It’s a slow day. There’s not much going on, and we’re all waiting for the update.
So while we’re waiting, here’s one of my favourite paintings.
John Waterhouse “Circe Invidiosa” (1892)
(keep clicking on it - it gets bigger, and you see more detail).
Feel free to comment, or post your own favourite art works.
I was recently introduced to the works of H.R. Giger, whose horror/sci-fi art I believe was used to design the Xenomorphs from Alien.
His art also inspired the indie game Scorn which is still in production, which you can see the demo of in this video:
It’s hard for me to choose a single favorite work of art. I do love Art Nouveau.
I really like the work of Alphonse Mucha, especially The Four Seasons
Oh guys…
Don’t get me into history of art… haha I studied for four years (
here’s my favourite (s)
Matisse (1869-1954)
Basquiat (1960-1988)
Keith Haring (1958-1990)
Caravage (1571-1610)
Delacroix (1798 -1863)
Dali (1904-1989)
Miro (1893-1983)
Hokusai (1760-1849)
Arpoja! Stop spamming!! 
I have a great fondness for Mucha.
My local gallery, the Walker in Liverpool, had a Mucha exhibition “In Quest Of Beauty” in 2017. It was truly amazing. I went three times. Couldn’t get enough of it.
Their latest show is Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I haven’t seen it yet, but I will, soon.
I’ve always found Giger’s work interesting - if, I have to say, profoundly disturbing.
Here’s a guy who equated all relationships with violence, perverse sexuality, rape, violation, and mechanisation. And then translated his vision into near photographic pictures.
There’s no room for warmth, love, or tenderness in his world.
He was certainly an important artist. But I’m glad I never knew him.
The world has suffered a great loss today as Notre Dame burned. Here are some of the beauties that must surely be lost to us now. A 5 keyboard organ with over 8,000 pipes and beautiful stained glass.
Beautiful painting … Circe’s jealousy pouring poison … any relation with a NMS Circe doing likewise ?
From the local news it looks like the organ has only suffered minor damage but is saved
Aw I feel like they really missed a trick by not having this ready to unveil for valentines day. Their soc media post could have read “romance isn’t dead. It’s just been covered in paint until now” or something along those lines 
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD - By William Holman-Hunt
There are so many paintings I love that inspire me. I went to a discussion not so long ago about this particular painting by William Holman-Hunt he called, ‘The Light of the World’. It’s like a prayer which is the basis for much religious Icon painting. What I didn’t realise is that three were completed and this last version hangs in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Without the ornate frame it is huge, I believe slightly larger than life size. There are many questions we ask about our lives in this world and the symbolism, which is everywhere in this painting, can be quite challenging, and even more poignant when viewed standing directly in front of Christ. I recommend everyone visit St. Paul’s to see it.
The detail can be seen by clicking on the image.
MORNING - By Dod Procter
Another large painting titled ‘Morning’ by the cornish artist Dod Procter is a painting that uses light to wonderful effect. I have always liked the composition, tone, the sense of weight depicted and particularly the rendering of the material, which reminds me of stone. It’s as if a Barbara Hepworth sculpture is waking up and coming to life - another artist who made her home in Cornwall.
Painted in 1927, today it could be argued to be one of those moments in history where women’s aspirations for equality are strikingly realised in the public eye. Much like today’s ubiquitous use of the modern ‘selfie’ phenomenon and a can do attitude, that says much about young women’s modern aspirations.
You can read about the young fisherman’s daughter depicted in the painting.
The detail can be seen by clicking on the image displayed at the Tate Gallery London.
Striking similarities to the style of Stanley Spencer, too.
For myself, I appreciate art before 1800. I can see the skill and the mastery, but, apart from rare exceptions, it doesn’t grab me.
Then, around 1840, something extraordinary happened. It happened in England with the Pre-Raphaelites, and in France with the Impressionists. And it carried on, gradually losing power, until the 1950s. Where, in my opinion, art stopped.
Beyond that you have cartoons, jokes and downright fraud. The market came to dominate everything. Exclusivity became valued beyond sensibility, and art just became another money game, like music, or football.
Nowadays, “artists” can produce any low-grade crap they like, as long as people will pay for it. Particularly if they will pay to own the only copy there is.
There are huge ‘starving artists’ sales here. You can buy sofa-sized paintings for $100. So very generic. Not saying the artists aren’t talented but, it’s just a money thing. No real passion or originality. So sad.
I do like Banksy though.
I like Banksy too! You just pipped me to the ‘post’ as I was about to post him too. So high five @sheralmyst
This made me chuckle, then you realise uh oh… More a political artist reflecting our time. I like too he tries to give some of his worth back to the communities ‘he’ draws inspiration from.
I like Banksy, too. He makes me laugh, and he makes me think. But it’s not high art, and it doesn’t pretend to be.
In many ways, Banksy is a perfect case in point. He makes throwaway jokes and thought-provoking quips. It’s disposable street graffiti. He places no financial value on the things he makes. There’s neither time nor skill in the execution of his work - it’s produced in seconds, using spray cans and stencils.
But he’s famous. And his works are exclusive. So the market places a huge value on the things he does Buildings get dismantled and whisked off to private collections. Security guards get posted on walls he’s daubed. Slabs of old concrete get auctioned for hundreds of thousands.
I don’t think art really lost any of its ‘power’. Its just that with education and the industrial age, production of art has diversifed into so many different mediums. The biggest influence would be film, photography and print and art becoming the posession of the masses and not only the Elite.
The sheer volume of art that is now available arguably has diluted arts appeal to the human soul and influence it, but is no less powerful than works of the past in its ability to shine a lens on the world it exists in. Look at the work of Gerald Scarfe, Quentin Blake, Burne Hogarth, numerous LP covers bluring lines between music as art, Spitting Image puppetering, Advertising, Gormley’s Angel of the North, the work of Weege, Don McCullin, Stanley Kubrick and many, many more that shape us all. Not forgetting No Man’s Sky, perhaps not high art but influentially drawing on a rich science fiction history!
I think what is not taught with the rigour it once was is drawing, the foundation of all art that nurtures observation and understanding, even love of everything around us. That often requires patience, which sorely in our high tech society is too often dismissed as being a ‘weakness’. Curiously and positively Youtube is unexpcetedly, shining a light on tutorials by accomplished artists and as a consequence the masses are rediscovering what it takes to turn a talented artist from good to great. That can only benefit us all globally and fill us with surprise and wonder.
But Bansksy does what a good artist should do. He makes you think.
I would also say that he does have skill. I am an artist but I could not do what he does. More importantly, he has found something that he has been able to make his own. That is something that is more difficult to do. The fact that he can execute these works in the blink of an eye, that is showmanship which draws attention to his work. No matter how good an artist is, getting noticed is one of the most difficult things to do.
The fact that he doesn’t make a salary from this is a mark of true passion.
I almost entered into the world of illustration then didn’t because I did not want my art to become a job. I want to do it because I love it. Having to put down someone elses ideas is not something I could ever enjoy.
VanGogh saw almost no profit from his works but money could never be the driving force for a true artist.
When money becomes the driving force, you become Thomas Kinkade…
I agree with @johnnycloud. Drawing is essential. I have nothing against digital artists but, I personally, could never trade the feel of papers and conte crayons, charcoals, etc…for the cold, hard feel of an electronic drawing tablet.
Mmmmmmm…velour paper…so soft and warm. 
