Art Reflection – Tamayo In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we will be learning more about the work of a Mexican artist, Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991). Tamayo was prolific among many mediums and his body of work is filled with variety of style and influence. Rufino Tamayo was influenced by Cubism, Impressionism, Fauvism, Surrealism and the abstraction of Modernism and …

Art Reflection – Nevelson Louise Nevelson was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1899. She emigrated with her family to Maine in 1905 and received her first art training at the Art Students League of New York in the 1930s. She worked in the Modern Art and Abstract Expressionism movements. This artist was fascinated by the New York City skyline. She …

Art Reflection – Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) was a Finnish painter. At the end of the 19th century, he was joined with composer Jean Sibelius in a creative friendship focused on Finnish independence. Finland was part of Sweden until 1809 and gained its independence from Russia in 1917. Gallen-Kallela and Sibelius, both from families of high rank, were inspired by …

Art Reflection – Rockwell Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is an American icon. His work is photographic in detail and intimate in subject. Though he’s sometimes characterized negatively as too emotional, let’s look again. Norman Rockwell was an illustrator. He was a product of his times and also of the material he illustrated. In his role, he painted through many realities that impacted …

Art Reflection – Raphael Raphael was born Raffaella Santi in Urbino, Italy, on March 28 or April 6, 1483. He died in Rome at age 37of a fever on Good Friday, April 6, 1520. He is thought to be one of the most talented painters of the Italian Renaissance. He shared this period with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo and …

Art Reflection – Sherald Amy Sherald (1973 –  ) is an American artist who paints African Americans in ordinary, everyday and carefully curated settings. Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance) was a pivotal portrait for Sherald. It won the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian in 2016. It appeared on the cover of The New Yorker …

Art Reflection – Pissarro Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist. As a member of that movement, he seldom painted at night. He painted more often during the day, watching the progression of light and weather and how each changed each view. He painted en plein air, quickly chasing images across changing light and conditions. In Boulevard Montmartre Night Effect Pissarro paints a busy …

Art Reflection – Neel Alice Neel, (1900-1984) was an Expressionist and is thought by many to be one of the greatest American portraitists of the 20th century even as she faced the discrimination of her time. Her mother is even quoted as saying, “I don’t know what you expect to do in the world, you’re only a girl.”Alice Neel grew …

Art Reflection – Calder Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was an American artist credited with inventing the kinetic sculpture we know as the mobile in 1931. That name actually came from Calder’s friend, Marcel Duchamp. This artist was born into a family of artists and was educated at The Art Students League of New York. At some point in his art exploration and …

Art Reflection – Klimt Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) lived and painted in Austria. He was a symbolist who tried to capture large life themes with small patterns. His crowded compositions are lush, ornate and familiar feasts for the eye. Klimt pushed the boundaries of the art of his time and applauded other artists who did the same. He was a founding …