ArtCorner

The Mona Lisa by Devinci, Bride and Groom by Modigliani, A Boy with Pipe by Picasso, Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Van Gogh, and Madame Cezanne by who else then Cezanne, are considered some of the most famous oil portraits ever done.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is probably the most famous. The model is said to have been a young woman from Florence who married the local celebrity Francesco del Giocondo in 1495. It was painted between 1503 and 1505. Da Vinci himself was so enamored of his Mona Lisa that he carried the painting with him until it was sold to King Francois I. Mona Lisa was long known as a Renaissance portrait prototype. The painting was stolen from the Louvre, where it hung in the Salon Carre. It was found two years later in a Florence hotel. This painting is still a cause for debate and interest in the art and history realms, the experts are split about the enigmatic true origin of the Mona Lisa.

Bride and Groom, also known as The Newlyweds, is another much sought after portrait painting. It is the 1915 work of the master Amedeo Modigliani.

Pablo Picasso’s Boy with Pipe is probably his most famous portrait, and one that holds the world record for Sotheby auction sale prices – $104,168,000. Boy with Pipe was painted in Montmarte when Picasso was 24. The subject is a local boy who visited the painter often in his studio.

Vincent Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet has not been viewed by the public since its sale in 1990 at Christie’s auction house in New York City. For a whopping $75 million Portrait of Dr. Gachet was bought by a Japanese art dealer for his Japanese industrialist client. The famous Dr. Gachet was Van Gogh’s physician at the time of his death. Self Portrait 1889 was another noteworthy Van Gogh portrait.

Madame Cezanne was Paul Cezanne’s cubism style portrait of his beloved wife Hortense.

The world’s greatest art collectors met in London for the annual spring auctions of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art.

Unlike past years, conservative taste dominated the new rich of Europe and Asia, some might call them trophy hunters. Instantly recognizable names such as Modigliani and Picasso took center stage and grabbed the most interest.

According to the New York Times, some experts say the auction results were good news for the art world. “The market is showing a return to reason,” said James Roundell, a London dealer. “After years of escalating prices for artists barely out of school, Impressionist paintings are suddenly back in vogue.”

The rejuvenated interest in the Impressionistic and Modern art comes after the big numbers paid for contemporary art in recent years. Now, the Old Masters works seem like bargains.

The works that grabbed most of the attention were a Modigliani 1919 portrait of the artist’s mistress and muse that sold for $30.1 million. An 1895 Degas pastel sold for $12.4 million. A flowery Renoir landscape from 1873 sold for $9.1 million. An 1881 Cézanne landscape was sold for $7.6 million. The top modern piece was a 1969 Picasso, “Seated Man With a Pipe and Cupid.” The hammer fell at $7.1 million.

A mover’s truck drops off parcels of his and her stuff at the new residence – as they stare and wonder how to pull it all together…

The following is a list of decorating tips to newlyweds on how to blend their tastes to ensure that their new home becomes a house of style both would love and cherish.

1. Remember, that your décor is like your relationship, so don’t worry about matching up: Mix it up, and follow your decorating instinct with what suits both your moods and passion.
2. Delve into this as a couple. Take an afternoon to sit together on the sofa and scan magazines, blogs and TV programs. Discuss your friends’ tastes and wall décor finds. Get design inspiration and a common starting point.
3. Come to an understanding of what décor identity you want to pursue in every room. While you’d love to have your style and emotions in every room, it is important that you will consult with him about what he likes, so he will take pride in what you did together with the place.
4. Be realistic in setting spending limits and work within them. First step: List what’s needed most. It is important to know how many pieces of art you need. Decide on the medium; you can choose from posters, prints, lithographs or handmade oil paintings. If you intend on framing your wall décor, the difference in costs is negligible. Go with what you love and ask as you shop – do you want this wall décor to be with you forever? Probably, if you pickup handmade oil paintings thay will be with you for generations.
5. Be positive at all times, if you like saescapes and your spouse abstract, rejoice in discovering you both prefer lighter tones and color schemes.
6. Most couples consist of one décor-conscious and one “it’s just a picture” spouse. While one partner may be driving most decisions, for both of you to enjoy your new home and take pride in it, involve the other. Don’t forget – it’s their home, too.

Hope this helps you get started, remember that it’s fun and don’t be afraid to work toghther on this one.

Back in April I wrote about the miraculous story of an exquisite Gustav Klimt portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer oil painting. Read the post…

After it was captured by the Nazis and a long grueling legal battle with the Austrian government the painting finally arrived at the door step of its rightful owner, Adele Bloch-Bauer’s niece, 90-year-old Maria Altmann.

Back in April, the estimate value of the portrait was around a whapping 120 Million dollars.

Well, the dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt was placed on auction this past weekend.

The painting was purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics giant Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.

Eclipsing the $104.1 million paid for Picasso’s 1905 “Boy with a Pipe” in an auction at Sotheby’s in 2004.

According to the New York Times, Mr. Lauder said after the buy: “This is our Mona Lisa.” Mr. Lauder is the founder of the five-year-old Neue Galerie, a tiny museum devoted entirely to the German and Austrian fine and decorative arts.

So, if you want to see the most expensive artwork ever bought stop by on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 86th Street and see for yourself this great work of art.

Mark Rothko paintings were heavily influenced by Impressionism. Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkovitz in Russia in 1903, immigrated with his family to Portland Oregon when very young. He attended Yale for two years, and then studied the art, which was later to result in famous Rothko paintings. Lessons in painting came from Art Weber in New York City’s Art Students League. The first public presentation of Rothko paintings was at Opportunities Galleries in 1928 in New York City.

The first solo showing of Rothko paintings was back in Portland Oregon, his home, at the Portland Art Museum in 1933. He later returned to New York for a solo gallery show that same year. Rothko paintings had definitely arrived.

Mark Rothko, unique style has broad color fields to denote moods and places. Similar to Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Joan Miro, Rothko developed this unique style engaging color and passion yet intentionally without any human representation.

Rothko took his own life on February 25, 1970, in his New York studio.

Today, Rothko is considered among the great pioneers of American postwar art and, as one of the major representatives of Abstract Expressionism.

Kandinsky paintings are the expressionist art of Russian born Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky paintings are considered to have changed the face of art in the first part of the 20th century. Kandinsky paintings and writings of art theory have had a heavy influence on contemporary art. Kandinsky spent a great deal of his life in Germany and played a great part in developing German expressionism.

Kandinsky was born in Moscow in 1866, studied law and politics at the university there and then moved to Munich Germany to paint. Kandinsky paintings showed a bent towards fantasy from the very beginning.

A great change came to Kandinsky paintings during the roaring twenties, however. Wassily Kandinsky went from an overabundance of romance in his art to a geometric fascination with bundles of lines, circles, points and triangles.

Kandinsky paintings, for the last ten years of the artist’s life, were a blend of early intuitive Kandinsky paintings and later Bauhaus geometric precision.

Today, Wassily Kandinsky is considered the father of Abstract art which is better viewed than explained. Vivid colors, indiscernible shapes, and depiction of anything but natural and worldly objects are characteristic of this style. This alone places Wassily Kandinsky as one of the most important artists of the Twentieth Century.

Gauguin paintings were heavily influenced by Impressionism.
1888 marked the year of the birth of the Paul Gauguin’s paintings style he is most noted for. It became his trademark. These Gauguin paintings were bold, with colors that were unreal, mystic subjects and large areas that were very flat. Gauguin’s most famous of paintings, Vision After the Sermon, is a typical painting for this time in his life and his paintings.

Japanese two-dimensional art clearly had a significant impact on Gauguin paintings. In fact, most Impressionist and post Impressionist painters of that era were heavily influenced by Japan and its artistry on canvas.

Gauguin then traveled to the city of Arles in France, working with Vincent Van Gogh for a short time. They became great friends and made a series of paintings together. A great example would have to be the Night Cafe at Arles. Most interesting to compare the interpretation of both masters to the same scene.
It was during this time, with quarrels and turbulence between the two men becoming frequent that Van Gogh cut off his ear lobe and suffered a nervous breakdown. Gauguin retreated to Paris.

He later lived in poverty in Tahiti, completing several dozen Gauguin paintings. Gauguin painted the people and the life on the island with so much passion, you could see the love he had for the people and the place.

Many remember Gauguin for this period of his life and these works are a testament to the beautiful and exotic culture of the Caribean. There are many memorable oil paintings of Gauguin from that period. One that stands out is Woman with a Mango. Unfortunatley, He died in poverty and ill health on the tropical island.

Cezanne paintings, the works of French painter Paul Cezanne are referred to as post Impressionist. Heavily influenced by the Impressionist painters of his time (late 19th and early 20th centuries), Cezanne paintings were heavy, somber and violent, though sometimes romantic.

Cezanne was carefully isolated during his lifetime and his paintings reflect that isolation. He is considered one of the foremost forerunners of modern painting. Where Cezanne paintings excelled was in their exacting look at nature and their unique treatment of the elements of color, mass and space.

A close personal friend of the writer Emile Zola, Cezanne grew up in the south of France. Here he studied law for two years while still taking painting and drawing classes. Determined to pursue his own Cezanne paintings call, he went to Paris two years later to be with Zola.

Cezanne has been a very popular choice on OverstockArt.com and in the Auctions Houses where his paintings have been reaching sky-high numbers this year.

When decorating a bedroom, rest and romance are the first things that come to mind. For me, a romantic and calming bedroom has a way of washing away life’s stresses. Read more »

Museums love anniversaries. Pablo Picasso is offering Madrid, Spain a real treat: 125 years since he was born; and 25 years since “Guernica,” his famous illustration of the Spanish Civil War painting, arrived in Madrid after a long exile in New York.

Picasso and his life and works deserve a look back. “Picasso: Tradition and Avant-Garde,” which runs through Sept. 3, will be displayed at both the Prado and the Reina Sofía Museum, Madrid’s principal gallery for modern and contemporary art.

Since Picasso died in France in 1973, Spain has yearned to reclaim its most famous 20th-century artist. Picasso never set foot in his homeland since 1934 mainly because of his nemesis, Dictator Gen. Francisco Franco. While his paintings are in museums and collections around the world, there are still relatively few in Spain itself.

Even though Picasso lived most of his life outside of Spain he remained profoundly Spanish. He was most influenced by the great Spanish artists.

So, after a long period, Picasso is coming home, if you have the time and extra cash, take a quick trip down to Madrid and enjoy this very special exhibition.