Euphoria

He may just look like some man from the 1800's, but there is more than what meets the eye when it comes to this man.  On December 16, 1866, an influential Russian artist & theorist was born.  He was credited for his purely abstract artworks.  Born in Moscow, he had spent his childhood in Odessa.  Later on, he had attended school at the University of Moscow and study law & economics.  Still have no idea who this man may be?
Well his name is Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky.  He had called his devotion to inner beauty, fervor of spirits, and spiritual desires. He had married his cousin, Anna Chimyakina in 1892. In 1903, he divorced her.  In the 1916, Kandinsky met Nina Andreevskaya. He married her in February, 1917. Then from 1922 till 1933, he taught at the Bauhaus school of art & architecture in Germany until the Nazi closed it.

He founded the New Artists Association of Munich. He liked creating many abstract glass paintings based on musical elements.  He published another book on Spirituality, relating to art, and he wrote several plays and poems.  He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1944.
His is some of his art below. 

Compostition VIII
By: Wassily Kandinsky

Composition VII
1913
By: Wassily Kandinsky

Munich-Schwabing with the Church of Saint Ursula
1908
By: Wassily Kandinsky

Quotes:
"The more frightening the world becomes... the more art becomes abstract." ~Wassily Kandinsky
"Objects damage pictures." ~Wassily Kandinsky


Sources: 
http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky
http://painting.about.com/library/biographies/blartistquoteskandinsky.htm

Euphoria

There are many historical artists that may catch your eye such as Pablo Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, Georgia O'Keefe, Mary Cassatt, Claude Monet, etc.  All of them were highly talented artists. But, there was only one among these artists that really caught my eye.  

Her abstract imagery of the early 1900s is among the most innovative of any work produced during that time by American artists.  She almost lived to be 100 years old! She was awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom from Gerald R. Ford in January 10, 1977. Any ideas of who this could be?

It would happen to Be Georgia O'Keeffe, of course! Born in the city Sun Prairie in Wisconsin,  she attended the School of Art Institute of Chicago.In 1907, she attended the Art Students League in New York City. She studied under William Merritt Chase. She was married to Alred Stieglitz in 1924.  She illustrated many landscapes within her artwork.  She began working with abstraction in 1915. She has also created many two-dimensional objects as well.  Here below are a few of them.

Petunia No. 2

Oil Canvas-1924 

By: Georgia O'Keeffe

Horse's Skull With White Rose

Oil Canvas- 1931

By: Georgia O'Keeffe

Abstraction
Cast Aluminum- 1946
By: Georgia O'Keeffe

Amazing aren't they? I thought so too.  Her artistic creations have affected my style of art by letting me be more free and not too focused on just one certain type of concentration.  My main concentration is Culture, but with this she has helped me decide to base my work upon many different cultures.  Not just American, Hispanic, & Chinese cultures, but many different other cultures too. 

To learn more about her, here are to recommended sources below.

http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_o%27keeffe

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/artistbios/Georgia_O_Keeffe.html

Euphoria

Happy Jumping!

By: Kayla

When it comes to contemporary art, you have lots of it to see now days.  From art museums to houses, you can usually find some interesting artwork nearby.  There are many different artist websites to view and purchase their art from too.  Some that may catch your eye as an artist yourself and can affect your own art making decisions as well.  From www.artspan.com, the one artist that caught my eye was Tsend Chia-mei's artwork known as Happy Jumping.  I truly love this watercolor artwork! It is very vibrant and uplifting! 

Chia-mei Tseng is a self-taught artist. She was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1952. Since her childhood, she was amazed by people such as their faces, expressions, body structures, and movements.  Her main concentration now is drawing and oil painting in New York.

With this art, the texture seems to be very rigid in some areas and soft in others.  The shapes are very organic. The line quality is curved.  There is only really a foreground and back ground in this.  There is lots of different values in this piece, especially in the woman's body & the water. The main colors in this are oranges, yellows, whites, greens, browns, blacks, some browns, etc.  The only pattern I see would maybe be all the vibrant colors in the water.  The proportions I would say are realistic.  There is great contrast, especially with the different colors in the water.  The balance is asymmetrical.  The only variety in this would be the different colors as well.  The harmony of this makes me feel excited and gives me the essence of living your life to the fullest.  The unity of this is quite complete, other than its balance.  Its shows quite an emphasis in the water ripples that she leaps over. Just seeing her in this pose give the movement of the water moving and her jumping.

This is a beautiful piece and I would love to show such life in my art! She has show me to be more outgoing with my artwork! :)

Sources: 

http://www.artspan.com/search_artwork.php?action=search&category=1

http://tsengchiamei.artspan.com/large-multi-view/People%20and%20their%20feelings/1550301-1-129991/People%20and%20their%20feelings.html#

http://tsengchiamei.artspan.com/mbr_bio.php