• Security incident: ISF was recently accessed by intruders. Please change your password, and change it anywhere else you used it. Read more

Who's your favorite painter and why?

Kogloron said:
Boris Vallejo - an amazing painter with a realistic touch to mythological creatures. Very detailed, if you have any interest in dragons at all and you haven't heard of him you'll thank me for giving out his name :)
Click to expand...

Ah, yes. In college we called his popular calendars "dork porn", because you could hang them up and claim you liked them for the dragons and stuff, and it's not about the writhing nearly-nude people one little bit.

Yeah, and I like Oli Frey because of his treatment of light and shadow.
 
I can't search for any links right now because I'm at work, but the guy who played Herman Munster did some paintings that are rather good. Fred Gwynne. Sort of unexpected there, but people can have some surprising talents.
 
I don't have a favourite painter, colour, musician, food etc. You can tire of just about anything - even genius.

I do have brief enthusiasms though: This summer we visited the Clark collection in Williamstown MA. Saw this Constable and I was completely riveted. Not because of the foreground, which looks a bit twee, but looking beyond that at the middle distance it just struck me as perfectly capturing the South-Eastern English countryside. I imagine you could go there now and it would look almost exactly the same (with some of the same trees, too :) ). Pity the online picture doesn't show enough detail.
 
Lots of great links here. And, while its tough to have a true favorite, I really like the paintings of Ivy Haye's:

I love those colors.

I also have enjoyed Van Gogh ever since I heard that Don McLean song as a kid.
 
For me, Thomas Kinkade.

The way he captures how I feel, and puts it in painting form. I think every single one of his pieces is, in its own way, a metaphor for life.
 
Andrew Wyeth, Rene Magritte and Alberto Vargas.

wyeth_2.jpg

I got to see a collection of the Helga paintings years ago. I pretty much stopped painting after that because I knew I would never be able to match them.

No example of Magritte's work is needed. I like them all.

3530163268_1a065aed86_z.jpg

I recently found a collection of 1960's Playboys in a house I helped renovate. The Vargas paintings in them are in very good shape. I should probably have them scanned in HD.
 
Last edited:
Fiona said:
I can't think of that one separate from the auden poem mentioned in your link: two remarkable works. I love that they are equally good (IMO). Don't know of any other pairs like that. I would like to know about them if there are others though
Click to expand...


Sure, there are lots. The first that occurs to me is actually a group of four connected works:

Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, a pair of contrasting poems in praise of mirth and melancholy, respectively...

Handel's oratorio L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato which sets the Milton poems and adds a third section in praise of moderation (with verses by Charles Jennens)...

William Blake's illustrations of Milton's poems (to keep things sort of on topic),

and in the 20th century...

Mark Morris's choreography of the Handel oratorio.

All of these are wonderful things.
 
NotJesus said:
Sure, there are lots. The first that occurs to me is actually a group of four connected works:

Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, a pair of contrasting poems in praise of mirth and melancholy, respectively...

Handel's oratorio L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato which sets the Milton poems and adds a third section in praise of moderation (with verses by Charles Jennens)...

William Blake's illustrations of Milton's poems (to keep things sort of on topic),

and in the 20th century...

Mark Morris's choreography of the Handel oratorio.

All of these are wonderful things.
Click to expand...

Don't forget William Blake's illustrations of William Blake.
 
Caravaggio : Took ordinary Romans and put them in Biblical and mythological scenes. It was considered scandalous at the time. The shafts of light running through his paintings are extraordinary.

Edward Hopper : Is there anything this man couldn't paint and find emotion in??

Mark Rothko : Pure color fields, yet so moving
 
TraneWreck said:
It's not a painting, but David is overwhelming, as well.
Click to expand...

Yes. Seeing it in person I actually made the comment "It hums." There was some sort of electricity vibe in the air that I had never felt before.

The only other time I came close to that was in seeing a Dinotopia painting by James Gurney. "Up High". I must have stood and looked at it for 15 minutes, examining the detail. Just absorbing.

Seconded on Alma-Tadema. Also a big fan of a style, the Hudson River School.
 
I saw the thread title and thought, "I'll jump in an support Turner...", only to see it was in the OP.

I can't say I have a favorite painter. I can get deeply involved in the work of quite a few. I once spent about two hours totally engrossed in the beautiful Da Vinci in D.C. (is it the National Gallery?). I was supposed to be at a hearing at the Federal Maritime Commission, but I couldn't tear myself away.
Leonardo's portraits are pretty awesome.

Rembrandt's been mentioned but worthy of a seconding, as is David.

Oodles of others. Notably.... Van Gogh Picasso, Kandinsky, Miro, Klee, Mondrian, Magritte....

My lesser known favorite is Morris Louis. Not everyone's cup of tea, but worthy of a look if you're not familiar with him.

http://www.google.com/images?q=morr...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQsAQwAA
 
NotJesus said:
Sure, there are lots. The first that occurs to me is actually a group of four connected works:

Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, a pair of contrasting poems in praise of mirth and melancholy, respectively...

Handel's oratorio L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato which sets the Milton poems and adds a third section in praise of moderation (with verses by Charles Jennens)...

William Blake's illustrations of Milton's poems (to keep things sort of on topic),

and in the 20th century...

Mark Morris's choreography of the Handel oratorio.

All of these are wonderful things.
Click to expand...

Oooh you are right about Blake: I cannot think how I forgot abut him

But I do not know any of the others so thank you for that: I will try to find them :)
 
I have a hard time with the question; like many I tend to view art rather viscerally. I like THAT while I'm looking at it....
I do tend to go for "figurative" art; generally have not cared for abstracts. I don't care for bucolic landscapes....
Most all the stuff I currently enjoy falls into the category of illustration; sci-fi and fantasy art. Each year, I get a copy of the book that comes out for the Spectrum competition; the best in fantasy and sci-fi. Always full of great stuff.
I also like wildlife art; Robert Bateman is outstanding.
 
Gawdzilla said:
There was this young Austrian painter back in the '20s. Veteran, I think. He showed tremendous potential, I thought, but I find very little of his work after that time. I hear he went into politics.
Click to expand...

One persons art is another's horrible fantasy nightmare fraught with danger ending in hardship and atrocities.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

ISF - Join now!

Every member here is approved by hand. No bots, no spam, just people who care about evidence and honest debate.

Membership is free!

Create your free account

Back
Top Bottom