Favorite Artist...Salvador Dali

What? It is Sunday and basically no one seems to be posting...boo! So I took this short older post and voila! It is new to you. My third fave artist...though maybe now sliding into 4th place...have you seen Burton's real artwork? Very cool!

One of my other favorite artists is Salvador Dali. He is amazing. He worked a lot with surrealism, so his work has this cool, other-worldly feel to it. Also, kind of like...WHAT does that mean exactly? LOL. But he was never boring, which I like. He delved into all types of work. Dali, himself, was quite a character, loving to wear a signature long cape, waxed mustache and liked to draw attention to himself. He was also continuously growing and evolving as an artist. Dali worked in all sorts of mediums, from oils and watercolors, to drawings and graphics, to sculptures, films (he worked with Alfred Hitchcock at one point), photography, and many more things, he loved to explore his talent, which I find fascinating.

Favorite Artists...M.C. Escher

My second most favorite artist is M.C. Escher. He did graphic art so beautifully, I could only ever hope to emulate him. If you are thinking at any point, WHO? I assure you, you HAVE seen a piece of his artwork, sometime in your life. He did drawings, lithographs, wood carvings and much more. His use of positive and negative space, and what some call "impossible" space, is breath-taking. My favorite of his works, medium-wise, are his lithographs and his wood cuts. Many feel a lot of his work is inspired by mathematics, which makes me loving his work make that much more sense. I love math, mostly algebra, but math makes sense to me, clicks in my brain. And apparently, he found that it clicked also. Because he studied mathematics and wrote papers, and Escher is a favorite artist of mathematicians and scientists.

By the time he was 18, Escher was already creating art work. He had gone to school for architecture, but told his father almost immediately that he wanted to work in graphics. And a teacher at the time, excitedly encouraged this change in studies.

In fact, except for a period when he had surgery when he was around 63 or 64, he was continuously producing art. He was creating that much artwork. I mean, for a year to be noted, that no new images were created, that means something. Other artists, authors, etc. can go years between work and it is not even noticed, but M.C. was art free for one year as he recuperated and it was noticed. That was how strong his presence was in the art world.

During the month of March, 1972, Escher's condition deteriorated. His family gathered around him, taking turns sitting by his hospital bed. On March 27, 1972, he died, at the age of 73.

Most Favorite Artist...Norman Rockwell

As many of you know I love art, and consider myself to be one. So, as it was a bad day emotionally, and I want to not focus on that, I thought I would share my most favorite artist with you. Even though with the help of a friend, I am finding some new ones, there is only one Norman Rockwell.

Norman Rockwell is my MOST favorite artist of all time. I have done papers on him, I have focused on him as my main subject matter in a graphic design class. He and his work are an inspiration to me. His paintings WERE American life, or what we dreamed American life should be. Which is why his work was used for over 40 years as the cover art for The Saturday Evening Post.

Most of you know him from the character Rosie the Riveter. She was created and painted by Norman Rockwell. He is also most famous for his The Four Freedoms series.

Norman tried to enlist in the service during World War I, but was rejected, because at 6 feet tall and only 140 pounds, he was 8 pounds underweight. To make them enlist him, he gorged himself on banana sundaes and such and went back the next day and was enlisted. Sadly, in his eyes, he was assigned to be a military artist, and never saw action during his tour of duty. I say it was good for us, because we may have never gotten to experience his greatness otherwise.

At the age of 21, he submitted his first work for The Saturday Evening Post. I think they must have liked this tall, gangly fellow, because Rockwell published a total of 321 original covers for The Saturday Evening Post over 47 years. 47!!

Norman Rockwell created over 4000 paintings, which have either been purchased by collectors or destroyed in fires. He did the illustrations for over 40 books, including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Rockwell's work was dismissed by ciritics during his lifetime. They found it too sentimental and idealistic. So he is still, to this day, is considered by some to not be a "serious painter". Some sneered that he wasted his brilliant technique on "banal use". One author said he was Salvador Dali's twin that was kidnapped by Gypsies. Some critics said he was not a painter, only an illustrator, but this didn't bother my hero. Nope, norman considered himself an illustrator too, so it was no skin off his nose. It does bother me however. He was an artist, period.

Later in his life, he began recieving more attention as a painter, when he chose serious subjects, such as racism. In 1999, The New Yorker art critic said of Rockwell's work in Art News, "Rockwell is terrific. It's become too tedious to pretend he isn't".

His last painting for the Post was published in 1963, marking the end of a publishing relationship that had included 322 cover paintings. He spent the next 10 years painting for Look magazine, where his work depicted his interests in civil rights, poverty and even space exploration. During his long career, he was commissioned to paint the portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, etc. One of his last works was a portrait of legendary singer Judy Garland in 1969.

A custodianship of 574 of his original paintings and drawings was established with Rockwell's help near his home in Stockbridge, Mass. The museum is still open today year round. For "vivid and affectionate portraits of our country," Rockwell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in 1977, the United States of America's highest civilian honor.

Norman Rockwell died November 8, 1978 of emphysema at age 84 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. First Lady Rosalind Carter attended his funeral. That was how much of an impact this amazing man had on America. Why wouldn't he be my favorite artist of all time.

His work even influenced my beloved movies. Much of Forrest Gump was inspired by Rockwell's work. American Gangster, Lilo & Stitch, Funny Farm. Empire in the Sun, all have shout outs to Norman Rockwell's work. He was a truly great artist, who deserves to be recognized by all, as such.