion and its consequences. She was a lyric poet who developed her own particular meter, known as sapphic meter, and she was credited for leading an aesthetic movement away from classical themes of gods, to the themes of individual human experience. Sappho speaks in the first person and describes her own experiences."
-Read more HERE by Michael Lahanas
Also, there is a nice collection of female images, including Mengin's "Sappho" (which I think is an amazing painting), at Sensual Arts

The Art of Amy Crehore

Kisses and Red Monkey Butts

Children's Book by David Fair 1980
"Everybody Kissing" by David Fair
" Upside Down Kiss" by Jad Fair
"Archer" by Jad Fair

I have owned a copy of this little monkey book by artist/musician David Fair for a long, long time. Ever since it came out. It's all about Becky the Monkey's red 12" butt. It's very funny. I have another one called "Worms in It" which is extremely silly. The drawings are wonderfully naive.

Brothers David Fair and Jad Fair of Half Japanese fame (punk rock band & stars of a 1993 documentary movie) both make beautiful paper cut outs. It's a type of traditional "outsider art" that makes me very happy indeed. See more at Jad Fair's myspace page (and buy them) or on his website:
Jad Fair

The Art of Amy Crehore