ArtCorner

June 20 is approaching. That means Father’s Day. That also means that I have ten secrets to tell. Here are the top ten oil paintings to consider for Father’s Day:

10. The Martha McKean of Wellfleet, Edward Hopper (1944)

If Dad can’t yet afford the boat but is an art lover, this might be the perfect match. The painting depicts a memorable excursion across the sea on a bright, serene day. The piece would suit a room with a sailing or sea theme. The artist, Edward Hopper, had a talent for depicting classic scenes of urban and rural life, arousing nostalgia as timeless as his art.

9. The Card Players, Paul Cezanne

Sometimes it is really nice to have a weekend with the guys, to sit around, play cards, watch a game, and have a few drinks. Whether this piece evokes a few good memories or Dad is just a fan of Cezanne’s work, it stays with the viewer and makes for a likely candidate for Father’s Day.

Cezanne produced a series of card players, most of which were men who worked on the family estate. Though the title is The Card Players, Cezanne’s focus is on the peasant men playing cards, revealing a love for his culture and heritage.

8. The Tartan ‘El Son’, Salvador Dali

A son takes to the wild sea in a small boat with destination in sight. A father’s son following his dreams, an honest depiction of a sailor’s love for the sea… The painting is one that will certainly inspire association and the creation of a narrative, especially as Dali employed symbolism in his works.

Though Dali is known today as an active member of the Surrealist art movement, this work has an impressionistic realism in the vein of Cezanne. Dali’s imagination and expression extended to many movements and media, including but not limited to photography and film. Perhaps such a daring and expressive piece would be a well-suited match.

7. Violet, Green and Red, Mark Rothko (1951)

Rothko’s works were innovative, even for abstract Expressionism. Rothko used few colors, but they make an impact. The artist strove to communicate emotion through color and simplistic composition, rather than form. Violet, Green and Red seem to create a complete composition, yet beckon the viewer to look through a window of red, to ask if the colors are divided or cohesive. Each color is illuminated. This piece has the quality of an attention grabber that renders one speechless. Sound like Dad?

6. Soft Watch At The Moment Of Explosion, Salvador Dali

A true Surrealist work of Dali. For those unfamiliar with the Surrealist movement and Dali, the first question a viewer may ask is, “What?” Soft Watch At The Moment of Explosion is a satyrical pun as much as it is a Surrealist painting. Dali is certainly recalled for his use of soft, melting watches. Most interpret this as  the rejection of time having constraints. Surrealism, an art movement of the 1920s, employs non sequitur humor in his use of seemingly meaningless objects to make his audience think, as well as laugh. If Dad has a satyrical sense of humor and an appreciation for the eccentric, he may know the perfect place this work of art should hang in order to baffle his guests.

5. Girl With Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer (1665)

I once overheard a married man discussing this painting over coffee. He said that it reminded him of his wife and how they met, the look she gave him. This painting isn’t meant to be a classic portrait, but truly has the look as though the viewer or artist has been captured by a moment from across the room.

Known as the “Mona Lisa of the North” this mysterious woman is certainly reminiscent of her named sister. The pearl earring, instead of a smile, is the focal point of one with attention to the seemingly insignificant details of our lives. Categorized as a Dutch Baroque painter, Vermeer’s works depict many figures interacting in a near classical sense with their environments. Yet, his works depicting a girl with a seemingly simple object, her attention on the viewer, makes one feel alone in the room with her.

4. Rhytmus, Piet Mondrian

Black lines on white, some blue and yellow. A prime mover of the De Stijl, or The Style, Dutch art movement, Mondrian’s works explore order and spirituality through the use of line and color. His works utilized primary colors and black lines. To Mondrian, the use of double lines gave his work a more dynamic expression. A pattern forms and is explored by the viewer. An artistic tetras, this work would suit a home with a similar decor and holistic exploration as its composition. Mondrian was just as particular with his studio, recreating his art on the walls and furniture of his studio, interchanging the patterns to better suit his creative mood.

3.  From The Lake I, Georgia O’Keefe

Most of us think of Georgia O’Keefe’s flowers, and also the fact that somewhere in every painting is a representational depiction of female fertility. The more serious reason to consider purchasing this painting is that it has a lot of blue. A poll gathered in various countries reveals that blue is the world’s favorite color. This color is often painted in rooms to calm, soothe, and increase the spiritual vibe in a room. This piece is modern and abstract, and would flatter a home furnished with curving, contempo furniture, specifically art deco.

2. Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh (1889)

Name a man, woman, or child (in at least elementary school) who does not know or dislike this painting. To reiterate an earlier point, apparently blue makes humanity happy. Van Gogh, himself, was not known as a commonly happy man, and his works often reflect his emotions. Yet, Starry Night utilizes striking primary colors, barely diluted in shade from their true hues. The stars shine big and bright against the small town, swirling and changing, almost alive. The stars arch toward the upper right of the canvas, a positive direction. This work is classic and a favorite of art history. If it is Dad’s favorite, why not indulge him?

1. Night Hawks, by Edward Hopper (1942)

Another classic representation, this top selection is about atmosphere. The nostalgia of that old downtown, when everything is closed down for the night and the viewer is at their favorite haunt, like a classic noir… Think China Town, The Maltese Falcon, A Cry in the Night, Strangers on a Train, The Big Sleep… just to get started. The guy may or may not get the girl, but he almost always solves the case.

The diner extends across the length of the composition and the viewer watches from across the street, taking in the atmosphere. This piece is a must have for Dad.

Buy Original Art For Dad

The best part? These are not prints, but carefully hand rendered reproductions. Hang a bit of the artist that suits Dad in his favorite spot with original, stylish, and affordable artwork. You can also request a custom size. Find these paintings and more at overstockArt.com: Gifts For Dad.

The month of March is Youth Art Month – an annual observance to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs. one might ask, what is so important about art that we need an annual event to observe it?

If we sit and observe whenever little kids draw, finger paint or play, it’s intriguing how they seem without self-doubt, judgment or fear of doing it wrong. A preconceived expectation of the end product doesn’t seem to play a role in what they are engaged in and in that moment they simply get lost in the doing of it. It’s as if they approach their art, free of inhibitions and with an openness to take risks, experiment and most importantly have fun. It’s as if being fully present in the moment and entering that space of spontaneity, comes so easily.

I recently spoke to someone who runs a local community art school. She shared with me that they had noticed a decreased attendance in their children’s art classes. When I asked why, she speculated that it was the result of kids being less and less encouraged to do art for the sake of the experience and for play. Instead, in order for parents to feel they were getting their money’s worth they were expecting their kids to produce a nice finished product at the end of each class. If the art piece resembled something out of preschool, their child must not be learning something valuable.

Is it possible that in this day and age of video games and computers, where shapes are colored within the clean lines of digital images, we’ve suppressed the urge to color outside of the margins? Are our children losing touch of their innate nature to create something in the mud, draw in the sand and venture down the road of their own imaginations? Is the art of trial and error no longer valued?

As we “grow up” the courage to create slowly moves into the background of our lives and we measure what we produce with labels of “Success” or “Fail” with nothing in between. We develop an apprehensiveness towards taking risks and the fear of doing it wrong keeps us from looking foolish in the process. Is learning to suppress free expression, suppressing our own imaginative instincts that we were naturally born with when we first entered this world?

“All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

I once heard a grade school teacher encourage parents to, “Praise the effort rather then the outcome.” We often have the bad habit of discounting the process in it self. Undermining the steps in the middle that hold moments of exploration while focusing too much on the end product. If we approach our careers or our art giving value to the effort perhaps we will resurrect the courage to create; remembering what it was like to drenched our fingers in paint and draw out of the lines.

Sir Ken Robinson said it best, the ecology of our education will need to change and adapt. Art and creativity will need to take an active and central role for this world to develop and the only way we can do it is by seeing our children for the hope that they are.

Spring Decorating Trends Abloom with Floral Prints and Vivid Hues

To spruce up for spring, design expert Dawn Kail of overstockArt.com, has come up with a top five list of decorating trends that will help liven up the look of your home.

“The fashion industry has traditionally been an inspiration and influence over the color and trends of home furnishings and décor,” said Kail. “It doesn’t take transforming the entire room to freshen up your look, just add an accent piece or two to liven up your décor for spring.”

Kail shares new home decorating trends and offers the following tips on how to let in the fresh air with the changing of the season:

1. Lighten Up – Get rid of the winter darks and bring in some lighter colors and fabrics to freshen up your décor. Replace the velvet accent pillows with light cotton or linen pillows. If you have decorative artworks and oil paintings in your living room, great room, den and so forth and they’re darker with a winter look, brighten them up with a lighter-colored frame or replace the colored art and oil paintings with spring themes. If you have dark window treatments replace them with lighter neutral colors such as ivory, white or khaki.
2. Incorporate Color –There were plenty of neutrals seen on the runway for spring 2010, khaki, brown, taupe and grey, but there was also a color surge with vivid hues like bright turquoise, orange, hot pink and softened colors like coral and lighter shades of turquoise. Add pillows, artwork, an ottoman or a lampshade in these vibrant colors to liven up your look for spring.
3. Introduce Painterly Prints – The spring 2010 runway was awash in watercolor-like prints. The runway was full of gorgeous abstract and floral prints reminiscent of Monet’s masterpieces – why not add a reproduced Monet oil painting to your home to incorporate this trend? You can also introduce these painterly prints into your home with pillows, lampshades, ottomans and other accent items.
4. Find Comfort – People are seeking comfort and peace in their lives. Comfort clothing such as slouchy cardigans, boyfriend blazers and tattered and torn jeans infiltrated the spring 2010 fashion collections; this same casual look carries over into home décor. The warm and cozy country home style is back in as seen in many retailers’ spring collections. Add handmade accessories such as hand painted oil paintings or embroidered accent pillows to bring this style back into your home.
5. Invest in the Best – The economic crisis isn’t over and decorating trends reflect that. Invest in the best and buy less. People are investing in high-quality, durable décor items rather than short-lived trends. All of the oil paintings at overstockArt.com are handmade art reproductions of great masters such as Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso – art by the masters never goes out of style.

“The key to home decoration is to keep your furniture neutral so you can easily add a piece of artwork or another accent to give the room a whole new look,” said Kail. “The best thing about purchasing reproduced oil paintings at overstockArt.com is that for the same price of purchasing a print image you get a hand painted piece of art which will add the look of luxury to your home – with the low cost you can easily purchase several oil paintings to display seasonally.”

overstockArt.com, is offering a selection of handmade oil painting reproductions that are perfect for spring in their Seasonal Spring Paintings gallery, http://www.overstockart.com/seasonalspring.html. Prices start as low as $39. In 2009, overstockArt.com sold more than 45,000 oil paintings. They are one of the Web’s most successful distributors of wall décor items with over 10,000 daily visitors and 100,000 loyal customers.

Winter is a magical time of year; beautiful snow touched scenery and uplifting holiday cheer bring a certain ambiance that’s tough to achieve throughout the year. Fortunately, when the winter season does arrive, it’s a true pleasure to capture that same feeling within your home. All it takes is a heartfelt approach, and your own personal touch.

Being that winter beauty is due in part to cold temperatures, more time is often spent within the home. This makes the benefit of creating a seasonal home atmosphere through careful decoration even more rewarding. When it’s 15 degrees outside, curling up next to the fire with a book never seemed so enticing. And doing so while surrounded by a collection of wonderful winter artwork makes for an even more cozy refuge.

This is the one component of your winter decorating plan that is important not to overlook, that being your winter artwork. In order to fully capture the spirit of the season, and to fully tie together your other winter decorating schemes, featuring winter artwork is a must. Winter landscape artwork is natural choice, and very popular at that. Winter landscapes oils are breathtaking, and the seasonal connection is easily distinguishable to both yourself and your guests.

That being said, don’t be afraid to display artwork where the winter scene is more subtle and personal. After all, it is your art to enjoy, so use your imagination and go with your gut when choosing the right winter artwork for your home. Warm cottage scenes featuring fireplace smoke and log cabins may remind you of your yearly winter ski retreats. A lighthouse facing a storming ocean may remind you of childhood memories in Main. When choosing the right artwork for the winter season, personal connections are a good thing to keep in mind.

When selecting your winter decoration artwork, also be sure to keep placement in mind. Family themed artwork fits well when decorating the living room or den for it appeals to the strong family relationships we celebrate during the holidays. If you have a fireplace in your home, this would be a great place to start your winter decoration efforts, for you’ll most likely be spending a lot of time warming up next to it, and few other fixtures remind us of the winter so strongly. When picking out artwork to accentuate your fireplace, be sure to keep the room’s existing tones and accents in mind. A good tip would be to imagine how the flickering light of the fire plays off the oil painting itself.

Overall, when decorating your home for the winter, do so in the spirit of happiness, tranquility, and family. When you look back on your life, try and single out those moments you enjoyed most, a good majority of them can be tied back to the tranquility and happiness you experienced while spending time with friends and family during the holidays.

As time rolls on, it’s important to both commemorate those moments, and prepare for the creation of new memories. Having the perfect setting certainly plays a role, so take an active approach and enjoy the fruits of your effort for years to come.

The sculpture you are looking drew ridicule and shame when the artist first exhibited it in 1913… nearly a century later, symphony number one is considered a pivotal example of abstract sculpture…

Your immediate reaction might be to dismiss this work, just as your boss would dismiss you after what anyone would agree was an honest mistake.

But if you allow yourself to really look at this piece you will see that it awakens all senses simultaneously…

The artist who was so experimental and ahead of his time, had a lingering hope that someone, someday would feel what he felt, and see what he saw.

This video is true of all great artists, who attempt to sculpt not just with clay or paint on canvas, but more than anything, help us shape the minds and thoughts of the future…

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about a new look and all the things that we can do around the house to make our home more fashionable and trendy.

So what’s hot for decorating in 2008? Think affordable luxury with a wide variety of styles and flavors to suit any Decorator!

As the wheels of fashion turn, so do the wheels of home décor trends, observe the coming of Neo-classic art back into modern décor in the year 2008. Luckily, it’s never been easier to create a luxurious home to suit your lifestyle with these simple decorating tips:

1. Eco-friendly decor – The focus this year is on organic and the natural artifacts. In the past, eco-friendly or what is now termed Green Design could be summed up in one word: ugly. That isn’t necessarily the case anymore. Eco-friendly design has met a stylish interpretation proving that earth friendly decor can at the same time be elegant, beautiful and exciting as well as Green.
2. Contrasting color combinations – Contrast colors and textures like smooth against rough add a touch of the unexpected to your décor. Pair up accessories or furnishings for that special feeling and spark to lighten up your décor.
3. The ‘X’ factor – X is everywhere, Find it in furniture and accessories. It was first spotted at the Highpoint European Show and has since been making its way down the trend ladder to almost every trend seeking home in America.
4. Beautiful Design is simply not enough – For today’s multi-tasking, on the go lifestyle, home décor needs to be multi-functional as well. Home Décor shoppers want utility as well as sheik in their furniture and accessories. Look for furniture and decorative accessories that will make your everyday life easier and more organized. It’s time we demanded more from our décor!
5. Expect to see the softer side of leather – Earth tones on smaller pieces of furniture with contrasting more feminine like colors.
6. Art that Inspires Luxury – 2008 is all about the Classics of luxury. Add elegance via home decor, and specifically wall decor. Shop for hand painted art reproductions of famous works of art. Hang a hand painted Impressionist masterpiece like a Monet or a Van Gogh. Like David Sasson, President of OverstockArt.com says: “It is sure to bring many admirers…”
7. Whites – From pearl white to ivory, the white color family will be on display in 2008. From your furniture to your wooden frames. Adorn your home in soft whites.
8. Make a dramatic Impact – Oversized décor for a dramatic look. Shock your friends and add one focal point piece as a jaw dropper. Imagine one huge work of art in your living room that would leave everyone in awe.
9. Gray tones and Metals – Add a touch of steel to your design with elements such as Silver, brushed nickel and aluminum. Recycled would be a preference (remember to think green!).
10. Feng Shui – In this hectic and fast pace world we all want a bit of piece and tranquility in our home. Let your design and furnishing make you feel at ease. Add the Feng Shui elements and embrace piece on earth.

Have more trends to add? Post your comments and hopefully we can all create the right environment for growth and exploration in our homes in 2008. I wish you all a fabulous and enjoyable year full of joy and successful decorating endeavors.

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…

Have you ever wondered what factors influence online shoppers to buy art?

The people who purchase art and wall décor over the web are definitely savvy online shoppers. It takes trust and vision to purchase such a visual and touchy feely piece of art.

The people who buy art online are definitely the early adapters of this market and it is interesting to read their point of view towards shopping online.

OverstockArt.com recently held a survey and asked online shoppers what influences them to buy art online… here is a short sample of the various answers… Read more »

France’s prime minister announced Tuesday that free access would be tested at a sampling of museums in Paris and other towns.

Francois Fillon, current Prime Minister of France, did not name any museums, but did say that he wants to make art more accessible for all to enjoy and learn. Fillon noted that several other European nations have made similar strides in the last few years.

“Access to our artistic heritage should be truly democratized,” Fillon said in his recent speech at the parliament.

The Louvre, France’s most famous museum and home to the Mona Lisa, currently charges standard admission of $12.

Fillon also said he wants young people to get a “culture passport” valid nationwide to give them easy access to cultural sites.

I think that would be amazing for the citizens of France and that would make Paris an even greater tourist attraction. I wonder if it would be possible to purchsae the “culture passport”, that would be a really great thing to have!

However, I wouldn’t wait for this law to be passed. It might take several years… nevertheless, if you are situated or plan on visiting Paris, go see the Mona Lisa, it is a wonderful experience that’s definitely worth the twelve bucks!

Oil paintings have always brought elegance and ambience to home décor. Many people buy original oil paintings as part of their hobby. But then those who can’t afford original art can certainly find a great alternative. Yes, an inexpensive alternative!

Acquiring original expensive paintings doesn’t fit everyone’s budget. So what’s the alternative if you would still want to own a handmade masterpiece in your office or home? The solution is an oil painting reproduction piece that can be purchased at a fraction of the original price. These oil paintings are near to exact replicas of the original ones. Now, you have to remember that these replicas might fall short on your expectations but then they are much more fabulous then those lifeless prints. Read more »