“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet,” quotes Juliet to Romeo in Shakespeare’s classic. Yet, in art, sometimes the name is the only indicator to the art enthusiast about the painter’s intention.

Salvador Dali was a strange man, is quite the understatement, and so we have much to meditate on in his “Meditative Rose,” rendered in 1958. I can safely say that artists are strange people with sweet and not so sweet symbolism.

An imaginative youth, like many artists I fell in love with Surrealism for its ambiguous and oddly direct treatment of reality and existentialism. I remember my conservative grandparents being fascinated and appalled by the man as much as his artwork. This perspective lives on among most individuals today, as the artist’s work ever evokes paradox, and in turn duality.

I found a beautiful truth in Dali’s “Meditative Rose.” Daily experience is subject to five sensory filters–smell, sound, touch, taste, and feeling, a delirium of interpretation. Dali turns that on the head. The rose defies gravity, fully bloomed over the desert landscape, so common to the artist’s work. It even has its own subtle white aura, as the it floats over the ground and the couple contemplating the horizon. A single dew drop rests on the lower petal. Even over the dreary landscape, the rose is suspended sun-like. While the rose projects light like the sun, it also seems reflective, with a touch of cloud white on a top right petal. The top half of the painting is made of primary colors: red, yellow, and blue, reflected over the landscape. Modern artists, who also dabbled in the science of color, called blue the most spiritual color.

The rose is reminiscent of a a perfectly visually balanced mandala, used for meditative, ritual, and artistic practices. Psychologist Carl Jung attempted his hand at painting a Golden Flower mandala. The two works are striking when compared.

While we could certainly attempt to meditate to this painting, many theorize that the rose isn’t just a spiritual symbol. In fact is is a celebration of love, perhaps of Dali and his wife Gala. The use of figures in pairs on desert landscapes isn’t anything new in Dali’s works. Reference “Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet’s Angelus,” painted in 1935. The use of figures in space in such a way is characteristic of the painter.  In his 1937 “Untitled,” or Woman with Head of Flowers, a strange male figure with a Daliesque, twisty mustache bows before the woman.

I don’t have a twisty, villainous mustache, but I did let out a rather sinister laugh when I discovered how deeply entrenched the artist’s influence was in my own work. I first saw this piece as a poster when I was a little girl, and it was my true introduction to Dali. The truth I discovered in the “Meditative Rose” is another form of timelessness and a beauty. The bright red of the hue makes it hard to stare away. A nice summary of the piece may be the the cliché saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” In my own work, I find that I explore a widely-defined type of universal symbolism, emotion, and philosophy, juxtaposed against landscape. This is true especially in relation of the body to nature. In returning to look at this piece again since my childhood, I discover striking similarities between our use of symbolism as pictoral elements.

The following piece is part of my first solo show. This artwork, entitled “Amongst the Lilies” has an abstract torso (which is almost a landscape) and a series of floating lilies over the horizon. The piece is a exploration of the Dark Night of the Soul, where the individual follows a journey to becoming closer to spiritual wholeness or a god. The poet Yeats compares the journey to becoming one with a lover after a series of doubts. I also approach the painting as this metaphor. Eventually, the draped individual is supposed to reach that “wholeness,” which in a later painting is simply the fading white lilies on black like wisps of smoke.

Regardless of choice of symbolism or use of pictoral images, I resonate with Dali and his famous floating rose. At the most primal level, it represents an outlived sense of beauty and joy that is omnipresent. Is there a particular artist that you admire?

With unusual weather, certain areas of the world are seeing flowers blooming early. In the south east of the United States, daffodils are shooting out of the ground and cherry blossoms are forming on bare limbs. The famous Pennsylvanian ground hog, Phil, did not see his shadow this year, thereby accurately signifying an early spring in the United States.

Spring is here, which means watching your flowers come up and getting a little “spring cleaning” done. While you are cleaning out household closets (and maybe even the garage this year), you are likely considering bringing spring back into your home.

Redecoration doesn’t have to be a hassle. Often, it can begin with a simple element to focus the color scheme on. Since we are on the subject of spring and flowers, here are five floral paintings that may inspire your spring fever:
 

1. Branches of an Almond Tree in Blossom 
    Rendered by Van Gogh in 1890, as restless as the painter’s mind this work’s color scheme would soothe a dynamic home. Pull the gray-green and blues along with the pale peach for a serene appeal, especially great for wall or fabric palettes. 
2. 
    Artist’s Garden in Giverny
   Rendered by Monet as a part of his famous garden and water lily series at his home in Giverny, France, these bold and impressionistic colors are sure to inspire those with a love life and color. Each brushstroke is unique unto itself. This piece is wonderful to consider for gardeners with a passion for cultivating plant life as did Monet and his rendering of it.
3. Field of Poppies considered a favorite of Van Gogh’s works, Field of Poppies was originally rendered in 1890. Petals may be almost any color, and some have markings. Two primary colors in art–blue and red–sky and earth–are calmed by the green hues of the work. Movement is suggested, a spring wind. Take a hint from the poppies and let red be the color that pops in your home.
4. Orchard most of us are familiar with Klimt’s lovers and extravagant use of pattern. His rich, advant-garde brushwork is still evident in the yellows, golds, and the highlight of the sun on tree trunks in the orchid. Flowers begin to bloom among the trees. Spring overcomes even the branches, and the view is left feeling at peace and in restful seclusion.
5. Red Amaryllis - Rendered by Georgia O’Keeffe in 1937, the artist was one of the rare prominent female painters of her time. She rendered flowers, bones, and landscapes. Many see feminist aspects in her flowers, the empowerment of fertility, vigor, passion, the feminine, and life.

These five floral paintings will assist you in finding artistic ways to welcome spring back into your home. Discover more famous spring paintings by master artists at overstockArt.com.

Many would argue that fashion is art, and many designers are inspired by literary, performing, and visual arts. Artists argue that art furthers an innate understanding about human existence that philosophy, science, and even nature do not readily provide. The human body is subject to being rendered on canvas and measured for decorations that emphasize our individuality as much as societal labels.

We are living in a recession, which economists have paralleled to the Great Depression, a time when Art Deco was at its height. Think the Empire State Building in New York City. For fashion, this meant a continuance of abstraction and adornment with beads, seaming as decorative lines, and in the Depression hemlines dropped and longer lines were in fashion, which meant less expensive embellishments. Today there is a focus on sustainability, reusables, and individuality. It may also be a little about cheering ourselves up with classics, something with a since of timelessness.

We recently discovered that Polyvore, a site “where people can discover their style and set trends around the world,” has many collections inspired by mastered artists featured at overstockArt.com. When people shop they create “clips” of shoes and different clothing essentials which they can combine into “sets” and share on Polyvore, Facebook, Twitter, or through email to friends. Let’s see what’s trending based on a few famous paintings:

Girl With a Peal Earring, Vemeer

This set on Polyvore is inspired by Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted in 1665. The set features Scarlet Johansson, an Amor & Psyche top, black suede pumps, a Judith Leiber New Bean satin clutch with a touch of sparkle, and popping red makeup.

The items chosen reflect attributes of various decades… the dark red lipstick of the 1930s, made popular by photography showcasing more and more women wearing it. Satin, from the purse featured here, was also a much used fabric of the time. Besides pearl earrings, this set has something else in common. The Girl with a Pearl Earring is also nicknamed “The Mona Lisa of the North,” and Johansson’s debut film was “North.”

The same painting can influence color palettes in clothing choice. 

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was known for his embellishment and lavish patterns in his paintings of lovers. The Dale 2 shoes from Icon collected in this set by a fan are a direct depiction of Klimt’s Stoclet Frieze.

Wassily Kandinsky
Some credit Kandinsky as the father of the abstract movement. His works dealt with symbolism and a balance between the scientific and subjective components of color. He depicted the experience of color on the viewer as parallel to the experience of music to its listener. He often contrasted yellow and blue, where yellow is warm and has a longer wave length, arresting the viewer immediately. Blue invokes a deep, almost spiritual, calm as it moves away from the viewer. It’s similar to the western use of red stop signs instead of blue.

Does that dress remind you of a certain era? What about Mod? It’s a subculture that originated in the UK in the late 1950s through the 1960s. However, in wasn’t until the late seventies that North America saw a Mod (“Modernist”) revival.  If the term isn’t enough to jog your memory, perhaps we can spread the inspiration to something more political–the Royal Airforce roundel in the UK.

We challenge you to visit overstockArt.com and personalize your fashion sensibility with a favorite painting! What are your thoughts on how visual art has influenced fashion trends?

Porn. Porn. Porn. Porn. Do I have your attention, yet? There is a taboo about nudity in human society, particularly in western civilization, and it is often centered on the female body. The nude is the most physical and visible, “naked” aspect of self. The nude is tangible. Throughout art history, onto the female nude western society has projected its fears, hopes, and desires. They say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Consider the fertility symbolism portrayed in ancient statues (The Venus of Willendorf)—a body with no head, but large breasts, belly, and swollen ankles. We, the general public, don’t place as much speculation on the artist’s intention for these ancient works since “artist” was not yet the mysterious profession that it has become. To place value on a subject renders the inanimate to be animate, and the value we place on the evolution of the female nude in art reflects our own evolution as a society. Women are the givers of life, rendered as mothers, lovers, whores, friends, and goddesses. The female nude in art is different subject matter we think, however, based on how she is rendered and who she is rendered by. Yet, it depends gravely upon the perceptions we make, which thereby inform our culture.

Painters on the Female Nude

The living model, the naked body of a woman, is the privileged seat of feeling, but also of questioning… The model must mark you, awaken in you an emotion which you seek in turn to express.” – Henri Matisse

A nude which has little if any affiliation with exhibitionism, which expresses warmth and confidence and an actual story, which has little or nothing to do with contemporary angst or submissiveness or abuse or domination, would best be described as a “who” and not a “which” or “what.” Sad to say that such a wondrous nude is today rarely visible, or even recognized, in the realm of the arts.” – Bernard Poulin

Botticelli and Perfection

Botticelli considered Simonetta Vespucci to be the perfect female representation of Venus, and perhaps the perfect emblem of beauty. Many painters rendered Simonetta’s beauty, yet it’s The Birth of Venus that western society most recalls. Painted in 1485, The Birth of Venus (or, Primavera) depicts the birth of the goddess Venus from the sea. The Graces adorn her with flowers. She isn’t what many would say “too skinny,” but her proportions are considered to be anatomically improbable. Her neck is elongated, and though she stands in a classical contrapposto stance, her body weight is shifted too far onto her left leg for the pose to be realistically held. The female nude is a goddess. These are the facts, but what perceptions are absorbed into culture? If the viewer wants to move from pagan depiction to a monotheistic interpretation, you might think that Venus is Eve right before the fall of humanity into sin. At least this would be a Platonic idea, as Venus had two aspects–the goddess who aroused mortals into physical love and also spiritual love. The contemplation of the physical leads to contemplation of the spiritual.

Munch and Fear

Edvard Munch attributed a vorpal fear and awe to the female, whether she donned clothing or not. Munch “put a lot of himself” into his artwork. Many say that he “hated” women, but his mother died when he was very young and his sister was diagnosed with a mental illness, which ran in the family. Munch often said that insanity and death stalked him.

Woman in Three Stages was completed by Edvard Munch in 1894.

Woman at one and the same time is a saint, a whore, and an unhappy person abandoned.” – Edvard Munch

To be fair, even the men that Munch rendered are not realistic and are troubled.

The Stigma on Modigliani’s Female Nudes

Completed in 1916, The Female Nude is a rare piece in Modigliani nude works. The figure, as his others, is mostly naturalistic, yet nearly all of his works feature his nudes reclining or resting. This piece is situated among his lovers and friends, and not among the nude series that exhibited in what was to be his only solo exhibition. The nudes caused a scandal. One nude was leered at by a crowed of onlookers, and the police chief ordered the nudes to be dismantled and relocated. Amadeo Modigliani didn’t seem to have any unusual qualms with women for his time, and Modigliani remains famous for his nudes, of all things.

What Nude Means for “The Female”

It’s time for the naked truth, which is whatever we perceive it to be. What concerns western civilization and the evolution of the female nude in art history is the infiltration of mispurposed “value.”  Too skinny. Too fat. Too much skin. Porn. Porn. Porn. Porn. Mother. Goddess. Whore.

What about Woman? …and is this question as restrictive? In the evolution of art history into postmodernism, what do we behold and how will that shape our civilization?

Few paintings make the transition from museum circle legend to pop culture icon. We have our favorites, be it by Degas, da Vinci, or Duchamp.

Mona Lisa and The Scream

The above listed paintings are two examples of famous paintings that have achieved pop culture icon status. What else do these paintings have in common? The latter, The Scream, is a “study of my soul,” according to Munch, a universal expression of human anxiety according to others. Mona Lisa is supposed by some scholars to truly be da Vinci himself. But aside from being supposed or literal interpretations of the artist, these two artistic icons have something else in common – music.

Mona Lisa Inspires Nat King Cole

Not yet another rigid profile painting of nobility by a notable painter, Mona Lisa is a girl who captured the world by her secretive smile. As a painting, we can impress upon her any of our experiences and imagine who Lisa del Giocondo was, what her life might have been like. We can suppose what his life might have been like, for those who favor the theory that da Vinci disguised himself in her. For those who do favor the theory, it may interesting to note Marcel Duchamp, among others, created L.H.O.O.Q. as an artistic parody of the original, including a mustache, goatee, and flattering inscription of “Elle a chuad au cui,” translated as “She has a hot ass.”

“Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?” Nat King Cole asks this of the painting in a song that topped Billboard’s charts for eight weeks as the number one song in 1950. “Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep. They just lie there and they die there.” Mona Lisa is the woman the viewer can’t have, by her expression as much as she is a painting which inspired a chart topping song.

The Scream and Screamo?

Before creating his 1893 masterpiece, Edvard Munch was taking a stroll down 76th Drive in Forest Hills (Queens, New York) only to be struck down by a most invasive muse. Munch said that the painting was a study of his own soul, describing the moment of inspiration thusly,

“I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature.”

At this particular point in his artistic career Munch was struggling with a major bout of madness, and in the coming years underwent therapy which brought upon a new era in Munch’s art.

According to Bob Olson, a professor of contemporary music at Texas State University, it was a revolutionary moment in music heard from a nearby apartment that gave Munch more than an anxiety attack. “It’s just another example of great art begetting great art,” said Olson in a CNN.com article, “A genius in one medium inspiring a genius in another.”

Whatever Munch heard that day is not yet clear. Given the era, it certainly was not Screamo, but the sound incurred a similarly unique expression in Munch. Art begets art. Great art begets great art, and art changes lives.

We each have our favorite paintings, be it a part of a museum collection, a favorite of popular culture, or a local creation. It will be exciting to see what new revolutions in music inspire art and what artists we know today, be they locally or nationally recognized, who will create the next great art icon. Who knows what Jimi Hendrix or Lady Gaga may have secretly inspired?

Until we find out, explore Mona Lisa, The Scream, and other iconic favorites at overstockart.com.

I ran across these recreations of Gustav Klimt‘s work on the Behance network and simply had to share them with you.

This collection of beautiful and artistic photos is called “La Esencia de Klimt” which translates to “Klimt’s Essence”.

As a long time admirer of the Austrian Art Nouveau painter, these fashionable, real-life recreations of his works captured my immediate attention. A group of talented folks have combined their photography, digital art, illustration, make-up, hair and styling (all found through Kattaca) to recreate some of Gustav’s most famous paintings.

I’ve added Klimt’s original paintings for contrast: