Leap Year- Birthday Of Balthus

I always envied people born on Feb. 29th. Balthus, the painter, was one of those special people. He was born on Feb. 29, 1908. I am celebrating Balthus and everyone else who has a birthday today. Here he is as the "King of Cats".

The Art of Amy Crehore

Very unique instrument: Gibson Mando-bass

I used this antique Gibson Mando-bass from 1917 that we have at home as an inspiration for my dream-like "Feed the Bear Blues" painting (shown above, Amy Crehore 2007, oil on linen, approx. 9"x 9"). The gorgeous pod-shape of the mando-bass reflects the wonderful art nouveau sensibility of Gibson at the time. The mando-bass can be played standing up or sitting down (horizontally). I exhibited this painting in my Brooklyn show at Ad Hoc Gallery in 2008. (By the way, the painting is still available.) You may have seen the band Smashing Pumpkins play one of these in a music video. The mando-bass was generally used in mandolin orchestras of the time.
 The Art of Amy Crehore

Looking at Klimt's Landscapes

Auctioned off two years ago at Sotheby's in London, this painting "Church in Cassone" (1913) by Gustav Klimt was saved from the Nazis, but it was also lost for a good while. (It sold for about 26 million pounds.) Read the story here. (Guardian)

I have been looking at Klimt's amazing landscapes recently in a gorgeous book about them.

I like them better than his figurative works. To view more, click on buildings or landscapes in this link.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Monkey Acrobats, Oh Yeah

acrobatesinges verso, a photo by pilllpat (agence eureka) on Flickr.

Natalie Wood 1966

I'm getting dizzy watching Natalie Wood singing "The Sun is Gray".
 
Round and round she goes. Movie: Penelope 1966.

Raymond Daussy, Mysterious Painter

(click on images to enlarge)
Raymond Daussy (follow this link for more images), a French painter born in 1919, was a founding father of the surrealist group in 1946. That's about all the information that I can find out about him, but I like his paintings. There are a couple of books on Amazon that are currently unavailable. (Paintings Volume 1: 1941-1963, published in 1984)

The Art of Amy Crehore

A New Painting by Amy Crehore ("Rose Quarry")

Here's one of my new paintings. Click image to enlarge.

It's called "Rose Quarry", 12" x 14" oil on linen by Amy Crehore 2012.

(See larger image here also)

The Art of Amy Crehore