A Game of Connect the Dots

Adele Bloch-Bauer's Portrait

1907
Oil and golden and silver foil on canvas

Hope everyone is having a terrific day, I know mine has been pretty peachy. Let’s dive into some art, shall we?

As a child I used to doodle every day, cover my walls with huge crayon scrawlings to cover the overwhelming white space, see pictures and images in wood grain. This active search for similarities in our visual world and the need to interpret them through more images has grown into my love of painting and my need to connect all the information I learn in a day. In class I enjoy nothing more than building my knowledge of an object or idea from various sources. This happened once as I was learning about the physical formation of oxbows in Geology and then seeing View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, 1836; the beautiful oil painting of Thomas Cole.

It’s a simple idea, but I enjoy this game of mental connect the dots.

This late summer I went on a brief road trip to Flagstaff, passing through Jerome and Sedona. All three locations are a haven for artists and if you need a little rest I highly recommend taking a trip through some of Northern Arizona. While exploring some of Downtown in Flagstaff I spotted a great mural.

It is on the wall outside of a small bar called Speakeasy which is just a small space fashioned after Roaring Twenties speakeasy. The character that caught my eye though, was the lovely woman in the golden gown. I was just tickled that someone had recreated Gustav Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

Klimt had a way with images that simply burst on the canvas. Apart from the glittering gold that catches the eye, the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer is wonderful for the mix of reality and design. Her soft face and hands have a pale, but life-like color and appearance. She is placed within a very stylized gown that is only created with strong golds with a few small color additions. Klimt’s use of a limited palette and repetitive shapes creates a flow through the gown that contrasts the person of Adele as well as the spiral designs and textured background. The use of white to draw attention to the figure and face of Adele Bloch-Bauer is beautiful as well.

Klimt’s paintings are heavily stylized and utilize repetition create something very different than other artists. His abstracted images surrounding more realistic figurative painting has always struck me as almost collage like or even with a mosaic feel like golden tessera seen in San Vitale. These are the reasons I will always love Klimt; beyond his haunting imagery he created pieces that appeared something beyond a two-dimensional painting.

If you want to learn more about Thomas Cole, Gustav Klimt, or art in general check out our website. For a barrage of cool images follow us on Twitter and be sure to get chatting on our forums! I will be to sure add a thread about the above mural so we can see who’s been to the mural and maybe decipher all of the characters of the wall. See you all there!

Fluxus at ASU

Here is another short blurb about an art show! Sorry for those not in the Tempe area, I promise more about art in general is coming soon; I’m working on some exciting topics to come. Anyway, on to the details!

This upcoming show is actually a BFA senior show at ASU’s Gallery 100 at the School of Art. The show Fluxus, will feature works from 6 graduating students and will be running from October 24th through November 4th, 2011. An opening reception will be held this coming Tuesday, October 25^th, 2011 from 6pm – 8pm that evening and I believe some if not all the artists will be there. It’s always a great experience getting to ask an artist about his or her intentions as well as just shooting the breeze with creative minds.

I am excited about going to the reception to see some work of my peers and hope to see some of you there too! If you want more information about art or more images to indulge upon visit our main site, Twitter account, or join the buzz on our forums.

Some Assembly Required and a Quick Hello

Hello All!

My name is Marielle and I am currently an intern with Art Fortune and have the wonderful pleasure of getting the chance to work on this blog. I know it’s been a while since the last post and I hope to refresh things here with some new topics and consistent posts. There should be some good exploration of all things artistic including paintings, ceramic work, crafts, movies, books, and I’m sure other things that will manifest with time.

As a heads up for any one in Arizona around the Tempe area ASU does have a call for art for a show called Some Assembly Required. DEADLINE IS TODAY and I do apologize for the late notice. Some Assembly Required is now accepting 2D or 3D work from ASU students and community members. Send submissions to ASU.Assembly.Required@gmail.com.
Submissions are due October 21^st so take some pictures and get to emailing. Specifics are on the Facebook event so take a quick gander. If you are just looking for a show to attend make sure to check it out November 7 through November 18 at the ASU Art Building West Annex and enjoy the local art.

I hope you all enjoy my time here and will take a look at our forums, Twitter account, and website for all things art!

The Tempe Festival of the Arts is almost here! Are you excited? The Tempe Festival of the Arts is held twice a year, usually in the spring and fall. This spring it will be held March 25-27, 2011 in the Mill Avenue District and admission is always free. This is an event many art oriented people look forward to in the spring and fall. It is unlike any other art event in Phoenix drawing thousands of visitors each time it is held. More than 400 artists showcase and sell their work. There are also food vendors along with a beer and wine area. Fun activities for kids to participate in are also provided.

So if you want to enjoy some art and fun activities for the weekend head on down to Tempe from March 25-27 for the Tempe Festival of the Arts. For additional information and interest in this event visit the website.

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft

It was a dark night sometime after midnight at the start of March 18th, 1990. Two police officers slowly approached the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. They began talking with the night security guards. After a short time they were able to convince the security guards to let them in the museum. They then escorted the security guards to an area hidden from view and proceeded to hand cuff them.

Over the next couple hours the “police” stole thirteen paints from the museum. These paintings are valued at over 500 million dollars. Some of the works they stole included one of Johannes Vermeer’s thirty-five known paintings titled The Concert. Others they took included three pieces by Rembrandt, including his only seascape The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. Also taken were a series of drawings by Edgar Degas, pieces by Manet and Flinck and two objects. These objects were a Chinese Ku and a finial from a a Napoleonic flag. Today nine of the empty frames still remaining hanging in the museum. Some people believe this to have been in Gardner’s will, but that is not true. .

In the 90s people inclined to belief James Bulger a.k.a. Whitey had played a key role in the theft. This belief has been struck down, however, by members of the Bulger gang and the federal government’s prosecutors. Today it is believed the an IRA faction has the paintings but there remains no proof of this.

The theft has been the subject of many items of popular culture. There was a 2005 documentary titled Stolen that focuses on the theft. The novel the Music Lesson by Katharine Weber discusses a possible explanation for the theft that involves the IRA. The theft inspired a 2010 novel by David Hosp titled Among Thieves. In Best Laid Plans by Sonny Douglass is a fictionalized version of the theft. In a The Simpsons episode titled American History X-cellent one of the stolen paintings is found in the possession of Mr. Burns.

The museum is offering a reward of 5 million dollars for knowledge leading to the safe return of the paintings. This theft is considered the biggest art theft in history. If you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of the paintings please contact your local authorities or the nearest US Embassy.

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Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

The Secret Life of Drawings

The Secret Life of Drawings is an exhibit going on now at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. It is based around things that were discovered during the modern day restoration of drawings from the 1300s to the late 1800s. One thing they have discovered include a watermark from an 1500s paper mill that was used to date a drawing. Another thing they discovered was a previously unknown drawing by Bandinelli on the back of one of his other drawings that was used to sketch out one of his most famous sculptures.

I urge you to check out the site here and watch the video of one of the Getty Museum conservators restoring several pieces- it's amazing.

It really is incredible and I have come to believe that restoring art is an art in itself. I hope I can make it over to LA to see the exhibit before it is finished.



Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.

I recently stumbled onto an artist's blog. Her name is Elizabeth Love, as if her last name did not make her interesting enough her blog and art are fabulous as well. She lives in New Zealand and has an exhibition going on until January 20, 2011 at a local gallery. I have always been a fan of mixed media and her art is full of color and has an edgy quality to it. I recommend you all check out her blog.

Make sure and follow us if you like what you see! And as always, don't forget to stop by our MAIN website by clicking here. We provide everything you need and need to know about art! You can also stop by our art forum by clicking here. Give us your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Collaborate with other artists and art lovers via the Art Fortune Art Forum! Can't wait to see you there.