Museum of Bad Art

A friend shared a list of unusual museums with me a few weeks ago. I found this one to be too funny.

Museum of Bad Art

Mana Lisa

Check out the site for some really funny stuff 

that people have created.

Another Record in the Art World

Something amazing happened in the art world this week. 

The most ever paid for a piece of art at auction (okay, 3 pieces actually...a triptych) has sold for over $142M. Contemporary art is where it's happening more recently.

I'll be paying more attention to the works of Francis Bacon as I discover more of his work in museums.

Christie's New York Auction Listing

A story in The Guardian leading up to the auction

Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969)

The Official Website for The Estate of Francis Bacon

Maxfield Parrish

Palace Hotel in San Francisco 

Sends Original Maxfield Parrish Painting to Auction

Link to the SFGate Article

I've enjoyed becoming a bit more familiar with Parrish's work over the years. 

 

The House of Art, NY was one of the largest print makers for Parrish prints at the turn of the 20th century. Prints can easily fetch a few hundred dollars to thousands depending upon their size, condition, frame style, etc... That's just a bit less than the millions that this painting is expected to sell for. 

 

Coincidentally, I just listed on eBay this past weekend 3 vintage Parrish prints that we had in our art collection for the past decade or so. They just don't fit our decor any longer but I still had a difficult time deciding to finally sell them.

Art for My Birthday

I received a beautiful piece of artwork for my birthday yesterday. 

It's a piece that I was attracted to last year while attending the  

4th Avenue Street Fair here in Tucson. The artist resides here in the desert southwest and has an amazing talent and unique style 

all his own.

Kevin Zuckerman's Website

Heart of Man

Thank You Dan & Diana

 

 

Mark Rothko Painting's Record $75M Sale at Sotheby's

I'm a fan of Rothko's work and love the style.

It's mind boggling what some of these pieces are selling for. I hope it ends up in a place where the people can enjoy it.

Click here for the link to the TIME article

Bob Ross's Birthday Today

I had no idea that Bob was born in Daytona Beach, FL and died in New Smyrna Beach, FL 

at the age of only 52.

Wikipedia Link to Bob Ross

Art and Facebook. A Great Story. One Lucky Man.

Check this out. The artist is David Choe. Mostly unknown until the recent Facebook IPO. Now, you can find his name all over the Internet. He chose a few years back to take Facebook company stock vs. cash payment for some mural work that he did in the original Facebook offices. That very wise decision just paid off for him to the sum of over $200,000,000.00 (Two Hundred Million Dollars).

Wikipedia Link to David Choe

The Artist's Website

Barack Obama by David Choe

My Recent Visit to the San Jose Museum of Art and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University

I first became aware of Frank Lobdell's work recently through an artist friends website. While in the Bay Area this past week, we made the drive down to San Jose to see this important Bay Area artist's work being featured at the San Jose Museum of Art. Just a few short days later we found ourselves at the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University where a few more of his paintings are currently on display. Mr. Lobdell is a Stanford University emeritus art professor. I would highly recommend a visit especially to the Stanford Museum when in the Bay Area. Their collection of Rodin sculpture is quite impressive.

Click Images for a Larger and Better Quality Picture

Title: Fall 1964, 1964
Artist: Frank Lobdell

Title: Black Edge III, 1962
Artist: Frank Lobdell

Title: Fall 1980, 1980
Artist: Frank Lobdell

This Painting by Ablade Glover was Among My Favorite on Display at the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University

I'm back from my recent travels to California where I managed to visit a couple museums the week I was there. Funny how things change. Never went to either of the museums all the years I lived in the Bay Area. I enjoyed this museum a great deal. Their collection of Rodin Sculpture is significant. It was also a chance to see a few more paintings by the important Bay Area artist Frank Lobdell.

Of all the paintings on display in the museum, this one caught my eye.

Red Townscape II, 2008
Artist: Ablade Glover

Mr. Glover is from Ghana and is among the best known African painters. His work is widely collected throughout the world. He has numerous connections across the globe, including many here in the United States. I encourage you to look him up on the Internet to learn a bit more about him and his beautiful work.

Painting: "No. 2, The Barrio. Tile Series" Donated to Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation

I dropped off the painting "No. 2, The Barrio. Tile Series" by the SAAF offices today near downtown Tucson.

More information about this particular painting can be found here on the blog using the "Labels" over to the right of this page. 

The painting will be included in the benefit's live auction and extravaganza, highlight of which will be the Jell-O Wrestling.

http://www.jello-wrestling.org/

I hope the painting does well at the live auction, and that someone will enjoy it for many years to come.

We were made aware of this special event by our friends Steve and Margie. Margie will once again participate this year as part of one of the wrestling teams.

Link to Margie's Fundraising Page:

Margie Dominguez's Jell-O Wrestling 2012

2012 marks the 25th Anniversary of one of SAAF's most beloved events, Jell-O Wrestling. Since its inception, Jell-O Wrestling has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the programs and services of the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation and the people we serve.

By sponsoring a wrestler, you not only show your support for a friend but also your support for SAAF and the hope that someday we will realize a community with NO NEW INFECTIONS...PERIOD

Jell-O Wrestling will take place on Saturday May 12, 2012 at Kennedy Fiesta Park in Tucson Arizona. Pre-party starts at 3:00pm and the wrestling and live auction kick-off at 4:00pm.

Thomas Kinkade's Passing

I'll simply say that I personally wasn't a fan, but at the same time I can appreciate his talents as an artist. He was also a master at marketing and I don't see any fault in that. He had an amazing following and I'm sure will be missed. His place in the art world is sealed without doubt and forever he'll be remembered as the "Painter of Light".

New York Times Article on the Passing of Thomas Kinkade

How Morley Safer Sees the Art World...Round 2

I found tonight's story on 60 Minutes about the contemporary art world to be interesting. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Miami has this booming art industry going on down there. I hope to have an opportunity to check it out for myself someday. Do you see contemporary art in the same way that Morley does?

60 Minutes Story on the Contemporary Art World

A Followup Interview with Morley

"Agave Splendor". Completed Another Painting in the "Drag Stripes Series"

Agave Splendor utilized primarily natural tones of cream, shades of green, a touch of yellow, and a background of feathered browns. I think the promise for the series to have a “variety of color and to be bold no matter the color scheme” was successful here. It was only a matter of time that I would paint an agave. After all, the model of our home is called “Agave”, and because of that we made sure to include a significant variety of agave plants around the landscape.

Title: Agave Splendor
Drag Stripes Series
36" x 24", Acrylic Paint on Canvas
2012
$450.00 Directly from the Artist

Click Images for Larger and Better Quality Pictures

Title: Orange Daisy

I enjoy just having a go at something that was newly thought of. "Orange Daisy" is just one of those painting that came to mind while I was out watering around the landscape yesterday (I like to give the wildflowers a bit of water this time of year, as well as anything else that isn't on the drip irrigation system just yet). It was inspired by the variety of daisies popping up all on their own around our desert home. They're a regular occurrence each and every spring and summer, and just a small sampling of the variety of native and not so native wildflowers that provide that little extra touch of color to the landscape.

Orange Daisy
20" x 20", Acrylic Paint on Canvas. 2012
$350.00 Directly from the Artist

Click Images for Bigger and Better Quality Pictures

Art Gallery News: TRUST Art Gallery in Willcox, Arizona

TRUST Art Gallery Website

TRUST Art Gallery on Facebook

I discovered TRUST Art Gallery in Willcox, Arizona through Facebook this past week. I hope you click the links above and go to the sites to see the beautiful work being created by the talented artists currently on exhibit.

The gallery is at the same location at the Keeling-Schaefer Vineyards' Wine Tasting Room making for another great reason to plan a visit to Willcox. Art and Wine, a perfect combination as we know.

Keeling-Schaefer Vineyards Website

A plan is in the works for myself and some friends to personally visit the gallery in the coming weeks. I hope this inspires you to make a visit to Willcox in the near future.

TRUST Art Gallery is the first local gallery (Tucson/SE Arizona) that I've blogged about so far. As I locate other galleries of interest, I'll share those with you as well. If you live in the area or ever plan to visit, I hope you can stop in and say hello to Thomas and see the various artists' work on display in the art gallery.

A New Painting from the Drag Stripes Series

Second in the series, and the largest of my paintings to date. Credit goes to Chris Clarke for his contribution of the title for this piece. He was right on target with his idea to name the piece "Intersection" when I mentioned starting to prepare to work on this piece. He had no idea that I had this particular vision already in mind. The technique for the backgrounds "road asphalt" was achieved by using a small roller. I give this painting the green light. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Intersection
Drag Stripes Series
48" x 36", Acrylic on Canvas. 2012
$750.00 Directly from the Artist

Click Images for Larger and Better Quality Pictures

Piet Mondrian. Born 140 Years Ago Today

Link to the Mondrian Collection at the MOMA Once on the site you can scroll left to right to see the whole collection.

A favorite artist of mine. I had the pleasure of seeing the collection on display while in NYC in Oct. 2010. Below is a selection of the painting that I was able to see.

Click Images to See Larger and Better Quality Pictures

First Painting of a New Series: Drag Stripes

Drag Stripes I is the first painting as the “I” indicates in a new series that kept me up nearly all night when the concept first came to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about this new series and where I might take it over time. Look for more of the series in the future to have a variety of color and technique applied but bold no matter the color scheme.

Drag Stripes I
Drag Stripes Series
36" x 24", Acrylic Paint on Canvas. 2012
$450.00 Directly from the Artist

 Click Images for Larger and Better Quality Pictures

A Picasso Mystery

Link to Picasso Story

Great to read that investments and efforts go on for works of such importance.

Below are a few pictures of the Guggenheim Museum's beautiful architectural detail taken during my visit in October, 2010.

Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

No pictures were allowed of the works on exhibit inside the museum but I did enjoyed seeing several of Picasso's works at the time of my visit.

One of which was "Woman with Yellow Hair"

Woman with Yellow Hair

Click Images for Larger and Better Quality Pictures

Naples, Florida: Gulfshore Life Magazine Article About the Hirshhorn's

Click Here for Link to the Gulfshore Life Magazine Article

What a great article about the Hirshhorn's. I subscribe to Gulfshore Life Magazine and I love Naples, Florida. I'd like to return to my Florida roots someday, and see myself living back in Florida once more and preferably in the Naples area. Naples has a nicely established artist community and the Hirshhorn's are just one of many great connections to the art scene. I didn't get the chance to tour the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. while on vacation in 2009. My day ran short and the museum was closed when I made it by, but I did enjoy walking around the beautifully designed Sculpture Garden that evening before sunset. Enjoy the article and some of my own pictures from when I toured the Hirshhorn Museum's Sculpture Garden.

Click Images for a Better and Even Larger Picture

Pictured Inside: Diana K.