tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74081255802887294862024-03-13T11:22:42.088-07:00Art-Fine Artists ReviewReviews and thoughts about art and artists. Some well known some not so well known.Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-81357954698378221332009-06-02T05:02:00.000-07:002009-06-02T05:03:08.008-07:00Tania Rose Blog: The Big SqueezeIf you're not a creative artist, it's difficult to imagine being one.<br /><br />And if you are one, your perspective on what you do can easily be clouded by which particular aspect of your work you are battling with...because let's face it, sometimes being creative can feel like a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">downright</span> curse.<br /><br />cont...<br /><br /><a href="http://taniarose.blogspot.com/2009/06/big-squeeze.html">Tania Rose Blog: The Big Squeeze</a>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-6509266439781807092009-05-05T08:46:00.000-07:002009-05-05T08:53:22.475-07:00Benigno Casas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.benignocasas.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 150px;" src="http://www.benignocasas.com/gallery/thumb.php?gallery=.%2FExorcismos_Cotidianos&image=DCP_0322.JPG&width=300&height=150&force=1" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In his works, he challenges the living conditions in which,in Cuba, their society survives, ruled either by the power mechanisms and political control or by the effects of ideological indoctrination.Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-64271637099142045922009-03-06T19:24:00.000-08:002009-03-06T19:45:24.652-08:00little wonders Creative works found on redbubble<h2 class="title"><a href="http://www.damienmason.com/inspire/">About little wonders Blog</a></h2> The owner of this blog "Damien Mason" browses his way through the <a href="http://www.redbubble.com/">redbubble.com</a> arts website looking for amazing and creative works. As he put its his little wonders on canvas, paper, cloth and screen. His blog is a place for him to feature those works and people who inspire him. He has a great selection of art form the redbubble site. Each piece is carefully chosen and show that the author has a good eye for artworks. I urge you to take a look and maybe even visit redbubble and purchase a print of some of his suggested pieces.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Redbubble itself is a great place for amateur and proffessional artist to post there artwork for sale and communicate with others. It feels more grown up and less quirky than Deviant Art, whose audience seems to be mainly very young and alternative. </span></span>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-12794711412197593032009-03-03T11:25:00.000-08:002009-03-03T11:26:45.185-08:00Three Roads of Artisitc Doom<p>Some artists are lucky and or skilled enough to be awarded Arts grants, but these grants are awarded by a very small group of people. So then an artist has to pander to the whims of these arts grant gods, producing art they hope will be what the current gods deem worthy. Being held up as the high art, yet knowing much of what they do is often derided by the masses and then finally thrown aside for the next big thing. With some luck they will have picked up enough money along the way not to have to make art for the critic and finally to make something they really wanted, only to find out no one likes the new thing. Not the critics and not the public.</p> <p>Or to go the other route and attempt to appeal to the public and gain success in the hostile and cut-throat world of commerce, making art that sells to all, trying to keep some integrity, but knowing that the last painting was sold because it was just the right size and suited the customers new sofa and curtains. Working 50% of there time promoting and selling themselves.</p> <p>Or do you take the third way where the art is made, but never designed for sale, and is rarely sold. Galleries taking hanging fees for the work they know won’t sell, yet the fees pay their rent and gives the gallery a bohemian feel. The Artist poring life saving and sanity into working, with only a romantic view that at some point in the far far distant future they are held up as a great master? But ultimately most of it will just be thrown out and left for the dustmen.</p>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-81704301227108876532009-03-03T10:32:00.000-08:002009-03-03T11:11:12.587-08:00Meng Qiu<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mengcomment.com/site/images/stories/paintings/metha-s.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 280px;" src="http://mengcomment.com/site/images/stories/paintings/metha-s.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Review of Artist Meng Qiu Site.<br /><br />The first page you get to is an opening page, devoid of anything other than the spinning graphic and only serves to waste time getting to the actual site. Once inside you are at first greeted with a bright, but well designed page, nicely laid out and professional looking. The site however is full of slightly odd witting of a semi-spiritual nature. Not quiet the impenetrable ramblings of the post-modernist. But it's certainly hard to follow and seemly made to give the art work some kind of validity. It's unclear if the artist wants to be a painter or a poet. But neither quiet hits the mark. The poems and ramblings fail to make the work any more appealing and in some ways serve as just a distraction and space filler. The work is interesting, but there is far far to little of it. The coloured paintings remind me of those children's colouring books, that start out black and a special pen removes the black to reveal the colours below. Given time this style could emerge into something better, but it does not yet feel like it's matured. With only three paintings on display its hard. The Print page, shows just the one idea that is essentially dull, semi abstract photography made blue and printed, and better examples of this kind of work can be seen in many other places, and executed far better by others. The page "collections" seems to be an odd and ends section and doesn't really tell me anything other than the artist has some sketches they uploaded.<br />In conclusion we are faced with another self elevated artist offering a few works but asking for far too much for them with the added insult giving change of $1 when buying his work for £10,000. A price I doubt anyone with any sense would pay for an "emerging artist" in these times of economic downturn.Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-29951145073042831482009-02-19T21:39:00.000-08:002009-02-19T21:40:17.873-08:00Art new CentralJust found a site that runs a bit like Digg but just for articles about art. Could be useful way to promote art and artists you like. It called <a href="http://www.artnewscentral.com/">"Art News Central"</a>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-68483339688650479222008-11-07T04:50:00.000-08:002008-12-15T17:03:33.458-08:00Art Sale On<h2 class="thought-title">Landlord is selling my house!!!</h2> <div id="thought"> <div class="thought-text"> <p>Therefore<br />SALE at www.arts-fine.co.uk<br />UPTO 75% OFF<br />MY PAINTINGS.<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The Sale has ENDED. But my prices are still good.</span><br /><br /></p> <p>Yes my landlord is selling the house I live in, therefore I have to move out and this will cost me money. So for a short time, and before I have to go into hospital for my heart problem (nice timing landlord). I am having a massive sale. If you ever wanted one of my paintings now is the time to buy it. Some are less than the price of a Print.</p> <p><a href="http://www.arts-fine.co.uk/"><br /></a></p> </div> </div>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-87604422275499198222008-08-24T20:17:00.000-07:002008-08-24T20:38:35.804-07:00Do people buy paintings in a recession?<span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Thoughts about Art in a recession. </span></span><br /><ol><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Art is a luxury item</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">In hard times people spend less on luxuries.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">In hard times people like cheap up lifting entertainment.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">So entertaining art may sell better to the public.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Some people do well out of a recessions and become wealthy.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Wealthy people like to buy luxury items.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">People buy art as investments.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Buying good quality art at a low price in a recession may pay off at the up turn.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Original famous paintings are a safer investment than bank notes which devalue over time.</span></li></ol><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On the whole I feel that the higher end art market for well known and good quality items will either not change or actually increase.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The lower end art market for amateurs and production line paintings may decrease as the majority of customers will be watching their wallets. This could mean an increase in print sales and entertaining light hearted art, but could just mean less art sold to the general public.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If anyone has any thoughts, figures or info on this I'd love to hear about it<br /></span>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-51766826039648543702008-08-21T06:00:00.000-07:002008-08-21T06:05:20.287-07:00The 'Art' of Hanging Pictures Like a Designer<h1 style="font-family: arial;" class="pageTitle">The 'Art' of Hanging Pictures Like a Designer</h1> <div style="font-family: arial;" class="intro">You have just found a beautiful painting that you know would look wonderful in the living room. So now you have it at home and you hammer a nail into the wall above the couch and hook the painting over it. Easy! Pleased with your purchase you stand back. You tip your head to one side and then the other. Then you squint at the picture. Something is definitely not right but you can't put your finger on it. If you've ever found yourself dissatisfied with the appearance of the art or family photos on your walls you're not alone. Many people make the same common mistakes that the eye can read as awkward but the individual does not know how to fix. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when arranging art on a wall:</div> <h4 style="font-family: arial;">LARGE ART: </h4> <p style="font-family: arial;">Large artwork will be a focal point so you should be careful to place it in an appropriate area. Where does large artwork look best? Try over a couch, behind the dining set, over a fireplace or on a feature wall. A feature wall is where the placement of furniture or the layout of the home naturally guides the eye to a wall - a great place to feature art.</p> <h4 style="font-family: arial;">SMALL ART: </h4> <p style="font-family: arial;">Try to group small pieces if possible. Using similar or matching frames and mounts make this look more pleasing. Otherwise anchor the small piece visually by hanging it low and close to furnishings so it doesn't appear to be floating on the wall.</p> <h4 style="font-family: arial;">GROUPING ART: </h4> <p style="font-family: arial;">Whether you're creating a grid of equal sized frames or composing a collection of various sizes the rule of spacing is the same. Try to have them spaced approximately 3 inches apart. Try positioning them on the floor or a table to get a pleasing arrangement before placing the nails and measure carefully before making any holes. </p> <h4 style="font-family: arial;">HEIGHT: </h4> <p style="font-family: arial;">Artwork should be hung with the center of the picture at eye level. That means the center should be about 60 to 66 inches from the floor. If you've visited a gallery you will see that the frames are not lined up by their top or bottom edges but that the pictures are all centered at the same height. </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">If the artwork is usually going to be viewed sitting down (as at a dining table or when viewed beside a couch) you would hang them at the sitter's eye level instead. </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">Artwork behind a couch should be no more than 8 to 10 inches above the back of the couch. </p> <span style="font-family: arial;">With these easy tips you should have no problem creating wonderful arrangements that will have designer appeal. </span><br /><br /><pre wrap=""><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">Article by Artyprints</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">june 2008</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.artyprints.co.uk/">Art Prints | Canvas Art</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> High Quality, Affordable Prints, Posters, Framed; Canvas art. 100% </span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">guaranteed</span><br /></pre>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-60959982813143463112008-07-30T21:42:00.000-07:002008-07-31T09:15:02.585-07:00Anyone can be an artistCan anyone be an artist. The answer is both yes and no.<br /><br />Because the question may as well be can anyone become a rocket scientist. First you must have the desire to be a rocket scientist, if you do not have the desire you can never be one. Second you must train or act on being a rocket scientist, it is not enough just to want to be one. Finally you must find other people that recognise you as a rocket scientist. If what you do doesn't appear to be rocket science maybe your not a rocket scientist.<br /><br />So it is with art. You must desire it, do it and then be good enough at it that others must acknowledge that you are in fact an artist. It also helps if people will pay you to do it, but this is not as important as the first 3.<br /><br />So yes "Everyone's an artist."<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But only if they want to be, do it and are hailed as one.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Samuel Durkin</span>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-56850621310544666272008-07-29T12:26:00.000-07:002008-08-11T20:39:38.749-07:00Why Duchamp was Lowering the Bar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://everydaytrash.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/marcel-duchamp-fountain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://everydaytrash.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/marcel-duchamp-fountain.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Duchamps Urinal "Fountian"</span><br />was by some been hailed as genius.<br /><br />For those who don't know about this piece, its basically a urinal bought from a builders merchant and signed R Mutt, which possibly means poverty in German, but it could just be a mis-spelling of the Mott a sanitation manufacture. (Duchamp says it was the second) Duchamp entered it into a gallery and called it art.<br /><br />This then was the start of the end. If we can take any object and present it as art anyone and everyone can become an artist. Skill, technique and even thought can be entirely removed.<br /><br />For some this was a liberation, and allows anything to go. But the real effect has been that many see this form of art as an insult to them. It asks a great deal more from the audience, than it does from the artist. Who didn't make it, but just chose it.<br /><br />What it really does, is it lowers the bar for entry so anyone cane say they are an artist. This on the face of it, sounds like a grand utopia of free expression. But what it has lead to, is that since anyone can be an artist, it's more important who you know, than what skill you have. To judge what is an isn't good looses it's importance and the power of the buyer to declare something art has increased. Ironically this is probably the last thing Duchamp would have wanted being a socialist. But this piece handed the Capitalist of the Art world, a fantastic gift of power.<br /><br />This effect is essentially an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes">emperors new clothes</a> and puts off the real people. By inference it means that those who declare they "know" about art can feel superior. But if everyone can make invisible empty art, then how can we choose what is to be the great art? We can't, because we are not blind, and we can see that it takes no skill. But for those who wish to pretend to see the invisible clothes of this "art", they will have to pretend to keep seeing them, teaching others to see it and convince us we can see them too. They must do this or they the loose value of their worthless art.<br />This leads to the trade, publicity and inflated price of this junk art. It comes from the same place as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania">tulip mania</a> effect that happened in the Netherlands in the early 1600s. Deluding art students, critics, gallery owners and dealers to make, buy and sell rubbish to each other. However just like the tulip trade fell to pieces when people realised that a tulip was not worth a years salary, this art can only have value while we keep being deluded that it's worth anything.<br /><br />In the mean time the internet has burst the art world wide open and those who used to hold control over what is and isn't art are slowly losing to the people. Now artist's all over the world show their art to real people ready to spend their hard earn money on art they like. This could mean the end to art movements and the true liberation of art.<br /><br />Of course If you do like Duchamps urinal and the concept is of course more important that the object, you can pick one up at any builders merchant and a permanent marker from the stationers next door. It should cost about $201/$402 ($2 for the marker). Sure you can't buy the "concept" or the "statement" it made. But if concept and statement where all that was needed to make a piece of art, then a fart in a bath tub is of equal import. (and some fans of Duchamp will probably agree that it is...) We can all do it, but I thought it and If I sit in a gallery farting into a bathtub, or better still employ someone else to fart in the bath tub, it makes a statement about something (make up what ever you like, the artist can't be bothered). But the real statement that it makes is I'm a pretentious (insert your expletive here) with no respect for my audience.<br /><br />But I'm sure the circus will continue and we'll keep seeing rubbish displayed as art. All the while sensible people will buy art that took some kind of skill to make.Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-80716700680755459552008-07-29T11:56:00.000-07:002008-07-29T18:10:00.054-07:00I love painting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXs_BQ4ifFpyyRYs5HBfvCP0sUkxwFVx9l2a5rvH7hLDEQtjH9RSNP6FMkhfTTT48S5ZF4cRT0V8JEeSrKPEfZqdzd3o8wXdpTAMlCzFdQWcSOSG0c30kRyg9vXRL_duKWDUAI3OtAsY/s1600-h/TheWatcher_small.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXs_BQ4ifFpyyRYs5HBfvCP0sUkxwFVx9l2a5rvH7hLDEQtjH9RSNP6FMkhfTTT48S5ZF4cRT0V8JEeSrKPEfZqdzd3o8wXdpTAMlCzFdQWcSOSG0c30kRyg9vXRL_duKWDUAI3OtAsY/s320/TheWatcher_small.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228608116811462706" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >I love painting</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">but I never find it relaxing. After I finish I'm always drained mentally and physically. For me a painting is a battle of wills between image, paint and the inner critic. I want to see the paint, I want to see the image and while I must listen to the inner critic I must also ignore him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It is the fight, the battle that keeps me coming back. Winning is creating something worthwhile. Fail and face the darkness that cannot be faced. The stakes for creating art cannot be higher.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Samuel Durkin</span>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-15130451771606388732008-07-28T09:21:00.000-07:002008-07-28T16:21:19.480-07:00The Mechanic by Cathie Tranent<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images-0.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/147843-17-the-mechanic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 432px;" src="http://images-0.redbubble.net/img/art/size:large/view:main/147843-17-the-mechanic.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Mechanic by Cathie Tranent<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >In the moment his hand closed around his weapon,</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><p style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" >His mind readied itself for the battle.</span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >Man against the machine. <a href="http://cathiet.redbubble.com/">Cathie Tranent</a></span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >What I love about this great piece of Photography/digital art </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >is the almost metallic feeling you get from the skin, the hand looks like its almost cast in iron. Not only be a mechanic, but mechanical. Yet it is the battle with the machine that is our society, the wrist is exposed and vulnerable to show us the human. To fight the machine we must become the machine and then be greater that it.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">The photo is enhanced using only the traditional photographic tools, (although within photoshop) of </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">dodging, burning and filters. This gives the photo power and a professional legitimacy.</span><br /></span></span>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-70122758535256459192008-07-24T15:24:00.000-07:002008-07-24T15:40:03.464-07:00Treasured and Burried by Deb Gillett.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.debgillett.com/uploads/upload1214730125.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.debgillett.com/uploads/upload1214730125.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Treasured and Buried by </span><strong style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">Deb Gillett.<br /><br /></strong><span style="font-style: italic;">You know the very top of the beach at a king tide, where all the really scummy stuff gets washed back and forth? Well here it is, complete with ephemeral footprints under the sea. Yes I know you can hardly see them, but I wanted you to know about them because I took such effort to put them there.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Deb Gillet</span><br /><br /><br />What I like about this piece most is the organic textured nature of the artwork. It almost feels like its growing out of the canvas. I also like it because it's a move away from Debs more traditional and directly representational pieces. While all stunning work for me representation is no longer enough. The skill they take to produce can never be in doubt, and Deb certainly has an eye for depicting the world in colour. For me this abstract and her more free pieces show a desire to engage with a deeper translation of the world.<br /><br />See Deb Gillets <a href="http://www.debgillett.com">Online Gallery</a>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7408125580288729486.post-65902415283945418012008-07-15T18:40:00.000-07:002008-08-24T17:45:25.615-07:00Modern Abstraction Vs Classical Realism and beyond.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.arts-fine.co.uk/BuyArtOnline/Arthistory.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 800px;" src="http://www.arts-fine.co.uk/BuyArtOnline/Arthistory.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><h1 style="font-family: arial;" class="subheading">The rise of the camera and the effect on realism and abstraction and their re-birth as abstract realism.</h1> <span style="font-family:arial;">For well over a hundred years we have lived in a world where the camera has allowed us to record pictures of the real world in such detail that it still fills us with awe. What did this do to the traditionalist painters still producing portraits, landscapes and still life images of the real world in magnificent detail. Well in 1826 when the camera first appeared, painting still held strong in the face of those early grainy sepia tone photographs. But it soon became clear that the modern world was moving into a new era. The artists working in the classical style would soon be superseded by the technological camera and those with a wider concept of what it meant to be an artist.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">It was great artists like Britain’s J W Turner in 1832, creating paintings that we can see have strong abstract elements. It is the light he is painting and not the landscapes, and this gives us one of the first glimpses at what will one day become abstraction. The impressionist painters in France in the1860’s also moved art away from the classical style. Artists like Monet, Manet, Pissarro and others, bravely all helped break out of the classical tradition , allowing us to see that art could be more than we had come to accept. In their time these paintings were seen as revolutionary. The classical art establishment for a long time refused to hang their works. It was only though determination and the patronage of Napoleon III setting up the Salon des Refuses (exhibition of rejects) that allowed their work to be seen by the world. Their art and the art of those that followed them has Lead to art movements in pointillism, post-impressionism, cubism, expressionism and modernist movements.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">By the end of the 19th and beginning of the early 20th century the camera was now so common that almost anyone could afford to have a photograph taken and more and more people owned their own camera’s. So it was that the ideas of abstraction and a move away from realism started to grow in the art world, no longer did the artist need to depict things from the natural world. They could use colour and form to show images that were far less representational.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Cubist and futurist artwork tried to depict objects in ways that showed their intrinsic qualities, and many of the artists credited with abstraction started out with more representational paintings. It is not entirely clear who started the abstract modernist movement, it could have been any number of painters from Robert Delaunay and Piet Mondrian to Kadinsky or Balla. What is clear however is that a spontaneous change had happened, and it came at the beginning of the 20th century. This seems to have caused such a shock to the world that even after over 100 years, many still cannot deal with it or understand this “new” form of art. However it’s roots go far further back than 100 years, to the time of our ancient ancestors, those who created decorative artworks on pots, mosaics and walls. This Modernism is just a re-awakening of an older understanding of art.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">But what of today in the 21st century. Abstract art is often still misunderstood as the art “anyone could make” and it’s value seems to have be eroded by just this. We now see what is called Abstract art sold in major retail stores for little more than the canvas and paint. The artist virtually removed and replaced by a production line worker, painting the same “abstract” over and over again. These mass produced wall hangings may have devalued abstract art in the eyes of the many people. But even these fast food versions of abstract art, can never ruin the true wonder of an abstract painting created by true artist with vision and passion.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Of course Realism has never gone away. There is some built in desire to have images created by human hand that show an eye for the real world. It is easy to understand what makes a good realist piece. If the apple looks like an apple, it must be a good painting. And this basic human desire to marvel at the amazing skill and dedication of the artist at recreating the real world must go very deep. While Photography can instantly recreate our world, the skill to actually paint it seems for many the greater. So while photography has evolved and we now all own cameras that came free with our phone. This easy access to realism, it would seem, can never take that away from the artist, who can paint it or draw it.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">So what of the future of abstraction and realism? Well I’m sure they will both continue. However many artist are now working in what is a mixture of the two, what I call abstract realism. This abstract realism is a form of art that sits between realistic depiction of the world and a non representational abstraction. No longer are the two separate and opposed, but come together to strengthen each other and form an alloy. The artist who can make realistic images, but takes that skill and creates a more abstract painting that is greater than sum of them both. This movement includes not just painters but also photographers and even digital artists. I see it as the new way forward in art. The Abstract realist touches something in us all that. Our desire for the comfort and skill of the real and our need of those abstract aesthetics.</span>Sam Durkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04565179802678694498noreply@blogger.com0