The world's greatest art...according to me

Cypress said:
Vincent van Gogh
Starry night
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How many kids became aware of this because of Don McLean?
 
After coming home from WW2, my father wandered around aimlessly for a while. He studied art under Robert Brackman at the Art Students League in NYC in the mid 50's. For those not familiar, he did a lot of still life oil on canvas.

My dad's style was spot on when compared to Brackman. My entire childhood included a stretched canvas on an easel in various stages of completion. He often set up scenes to paint. More often, he would take inspiration from any of a number of masters, and create his own works from something he saw in one of his numerous art books.

This is a Dutch seascape from Jacob Van Ruisdael.



jacob van ruidsael.jpg

This is my cat Casey. In the background, you can see a piece my dad did in the '70's.



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Althea said:
After coming home from WW2, my father wandered around aimlessly for a while. He studied art under Robert Brackman at the Art Students League in NYC in the mid 50's. For those not familiar, he did a lot of still life oil on canvas.

My dad's style was spot on when compared to Brackman. My entire childhood included a stretched canvas on an easel in various stages of completion. He often set up scenes to paint. More often, he would take inspiration from any of a number of masters, and create his own works from something he saw in one of his numerous art books.

This is a Dutch seascape from Jacob Van Ruisdael.



View attachment 13911

This is my cat Casey. In the background, you can see a piece my dad did in the '70's.



View attachment 13912
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Thanks for sharing. I really like the art of the Dutch and Flemish masters of the northern Renaissance. Nobody was better at painting sky scapes, and their affinity for those nearly monochromatic tones is visually striking
 
Althea said:
How many kids became aware of this because of Don McLean?
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I do not actually know to what you are referring.

I personally think Van Gogh should have tempered his obsession with sun flowers. But Monet became obssesive about water lillies, so while I appreciate those two painters, I get a little fed up with sunflowers and water lillies!
 
Althea said:
Hmmm. I might be older than I think.


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I was not immersed in pop music in 1971, and I do not think that song had much staying power because I do not recall hearing in on the rock stations I listened to later in the 1970s. That painting is pretty iconic, but I still run across garden variety people who are not aware of that painting. So I believe it takes some cultural awareness and education to recognize a Van Gogh painting

Vilhelm Hammershøi
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Lyubov Popova
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Cypress said:
I was not immersed in pop music in 1971, and I do not think that song had much staying power because I do not recall hearing in on the rock stations I listened to later in the 1970s. That painting is pretty iconic, but I still run across garden variety people who are not aware of that painting. So I believe it takes some cultural awareness and education to recognize a Van Gogh painting
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Anecdotes aside, 'American Pie' broke records. The song spent 1 month at number 1. 'Vincent' had quite a bit of success as well, which would bring attention to Van Gogh in an age group that probably wasn't aware of classic artists. Maybe 'pop' stations didn't give much time to the song, but it was a staple on the rock stations across the country. Back in the 70's many stations didn't limit the DJs with setlists. They had free rein to compose their own shows.

Having grown up in a house that was filled with classic paintings, I found out that McLean was singing about Van Gogh from WNEW fm in NY.

I think I've gone way too far in order to make my original point.

McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of van Gogh.[SUP][1][/SUP] It was released on McLean's 1971 American Pie album, and the following year the song became the No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks.[SUP][2][/SUP] and No. 12 in the US.[SUP][3][/SUP] In the US, "Vincent" also hit No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart.[SUP][4][/SUP] Billboard ranked it as the No. 94 song for 1972.
 
There is a Rockwell exhibit at the Houston Museum which I am excited to see. His art touched my feels!
 
Althea said:
Anecdotes aside, 'American Pie' broke records. The song spent 1 month at number 1. 'Vincent' had quite a bit of success as well, which would bring attention to Van Gogh in an age group that probably wasn't aware of classic artists. Maybe 'pop' stations didn't give much time to the song, but it was a staple on the rock stations across the country. Back in the 70's many stations didn't limit the DJs with setlists. They had free rein to compose their own shows.

Having grown up in a house that was filled with classic paintings, I found out that McLean was singing about Van Gogh from WNEW fm in NY.

I think I've gone way too far in order to make my original point.

McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of van Gogh.[SUP][1][/SUP] It was released on McLean's 1971 American Pie album, and the following year the song became the No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks.[SUP][2][/SUP] and No. 12 in the US.[SUP][3][/SUP] In the US, "Vincent" also hit No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart.[SUP][4][/SUP] Billboard ranked it as the No. 94 song for 1972.
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I wrote a paper on American Pie for my Advanced English course in high school. Thanks for the Flashback
 
Phantasmal said:
There is a Rockwell exhibit at the Houston Museum which I am excited to see. His art touched my feels!
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A Rockwell painting is like an old friend, and it serves a different purposes than a Raphael, Caravaggio, or Goya. Who doesn't like Rockwell!?
 
Cypress said:
I was not immersed in pop music in 1971, and I do not think that song had much staying power because I do not recall hearing in on the rock stations I listened to later in the 1970s. That painting is pretty iconic, but I still run across garden variety people who are not aware of that painting. So I believe it takes some cultural awareness and education to recognize a Van Gogh painting

Vilhelm Hammershøi
yYRnLkE.jpg


Lyubov Popova
89kRP29.jpg
Click to expand...

I won a contest once sponsored by the president of a company for which I was working...by correctly identifying one of Van Gogh's early paintings...one of his "windmill" paintings. (Looks quite different from his later work.) This was more than 40 years ago...before stuff could be Googled.

I still have the letter:

Dear Frank,

It gives me great pleasure to present you with the Van Gogh Book of Art Masterpieces, which you won in our recent contest.

The purpose of the contest was to stimulate an interest in excellence as demonstrated by the great works illustrated in this book. We hope it will give you the added inspiration to to apply to your own work the fun and excitement that come from dedicated performance.

Leo.

Leo later played a part in one of my most famous resignations...a story I may tell at some point.
 
Frank Apisa said:
I won a contest once sponsored by the president of a company for which I was working...by correctly identifying one of Van Gogh's early paintings...one of his "windmill" paintings. (Looks quite different from his later work.) This was more than 40 years ago...before stuff could be Googled.

I still have the letter:

Dear Frank,

It gives me great pleasure to present you with the Van Gogh Book of Art Masterpieces, which you won in our recent contest.

The purpose of the contest was to stimulate an interest in excellence as demonstrated by the great works illustrated in this book. We hope it will give you the added inspiration to to apply to your own work the fun and excitement that come from dedicated performance.

Leo.

Leo later played a part in one of my most famous resignations...a story I may tell at some point.
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^^ You have to acknowledge a poster of such cultivated tastes, they can share personal stories about the art of Vincent Van Gogh.

Sadly, jpp dot com is mostly known for unrelenting racism, ubiquitous misogyny, and as a prominent venue for buck-toothed barely educated rightwing hillbillies
 
As a cure to my ignorance, I took an art history class on American painters, and I was scarcely aware of Thomas Cole -- arguably the most highly regarded American artist of the early 19th century, and who appears to my eye to easily be on a par with the European neoclassical and romantic master painters.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cole/hd_cole.htm
 
Cypress said:
As a cure to my ignorance, I took an art history class on American painters, and I was scarcely aware of Thomas Cole -- arguably the most highly regarded American artist of the early 19th century, and who appears to my eye to easily be on a par with the European neoclassical and romantic master painters.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cole/hd_cole.htm
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Click on the embedded link in your link for the Hudson River School. I just love their work. Another painter I love whose work is similar to the HRS is J. M.Turner. He has a real talent for painting skies, IMO.
 
christiefan915 said:
Click on the embedded link in your link for the Hudson River School. I just love their work. Another painter I love whose work is similar to the HRS is J. M.Turner. He has a real talent for painting skies, IMO.
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You have good taste. Love Turner.

I was only vaguely aware of the Hudson School, but now realize it is incredible art.

I was under the mistaken impression that American painting in the early 19th century was mediocre and subpar. But my ignorance has been dispelled at this point!
 
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