Oscar Droege

Oscar Droege, color woodblock prints
Oscar Droege, color woodblock prints

Color woodblock prints don’t get as much attention in Europe and the U.S. as they do in Japan, but there are adherents of the art who produce beautiful work.

Oscar Droege was a German printmaker and painter active in the early to mid 20th century. His prints are largely of landscapes, but also include ships, houses and other subjects.

His use of color is subtle, atmospheric and invites a contemplative appreciation of his work.

In contrast to many of the color woodblock print artists of 19th and 20th century Japan, a number of European and American artists working in the medium, including Droege, largely eschew the use of outline in favor of defining subjects directly as shapes of color.

[Via GurneyJourney]

 
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Eye Candy for Today: Daniel Ridgway Knight’s An Idle Moment

An Idle Moment, Daniel Ridgway Knight, oil on canvas
An Idle Moment, Daniel Ridgway Knight, oil on canvas

An Idle Moment, Daniel Ridgway Knight, oil on canvas, roughly 37 x 47 inches (95 x 120 cm); link is to page for high res file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the High Museum of Art.

American artist Daniel Ridgway Knight, who was active in the late 19th end early 20th centuries, spent much of his career in France, where he was noted for his portrayals of peasant women in idyllic pastoral scenes, often near or overlooking a river (presumably the Seine Valley).

Here, we see him depart slightly from his usual depiction of one or two women, with the addition of a third, male, figure, engaging the young women in conversation as they take a break from their chores.

I love the softly atmospheric look of many of Knights paintings, which make great use of soft edges, and the compressed values and muted colors with which he indicates distance.

 
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Mario Borgoni

Mario Borgoni posters and paintings
Mario Borgoni posters and paintings

Mario Borgoni was an Italian painter and illustrator active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is noted in particular for his travel posters of beautiful tourist destinations like the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Sorrento and the Italian Rivera.

 
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Eye Candy for Today: Solomon J. Solomon’s St George

St George and the Dragon, Solomon J. Solomon
St George and the Dragon, Solomon J. Solomon

St George, Solomon J. Solomon; oil on canvas, roughly 84 x 42 inches (213 x 106 cm); in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts

The legend of Saint George and the Dragon, in which the heroic knight rescues a princess who had been offered up as tribute to a dragon, has a long history as a subject for artists.

Here, British Royal Academician Solomon J. Solomon, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, takes his stab at it (if you’ll excuse the expression) in a strikingly vertical composition through which he unerringly guides your eye.

The figures and drapery swirl around the axis of the knight’s lance, their body positions contributing to the turning and twisting effect.

Solomon’s muted browns and grays brings your attention to the bright skin of the woman, the high chroma gold of her robe with its white trim, the glinting of the knight’s armor, his hand and white sleeve, and into the highlights of the clouds — almost forming a circular mini-composition within the upper area of the painting.

The composition then guides you down the flow of the more muted fabric — still brighter than the knight’s garments — into the jaws of the now defeated dragon in all its glorious ugliness.

 
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Richard Schmid 1934-2021

Richard Schmid
Richard Schmid

I was saddened to learn of the death on Sunday of American artist Richard Schmid, one of the finest and most influential realist artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

His paintings are veritable textbooks of color and value relationships, texture, brush handling, and the subtle power of edges in painting. Schmid was not only a formidable painter, but a hugely influential teacher; you can see his influence in the work of his students, their students and even those who have just known his work from afar.

Fortunately, Schmid has left a legacy of teaching materials — treasure troves of painting knowledge that are available to the rest of us. His book Alla Prima II: Everything I know About Painting – and More is the single best book on the art of painting of which I am aware. I learn something new every time I go through it. I have also found his instructional videos — particularly those on landscape painting — of great value. (Most outstanding for me is the second in his landscape series: June.)

If you are not well acquainted with his work, the official Richard Schmid website is a great place to start. You will find examples of his work not only in the Portfolio, but in the sections on Available Art, Lithographs and Books and Videos. (In the Books section, on the pages for the individual titles, look below the image of the cover for the “Preview This Item” tab.)

Unfortunately, the official website pulls up short of showing his work to best advantage in large images. For that, you may need to use a Bing or Google image search, with the parameters set to “Large” or “Extra Large” (see my recent article on image search). In this way you can view larger images of his work that have been reproduced by auction houses.

As much as I admire Schmid’s work as a portraitist and still life painter, it is his landscapes that have long captured my attention. Subtle, atmospheric and evocative, his landscapes are masterful examples of the power of suggestion in painting, convincing your eye that there is more there than is actually delineated. The published collection, The Landscapes is a visual treat, beautifully printed and at a marvelously large size (see my review here).

I haven’t yet gotten a copy of the new still life book, but I can’t imagine it is anything less than superb.

In all cases, I strongly recommend purchasing his books and videos direct from the official website. Not only will the proceeds go more directly to his family, but the materials are actually less expensive there than through third party sites like Amazon.

 
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Kris Parins

Kris Parins watercolor
Kris Parins watercolor

Kris Parins is a watercolor painter who is originally from Wisconsin, and now shares her time between a studio there and one in Florida.

Her bright, crisp watercolors reflect a love of the natural world as exemplified by both places as well as the play of light and shadow to be found in urban environments and still life objects.

Her approach varies, at times areas of color are abstracted to the point of giving the work a seirgraph-like appearance.

Her website portfolio is divided into ranges of subject matter. In addition, there is a section for prints, and a video in which she talks about her inspiration and process. The Articles section includes articles Parins has written for Watercolor Artist Magazine.

 
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