Did some work for a company, and traveled through the area of Solon, Iowa that travel and time reminds me of this painting by Grant Wood:
I haven't posted to this thread in a couple of years. This bold fantasy piece by Keith Birdsong is among my favorites...
One thing is, I wish I could see many of these paintings in person. I remember the first time I saw a major exhibit in Munich. One of the paintings was the famous Van Gogh "Sunflower". I had seen this painting many times in print. I always thought "Hmm, big deal". But when I saw it in person I was mesmerized. I stood there looking at it at many different angles for so long the gaurd got nervous and came stood next to me. The impact of seeing a classic work live and as the real deal can be startling. Some amazing works being shared here. Thanks.
The Barnes Foundation/collection story is amazingly sad and I watched it after I went to the new museum and I felt like crap, knowing that this is exactly what Dr. Barnes never wanted to happen to his collection. With that said, his original home sadly fell into disrepair, along with the issues of the neighbor's in that neighborhood, hating all the visiter's, so in the end, this new museum was the only right thing to do, as it preserves the paintings and allows any of us to see it. In the end all of this proved one thing, no matter what you put in your will, once your dead, that NOTHING is forever!
It amazed me that when the National Gallery of Art has a Pre-Raphaelite exhibit, the Washington Post's art critic panned it because it was a worthless, dead end art movement. A worthless critic IMO. I believe I've mentioned it before on this thread, the Delaware Museum of Art in Wilmington has the largest Pre-Raphaelite collection in the US. It's a great collection on permanent exhibit and online, no Waterhouse though. http://www.preraph.org/
I was in Iowa for the first time this summer, off of I80 in the western part of the state, and it indeed looks like that with paved instead of dirt roads. It also reminded me a lot of rural areas of Europe that I've been too with a distinct demarcation between villages and farms. Most other rural areas I've been to in the US, the villages sprawl.
The British Museum is currently showing the excellent metalpoint exhibition which features some stunning work. Review etc here: http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/silver-and-gold-metalpoint-drawings-at.html Here's Da Vinci's Bust of a Warrior:
I can easily identify with Lowry's 'Going To The Match'. Makes me feel warm inside. Nostalgia for a time I almost knew (from memories my father passed on).
Some paintings by one of my old teachers http://www.hopkins-images.com/John%20Hopkins%20selected%20paintings.html
Here's another that I spend a lot of time staring at; Peter Blume's, 'The Rock'. this was originally commissioned to hang in Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Fallingwater' in Pennsylvania. It now resides in Chicago at the Art Institute.
My daughter took me to the Hokusai exhibit in Boston this summer.His command of subject matter from landscapes to supernatural dreamscapes and wildlife were stunning. Painting he did on silk to wrap a present. And this Hokusai painted based on a novel from the 1803 and the kabuki plays based on it.An unfaithful wife and her lover kill her husband.His decomposing corpse returns,tearing the netting down above them while they lie in bed. It was really cool.So much more to this master than just the big wave.
About '86-'87ish I was in the Tate, looking at 'Ophelia'. After 30 seconds or so I turned around to move on and The Police's guitarist Andy Summers was right behind me, looking on in admiration. A hushed world-famous art gallery is NOT the place to noisily gush how I thought that 'Can't Stand Losing You' was the single of '78. So I didn't. Neither did I follow him around the rest of the building because that would simply be weird (and my wife wouldn't let me). Which is a shame because I've never had the opportunity since. Like he'd care about my opinion anyway... But still.
Some previous posters are correct. You can't pick a favorite painting, especially if you've studied art. I'll post my favorite painting that belongs on a music forum: "Swing Landscape" by Stuart Davis. I've seen it many times and it always draws my attention.
It's nice to see something other than The Scream. I don't think I've ever seen any of his art in person.
If I can be slightly irreverent on one occasion, I admit to loving this. Pete McKee's 'Lexicon Of Pub' (which I've previously posted some while ago on a Hoffman ABC thread)
Here's a review of what looks to be a great Van Gogh and Munch exhibition in Amsterdam: http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/van-gogh-and-munch-exhibition-at-van.html And here are two beautiful 'starry night' pictures: Munch: Starry Night Van Gogh: Starry Night Over Rhone