Isaac Levitan was a Russian artist born in 1860 in a poor but educated family, he taught german and french early on until he enrolled in the Moscow School of Painting and Architecture. During this time he painted scenery for the Opera and developed a long close friendship with the author Anton Chekhov.
Levitan did not [...]
Archive for the ‘The Masters’ Category
March 26th, 2010
Isaac Levitan
December 16th, 2009
Hanson Puthoff 1875 – 1972
Hanson Puthoff had a long career as a painter in Southern California. After art training at the Chicago Art Institute, the Denver School of Fine Art and the Chicago Academy of Fine Art he worked as a mural painter in Peoria, Illinois and was also a sign painter in Denver. In 1903 he arrived in [...]
November 21st, 2009
Alfred Sisley
While living in Chicago I spent a lot of time at the Art Institute where they had a good collection of French impressionists. As a young art student the artist that caught my eye the most was Alfred Sisley. While his work was smaller than the other impressionists and less dramatic his brushwork was quick [...]
November 18th, 2009
Maynard Dixon
I went to see the Maynard Dixon show when it was at the Tucson Museum of Art. I was really struck by the simplicity and accuracy of his graphite and chalk drawings. He seemed very confident of his lines. The lack of
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May 6th, 2009
The Art of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Carot
“Corot” by Madeleine Hours gives a nice overview of Corot’s life, how he started his career (he was 26 years old when he asked his father’s permission), and who influenced him. The book also goes into some detail about his technique and work habits which is always interesting.
Corot was also very generous, although he took his [...]
October 28th, 2008
Fundamentals of Painting
After years of taking and teaching workshops, I’ve come to understand that the fundamentals are important in painting, but are just a means to get you where you want to be with your artwork. As John Carlson says in his book, John Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting, “Art is a thing so much of the imagination, of [...]
September 15th, 2008
Appreciating Edward Seago
Edward Seago was a 20th century British landscape painter. Known in the US primarily for his plein air work in oil and watercolor. It’s hard to find books on his work but I have found some show catalogs of his plein air work. One book that can be found is
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September 14th, 2008
Wilson Hurley
Wilson Hurley passed away this year. I didn’t know Wilson very well, but I was able to visit his studio twice where he was kind enough to critique my work and spend time talking about painting and things that influenced him. Wilson had a varied and full life, he attended West Point, became a pilot [...]
January 29th, 2008
Taking Note of Oscar Beringhaus
My Great Uncle, Joseph Brooks lived on the farm that my dad was raised on near Kansas City, MO. He tended the chickens and had his own room off the kitchen where he would show me drawings and small watercolors that he would do around the farm. When I was older and serious about art I [...]
July 26th, 2007
Did the Great Masters Cheat?
Sometime back I read an article by Gregg Kruetz. He was refuting two books that proclaimed that many of the great masters from the Renaissance and beyond used optical aids to achieve the advances in perspective and drawing.
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