Purple/Red; The Lichtenstein Retrospective

Purple/Red:  

Drawn from life, two weeks ago, in Chicago.

Tombow marker and pastel on watercolor paper, 8"x8".

The Lichtenstein Retrospective:

While I was in Chicago, I attended the members preview of the Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Art Institute.

I was familiar, of course, with his pop art cartoon images painted large.  Like Andy Warhol's soup cans, Marilyns and Maos, these are works that have enlarged the vocabularies of fine art and commercial art and are part of popular culture.

Like Warhol, Lichtenstein had fine art training.  Over his long career, he painted and sculpted in many different styles and was able to return to certain themes repeatedly, each time with greater maturity and skill.

This is a fascinating exhibit.  I recommend you visit it, if you get the chance.
For Lichtenstein bio, see wikipedia.

For fun, click on some samples of Lichtenstein's unique takes on famous artworks,   here and here and here  and here

Nature watch:  Check out the photos at my other blog.

Woman In Torn Jeans

This morning's plein air oil painting.

A bit about this painting:  This is painted from life, a 30 minute pose.  The model is lying on a blanket covered with a white sheet, on the grass. The time was close to noon, on a  hot day which started out clear. Dark clouds were moving in. Then, later in the afternoon and evening, came thundershowers.

I need to look at it again in a few days to see what still needs doing.  Already, parts of it stand out as needing repainting/reshaping.

One thing I learned at the Art Institute of Chicago last week  is that I now appreciate Gauguin.

When I first saw his work in person, it was at a special show of many of his works that traveled to the LA County Art Museum when I was about 11 years old.  I didn't like it at all.

This time, I visited a couple of his paintings at the Chicago Art Institute and I loved them, especially Day of the God, a dream/memory painting. ( For a good explanation of the painting, look here.)

Woman In A Black Hat

Drawn from life.

A bit about this drawing:

This hat is a favorite of the model's.  She put in on for the final pose (about 20-30 minutes), and her expression and body posture changed, became stronger and more contemplative.

Pastel on 12"x16" black pastel paper.

About Public Notice 3:

I spent the last few days in Chicago, and I visited the Art Institute of Chicago every day.

There's a temporary installation on the Woman's Board Grand Staircase that I recommend.  It's a site-specific work by Indian artist Jitish Kallat, titled Public Notice 3.

The risers of the staircase become lines of text, and the text is a powerfully moving message from the September 11,1893 address by Swami Vivekananda .

You can read  Kallat's statement about this piece here.

I would add to the artist's description that the way Kallat uses the diverging branches of the grand staircase to deliver the same message reinforces Vivekananda's message that there are many paths to the same truth, part of his argument for tolerance.