He Was Only 27 When He Died

Asa Ames died young and left behind a dozen or so sculptures that he made in the mid-1800's.
They are lovely. You can see them here:

American Folk Art Museum

Or go see them in person if you happen to live near 45 West 53rd Street, NYC.

The New York Times features a slide show as well:

Asa Ames

Thanks, Dinosaurs and Robots.

Felice Casorati Video

Internet Weekly posted a link to this beautiful video found on a website about Felice Casorati. I really need to get a book about this important Italian painter. There are so many amazing paintings on this video that I had never seen. He went through some odd stylistic changes - his work looked a lot like Gustav Klimt at one point. I prefer the less decorative works such as the ones I blogged earlier - the metaphysical works. His work never lacked mystery or soul, no matter which style he chose. His name translates as "Happy" in English. Happy Casorati. His art makes me happy, although it often depicts somewhat melancholy figures.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Orville Gibson's Aesthetic

Photo of Orville Gibson in a funny costume from "The Gibson Story" (out of print?), 1973 by Julius Bellson, photo courtesy of Mrs. Seguine (Orville's niece)

Gibson Guitar Style 03 from 1902

Page from Gibson catalogue 1902

Detail of a sketch by Amy Crehore 2008
I really like the look of the early Gibson guitars. Here is a detail from a sketch that I made off the top of my head and you can see that I drew the bridge in the wrong place. It should be placed higher. I wasn't trying to draw a Gibson or anything, but later I realized that there were some early Gibson models with oval sound holes. Now that I am working on the painting, I am using a reprint of an old Gibson catalogue as a reference to make sure I get some of the features right. I am adding my own decorative inlay on the bottom of the guitar, keeping the dark finish and adjusting the bridge to the right position. And I'm sticking with the oval sound hole. I don't want to show you the whole sketch just yet. My painting keeps changing and when I'm done, I will blog it and compare the sketch to the finished piece.

Check out both of these websites for more photos of actual Gibson guitars from the past:

The Momi.org
National Music Museum

The Art of Amy Crehore

Nice Compositions

Felice Casorati, "Concerto"
Las Mellizas by George Owen Wynne Apperley
Conversazione Platonica by Felice Casorati
I love these two mysterious paintings of nudes by Felice Casorati. I have blogged about him before, but Femme Femme Femme found some examples of his work that I hadn't seen before. Also, here is a nice composition by George Apperley who painted quite a few flamenco dancers (more examples on Femme). I prefer the simple, surreal and classic forms of the Casorati paintings, but Apperley did some very nice portraits of women. Flamenco dancers make colorful subjects.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Painter of Women: Julio Romero de Torres

'"Venus de la Poesía" was painted in Madrid in 1913 by Romero de Torres. It is among his best nudes. As on other occasions, the artist used several models, each one for a different part of the body. Thus, the face belongs to the famous singer of light lyrics, Francisca Márques López, known as Raquel Meller. The composition was inspired by a Titian painting'...Museo Bilbao

Read more about Julio Romero de Torres (1870 - 1940) and see dozens of gorgeous paintings here:

Museo Julio Romero de Torres

(Click on the British flag for English version)

Thanks to Femme ,Internet Weekly

The Art of Amy Crehore

Dancing Around the Pole

Oops. These beauties got all tangled up. Maybe they need to practice again before May Day.

View some lovely vintage postcards of Maypole dancers here.

The Art of Amy Crehore

One Very Talented Girl

I think I found this on flickr, but can't be sure.

Anyhow, it's a nice hokum image!

The Art of Amy Crehore