Back by Popular Demand: Inside the Artist’s Studio
In the savvy film, “New York Stories,” the character played by Nick Nolte is an artistic genius, drunk and painting ferociously all night long to ear splitting rock music in his very romantic loft studio.
Artists’ studios are remarkably diverse. A setting for contemplative reflection or for wild collaborative social galas, hidden in a barn or located in a “state of the art” warehouse..cluttered or pristine.. all, even in Nick Nolte’s fictitious studio, are places where creative work happens!
Check out these famous artists’ (and one not so famous!) studios.
Matisse (1869-1954)
Photo: Matisse's Last Studio
Blue Nude II
Matisse, 1952
Matisse, after first studying law discovered his passion for art, and as a young man he was confined to his bed for nearly a year with an illness. He began drawing from his bed as a pastime. At age 85, and once again confined to his bed, he produced one of his last great paintings, “Blue Nude II.”
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Francis Bacon (1909-1992)
Photo: Francis Bacon's Studio
Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Francis Bacon, 1953
You may love or hate his work but Francis Bacon, Irish artist, is famously known for his paintings of bold graphic and emotional raw energy. Margaret Thatcher described him as “that man who paints those dreadful pictures.” The Tate Museum in London sold out two Francis Bacon retrospective shows.
View this unbelievable video of Bacon’s Studio.
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Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Photo: Andy Warhol's Studio
Marilyn
Andy Warhol, 1964
Andy Warhol’s studio was not only his working space but the hip hangout for musicians, artists, film stars and socialites. His studio was called The Factory.
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Kirby Kendrick
Outdoor Studio, San Diego, CA
KA-POW! Olive
Kirby Kendrick, 2011
Kirby Kendrick, San Diego/Santa Fe, NM, artist paints on any surface that stands still long enough.
Watch Kirby’s video of KA-POW!, her traveling exhibition.
Click here if you are unable to view the video.
Mark Rothko: Paintings of Ecstasy and Tragedy
No. 8, 1952
Mark Rothko
“I’m not here to make ‘pretty pictures!’ I want my paintings to stop your heart, you understand that?! I am here to make you think…feel a moan of rapture…sense the divine, or damned.” — Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko felt that a painting was not just about an artist painting his own experience; it was also an experience for the viewer. His paintings needed us, the observers.
Luminous colors seem to hover over the huge canvases. The rectangles seem to pulsate; they move.
Red, White and Brown, 1957
Mark Rothko
Rothko believed colors held mythical powers which transported the observer. He urged the viewer “to lean forward, lean into the painting. Engage with it. Get close. Let the picture do its work.”
His colors quiver with the pathos of tragedy and ecstasy…emotions that ruled his life.
No. 20, 1957
Mark Rothko
“There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend…One day the black will swallow the red.”
Mark Rothko committed suicide at the age of 66 in 1970, at the height of his fame and wealth. His last paintings were the colors of tragedy: brown, dark blue and black.
Watch highlights from the award winning Broadway play, “RED”, about Mark Rothko!
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Art and The Radiant Bath
Nude in the Bath and Small Dog, 1941
Pierre Bonnard
Bano de Espuma, 2002
Kirby Kendrick
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), French master of 20th Century art, painted this intimate, jewel-like image of his life-long muse and wife, Marthe, in her iconic claw-footed bathtub.
Marthe, a neurotic, had a mania for cleanliness and retreated for hours everyday to her bath; art historians also say she may have suffered from a medical condition, for which the treatment was water therapy.
Bonnard, ever the artist, repeatedly painted this bath scene, capturing this prosaic setting, and transforming it into a rich and exotic world with glowing tiles, smooth ceramic surfaces, light and pattern.
Although Marthe was 62 years old at the time of Bonnard’s painting, she is portrayed as a young woman. Marthe, who appears in almost 400 of Bonnard’s 500 paintings, never seems to age.
Hmmm, could it be the water?
Masterpieces of Pierre Bonnard. Use this link if unable to view the video.
Spectacular Performance Art
Studio Visit, 2005
Joe Sola
Artist Joe Sola was in his second story studio being interviewed by a couple of haughty and condescending art critics.
Midway through the humdrum interview Sola got up and took a flying leap out of his closed second story studio window in an explosion of glass.
The stunned art critics dashed to the window, only to find Sola chortling on top of a pile of strategically arranged cardboard boxes eight feet below. Surrounding him were harmless shards of fake Hollywood style shattered glass. Needless to say, the studio visit was no longer humdrum!
“People would scream with fear and pleasure at the same time,” Sola recalls.
He repeated this act 22 times over several years.
Artist’s message: Shattering the arrogance of the art world.
Voilà! Performance art.
Performance art, unlike performing arts, is not a play, symphony, or dance. It involves a group or individual artist becoming part of the art.
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Hiding in the City No. 83 - Supermarket, 2009
Liu Bolin
Can you see the figure in this image?
Chinese contemporary performance artist, Liu Bolin has the art world amazed with his “Invisible Man” series.
Liu Bolin creates camouflage art work. He literally paints himself to disappear into signs, blend into sculptures and become an invisible part of his environment.
Artist’s message: a political statement protesting the disappearance of poor Chinese from their homes and villages caused by China’s insatiable development.
Watch this video on Liu Bolin…can you see him? Click here if you are unable to view the video.
30 Art Masterpieces in 60 Seconds
30 Art Masterpieces in 60 Seconds
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