If you think that all great artists are in the past, then you have no idea how wrong you are. In this article you will learn about the most famous and talented artists modernity. And, believe me, their works will remain in your memory no less deeply than the works of maestros from past eras.
Wojciech Babski
Wojciech Babski is a contemporary Polish artist. He completed his studies at the Silesian Polytechnic Institute, but associated himself with. IN Lately draws mainly women. Focuses on the expression of emotions, strives to obtain the greatest possible effect using simple means.
Loves color, but often uses shades of black and gray to achieve best experience. Not afraid to experiment with different new techniques. Recently, he has been gaining increasing popularity abroad, mainly in the UK, where he successfully sells his works, which can already be found in many private collections. In addition to art, he is interested in cosmology and philosophy. Listens to jazz. Currently lives and works in Katowice.
Warren Chang
Warren Chang is a contemporary American artist. Born in 1957 and raised in Monterey, California, he graduated with honors from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1981, where he received a B.A. fine arts in area . Over the next two decades, he worked as an illustrator for various companies in California and New York before starting his career in 2009 professional artist.
His realistic paintings can be divided into two main categories: biographical interior paintings and paintings depicting people at work. His interest in this style of painting dates back to the work of the 16th century artist Johannes Vermeer, and extends to subjects, self-portraits, portraits of family members, friends, students, studio interiors, classrooms and homes. Its goal is to realistic paintings create mood and emotion through the manipulation of light and the use of muted colors.
Chang became famous after switching to traditional fine arts. Over the past 12 years, he has earned numerous awards and honors, the most prestigious of which is the Master Signature from the Oil Painters of America, the largest oil painting community in the United States. Only one person out of 50 is given the opportunity to receive this award. Warren currently lives in Monterey and works in his studio, and he also teaches (known as a talented teacher) at the San Francisco Academy of Art.
Aurelio Bruni
Aurelio Bruni – Italian artist. Born in Blair, October 15, 1955. He received a diploma in scenography from the Institute of Art in Spoleto. As an artist, he is self-taught, as he independently “built a house of knowledge” on the foundation laid in school. He began painting in oils at the age of 19. Currently lives and works in Umbria.
Bruni's early paintings are rooted in surrealism, but over time he begins to focus on the proximity of lyrical romanticism and symbolism, enhancing this combination with the exquisite sophistication and purity of his characters. Animated and inanimate objects acquire equal dignity and look almost hyper-realistic, but at the same time they do not hide behind a curtain, but allow you to see the essence of your soul. Versatility and sophistication, sensuality and loneliness, thoughtfulness and fruitfulness are the spirit of Aurelio Bruni, nourished by the splendor of art and the harmony of music.
Aleksander Balos
Alkasander Balos is a contemporary Polish artist specializing in oil painting. Born in 1970 in Gliwice, Poland, but since 1989 he has lived and worked in the USA, in Shasta, California.
As a child, he studied art under the guidance of his father Jan, a self-taught artist and sculptor, so from an early age, artistic activity received full support from both parents. In 1989, at the age of eighteen, Balos left Poland for the United States, where his school teacher and part-time artist Cathy Gaggliardi encouraged Alkasander to enroll in art school. Balos then received a full scholarship to the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he studied painting with philosophy professor Harry Rozin.
After graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree, Balos moved to Chicago to study at the School of Fine Arts, whose methods are based on the work of Jacques-Louis David. Figurative realism and portrait painting formed the majority of Balos' work in the 90s and early 2000s. Today Balos uses the human figure to highlight features and show flaws. human existence without offering any solutions.
The subject compositions of his paintings are intended to be independently interpreted by the viewer, only then will the paintings acquire their true temporal and subjective meaning. In 2005, the artist moved to Northern California, since then the subject matter of his work has expanded significantly and now includes freer painting methods, including abstraction and various multimedia styles that help express ideas and ideals of existence through painting.
Alyssa Monks
Alyssa Monks – modern American artist. Born in 1977, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I began to be interested in painting when I was still a child. Studied at the New School in New York and State University Montclair and graduated from Boston College in 1999 with a B.A. At the same time, she studied painting at the Lorenzo de' Medici Academy in Florence.
Then she continued her studies in the master's degree program at the New York Academy of Art, in the department of Figurative Art, graduating in 2001. She graduated from Fullerton College in 2006. For some time she lectured at universities and educational institutions throughout the country, she taught painting at the New York Academy of Art, as well as Montclair State University and Lyme Academy of Art College.
“Using filters such as glass, vinyl, water and steam, I distort the human body. These filters allow you to create large areas abstract design, with islands of color peeking through - parts of the human body.
My paintings change modern look to the already established, traditional poses and gestures of bathing women. They could tell an attentive viewer a lot about such seemingly self-evident things as the benefits of swimming, dancing, and so on. My characters press themselves against the glass of the shower window, distorting their own bodies, realizing that they thereby influence the notorious male gaze on a naked woman. Thick layers of paint are mixed to imitate glass, steam, water and flesh from afar. However, up close, the amazing physical properties oil paint. By experimenting with layers of paint and color, I find a point where abstract brushstrokes become something else.
When I first started painting the human body, I was immediately fascinated and even obsessed with it and believed that I had to make my paintings as realistic as possible. I “professed” realism until it began to unravel and reveal contradictions in itself. I am now exploring the possibilities and potential of a style of painting where representational painting and abstraction meet – if both styles can coexist at the same moment in time, I will do so.”
Antonio Finelli
Italian artist – “ Time Observer” – Antonio Finelli was born on February 23, 1985. Currently lives and works in Italy between Rome and Campobasso. His works have been exhibited in several galleries in Italy and abroad: Rome, Florence, Novara, Genoa, Palermo, Istanbul, Ankara, New York, and can also be found in private and public collections.
Pencil drawings " Time Observer"Antonio Finelli takes us on an eternal journey through inner world human temporality and the associated scrupulous analysis of this world, the main element of which is the passage through time and the traces it makes on the skin.
Finelli paints portraits of people of any age, gender and nationality, whose facial expressions indicate passage through time, and the artist also hopes to find evidence of the mercilessness of time on the bodies of his characters. Antonio defines his works with one, general title: “Self-portrait”, because in his pencil drawings he not only depicts a person, but allows the viewer to contemplate real results the passage of time within a person.
Flaminia Carloni
Flaminia Carloni is a 37-year-old Italian artist, the daughter of a diplomat. She has three children. She lived in Rome for twelve years, and for three years in England and France. She received a degree in art history from the BD School of Art. Then she received a diploma as an art restorer. Before finding her calling and devoting herself entirely to painting, she worked as a journalist, colorist, designer, and actress.
Flaminia's passion for painting arose in childhood. Her main medium is oil because she loves to “coiffer la pate” and also play with the material. She recognized a similar technique in the works of artist Pascal Torua. Flaminia is inspired by great masters of painting such as Balthus, Hopper, and François Legrand, as well as various artistic movements: street art, Chinese realism, surrealism and Renaissance realism. Her favorite artist Caravaggio. Her dream is to discover the therapeutic power of art.
Denis Chernov
Denis Chernov - talented Ukrainian artist, born in 1978 in Sambir, Lviv region, Ukraine. After graduating from Kharkov art school in 1998 he remained in Kharkov, where he currently lives and works. He also studied at the Kharkov State Academy of Design and Arts, Department of Graphic Arts, graduating in 2004.
He regularly participates in art exhibitions, this moment more than sixty of them took place, both in Ukraine and abroad. Most of Denis Chernov's works are kept in private collections in Ukraine, Russia, Italy, England, Spain, Greece, France, USA, Canada and Japan. Some of the works were sold at Christie's.
Denis works in a wide range of graphic and painting techniques. Pencil drawings are one of his most favorite painting methods; the list of themes in his pencil drawings is also very diverse; he paints landscapes, portraits, nudes, genre compositions, book illustrations, literary and historical reconstructions and fantasies.
By the mid-19th century, landscape became the dominant genre of American painting. Many artists of that time are united in the group “Hudson River School,” which included more than 50 landscape painters of two generations.
The most famous American landscape artist of those years can be considered Thomas Cole (1801-1848),
born in England and moved to America at the age of 17 with his parents. He studied painting with a traveling artist, was self-taught, traveled a lot around the country, visited England and Italy,
But he considered American nature much more picturesque than European nature.
The closest thing to Cole's style was his friend Asher Duran(1796-1886), who started out as a graphic artist,
But after traveling with a friend through the mountains of America, he became interested in landscapes and painted a lot from life.
The artist painted this painting in memory of his deceased friend; at auction in 2007, $35 million was paid for it.
One of the central figures in the Hudson River School was Frederic Edwin Church, who became Cole’s student at the age of 18.
From spring to autumn he traveled around the country and the world,
First alone, and then with his family, often on foot, he made sketches, and in winter he painted his large bright pictures and sold them successfully.
Albert Bierstadt(1830-1902) also traveled a lot around the country and Europe, willingly painted the Alps, but his real love was the Rocky Mountains,
Wild West, Indians.
He managed to convey this love on his large canvases, masterfully using the effect of light and shadow.
Thomas Moran(1836-1926), emigrated with his parents from England as a child, worked as an apprentice woodcarver as a teenager, and began painting landscapes at an early age.
While studying in England, he was greatly influenced by the works of William Turner and his ability to fill his canvases with light.
Moran paints landscapes of England, views of Venice,
but most of his works are devoted to Wild West and the beloved Rocky Mountains. His participation in the exploration expedition to these places and his drawings contributed to the transformation of Yellowstone into national park.
John Frederick Kensett(1816-1872), representative of "luminism" * in American landscape painting Hudson River Schools. My first art education he received from his father while working in his engraving workshop, but dreamed of painting landscapes.
He goes to England, then to France, admires Dutch and English landscape painting, and travels through Italy.
Returning to America, continuing to paint calm landscapes filled with pure light and executed in an exquisite manner, Kensett gained popularity among collectors, success and wealth.
John F. Francis(1808 -1906), a self-taught artist who began as a portrait painter, is known for his still lifes.
It was portrait painting that aroused his interest in small details which he developed so successfully in his works.
Still life was popular at the time, Francis's paintings were in demand, and he became a leading artist in the genre of "table" still life, depicting fruits, nuts, cheese, cookies and other products.
Martin Johnson Heed(1819-1904), born into the family of a storekeeper, also began as a portrait painter, maintained friendly relations with the artists of the Hudson River School and wrote romantic seascapes,
traveled through Europe, wandered along the American shores. After traveling in the tropics, the main themes of his work became Florida landscapes,
tropical birds (about 40 paintings with hummingbirds alone) and flowers, especially magnolias.
He did not become a recognized and famous artist during his lifetime, but today his works can be found in largest museums, and sometimes even in garages and flea markets.
Thomas Eakins(1844-1916), one of the founders of the realistic movement, painter, graphic artist, sculptor, photographer, teacher,
He was one of the first to turn to depicting urban life in America. He received his education in Philadelphia, continued it in Paris, traveled around Europe, admired the works of the Spanish realist masters Velazquez and Ribera, and the effect of light and shadow in Rembrandt.
It was from them that he learned to depict a naked body in motion, the drama of the action taking place, and to contrast the dark interior in a portrait with intense light directed at the face and figure.
Eakins did not receive much recognition during his lifetime, but later descendants appreciated his realistic style.
Winslow Homer(1838-1910), eminent American landscape artist and an engraver who worked in a realistic style.
He received his initial artistic education from his mother, who painted talented watercolors, and from her he inherited a strong-willed, sociable character and a sense of humor. His career began with graphics, for 20 years he worked as an illustrator, during Civil War made sketches and drawings about the war and its consequences, on the basis of which he later created paintings.
Soon after the war, Homer went to Paris, where he continued to paint landscapes and scenes of city life; his work was close to the Barbizon school. Although he actively uses the play of light in his paintings, characteristic of the impressionists, there is no evidence of their influence on his work; by that time he had already developed his own independent style.
His greatest fame was brought to him by his paintings of marine themes,
Scenes from rural life, and from a trip to England he brought paintings telling about the life of fishing villages, seascapes and watercolors.
He travels extensively throughout the United States and Central America, painting tropical and snowy landscapes, children and animals. It is believed that Homer was one of a generation of artists who created their own American art school.
James Whistler(1834-1903), born into the family of a famous engineer,
At the age of eight, he moved with his parents to St. Petersburg, where his father was invited to work in management railway. There, young Whistler first took private drawing lessons, and at the age of 11 he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts. For some time he lived with his mother in London, continuing to study art, draw and collect books about painting.
After his father's death from cholera, Whistler's family returned to America, lived modestly, and he entered the Military Academy at West Point, but he was not physically, externally, or mentally prepared for military career and was expelled. Then he firmly decided that art would be his future, began creating etchings, left for Paris and never returned to his homeland. There Whistler rented a studio in the Latin Quarter, led a bohemian life, smoked and drank a lot, but also painted copies of paintings by great masters in the Louvre to earn money, studied art, worshiped Courbet and Corot, admired Japanese graphics and oriental art in general.
After moving to London and successfully participating in the exhibition, Whistler soon made a name for himself not only as an artist, but also made many friends among artists and writers thanks to his wit, dress sense and generosity. He traveled a lot to study the work of great masters and paint pictures; in 1869 he began signing his paintings with a monogram - a butterfly, consisting of his initials.
His favorite colors are gray, black and brown. Whistler preached “art for art’s sake,” pure, unencumbered by ideas, appealing to artistic feelings rather than emotions, and often gave his paintings musical titles.
It is believed that he was close to impressionism in the mood in his paintings, but not in color scheme and lighting effects.
In the provided slideshow you can see more pictures all the artists mentioned.
Finally, I came to my favorite topic - "Impressionists", but that's for next time. To be continued.
*Luminisim- a direction in American landscape painting, characterized by saturation of light, use aerial perspective and hiding visible strokes. (
AMERICAN PAINTING. REALISM AT THE TURN OF THE 19th AND 20TH CENTURIES.At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when US painting was dominated by two commercially successful and respected movements - impressionism and academic realism, the desire of some artists emerged and grew stronger to reflect the real modern life of the city with its sometimes cruel moments, to depict the unvarnished life of the city outskirts, street children, prostitutes, alcoholics, life in apartment buildings. They believed that painting could be akin to journalism, although many of these artists were apolitical and did not limit themselves to reflecting the ills and poverty of city life.
“...I loved cities very much, I loved the majestic, fast river,
All the women, all the men I recognized were close to me...
... And I lived in the world, I loved Brooklyn - abundant with hills, it was mine,
And I wandered around Manhattan, and I swam in the salty waters washing the island ... "
(Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass. On the Brooklyn Ferry.)
The ideologist of this movement, Robert Henry, a fan of the poetry of Walt Whitman, demanded from his students that their “colors be as real as dirt, as lumps of horse shit and snow in winter on Broadway.” Because of its predilection for such subjects, this movement received the nickname “garbage can school” or “garbage can school,” which stuck with it and is used in art history literature. This movement was met with hostility by many critics; after the first exhibition, one of them, under the pseudonym “Jeweler,” wrote: “Vulgarity hits the eyes at this exhibition... Can art that shows our sores be beautiful?” The Garbage Pail School is sometimes identified with the Group of Eight, although not all (only 5) of its members were part of it, and three artists, Davis, Lawson and Prendergast, performed in a completely different style.
Robert Henry(Cozad), (1865-1929), artist, teacher, inspirer of the “Garbage Pail School” and organizer of the “Eight” group,
Born in Cincinnati in the family of a real estate developer and a gambler. In a skirmish over land ownership, the father shot his opponent and fled to Denver, where the whole family later moved, changing their first and last names. After studying for two years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, young Robert went to Paris to the Académie Julien to study with academic realists.
After a trip to Italy, he returned to Philadelphia and began teaching at the School of Design for Women, he was considered a natural teacher. By the age of thirty, Henry came to the idea of the need to develop a direction in painting that would combine realism and elements of impressionism, and called it “new academicism.”
His friends and followers did not consider themselves united organized group, but an exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in New York in 1908 attracted attention to the artists of the new movement and brought them fame. In 1910, Henry, with the help of Sloan, organized an exhibition of Independent artists, at which only a few paintings were sold; artists of this direction were already being replaced by new modern art, the herald and “father” of which Robert Henry can be considered.
The following years brought Henry popularity; he spent a lot of time in Ireland and Santa Fe, taught at the Students' League in New York, and had a great influence on the development of the modernist movement among his student artists. In 1929 he was named one of the top three living American artists by the New York Arts Council. The classic elements of his style in portraiture are a strong brushwork, intense colors and lighting effects, a reflection of a person’s individuality and spiritual qualities.
John French Sloan(1871-1951), one of the founders of the Garbage Pail School, member of the Eight, artist and engraver.
His father had artistic ability and encouraged his children with early childhood to drawing. He began working early due to his father's illness, and his job as a bookstore clerk left him with plenty of free time to read, draw, and copy works by Dürer and Rembrandt, whom he admired. He also began making etchings and selling them in a store, and his cards and calendars were a success. Later working as an illustrator, he began taking evening classes at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he met Robert Henry, who convinced him to turn to painting.
His difficult story family life(alcoholism and mental instability of the wife, former prostitute, whom he met in a brothel), interfered with his creativity, and although he painted almost 60 paintings by 1903, he still had no name in the art world and sold little of his work. Having moved to New York, he worked part-time in magazines, drew political cartoons, illustrated books, participated in an exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery and after it organized a traveling exhibition, success finally came to him.
Throughout his subsequent life, Sloan was faithful to socialist ideas, which was certainly reflected in his work, but he categorically objected to critics’ statements about the conscious social orientation of his painting.
In the late 1920s, Sloan changed not only the technique, but also the subjects of his paintings in favor of nudes and portraits, often using underpainting and shading, and never again achieved the popularity that his early work had.
William J. Glakkens(1870-1938), also one of the founders of the Garbage Pail School, was born in Philadelphia, where many generations of his family lived. His brother and sister also became artists. William himself, having shown artistic abilities while still at school, worked after graduation as an artist for newspapers, attended an evening course at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he met young Sloan, who introduced him to Robert Henry.
In 1895, Glakkens traveled with a group of artists around Europe, admired the paintings of the great “Dutch”, and in Paris he first became acquainted with the art of the Impressionists, then throughout his life he often went to paint in Paris and the South of France. After returning to the United States, Glakkens settled in New York and actively participated in the exhibition activities of the Garbage Pail School and the Eight Group.
The impressionistic direction is increasingly evident in his work, he is even called the “American Renoir”, and unlike Sloan, he was not a “social chronicler”, but a “pure” artist, for whom art form, color and sensuality were of paramount importance. His palette brightens over the years, his subjects change meaning, landscapes, beach scenes predominate, and at the end of his life - still lifes and portraits.
His art doesn't reflect social problems day, the time of the Great Depression, rather the opposite - “his paintings are filled with the ghost of happiness, he is obsessed with the contemplation of joy” (Leslie Keith, “The Constancy of William Glackens, 1966).
George Benjamin Lax(1867-1933) was born in Williamsport to a pharmacist whose mother was an amateur artist and musician. After moving to a small town in southern Pennsylvania, located near the coal fields, George early saw poverty and learned lessons in compassion from his parents, who helped the families of miners.
He began his working life back in adolescence, working with his brother in vaudeville, but very early on he realized that he wanted to be an artist. After a short study at the Academy of Fine Arts, he went to Europe, studied various art schools, became a fan of Spanish and Dutch painting(especially Velazquez and Frans Hals) and Manet's techniques. Returning to Philadelphia, Lax works as an illustrator for a newspaper, meets Glackens, Sloan and Shinn, participates in intellectual meetings with Robert Henry, and after moving to New York and working as an artist for Pulitzer's magazine, begins to devote more time to painting.
He is involved in the Garbage Pail School and the Group of Eight, contributes to debates about New Realism, and paints extensively, depicting the lives of immigrants, their ethnic diversity, drawing material from the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. In addition to paintings about New York life, Lax painted landscapes and portraits; he was considered a master of strong color and light effects.
Lax was an original personality, a born rebel, proud of the fact that those around him considered him the “bad boy” of American art, created myths about himself, often drank to the point of unconsciousness, was an alcoholic, and was eventually found murdered in a hallway as a result of a domestic fight.
Everett Shinn(1876-1953), born in Woodstown to a Quaker family of farmers.
His early abilities allowed him to begin seriously studying the basics of drawing at the age of 15, take lessons at the Academy of Fine Arts a year later, and at the age of 17 begin working as a full-time artist in newspapers. Having moved to New York in 1897, the young Shinn soon gained fame as one of the talented realists depicting city life, street violence, accidents and fires.
After traveling with his wife through Europe, Shinn began to explore new subjects (theater, ballet) and impressionistic elements in painting. He is the only one of the "Garbage Pail School" and the "Group of Eight" who has many works in pastels, as well as murals not only in the apartments of the Manhattan elite, but also 18 murals for the famous Broadway Belasco Theater. Shinn believed that "he was an accidental member of the eight", with no political position and committed social life, but reflecting a piece of American reality of the early twentieth century in a realistic and romantic spirit.
There is an assumption that Everett Shinn served as the prototype for the artist Eugene Whittle in T. Dreiser’s novel “Genius”.
Ernest Lawson(1873-1939), born in Halifax, came to the United States, lived first in Kansas City and then in New York, studied at the Art Students League with Touktman, who introduced him to impressionism.
In France, while studying at the Julien Academy, he became interested in plein air painting and met Sisley and Somerset Maugham. Returning to the States, Lawson developed his own aesthetic style, bordering impressionism and realism, and has been called "America's last impressionist."
He travels a lot around the country, paints deserted landscapes, meets with the artists of the “Garbage Pail School” and becomes a member of the “Eight” group, but unlike them, he avoids drama in depicting city life and after participating in the exhibition contemporary art"Armory Show", without abandoning realistic and impressionistic tendencies, shows an interest in post-impressionism, in particular in Cezanne.
Lawson's work is not as well known as his other contemporaries, but Robert Henry considered him "the greatest landscape painter since Winslow Hommer." He drowned under mysterious circumstances while swimming on Miami Beach.
George Wesley Bellows(1882-1925), was late and only child in the family of the daughter of a whaling ship captain. At Ohio State University, he studied and successfully played baseball and basketball while illustrating the university yearbook; he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player and worked as an illustrator for magazines. In 1904, without graduating from university, Bellows moved to New York, entered the School of Art, joined the artists of the Garbage Pail School and the Group of Eight, and rented his own studio on Broadway.
Participating in exhibitions with Robert Henry's students and teaching at the Art Students League brought him fame, although many critics considered his work "crude" not only in subject matter, but also stylistically.
Continuing the themes of urban life and sports in his work, Bellows also began to receive commissions for portraits from the wealthy elite, and in the summer he painted seascapes in Maine.
He was very politicized, adhered to socialist and even anarchist views, and worked as an illustrator for a socialist magazine. In 1918, he created a series of prints and paintings depicting the atrocities committed by German soldiers during the invasion of Belgium.
Bellows also made significant contributions to lithography and illustrated many books, including several editions of H. G. Wells. He died at the age of 42 from peritonitis after a botched operation, leaving behind a wife, two daughters and a large number of paintings and prints that are today in many major American museums.
The next two artists cannot be fully attributed to either the “Garbage Pail School” or the “Eight” group; they are rather closer to the modernist movement, they are more open to experimentation, their work can be viewed with good reason considered a transitional stage to post-impressionism.
Arthur Bowen Davis(1853-1928), already at the age of 15 he took part in a traveling exhibition in his city, organized by members of the Hudson River School. After his family moved to Chicago, he studied at the Academy of Design, and after moving to New York, he studied at the Art Students League and worked as an illustrator for a magazine.
Difficult family circumstances (Davis's infidelity, the presence of a second illegitimate wife and an illegitimate child) left their mark on his behavior and secretive character, but already in the first year after his marriage, Davis's paintings began to sell successfully, and regular trips to Europe and the works of Corot and Millet helped him hone your sense of color and develop your own painting style.
In the twenties he was recognized as one of the most respected and financially successful American artists. As a member of the "Eight", he was the main organizer of the Armory Show, more knowledgeable in modern art than his comrades, acted as an adviser to many wealthy New Yorkers in making purchases for their collections, and helped many young artists with advice and money.
Arthur B. Davis is an anomalous phenomenon in American painting: his own lyrical style can be described as restrained and conservative, but his tastes and interests were completely avant-garde.
Maurice Brazil Prendergast(1858-1924) and his twin brother were born into the family of a trading post merchant in the British Colony North America. After moving to Boston, Maurice, who was capable of drawing, was apprenticed to a commercial artist by his father, which explains the brightness and “flatness” of his work.
Studying in Paris at the Académie Colarossi, and then at the Académie Julien, acquaintance with the work of English and French avant-garde artists, studying the works of Van Gogh and Seurat actually led him to post-impressionism. Prendergast was one of the first Americans to recognize Cézanne, understand his work and use his expressive methods of conveying form and color. Returning to Boston in 1895, he worked primarily in watercolor.
And monotypes, and after a trip to Italy he gained fame and critical acclaim for his works dedicated to Venice.
He meets the Group of Eight artists, participates with them in the famous exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908, and Glakkens becomes his lifelong friend. The seven works he exhibited at the Armory Show showed his stylistic maturity and final commitment to Post-Impressionism, his style emerging and aptly described by critics as “tapestry-like” or “mosaic-like.”
Prendergast remained a bachelor throughout his life, perhaps due to natural shyness, poor health, and severe deafness in his later years.
It is interesting that in subsequent years the realistic trend in American painting did not lose its relevance and was reflected and developed in post-impressionism, “magical realism” and “regionalism”. But more on that next time.
And, as always, a slide show on the topic, which features many more reproductions.
Each country has its own heroes of contemporary art, whose names are well-known, whose exhibitions attract crowds of fans and curious people, and whose works are sold to private collections.
In this article we will introduce you to the most popular contemporary artists USA.
Iva Morris
American artist Iva Morris was born into a large family far from art and received her art education after school. She received her bachelor's degree in art from the University of New Mexico in 1981. Today, Iva has been engaged in art for more than 20 years, her works are known both at home and abroad, and have repeatedly brought her prizes and awards. You can see them in galleries in Albuquerque, Sante Fe, New Mexico, and Madrid.
Warren Chang
Born in 1957 in California, Urren Cheng received a BFA in painting from Pasadena College of Design and spent the next 20 years working as an illustrator for various companies, only beginning his career as a professional artist in 2009. Cheng's painting style is rooted in the work of the 16th century artist Johannes Vermeer - Warren Cheng works in a realistic manner, creating two main categories: biographical interior paintings and paintings depicting people at work. Currently teaches at the Academy of Art in San Francisco.
Christopher Traedy Ulrich
Los Angeles-based artist Christopher Ulrich is a surrealist with an iconographic bent. His work was greatly influenced by ancient mythology. Ulrich's first solo exhibition (joint with artist Billy Shire) took place in June 2009.
Michael DeVore
Young artist and Oklahoma City native Michael DeVore works in the classical realist tradition. He came to art with the help and support of his family, and won numerous awards in his home state before studying fine art at Pepperdine University in Malibu. Then the artist continued his studies in Italy. Currently, his works are exhibited around the world and are in private collections. Michael Devore is a member of the Oil Painters of America, the International Guild of Realism, National Society oil and acrylic artists and the Society of Portrait Painters of America.
Mary Carol Kenney
Mary Carol Kenny was born in Indiana in 1953. By education, she is very vaguely related to the fine arts, but since 2002, driven by the desire to become an artist, she began taking sculpture and ceramics classes at Santa Barbara City College, and then began studying with Ricky Shtrikh. Today she is a member of The Santa Barbara Art Ass, the guild of Santa Barbara sculptors and the winner of many awards in sculpture and painting.
Patricia Watwood
Realist artist Patricia Watwood was born in 1971 in Missouri. She graduated with honors from the Academy of Fine Arts, studied in the workshop of Jacob Collins and Ted Seth Jacobs. The artist’s style is modern classicism: mythology, allegories and modern life. For the past few years, Patricia has lectured on classicism throughout the country and now lives with her family in Brooklyn.
Paula Rubino
Paula Rubino, a contemporary American artist and writer, was born in 1968 in New Jersey and grew up in Florida. Has a doctorate in law. In the 90s she moved to Mexico and focused on painting. She studied the art of drawing in Italy, where she finished her first novel. A series of her short stories has also been published. Currently lives in Florida.
Patssi Valdez
Patssy Valdez was born in Los Angeles in 1951 and studied fine art at the Otis Art Institute, where she was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Class of 1980. In 2005, Valdez received the Latina Award and the title "Latina of Excellence in the Cultural Arts" from the United States Congressional Hispanic Forum. She became famous early in her career while working with the avant-garde art group ASCO. He is the winner of many prestigious awards, including those awarded by the Trust Fund visual arts J. Paul Getty, National Endowment for the Arts. She received a Brody Fellowship in Visual Arts. Valdez's paintings are part of several major collections.
Cynthia Grilli
Artist Cynthia Grilli received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1992 and an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art by 1994. Her work has been published in numerous US publications, exhibited throughout the country, and is included in private and corporate collections in America and Europe. Cynthia is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation.
Eric Fischl
Eric Fischl was born in New York in 1948. In 1972 he graduated from the California Institute of the Arts and received a bachelor's degree. After graduation, he worked for some time as a security guard at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. Having moved to Scotland, Fischl began teaching at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and began painting directly. His first personal exhibition took place in Scotland. The genres of his works are very diverse, but mainly figurative painting, episodes from modern American life.
