Category: 131

Like Basquiat, Keith Haring is one of my favourite artists. Born in Reading, Pennsylvania on May 4, 1958, and died February 16th, 1990, he was one of the most influential American artists of the late 20th century. I was introduced to his art while visiting an exhibition and instantly loved it. His artwork at first can strike the viewer as simple, fun, bold illustrations, but his work is much more than just surface value. Haring was a gay man who spoke on LGBT issues in his artwork, as well as creating images inspired by drug abuse and the issue of aids (see images 3 and 5). Tragically Haring died of aids, but he would live on through his artwork and influence in the modern-day, inspiring new artists with his vibrant and beautiful style.

Work Cited.

Keith Haring. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/artist/keith-haring.

Yood, J. (n.d.). Keith Haring. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Keith-Haring.

Gertrude Abercrombie was born in Texas on February 17, 1909, and died April 3, 1977. She was primarily based in Chicago and has been given the title, “the queen of bohemian artists”. She has said in interviews that she always paints herself, and from that, we can grasp that her artwork is a heavy representation of herself and her feelings. She was very popular in the Chicago art scene as well as the Chicago Jazz scene and worked with many musicians. I love her artwork, and in my opinion, the feeling I get from these works is a sense of comfort even in the eery scenes depicted. She uses very simple scenes that give me a feeling that could not be if her work was busier. Certain elements reoccur and there is a superstitious feeling to a lot of her work with items such as witches, brooms, owls, black cats and more. I love surrealist work and I believe that Gertrude has truly mastered the techniques and feelings that come with the style.

Work Cited.

Selvin, C. (2020, December 7). How Gertrude Abercrombie cultivated her own surrealist language. ARTnews.com. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/gertrude-abercrombie-who-is-she-famous-works-1234578346/.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, June 3). Gertrude Abercrombie. Wikipedia. Retrieved November 19, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Abercrombie.

Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux, France on April 20th, 1840 and died July 6, 1916. From early on, Odilon was able to have a hand in numerous mediums of art from architecture to sculping he got to experience a wide variety but still found himself using charcoal or paint in most of his works. I chose to research this artist because his work fascinates me, I both like and dislike it at the same time. I admire him because of his innovative work is, he served as a precursor for the surrealism movement, and a lot of his work is nightmarish and unsettling. Throughout his work, the theme of eyes (seen in image 2,4 and 5) makes several appearances, even in his self-portrait one eye is visible, perhaps his later work “The Cyclops” is a nod to both him and his self-portrait. I love the range of styles in his work, and that even though they shift throughout his various works, his overarching themes stay the same showing how peculiar imagery is incredibly powerful.

Work Cited.

Bertrand-Jean Redon. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.odilon-redon.org/.

Odilon Redon. (2021, August 22). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilon_Redon.

William Hogarth was born in England on November 10, 1697, and died on October 26, 1764. William created many different types of mediums of art. He was a portrait painter, satirist, social critic, and personally most interesting of them all he was a printmaker. His combination of these skills made his work some of the most unique and interesting works of his time in my opinion. My favourite of his works was “Beer Street and Gin Lane” seen in images two and three. He contrasts the good of beer with the bad of gin. At the time gin was very popular and William saw the problem with that craze and depicted the “evils” of gin, and likewise displayed the “good” with beer. The reason I find these prints so interesting is because of the contrast between them and a large majority of the art that came before. A lot of history saw realism, portraits, or other more basic depictions of life. The business of his work causes my eye to wander throughout the image with many different lively actions going on at once, making him one of the most fascinating artists at the time to me.

Work Cited.

“Beer Street and Gin Lane.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 June 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Street_and_Gin_Lane.

“William Hogarth.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Aug. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hogarth.

Giusto de’ Menabuoi was born in Florence, Italy in 1320 and died in Padua, Italy in 1391. He was a painter at the beginning of the renaissance period, known for his frescos and in particular, his work in the Baptistery of the Padua Duomo. While it is not confirmed, Giusto was thought to be an apprentice to the great master, Giotto. Around 1370 he moved to Padua, his work there earned him the alternative title Giusto Padovano. Giusto’s artistic style was very much his own and did not paint quite like the other artists living in the same period. Giusto was known for his vibrant use of colours, the painting “Paradise” seen in image one shows this use of colour, as well as his use of arrangement, creating an image that centres around Christ in a symmetrical fashion.

Work Cited.

F. Flores d’Arcais. “Encyclopedia of Medieval Art.” GIUSTO de ‘Menabuoi, Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia, 1996, https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giusto-de-menabuoi_(Enciclopedia-dell’-Arte-Medievale)

“Giusto de’ Menabuoi.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 December 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giusto_de%27_Menabuoi

The National Gallery, London. “Giusto De’ Menabuoi.” The National Gallery, https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/giusto-de-menabuoi.