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.

Carlos Cisneros

Carlos Cisneros is an amazing Mexican artist I just happened across the other day. I think that we should definitely keep our eyes on him!

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.

denis peterson: hyper realism

Denis Peterson was one of the first photorealistic painters that appeared in New York City, and is considered among many to be a pioneer developing his work into Hyper-realism. after taking a long hiatus, he emerged again in the early 2000's using his skills as a vehicle for social change, focusing primarily on the mistreatment of citizens by their government, especially the homeless.

i find these pieces to be very compelling, and i wonder in what way they will impact society, if at all. a common criticism of photo/hyper realism is that it is strictly mimesis, and a camera can achieve the same thing only even more accurately.

Author Graham Thompson wrote "Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack,and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs. The hyperrealist genre is clearly more than an attempt to replicate the mechanical action of taking a photograph." I felt this merely insists that there is more to it than replication, without presenting what that might be. I think that it has something more to do with the experience the painter has.

if any of you have painted, or drawn from a still life before, you probably have noticed that the object you were working from looks different after that. it becomes more familiar and the intricacies of it's physical existence are more apparent, unless you worked in an impressionist manner. but the further one gets from impressionism and the closer they get to photorealism, the more parts of the subject they understand. the impressionist captures more the essence of the subject, while the realist captures the body. i think that is what the photorealists and the hyper-realists are after; a better understanding of their subject as it interacts with the physical space it occupies in reality.

I wanted to include this piece because I felt denis was poking fun at his own genre here. The challenge was painting the figures on the mural so that they looked like they were painted on the side of the shack. It gives him a chance to paint in a graphic and cartoony manner, while still staying true to his craft.

Whacky Shack

Dont Shed No Tears

Foot Action II

USA Today

Vortex of Despair

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.