Carl Larsson: Influences

Karin is Reading, 1904. Watercolor.
In 1904, they had nearly finished re-decorating their dining room. There is a paper cactus-flower shad that now had electric light and a 'sin-cupboard' was installed under the window. It would be used to hold liquor and cigars. Karin's profile is echoed in the portrait in the window... alongside her is Carl himself.

Marriage Feast at Cana. Painted wall hanging from southern Sweden, 1781

Famed Swedish artist, Carl Larsson and his wife were a bit like William Morris of the British Arts and Crafts movement. They took great care decorating their house and I guess you could say they were the founders of modern Swedish design! Carl immortalized his home and grounds by painting most of his watercolors there. Here is a piece he saw in a museum that is believed to have greatly inspired his work. The Marriage Feast at Cana (detail). 'The fresh directness of such Southern Swedish paintings, abounding with figures, had a strong appeal for Carl Larsson. This example was collected for the Nordic Museum, Stockholm.' (Snodin and Stavenow-Hidemark).

**From the book, Carl and Karin Larsson - Creators of the Swedish Style. Edited by Michael Snodin and Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark. Published by Bullfinch, 1997)

Notes to Myself... Richard Diebenkorn

Self-portrait - no date. Sketchbook sheet, private collection.

Urbana No. 6, 1953. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX

Cityscape I, 1963. MOMA - San Francisco.

Girl with Flowered Background, 1962

Urban No. 4, 1953.

Coat I, III, IV, V, 1990. Etchings, private collection.

Notes to myself on beginning a painting...

1. Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a valuable delusion.

2. The pretty, initial position which falls short of completeness is not to b valued - except as a stimulus for further moves.

3. Do search. But in order to find other than what is searched for.

4. Use and respond to the initial fresh qualities but consider them absolutely expendable.

5. Don't 'discover' a subject - of any kind.

6. Somehow don't be bored - but if you must, use it in action. Use its destructive potential.

7. Mistakes can't be erased but they move you from your present position.

8. Keep thinking about Polyanna.

9. Tolerate chaos.

10. Be careful only in a perverse way.

From the Art of Richard Diebenkorn by Jane Livingston. Published by Whitney Museum of American Art, NY.

Alex Katz

Ada and Flowers. 1980. Oil on canvas, 96 x 72". G.U.C. Collection, Chicago

The Gray Dress. 1982. Oil on canvas, 6' 1/2" x 15'. Collection Stephen L. Wald, New York.

The content of Katz's paintings is seemingly simple, but actually quite complex; what seems to be suspended judgment by the painter is actually subtly interpretive. Though the images do not launch themselves at us, we may still be as surprised, in the end, as if they did. Given that nothing is easy, Katz is painting as simply and as gracefully as he can, and he is asking us to see where grace - or the lack of it - resides in his subject matter. In the best of the paintings, what begins as mimesis finally radiates as metaphor. (Anne Beattie)

Excerpt from the book Alex Katz by Ann Beattie, 1987, Abrams

Edouard Vuillard

(1868-1940). French painter, draughtsman, designer, and lithographer. In the 1890's he was a member of the Nabis and at this time painted intimate interiors and scenes from Montmartre, his sensitive patterning of flattish colors owing something to Gauguin and something to Puvis de Chavannes, but creating a distinctive manner of his own. He also designed posters and theatrical sets. From about 1900 he turned to a more naturalistic style and with Bonnard became the main practitioner of Intimisme, making use of the camera to capture fleeting, informal groupings of his friends and relatives in their homes and gardens. He had several close female friends and preferred painting women and children to men. His work also included landscapes and portraits. Although he was financially successful, he lived modestly, sharing an apartment with his widowed mother until her death in 1928; she often features in his paintings. He was reserved and quiet in personality, although affectionate and much liked. For many years he kept a detailed journal in which he revealed his thoughtful attitude towards art and life. (Ian Chilvers)

Edgar's Quote

Edgar Degas, The Stock Exchange. 1878-79. Oil on canvas, 39 x 32 in. Musee D'Orsay, Paris.

"Painting is easy when you don't know how, difficult when you do." - Edgar Degas

The Bath

The Bath, (detail) Marilyn A. Burkhardt. Etching approx 11 x 11 in.

I love this image, a nice bath in an old claw foot tub with a big dog at her side just as relaxed as the bather. It has hung in my bathroom for many moons. Marilyn Burkhardt has a little website here: http://www.marilynburkhardt.com/ . There are not any etchings that I could find, but sculptures, a charming book, paintings and classes to take if you are near the Oregon coast! Enjoy.

Francesco Clemente

Jean-Michel Basquiat by Francesco Clemente

Fran Leibowitz by Francesco Clemente

Francesco Clemente was born in March of 1952. He is considered to be a surrealist and an expressionist in style. He is self taught but did study architecture at the University of Rome in the 1970s. He has collaborated with artists like Warhol and Basquiat as well as some in India where he lived for a time in the 1980's. He is currently living with his family in New York City and is actively painting.

Oh how I love Clemente... the big eyes, exaggerated necks and bizarre postures not to mention the colors he uses...sigh. I hate to admit I discovered him in a very mainstream way... he was the behind the scenes artist for the film Great Expectations starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow.