Christina Rosepapa https://artanddesigninspiration.com/author/c-rosepapa/ Inspiration for Creatives - Creativity is Contagious - Pass It On Fri, 26 Apr 2024 21:05:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cropped-ArtPalette-32x32.jpg Christina Rosepapa https://artanddesigninspiration.com/author/c-rosepapa/ 32 32 Keith Haring, Rebel Boy of Pop Art https://artanddesigninspiration.com/keith-haring-rebel-boy-of-pop-art/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/keith-haring-rebel-boy-of-pop-art/#respond Thu, 25 Apr 2024 11:29:26 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=1480 Artist Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the street culture in...

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Artist Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the street culture in New York during the 1980s.

Keith Haring’s art work was bold and graphical and has become a widely recognized visual language of the 20th century. His art made a statement and he became a sensation in the art world with his bold, cartoon style and graffiti influenced works. He created the art form of classic graffiti and brought recognition to street art. However his art was so much more than graffiti. He used his own work to highlight issues in New York and his own life. It was bold, vivid and expressive with roots in cartooning and graphic design. It’s not wonder though since his dad was a cartoonist, he inherited his unique style and talent.

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Keith Grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania and spent many hours drawing with his father. Haring was fascinated by the popular cartoon art of Walt Disney and Charles Schultz. Haring was interested in art from an early age. From 1976 to 1978 he studied commercial art at The Ivy School of Professional Art, an art school in Pittsburgh. He soon lost interest in commercial art and moved on to study Fine Arts.

At age 19, in 1978, Haring moved to New York City, where he was inspired by graffiti art, and studied at the School of Visual Arts.

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As Keith found his style and developed it, his artwork visually fought against mass consumption, racism, capitalism, violence, religion and injustice in all their forms, with a particular emphasis on the threat of nuclear war, the destruction of the environment, homophobia and the AIDS epidemic. His art expressed wherever he showed up.

While he never founded a school or an artistic movement, the curator of the current exhibit, Odile Burluraux, likens Haring to Andy Warhol, “the Pope of pop art”, who remained a friend and mentor.

 

Keith Haring art quote

Keith Haring is quoted as saying:
“I don’t think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.”

To quote David Hockney, Haring’s art existed “anywhere he stopped moving.” If Keith Haring were alive today, perhaps he’d tell us to stop, just for a moment.

Keith Haring died on February 16, 1990 at 31-years-old, of AIDS-related complications. His works continues to be exhibited around the world and many are owned by such prestigious museums as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

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A vast commercial industry has been built around the visual aesthetic of Keith Haring. T-shirts, sneakers, jewelry, and greeting cards draw on the style of the “graffiti school” for their designs. Haring himself capitalized on his own image in a way painters never would have dreamed of before the mass media age.

“My contribution to the world is my ability to draw. I will draw as much as I can for as many people as I can for as long as I can.”
Keith Haring

And one of the most intuitive quotes:
“When I die there is nobody to take my place.”
Keith Haring

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Haring
http://www.haring.com/

Featured image:
L: Keith Haring (1958–1990), Untitled (Self-Portrait),1985. Acrylic on canvas. Private collection. Keith Haring artwork © Keith Haring Foundation. R: Keith Haring, self-portrait, 1980-1981. One of four Polaroids. Collection of the Keith Haring Foundation.

Other sources:
http://deyoung.famsf.org/haring/about/biography



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Edward Hopper’s Portrayals of Alienation https://artanddesigninspiration.com/edward-hoppers-portrayals-of-alienation/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/edward-hoppers-portrayals-of-alienation/#respond Tue, 18 Jul 2023 22:38:49 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=8794 Famous Edward Hopper Paintings Express Loneliness and Isolation Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882-May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker; his...

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Famous Edward Hopper Paintings Express Loneliness and Isolation

Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882-May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker; his style conforms to the movements of Modernism and Social realism. Hopper’s work is divided between lonely landscape visages and illustrations of subjects in isolation. Essentially, Hopper captures the ambiance of his subject’s mood through the arrangement of the color scheme. Hopper’s rise to eminence as a figurehead in American modern art will be gleaned in connection to his trademark aesthetic.

The art movement of social realism burgeoned in the 1930s amid the Great Depression and correlated with Hopper’s artistic affluence. At the turn of the twentieth century, Hopper began his career as an illustrator by enrolling in New York School of Art and Design. His mentors included Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase who were the important figures of the Ashcan school- an art movement that strived to convey city life in New York’s poorer regions. Norman Rockwell was among the famous artists involved in the Ashcan school. Hopper’s time spent in art school proved seminal, as he sought to translate the standards of the Ashcan school in a different light. Instead of following the paradigm of his peers and Mentors who detailed crowded and bustling spaces, Hopper shifted the focus of social realism into encapsulating the loneliness of living in the city.

Automat (1927)

Automat: The Looming Atmosphere of the City

For a short spell, Hopper sought employment as an illustrator after he finished his career in school. Hopper spent several years venturing across Europe and studying the tradition of French realist artists, such as Édouard Manet. Hopper was inspired by the French realists to lend his powers of observation towards evincing the lackluster isolation that lurks in the backdrop of incessant bright lights and city noise.

His famous works- such as ‘Automat’ (1927) and ‘Office in a Small City’ (1953) – channels the collective distress of capitalist modernity. Hopper fashions the exterior spaces in these portraits to signify the subject’s interiority. In Automat, the starkly green background silhouettes the female subject who forlornly studies the content of her beverage. A murkiness shades both the city street in the environment behind the café and the woman’s clothing, which associates the looming atmosphere of the city with her despondency.

Office in a Small City

Office in a Small City: Reality Over-saturated with Artificiality and Confinement

The alienation of post-world war two American business is translated in ‘Office in a Small City.’ Hopper portrays a minimalist visage of a man seated in his office while absent mindedly observing at the city skyline. A sense of drab unmitigated confinement materializes from the man’s vacant response to performing everyday business tasks. The everyman’s claustrophobic boredom in this picture alludes to a pallid cost of perusing the American dream, which is the insipid routine of modern life. Hopper conveys the effects of a reality oversaturated with artificiality and confinement. A concern for the question of what constitutes an examined life in midst of monotony persists in the body of Hopper’s work. Hopper’s eminence as a prominent voice in the Age of Anxiety– see Munch’s ‘The Scream’– is attributed with conveying the mental rigors, or lack thereof, during capitalist modernity.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper 942

Nighthawks – One of the Most Recognized Paintings in American Art

Nighthawks painted in 1942 in New York City (and sold within months for $3,000), expresses lonely moments in time. The empty and flat composition expresses the following:
Coldness – the time of day – late at night, cool dark shadows, empty streets, lifeless.
Disconnected – the unsmiling interaction between the bartender, woman and man seemingly avoiding eye contact as a protection of personal space.
Man in a dark suit also disconnected with his back to the large window illuminating the dark and deserted urban streetcape.

The characters living in their own reality in the same space, yet apart. The painting invites a narrative interpretation. If you are reading this, what is your narrative on the painting?

Other favorite works:

Morning Sun, 1952 – Edward Hopper
Summer Evening, 1947
New York Office, 1962

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The Gerber Baby and the Illustrator Who Made her Famous https://artanddesigninspiration.com/the-gerber-baby-and-the-illustrator-who-made-her-famous/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/the-gerber-baby-and-the-illustrator-who-made-her-famous/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2022 07:57:34 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=9234 Gerber Baby, Ann Turner Cook, Passes away at 95 Ann Turner Cook (born November 20, 1926 – Died June 3rd, 2022) The iconic Gerber...

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Gerber Baby, Ann Turner Cook, Passes away at 95

Ann Turner Cook (born November 20, 1926 – Died June 3rd, 2022)

The iconic Gerber baby illustration has been a familiar brand seen throughout the world. The face for the trusted baby food, propelled the Gerber brand forward.

However, not much has been shown on the actual artist/illustrator who was inspired to create the sketch of original Gerber Baby, Ann Taylor Cook. Keep reading to learn about Dorothy Hope Smith.

Gerber Baby

Ann Taylor Cook: Then and now, 4 months to age 95.

In 1927 when she was about 4 months old, her image was sketched in charcoal by their neighbor and friend artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Dorothy submitted a preliminary charcoal sketch to a Gerber baby contest. The sketch was created from a snapshot of Ann Turner. Dorothy’s unfinished submission was intended more as an inquiry as to what the age of the baby should be and what the ad size would be. Dorothy intended to finish the sketch if accepted. The judges loved it. They preferred the simplicity of the illustration compared to more elaborate entries.

Dorothy won $300 in the contest, selling the rights of her drawing to Gerber.

The drawing wasn’t intended to become the brand ‘face’ for Gerber. It was actually for a marketing campaign, however the public loved it so much that they even wanted to purchase copies of the sketch. Gerber was on to something big and the sketch of Ann Cook by Dorothy Hope Smith became a trademark.

Who was Dorothy Hope Smith?

Although today many may not know her name, her creation is household knowledge.
Dorothy was born October 1st in 1895 and died in 1955 at age 60. She studied illustration at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a talented commercial illustrator specializing in babies and children. She was one of the “Ivory Soap Baby” illustrators for Procter & Gamble, illustrating children’s books for Putnam and several magazine covers. She married and her husband was also an Illustrator.


Baby with Toy Duck, Ladies Home Journal Magazine Cover By Smith Dorothy Hope (1895-1955)

Her work represents an era of when advertising was mainly illustration based. She was also one of the few women Illustrators in a time when the industry was dominated by males.

Today you can find copies of the Gerber Baby prints (the same ones that were sold years ago) at auctions.

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New Year’s Resolution – Become a Better Artist https://artanddesigninspiration.com/new-years-resolution-become-a-better-artist/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/new-years-resolution-become-a-better-artist/#respond Mon, 03 Jan 2022 19:49:06 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7364 Do you want to become a better artist in 2022? Here are 10 effective tips to become a better artist. As we start 2022...

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Do you want to become a better artist in 2022?

Here are 10 effective tips to become a better artist.

As we start 2022 most of us have new things we want to do. We start off on the right track with resolutions, but as time passes what we resolve to do diminishes. For artists it’s especially important to make resolutions that will keep you on the track to creating more art which will increase your skills as an artist.

First, let’s dispel any myths that there are quick and easy ways to become a good artist. Developing art skills is an investment in time, observation and resolve.

1. Improve Time Management Skills
If you don’t have time to work on your craft, how can you get better? How efficiently you spend your working hours directly affects how much time you have to spend doing the activities you enjoy. Write to-do lists every day, tune into your most productive and energetic times of the day. Work to stay focused by avoiding the distractions that you’re prone to. Turn your phone off!

2. Appreciate More
Obviously, creating art comes from a place within. Taking time to tune into the good (and the bad) in your life is important. Observe the small things. Practice mindfulness in the moment. When you slow your critical thinking down you can tune into the fleeting moments.  Moments that you can capture what you see, feel and express on a deeper level. Everyday demands can make it a challenge to see in ‘slow motion’, however as you practice doing this you will notice the things around you in a new way.

3. Get Organized

Organization can be a challenge for a visual person. As a visual person, I like to see all the stuff on my desk that I have to work with. Reducing clutter helps with clarity. Each day I resolve to organize small sections of my workstations. We’ll see how it goes!

4. Put Time for Art on the Calendar
We only get better with practice and sometimes making the time to practice art is a challenge. Make it a priority to create new art and work on current art in 2022. Even if it’s just a few hours a week you will make progress. And don’t forget about the therapeutic benefits of lowering anxiety and stress!

5. Draw, Sketch… Draw, Sketch… Repeat!
Drawing is the foundation to all art and a skill that is based on practice and observation. As you learn how to draw, work on increasing your skills with sketching and exploration. Basic shapes, line, values, expressive lines and capturing ‘feeling’ of what you are expressing. Even the best of artists continue to draw and sketch. Take your sketchbook to work, in between meetings or wherever; get out your sketchbook and express your thoughts.

6. Take Time to Share & Encourage
As art can be a solitary activity it may be time to reach out and social media is a perfect avenue.  Visit other artists fan pages to show support and encouragement. Plan social media into your calendar and share the progress of your work.

7. Be prepared – always be ready to capture your ideas!
While out and about and inspiration strikes, be sure and capture it! Keep the sketchbook with you. Or at the very least, snap pictures of what catches your eye. Keeping an ongoing source of inspiring images that you can refer back to when needed. As your image files increase consider Dropbox or Google Drive which are great tools for storage and can be accessed at any time.

8. Practice, Practice… Practice!
As we mentioned earlier, there is not a quick and easy fix to becoming a better artist. Besides, if there was, would that be fun? The reward of being a good artist is that you have achieved a level of skill that you have worked for.

Even if it comes ‘easy’ to you, the gift of being an artist is one that never gets old or tiring. You can keep working on it and enjoying the personal satisfaction that comes from your creativity, skill and experience.

9. Teach Others
Stepping out of your comfort zone as you become a better artist to teach others can be unnerving. After all, perhaps you are your own worse critic. Does this fear of teaching hold you back? If you’ve attained any level of art skill it might be time for you to show others how you got good at your craft! YouTube videos and even in person workshops can be very rewarding. As you get better, consider teaching and encouraging other artists! Share the art love!

10. Your Mindset – Don’t Compare
As artists we are sometimes critical of our work. Comparison as it is said, “…is the thief of joy.” As you develop your own style and trust your vision your work becomes more meaningful.

In 2022, may you enjoy more time and inspiration as you create art!
Christina Rosepapa

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Unique and Rare Photos of Frida Capture Her Personality https://artanddesigninspiration.com/unique-rare-photos-frida-capture-personality/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/unique-rare-photos-frida-capture-personality/#respond Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:30:48 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7986 Rare Photos of Frida Kahlo Mexico’s most famous woman artist is best known for her self-portraits that express the emotional effects of pain, loss,...

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Rare Photos of Frida Kahlo

Mexico’s most famous woman artist is best known for her self-portraits that express the emotional effects of pain, loss, and tragedy in her life.

The following is a collection of photos of Frida by a variety of photographers in her lifetime. These are especially interesting and seem to capture her spirit. From age 4 and beyond, we hope you are inspired by these unique black and white photos of Frida.

Guillermo Kahlo, photography of Frida Kahlo at age 4, 1911. Fototeca Nacional.
Frida age 12
Guillermo Kahlo, photography of Frida Kahlo at age 12, 1919. Fototeca Nacional.

 

 

Frida black and white pictures

Frida at the Border, Laredo, Texas, 1932

Frida Kahlo 1933

Diego and young Frida

 

Diego Rivera and Frida

 

Rare black and white of Frida and Diego in Studio

All the pictures shown on Art and Design Inspiration are the property of their respective owners. We don’t hold any copyright on these pictures. These pictures have been collected from different public sources including different websites, considering to be in public domain.

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Tsuneko Sasamoto – Japan’s First and Oldest Living Female Photojournalist https://artanddesigninspiration.com/tsuneko-sasamoto-japans-first-and-oldest-living-female-photojournalist/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/tsuneko-sasamoto-japans-first-and-oldest-living-female-photojournalist/#respond Tue, 26 Jan 2021 03:19:19 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7668 Tsuneko Sasamoto – Japan’s First and oldest living Female Photojournalist Passed Away at 107 Dubbed the Annie Liebovitz of her day, Tsuneko Sasamoto, 107...

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Tsuneko Sasamoto – Japan’s First and oldest living Female Photojournalist Passed Away at 107

Dubbed the Annie Liebovitz of her day, Tsuneko Sasamoto, 107 years old upon passing,  was a Centenarian and Japan’s first female photojournalist. She photographed some of Japan’s greatest personalities and historical moments during her 70-year career. Though widely published in Japan, she is a hidden gem for international audiences.

 

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Sasamoto was born in Tokyo, Japan. She went to college of home economics, but quit because she had an ambition to become a painter. After the dropout, she went to an institute of painting (without telling parents) and a dressmaking school. Wikipedia

Born in 1914 in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, Sasamoto’s father was a kimono dealer. Her life has not been easy. “Originally I wanted to be a painter,” she recalls. “But my father didn’t allow it, saying, ‘It’s not what a woman should be.’ ” She tried college, but dropped out and then pursued illustration and pattern-making; the start of her long love for fashion.

It was a black-and-white film by Man Ray Sasamoto saw with a friend in 1937 that sparked her interest in photography. She went on to start her career as a part-time illustrator on the local news pages in Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun (now Mainichi Shimbun, one of the newspapers in Japan) .

After working for years, she got promoted to a probationary employee in 1940 when she joined the Photographic Society in Japan, officially became the first female photojournalist in Japan.

mage Credits: Tsuneko Sasamoto

Her subjects have ranged from impoverished citizens scratching out a living in the lean postwar years, to student protesters and striking coal miners as the country was taking off economically in the politically tumultuous 1960s. She also documented life in Japan as seen in the photo above Geisha School, 1951.

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Up until her death, she was busy giving interviews about her exhibition of selected works, “Hyakusai Ten” (“Centenarian’s Exhibition”), and related book, “Hyakusai no Finder” (“Centenarian’s Finder”). In 2011 she published her own photobook.

The secret to her success and longevity?

You should never become lazy. It’s essential to remain positive about your life and never give up. You need to push yourself and stay aware, so you can move forward. That’s what I want people to know.”

She’s also careful to look after herself, swearing by a glass of red wine every night and a piece of chocolate every day. “I also eat a lot of meat. People often say old people shouldn’t eat meat because it is bad for their health, but that is not true,” she said.

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Sweet Dreams Baby! Roy Lichtenstein & The Pop Art Movement https://artanddesigninspiration.com/sweet-dreams-baby-roy-lichtenstein-pop-art-movement/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/sweet-dreams-baby-roy-lichtenstein-pop-art-movement/#respond Tue, 18 Aug 2020 01:57:14 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7826 The Rise of the Pop Art Movement in the United States began in the late 1950’s with artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and...

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The Rise of the Pop Art Movement in the United States began in the late 1950’s with artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Roy Lictehenstein.

Pop art emerged on the scene with all it’s irony and parody. In a sense it was a mockery to the established art world and the Abstract expressionism movement.

Pop art instantly became popular and embraced commercial techniques, and heaven forbid machine-produced art! They boldly set themselves apart from the painterly, inward-looking tendencies of the Abstract Expressionist movement.

Enter Roy Lichtenstein, born in New York in 1923, he was classically trained at Ohio State University and earned a B.F.A and M.F.A. in art. He became a major force and leading figure in the Pop Art movement in the 1960s. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. Since the early 1960s his prints have been included in important contemporary graphic-art exhibitions throughout the country.

Lichtenstein’s Most Famous Works

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Whaam! 1963

 

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1963. The painting shows a teary-eyed woman on a turbulent sea. She is emotionally distressed, seemingly from a romance. A thought bubble reads: “I Don’t Care! I’d Rather Sink — Than Call Brad For Help!” This narrative element highlights the clichéd melodrama.

 

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1964. Oh, Jeff…I Love You, Too…But…

Whaam! and Drowning Girl are generally regarded as Lichtenstein’s most famous works, with Oh, Jeff…I Love You, Too…But, third.

 

The $95 Million Dollar Nurse – Wow Baby!

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Roy Lichtenstein, Nurse, 1964.

In 2015, Roy Lichtenstein’s Nurse went up on the auction block and fetched a staggering $95 Million a record price for a piece of American Pop Art. Besides the price of this masterpiece, is the curiosity of who bought this painting? A former taxi driver and self-made billionaire and his wife purchased the painting for their museum in Shanghai. Way to go!

Sweet dreams Roy as we celebrate your birthday which is on October 27th!

 

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I’m not really sure what social message my art carries, if any. And I don’t really want it to carry one. I’m not interested in the subject matter to try to teach society anything, or to try to better our world in any way. ~ Roy Lichtenstein

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Augusta Savage – A Monument of Hope and Beauty https://artanddesigninspiration.com/augusta-savage-a-monument-of-hope-and-beauty/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/augusta-savage-a-monument-of-hope-and-beauty/#respond Mon, 22 Jun 2020 04:16:17 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7926 Augusta Savage was an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Florida in 1892 Augusta Savage knew early on that she wanted...

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Augusta Savage was an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

Born in Florida in 1892 Augusta Savage knew early on that she wanted to be an artist. However, the road to creating was not an easy one for her. She was not encouraged at home and she was born into a generation of racism in the South.

Skipping school at times, she enjoyed sculpting animals and other small figures. Her father didn’t approve of this frivolous activity and did whatever he could to stop her.

Savage once said that her father “almost whipped all the art out of me.”

A Monument of Hope and Beauty

Despite her father’s objections and the racism that she encountered, she went on to make a name for herself. Her experiences became part of the passion that she expressed in her work and the passion she expressed through teaching. Throughout her life, she taught art and especially enjoyed inspiring and encouraging young talented artists.

She advanced through her studies of art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art where she finished the four-year program in three years. She was recommended by Harlem librarian Sadie Peterson (later Delaney), for a commission of a bust of W.E.B. DuBois. The sculpture was well received and she began sculpting busts of other African American leaders, including Marcus Garvey.

The sculpture that brought her the most fame was one of an expressive Harlem child, titled Gamin (1929). The work was also instrumental in awarding her a scholarship to study at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. A few years earlier in 1922, she had received the French scholarship but the offer was rescinded when white Alabama students who had received similar grants refused to travel to France unless she was removed from the group. 

Her unsuccessful appeal against that loss initiated her lifelong fight for civil rights and the recognition of black artists.

In the late 1930s, Savage was commissioned to create a sculpture for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The piece, The Harp, inspired by James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” became one of her best-known.

In 1940 she retired from art and moved to a farm in New York where she lived in rural obscurity. She passed away on March 26, 1962. While she was all but forgotten at the time of her death, Savage is remembered today as a great artist, activist, and arts educator.

I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work.
-Augusta Savage

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Seven Famous Art Collectors Make Their Mark https://artanddesigninspiration.com/seven-famous-art-collectors-make-their-mark/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/seven-famous-art-collectors-make-their-mark/#respond Sun, 17 May 2020 11:44:38 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7577 Find out who some of the most famous art collectors are in the world. From one of the most powerful women in art to...

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Find out who some of the most famous art collectors are in the world.

From one of the most powerful women in art to the woman who got her start in collecting vintage Hollywood photography; to the owner of the iconic The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, our selected seven have an interesting story.

Alice Walton Art Collector

Alice Walton

Alice Walton, the only daughter of the Late Sam Walton, co-founder of Wal-Mart is said to be the America’s richest art collector in America.

According to Forbes, Alice has been a collector of sorts since she was 11 years old, when she bought a 25-cent print of Picasso’s 1902 “Blue Nude” in one of her dad’s Ben Franklin stores (the chain he worked for prior to starting Walmart). She paid for it with five weeks of earnings from selling popcorn outside on the sidewalk.

Crystal Bridges
Stefan Krasowski – Flickr: Crystal Bridges

In 2011 she built her own art museum in rural Arkansas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

The museum’s permanent collection features American art from the Colonial era to the contemporary period. All of the featured artists are United States citizens, though some spent most of their art careers in Europe.

Jimson Weed

Notable works include:

  • Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife by John Singer Sargent, purchased 19 May 2004 for $8.8 million
  • Spring by Winslow Homer, purchased 1 December 2004 for $2.024 million
  • Coca-Cola [3] by Andy Warhol, purchased 12 November 2013 for $57.3 million
  • Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 by Georgia O’Keeffe, purchased 20 November 2014 for $44.405 million

And dozens more which can be explored virtually on Crystal Bridges.

 

Image: Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman with Robert Therrien's Table and Four Chairs, 2003. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Roach
Image: Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman with Robert Therrien’s Table and Four Chairs, 2003.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Roach

Glenn Fuhrman

Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman are avid collectors of contemporary art. According to Forbes, he was an art history major, and remains a keen collector of art. Fuhrman has been listed in Business Insider’s 25 most serious Wall Street art collectors, and, with his wife Amanda, in ARTnews‘ top 200 most active contemporary art collectors. Founder of FLAG Art Foundation.

Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the most powerful person in art. Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images
Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the most powerful person in art. Photograph: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

Sheikha Mayassa Al-Thani

33 year old Sheikha Mayassa Al-Thani is described by Forbes as the “undisputed queen of the art world.” In 2013 she was placed at the top of ArtReview’s Power 100 List and, according to them, her organization’s spending reaches a rate of $1 billion per year. In 2014, she was named on ARTnetnews’ The 100 Most Powerful Women in Art. She holds the record for £160m for the last privately held version of Paul Cezanne’s The Card Players.

Cézanne's Card Players Shatters Record For Highest Price Ever For A Work Of Art - Forbes
Cézanne’s Card Players Shatters Record For Highest Price Ever For A Work Of Art – Forbes

Eli-Broad

Eli Broad

Los Angeles’ most powerful artwork patron, Eli Broad is described by The New Yorker as “the Lorenzo de’ Medici of Los Angeles,” Eli Broad has a net worth of $7.2 billion. He and his wife created the Broad Art Foundation in 1984, which now owns more than $2.2 billion worth of art which it lends to institutions around the world. Eli and Edythe Broad have a long history of supporting the arts in California and across the USA.

Untitled Film Still #06, Cindy Sherman, 1977. Photo: The Broad Foundation, Santa Monica
Untitled Film Still #06, Cindy Sherman, 1977. Photo: The Broad Foundation, Santa Monica

RubellFamily

The Rubell Family

The Rubell Family Foundation was established in 1964 in New York by Donald and Mera Rubell. It is now one of the world’s largest, privately owned contemporary art collections located in Miami since 1993. The collection is constantly expanding and features well-known artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Kara Walker and Andy Warhol.

Maria Arena Bell at her office, photo by Emily Berl
Maria Arena Bell at her office, photo by Emily Berl

Bill and Maria Bell

Maria, the former head writer of CBS’s The Young and the Restless, a chair of the National Art Awards, and a former board co-chair of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), got her start collecting modestly priced George Hurrell vintage Hollywood photos.

By Mark A. Vieira - Marlene-Dietrich
By Mark A. Vieira – Marlene-Dietrich

steve-cohen

Steven Cohen

Billionaire former hedge fund manager Steven Cohen, who is reportedly worth some $11.1 billion, is said to spend 20 percent of his income on art, with a collection that famously includes a Pollock drip painting and Damien Hirst’s iconic shark piece, which he bought from Charles Saatchi for $8 million in 2004. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living or the shark piece is an artwork created in 1991 by Damien Hirst, an English artist and a leading member of the “Young British Artists” (or YBA). It consists of a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine.

In 2006, he offered to buy Picasso’s Le Rêve from Steve Wynn for $139 million, but Wynn accidentally put his elbow through the painting and the deal was off until last year, when Cohen finally purchased the painting, now repaired, for $155 million.

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Inspire Creativity: 10 Tips to Get Past the Creative Block https://artanddesigninspiration.com/inspire-creativity-10-tips-to-get-past-the-creative-block/ https://artanddesigninspiration.com/inspire-creativity-10-tips-to-get-past-the-creative-block/#comments Fri, 15 May 2020 09:13:26 +0000 https://artanddesigninspiration.com/?p=7330 How to Overcome a Creative Block Being creative is a trait shared by people in many career fields, not just artists or designers, but...

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How to Overcome a Creative Block

Being creative is a trait shared by people in many career fields, not just artists or designers, but writers, web designers, even bloggers. Regardless of how creative you are, there are times when it seems we all “hit a wall.” What do you do when you hit a mental block? Do you try to push through it, thinking that those creative thoughts will come if you just keep trying, or do you step back, take a deep breath and clear your mind for a moment?

It’s easy to become overwhelmed, stressed, and unable to spark those creative ideas when you hit a mental block. However, while clearing those cobwebs out of your brain you can also boost creativity!

Here’s how to overcome a creative block:

1. Fill up on inspiration.

Just like an athlete needs to be hydrated before a race an artists or designer needs a good source of ‘inspirational nourishment’ before and during projects. Find, gather and hoard the things that inspire you. Bookmark your favorite inspiration websites, have good sources for visuals

2. Indulge your senses in music.

Music can motivate, stimulate, and help you develop a positive attitude. Some people are more efficient and better at concentrating when soothing music is playing in the background, and music has been proven to increase Serotonin (feel-good hormone) levels in the brain.

3. You need a schedule, and an office.

Creative types are often busy, and don’t think about developing their creative talents further. Feel like you never have enough time to create? Mixing work with family and everyday tasks just doesn’t work for many of us. Choose a time and place to create, and commit to it whether that space is a home office, or a corner in the living room. Set a scheduled time for work each day – when you think you will get to it later, life gets in the way and later never comes!

4. Consider whether your space lends to creativity.

Your environment has a huge impact on your creativity, and if it’s dusty, cluttered, or dark and depressing, it will affect how well your mind works, how your ideas flow. Surround yourself in your favorite colors; clear the clutter and organize. Include artwork, family photos, those comfortable things you love. You’ll be surprised at how creating an environment you’re happy in sparks new ideas. Create an art studio in your home – here’s how

5. Put technology aside – at least for a little while.

Laptops, tablets, cell phones – most of us are immersed in digital technology, and it can be a drain on your brain. You need downtime, which means time spent reading a book, doing something you love outdoors, time away from all of the technological gadgets at our fingertips today. The learning process is slowed when your brain is constantly “plugged in,” so give it a break!

6. Stress free doodling.

The repetition and thoughtlessness that goes along with doodling can help you get past the creative block. When your thinking too much and hit the creative block, decompress with mindless doodles. In addition, paying continuous attention places a strain on the brain, and doodling may be just the break your brain needs to keep attending without losing total interest. In fact, doodling will likely activate your brain’s “unfocus” circuits, give your “focus” circuits a break, and allow you to more creatively and tirelessly solve a problem at hand..

7. Don’t stay isolated.


If you’re like most artists or designers, you thrive on alone time and working independently. It’s actually very difficult to create and work on projects with interruptions and chaos. You need your own quite space. However this quite space can get lonely and you can feel isolated especially when your stuck and need some help. Connect to Facebook groups of like-minded people. Meet up in person for an ‘art date’.

8. Capture ideas in a sketchbook.


How a source besides the phone to capture your thoughts and ideas. Carry sketchbooks where ever you go!

9. Change your thinking.


Are you putting too much pressure on yourself? Expecting instant and perfect results without going through the process can lead to a creative block. You know how it is… the harder your try the worse it becomes. Mentally you pressure yourself, get frustrated and use all the creative energy fighting it. Take a step back, change your thinking. Often acceptance helps to overcome the block.

10. Be good to yourself.

Do the things you enjoy, and that relax you. Sometimes being creative is exhausting, so take a nap, enjoy a long, hot bubble bath, meditate, get a good night’s sleep. An overworked mind isn’t good for anyone! Reinvigorating your body will reinvigorate your mind as well.

Try some of these things yourself, and see if it helps remove those mental blocks and get your creative juices flowing again! Above all, don’t force it. Creative blocks are an ebb and flow. Lean into it, trust your process, step away when you need to. Don’t fear that you’ll never get your vibe back. You will.

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