ArtCorner

Facebook has been 2007’s new kid on the block. With a growing rate of 3% each day it seems to be unstoppable…

People seem to be addicted to this social network phenomenon. What was once for college kids only, is now taking over the social networking realm throughout the world.

The big difference between Facebook and other social networking sites the likes of MySpace, Hi5 and Orkut are the applications. Anyone (with some development knowledge) can submit an application to Facebook.

The interaction of the users with these mini-apps creates a constant buzz in the network. This buzz promotes a viral affect that helps to spread this network even further.

ArtCorner.com has developed its own little mini-app. Appropriately, this app is about art! The My Art Gallery application allows you to browse through hundreds of famous oil paintings and choose a prominent work of art that you can display on your Facebook profile!

This application will allow you art lovers out there to add sophistication and style to your Facebook profiles!

Facebook has already added this app to their directory and we have over 200 users just from the first day!

So sign-up for Facebook if you haven’t done so and see what the fuss is all about…

Last Thursday, on a chilly early morning heist in Sao Paolo, Brazil a gang of highly skilled (considered professionals) art thieves broke into the Sao Paolo Museum of Art and stole two paintings.

One of the paintings is a 1904 Blue Period portrait by Pablo Picasso called “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch.” The portrait is valued at around $50 Million.

What I found fascinating in this story is not the heist itself, but the painting that was taken…

Just a year ago Ronald S. Lauder the multi-billionaire, chairman of Estee Lauder and the founder of the Neue Galerie Museum in New York City bought a fabulous 1907 Gustav Klimt painting the “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.” The price tag on the painting broke every imaginable record at the time reaching $137 Million!

Examining the two paintings we discover that not only do Suzanne and Adele share the same surname, and where done at about the same time period, but the striking resemblance is uncanning!!!

Gustav Klimt’s Adele has been in the news for the last three years, but who was Suzanne? Is there some sort of connection between Picasso’s Blue Period Suzanne, and Klimt’s Adele of the Viennese elite?

So, is there a connection between the two women? What is it about the Bloch’s?

If there is a connection between the art pieces, this should raise the value of Suzanne and would indicate that the thieves were sent to do the job by some wealthy art lover for his own collection, someone who is knowledgeable enough about the art world to make the connection…

Take advantage of winter and give gifts of art for people who enjoy sailing and yachting.

Van Gogh’s Seascape at Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer is an excellent art piece for the nautical décor lover. It goes in virtually any room of the house including boat lovers garages that are decorated as an office or as a personal Nautical museum.

Often times when people enjoy a particular subject they become collectors and turn their attics, basements and barns into quality blissful galleries showcasing their passion.

This particular painting by Van Gogh is no exception of someone who enjoys collecting a variety of nautical oil paintings. What vigor as the sea pushing itself against the boats. To get involved with nautical art collection and the peace of mind it puts you in is the best winter season cure of all. For art, of any kind, is simply meant to be admired by the beholder.

Often times, people try to figure out every aspect of LIFE. If they cannot figure out LIFE and their soul purpose on this planet, they tend to give up! Giving up on LIFE or someone you love is not a part of healthy self development and understanding.

I’ve known of people who refuse to give up on LIFE. Artist Thomas Kinkaid “Garden of Prayer” is an excellent reminder of Gods beautiful earth. This oil painting on canvas is one of the best garden scene’s you will find to decorate any room of your home.

Take time and put yourself in Kinkaid’s setting of quietness, trees, shrubs, flowers, stream and steps that make you feel you are walking towards heaven. Remove yourself from your cell phones and TVs and embrace LIFE.

OverstockArt.com unveiled the Top Ten Most Popular Oil Paintings for 2007.

For a second consecutive year, Vincent Van Gogh tops the annual list with his indisputable masterpiece Starry Night.

According to David Sasson, CEO of OverstockArt.com, the company releases its Top 10 list of best selling art each year to show which oil paintings are the “hippest, most desirable” on the market — a fact, he says, many people are interested to know.

The Top 10 oil paintings sold online according to OverstockArt.com are:

1. Starry Night – Vincent Van Gogh
2. The Kiss – Gustav Klimt
3. Cafe Terrace at Night – Vincent Van Gogh
4. Poppy Field at Argenteuil – Claude Monet
5. Persistence of Memory – Salvador Dali
6. The Dream – Pablo Picasso
7. The Mona Lisa – Leonardo Da Vinci
8. Garden Path at Giverny – Claude Monet
9. Branches of an Almond Tree in Blossom – Vincent Van Gogh
10. Luncheon of the Boating Party – Pierre Auguste Renoir

According to Sasson’s statistics, Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night is the most popular oil painting on the planet. “His sales figures left everyone well behind.”

Gustav Klimt, arguably the “rising star” of the past year, has made it to the number two spot on the list with his oil painting “The Kiss,” a desirable masterpiece full of life and passion.

Other noted artists who made the list are Claude Monet, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Pier Auguste Renoir.

Have you ever thought of saving old postcards and using them as decor for the kitchen, family room or office?

Henry Matisse sent an envelope of letters to Andre Rouveyre, a 1943 decorative Gouache pen and ink with beautiful yellow inset surrounding three flowers with black ink, this series of postcards is considered by many to be the most beautiful correspondence of the 20th century…

We might not all be Matisse, but the decorative nature and emotion that holds a small card sparked an idea, which I’d like to call “postcard décor!”

One idea would be to arrange the post cards in alphabetical order by state or country and placing them in a nice big frame.
Another suggestion would be to make an oil painting out of your favorite cards, the Turn Photos into Art service by OverstockArt.com is an inexpensive way to poster-size your memories into a big hand painted oil painting…

Poster size post cards will enable your guests to appreciate decorative art in your home or office; but this hand painted postcard is a one-of-a-kind reproduction and an excellent conversation piece.

It can spark memories of who sent you the postcard, your relationship with them and your fond memory of that occasion.

Postcard decor is a great way to bring home the memories of your travels, long lost friends that shared wonderful moments with you, a passionate piece that will liven up your décor with excitement and fond memories.

The oil painting The Engaged Couple painted 1868 oil on canvas by Pierre Auguste Renoir reminds me of how great it is to go to the theater.

The couple side by side, a beautiful woman, in a long formal dress with elegance, blossom in her hair and corsage.

Her companion a man dressed in black formal attire with handkerchief in his hand enjoying a wonderful event.

There are numerous couples that attend Broadway plays who are season ticket subscribers to Broadway productions tickets ranging from $20.00 for standing only to over $150.00 for plays such as Wicked.

From my experience, it doesn’t really matter what the play is about when it comes to Broadway (they are all excellent!!!) what makes a play enjoyable is the feeling you have attending such a pleasant and intriguing event with the one you love.

When was the last time you dressed in formal attire with a spouse or friend and attended a play? What a wonderful opportunity to take in the mood formal attire puts you in.

Theater is an opportunity to meet people before the play or during intermission while having cocktails or refreshments. When thinking of the grand oil paintings of Renoir with the beautiful big hat’s the woman wore and beautiful elegant table settings it makes me want to dress-up and go out on the town!

The next time you see an advertisement for a Broadway play, become Renoir’s couples and don’t forget to dance the night away…

Intruders, broke into a Parisian Museum and punched a hole in a renowned work by Impressionist painter Claude Monet.

A surveillance camera caught a group of drunken thugs entering the museum, which is the home of some major masterpieces of Impressionist artists, including the father of them all – Claude Monet.

An alarm sounded and the group fled the scene, not before they took a swing at the difensless Monet Masterpiece, “Le Pont d’Argenteuil.”

The painting could be restored, but the damage is heartbreaking. It always amazes me how an art object that is as important to the French as a Monet masterpiece gets violated in such an horrific manner.

The painting looked to have been punched in with a fist, it bore an horizontal tear about 4 inches in length that exposed threads of canvas.

French master, Claude Monet is considered by many as the father of the 19th century Impressionist movement, his masterpieces are sold by the millions and are deemed priceless.

“Le Pont d’Argenteuil”, the masterpiece that was violated, shows a view of the Seine at a rural bend, featuring a bridge and boats.

Global warming is a very serious issue. Former vice-president Al Gore recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for his continuous battle to educate the world about the effects of global warming. His search for finding methods to help stop global warming in the documentary film Inconvenient Truth was a turning point for many in the battle to save our ecosystem. We must as a society do all we can to stop what seems to be the destruction of our beautiful planet.

I recently had the privilege of gazing on a Claude Monet reproduction called Floating Ice- near Ventheuil, and my first impression was that this painting symbolizes global warming more then any other art piece I have seen even from more contemporary artists.

The splashing waters and breaking ice of the Monet masterpiece explains the changes of environment and lighting. Excellent conversation piece, even though Floating Ice near Vetheuil was painted many years ago, it evokes interest and depicts the changes that our planet is going through.

Dangers of changing climate I’m sure may not have been running through Monet’s mind as he began to imagine Floating Ice near Vetheuil. However, the water and its surroundings in the painting give insight on natural changes and the importance of recognizing differences in weather and natural conditions.

Claude Monet is not only the father of Impressionism, but his unique style and depiction of light and water make his works Environmentally Conscious as well. His art captures the shadows and movement of the waters, which makes his art very current and newsworthy due to global warming affects around the world.

Claude Monet has many oil paintings that have that “global warming conscious” feel, I don’t think it would be right to title him from an Impressionist to an Environmentalist but his appreciation of nature and love for the intricacies of light and water make him the father of Environmental Impressionism in my book.