131 – Ananya Eriyat

Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese modern artist who was born on February 1, 1962. He works with both painting and sculpture and commercial mediums and is noted for blurring the barrier between high and low arts. He popularized the phrase “superflat,” which defines both the aesthetic aspects of Japanese creative heritage and the nature of postwar Japanese culture and society and is also used to characterise Murakami’s artistic style and other Japanese artists influenced by him.

Murakami was born and raised in Tokyo. He had always been a lover of anime and manga (Japanese cartoons and comics), and he aspired to work in the animation industry. He studied drawing at Tokyo University of the Arts to become an animator, but he finally concentrated in Nihonga, the ‘traditional’ form of Japanese painting that integrates ancient Japanese aesthetic traditions, methods, and topics.

Below is one of the first characters he created. I love the colours, simplicity of the shapes and the silly yet eerie effect this piece has on its viewers.

Personally, ever since I went to Japan to pursue my Japanese language studies, I have always admired his work. I want to study at Tokyo university of art in the future and have always looked up to Takashi Murakami’s work. Like him, I have also grown up watching anime and reading manga since my parents are both animators and were big fans of the Japanese animation films. This was what drove me to admire Murakami’s work.

This one of his trademark artworks, that is recognized globally. I love how simplistic yet captivating this piece is. The name of the piece also makes me wonder what the artist thought before naming the piece.

Even though at first, I did not understand the impact of his work, after listening to my peers talk about his journey in class, I realized what an impact he has created.

These are some of his other artworks that really resinated with me:

This artwork of his named “727” really stood out to me. I admired how he merged the tradidtioal Japanese style painting along with his personal character style.

Works cites:

https://www.wikiart.org/en/takashi-murakami/all-works#!#filterName:all-paintings-chronologically,resultType:masonry

https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/

Remedios Varo

Remedios Varo Uranga, born on 16th December 1908, was one of the few female surrealist artists recognized in the first half of the twentieth century. Through her distinct and unconventional approach to surrealism, she defied the male-dominated artistic milieu of the time.

When the Spanish war broke out, Varo fled to Paris where she was influenced by the surrealist movement. Francisco Goya and Hieronymus Bosch’s artworks played a major role in her style. However, the foundations of surrealism were laid early throughout her youth, fuelled by her multicultural upbringing and background. Her father was also a major influence, instilling in her essential principles such as her impassioned perfectionism and freedom of imagination, which eventually manifested in her art.

**The battle ,** La batalla, (1947) and **The Souls of the Mountain,** (1938)

Varo found a safe haven in her paintings to rebel against catholic practices from her maternal side, from which she felt extremely confined. She fused supernatural entities and utopic technologies to create her own, unique aesthetic which can be seen in all her artworks.

Her major focus was mysticism and the occult, personally, I really admire the style and how she interprets her mystical thoughts and concepts into art while also rejecting Christian and religious symbols.

Varo passed away in 1963, under unfortunate circumstances at the peak of her career, from a heart in Mexico City.

The painting above is one of her paintings that stood out to me the most. At first, I thought about how the painting could depict the moon being trapped, but the title of the painting ” The star maker” really took me aback. I was so impressed by how she thought of this painting! A woman sitting in a small house feeding the moon to make stars, pushing them out through some simplistic technology.
The colors used in this painting are also really interestingly used. The sky is a dull grey, even though it is filled with stars and the bright mood that’s meant to be in the sky is in a cage that is in a small house. I love this painting and hope to develop my ideation and thinking abilities as Varo does.

Cats Paradise (1955), Plant architecture (1962) and Sympathy (1955)

Another really interesting aspect about Varo’s paintings that I found was the element of cats spread across some of her paintings. At first, I thought she adored cats but after researching, I realized that Varo painted cats to represent feminine symbols. I like how some painting’s main element is a cat while in some, for instance in her painting “Plant architecture” the cat is subtly placed in the center, in atone that almost merges with the background.
I find Surrealist art captivating since the interpretation is more open and it makes the viewer sit down and think about what the painting is trying to portray.

Works cited:

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-surrealists-paintings-inspire-witches-academics-alike

https://www.wikiart.org/en/remedios-varo/all-works#!#filterName:all-paintings-chronologically,resultType:masonry

Remedios Varo (1908-1963, Spanish)

Blog post III – Simeon Solomon

Simeon Solomon was a Pre-Raphaelite painter known for his representations of Jewish life and same-sex attraction. Born on October 9, 1840, he was born in London, the eighth child of an artistically minded middle-class Jewish family.

Self portrait (1859) – Graphite on paper

Shakespeare and the Bible had an early effect on Solomon. His descriptive prose reflects the Pre-Raphaelites’ impact on him at the time, particularly Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s work, which he met in 1858.

Like my former blog article on Frans Halz, I discovered how Simeon Solomon’s work was influenced by an artist who flourished around the same period. Simeon Solomon’s art is on the left, while Rossetti’s piece is on the right. I thought it was incredibly remarkable how similar the facial structure and shading were. I thought it was interesting how Solomon was inspired by Rossetti’s work and incorporated it into his style. It truly highlights the artists’ brilliance, skill, and competence

“Night” – Simeon Solomon (1890) and “Beata Beatrix” – Daniel Gabriel Rossetti (1864-1870)

These are some of his paintings that stood out me:

“The Moon and Sleep” – Oil on Canvas (1894)

I like how it is almost like Solomon is describing his take on love through this painting. After talking about artists, their works and interpretations of their work, I loved how this painting made me wonder what the artist was thinking and whether may take on this painting is the original thought behind this piece.

This illustration of his caught my eye. I love monochromatic illustrations and horror themes. Even though this etching does not have any demonic or ghost representations how this has been made, the dark shadows, the scared child embracing her mother, the unknown man sitting with his head down gave me chills. I want to know what scared this child. What is the definition of a”haunted house’ according to Solomon?

Simeon Solomon, at the age of 65, died in the dining room of St Giles Workhouse on August 14, 1905. He left a legacy of numerous pieces of art as well as a remarkably inspiring tale of a life spent without compromising his sexuality or his creativity.

Works cited:

Image sources:

Simeon Solomon’s art works: https://www.wikiart.org/en/simeon-solomon/night-1890

Daniel Rossettis’s art works: https://www.wikiart.org/en/dante-gabriel-rossetti/beata-beatrix-1880

Simeon Solomon’s self portrait: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/simeon-solomon-513

Factual information:

https://www.simeonsolomon.com/simeon-solomon-biography.html

Blog Post II – Frans Hals

Frans Hals was born in Antwerp between 1580 and 1581. His family relocated to Haarlem, and he lived there for the rest of his life. He was a Baroque painter who used a free technique to achieve realism.

Hals’ portraits and group portraits are his most well-known works. Pieter Van Den Broeke and Isaac Massa, whom he painted three times, are examples of wealthy people he solely painted portraits of.

Even though Hals’s paintings were high in demand, he was still struggling financially. Other than painting he also worked as an Art dealer and restorer. Many of his creditors took him to court and once he had to sell all his belongings to settle his debt with a baker in 1652.

I choose to write about Hals since I enjoy drawing people and faces as a growing artist. In my spare time, I enjoy drawing people and thinking about the techniques employed by previous artists, thus this study of Frans Hals has given me a new perspective on how to draw people.

Furthermore, while studying about Judith Leyster in class and how she was compared to Frans Hals when they drew the same painting intrigued me. I wanted to know about the painter in the past she was being compared to and analyze the differences.

‘Buffoon playing a lute’ (1623) and ‘The Jester'(1625)

Frans Hals’ painting of the ‘Buffoon playing a lute’ (1623) is on the left, and Judith Leyster’s painting ‘Jester'(1625) is on the right. I admire how Leyster’s painting is vibrant, and the details appear highly refined. I also enjoy how Frans Hals’ painting has a smooth, fluid quality to it. Both paintings provide me with a glimpse into the artist’s mind, which I adore. This example enlightens me on how two separate artists’ styles differ, as well as how their styles are both bold and unique. I admire how painters try to portray themselves on canvas.

The following paintings by Frans Hals stood out to me:

This picture piques my interest. It’s almost as if the girl in the painting is putting on a brave face after a full day of work. It’s almost as though the seagulls and stormy sky in the background are describing the challenging environment in which she works. I’m curious about the story behind the humble fisher girl depicted in this painting.

This painting stands out from the generic dull brown/grey tone that most of Frans Hals’s paintings have. The stark yet dull yellow stands out almost portraying the personality of the partially smiling man.

Works cited:

Image sources:

https://www.frans-hals.org/the-complete-works.html?pageno=8

https://en.wahooart.com/@@/8XYCUR-Judith-Leyster-The-Jester

Factual information:

https://www.frans-hals.org/biography.html

Blog Post I – Lavinia Fontana

Lavinia Fontana, born in 1552 was a mannerist painter in the High Renaissance & Mannerism period. She was born and raised in Bologna. She painted both in the field of portraiture as well as religious and mythological paintings. Her career as a painter prospered in both Bologna and Rome.
Lavinia was trained by her father, who was a teacher at the school of Bologna.

I chose to write about her since I was impressed by how she is regarded as the first female who prevailed with the career of being an artist in western Europe and how she also made her earnings with the help of her commissions.

One of her earliest paintings, Self portrait at the clavichord with a servant (1577)

Her art style was very intricate. Not only were the subjects detailed but the environment surrounding them was also impressively detailed.
Some of her few paintings that caught my eye are the following:

Portrait of Antonietta Gonsalvus (1583) also known as ‘child of the monkey’

The assumption of the virgin with Saints Peter Chrysologus and Cassian (1584)

Lavinia was also the first woman to paint nudes. Some art historians feel this is a topic of controversy. Since women were not allowed to be exposed to nudity, this makes them consider if like Sofonisba Anguissola, who was one of the first women to become an established painter in art history, Lavinia also made her family members model for her.
It is also said that her family relied on her commissions and that her husband was her agent and helped raise their 11 children.

Works cited:

Image source : https://www.wikiart.org/en/lavinia-fontana/all-works#!#filterName:all-paintings-chronologically,resultType:masonry

Factual Information: https://nmwa.org/art/artists/lavinia-fontana/