# Favorite piece of art...



## streetmorrisart (Dec 11, 2007)

Weird conversation starter for me, right?!

I’m curious to know what piece of original art everyone would want to own if they could. I’m tempted to keep it to the work of deceased artists. At any rate, I will start with my choice: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hiroshige-100-views-of-edo-fox-fires.jpg


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## kentuckiense (Dec 11, 2007)

That's easy!

"Mountain Paradise" by Thomas Kinkade!









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Just kidding. I'd probably have to go with Hieronymus Bosch's acid trip triptych centered around "The Garden of Earthly Delights."


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## Heather (Dec 11, 2007)

Hmmm, I need to think about that one. 

I worked at a museum that had quite a few Hudson River School landscapes. There are some nice ones. Bierstadt's Mt. Ascutney was my favorite there, but I don't think it's my overall favorite! 

http://www.fruitlands.org/collections/gallery/thumbs/bierstadt1.jpg

I'll have to think on it some more, I'm afraid.


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## JeanLux (Dec 12, 2007)

Good morning 
here (one of) my favorites; If I had to choose one work, I would go for the foxes.
http://www.sai.msu.su/wm/paint/auth/marc/

Anyway, most Im- and Expressionists !

Jean


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## streetmorrisart (Dec 12, 2007)

OP or not, I’m going to stay pretty neutral…it’s not my place to commend or disparage anyone’s tastes really, just curious. I will say I was both amused and pleased to see Franz Marc’s name though—I compiled my very first art history “report” on his work in the 6th grade!


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## practicallyostensible (Dec 12, 2007)

kentuckiense said:


> That's easy!
> 
> Just kidding. I'd probably have to go with Hieronymus Bosch's acid trip triptych centered around "The Garden of Earthly Delights."



Wow, totally random that you mentioned that, my friend and I were just talking about it today. I never would think to like such a piece but I got to see it at the Prado when I was in Madrid over the summer, and I have to see that it's one of the most stunning objects that I've ever seen.


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## kentuckiense (Dec 12, 2007)

practicallyostensible said:


> Wow, totally random that you mentioned that, my friend and I were just talking about it today. I never would think to like such a piece but I got to see it at the Prado when I was in Madrid over the summer, and I have to see that it's one of the most stunning objects that I've ever seen.



Yeah, I always figured it was just the size of a "normal" painting, but the thing is taller than me!


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## Candace (Dec 12, 2007)

Either the Mona Lisa or Last Supper so I could sell them, get stinking rich and buy what I actually liked;> And it would probably be a sculpture, not a painting.


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## NYEric (Dec 12, 2007)

*Art*

Since I live in Greenwich Village and NOHO there are a lot of galleries. These are 2 of my favorite artistes! 


http://www.frederickhart.com/home.htm
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5516


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## streetmorrisart (Dec 12, 2007)

Aw, you’re a sweetheart Eric!  But I’m not dead yet. It may happen any day though--apparently all you have to do to get a driver’s license around here is spit on the application.

Candace, I think my husband is with you actually. If limited to art, he’d probably use the proceeds on a Rodin or Avengers #1 (silver age comic book)…or this Fuseli piece: http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/full.asp?objectID=45573&image=1 because of the awesome demons.


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## NYEric (Dec 12, 2007)

You didn't state deceased artistes.


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## NYEric (Dec 12, 2007)

kentuckiense said:


>



Isn't that Heather's Mom's house? I see the turkey on the right side there. :rollhappy:


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## streetmorrisart (Dec 12, 2007)

Eric, my wording was subtle, but I did suggest deceased. Have you seen the Hiroshige print I posted a link to at the Met? I didn’t realize they had one of them till I stumbled across it a couple of years ago. A wonderful surprise. I love all the nature-inspired ukiyo-e woodcuts.


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## Heather (Dec 12, 2007)

NYEric said:


> Isn't that Heather's Mom's house? I see the turkey on the right side there. :rollhappy:




Haha, it's not quite that idyllic, might be moreso without the turkey (poo) actually!


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## TheLorax (Dec 12, 2007)

Moving this over here to streetmorrisart's other thread.

Any one piece of art? Interesting question. 
Only one? 
Eesh, that's hard because I would probably be of Candace's mindset. 

Well, for 2D- http://galleryone.com/images/bateman/bateman_-_wood_bison_portrait.jpg
http://www.royalroads.ca/NR/rdonlyres/E6D7160F-FEE9-4B59-A8E1-580D2EB78BA9/0/bateman_buffalo.jpg
Robert Bateman (not deceased), sold for like 1M to an art museum in Jackson Hole

For 3D- There is a magnificent signature bronze sculpture/elevated pond/wetlands depicting indigenous species in a local Forest Preserve. 
Eric Blome (not deceased), sold it for a couple hundred thousand. I'll take two.


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## Persephone (Dec 12, 2007)

*Here's one....*

Since I have a BA in Fine Arts and an MFA, this is very difficult for me. Today Modigliani is my favorite, tomorrow someone else.


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## streetmorrisart (Dec 12, 2007)

I imagine you earned an MFA so you could teach? The woman who cut my hair in Ann Arbor introduced me to Modigliani. She had (has I would imagine) good taste in art.

TheLorax, NYEric, it was totally alright, but thanks. There was something surreal about having a piece of art that sold for a million referenced in my so-called “vendor thread”! At least the first cyp-inspired piece sold for a decent price to a good patron, and the second is being held on purpose for a show. I’ve learned people who want to find me do so through Google or the occasional eBay promotion, so this forum is largely for fun. You can’t miss me if you’re searching for orchid art especially. 

Back to the second most recent post, I realize I’m in the minority for being less impressed by detail outside the realm of 35mm photography. I can understand the appeal of traditional wildlife paintings, and I would never deny Bateman’s skill. The work that makes my heart skip a beat is more design-oriented though. I have a great deal of respect for talented graphic artists, illustrators, animators…I will come back as the latter in my next life! My reasoning is if you add enough marks you can trick the mind into perceiving reality, but the ability to distill ideas and images down to something evocative and completely unlike what a camera can capture is a skill I admire greatly and will always be working toward in a fine art context, at least for a good portion of my working hours. If you love a certain subject matter though, I can understand wanting to own a more direct representation of it; I would never disparage anyone for that and try to maintain the ability to some extent to remind myself I can do that. I wish I could summon my grade school level of talent and combine it with what I know now though, even reset myself by five years. It’s almost traumatizing when I hear things like, “You’re getting better, kiddo!”, because I know I’m not in many respects. 

Back to other people’s art though! Interesting to hear about everyone’s tastes, and I like everything mentioned in seriousness so far. That said, I probably wouldn’t speak up if I didn’t because it doesn’t matter.


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## TheLorax (Dec 12, 2007)

You see- if I could have Bateman's piece (which I do love) I could hang it on a wall and enjoy it while I advertised it and sold it and then I could go out and buy at least a 100 of many pieces of fine art that also please me... such as your first slipper painting. I'm not so much into big names as I am into works that speak to me. I don't deny his gift/skill nor do I deny his unparalleled ability to market himself but imagine how many pieces of fine art I could surround myself with that spoke to me if I could have his painting to be able to pull a Candace and sell! 

I must admit I love that Blome bronze though and that I'd keep. Wish I had a photo of it particularly since you like more design-oriented works.


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## Persephone (Dec 12, 2007)

Actually, I earned an MFA because I just wanted to. I don't teach, and I don't paint any more either. I consider my talent as pretty much mediocre even though my degree is from a prestigeous school.

A gallery that was considering investing in my work way back when I was in my mid-20's had concerns that I was a young woman and that I may have children and stop painting. Needless to say I was very very much insulted. Well......four children later it seems that he may have had a point. I expressed my artistic leanings in my garden and in my mothering and somehow that was very satisfying. What I do explain to people is that being an artist is just an expression of the creative drive and intellectual pursuits of divine balance (am I getting a bit too heady here?) It's interesting to note that so many people who are into plants and gardening are artists.

If you enjoy your work, that's all that counts. 
I find it very striking.


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## Barbara (Dec 12, 2007)

Hi Persesphone, you sum up my experince very well. I to went to school and earned an art degree (York U) then put the brush/pencil down and turned my back on the art world and fine art. I seem to find working with the earth to be much more satifying and rewarding that producing reams of art work. Although that too was very important way of self expression at the time. Artistic expression is about development of the Self, however that may manifest itself and to me, no one art form can be considered more poignant than the next.

It's hard for me to pick just one piece of art or even one artist, since it is the entire body of work that denotes the core of the artist's journey. But I'll choose two artists who where both men who seemed to understand their place in the natural world.

J.M.W. Turner:
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turner/gallery3d.htm


Andy Goldsworthy (not deceased):
http://www.artnet.com/Artists/ArtistHomePage.aspx?artist_id=7145&page_tab=Artworks


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## Heather (Dec 12, 2007)

Strangely, these questions kind of scare me. I think I like a lot of classics (John Singer Sargent, etc.) and because they're classics I think I should like something else more. 
I do really like the Japanese woodcuts posted earlier. 

Moreso, I think I like design better. I am really into the decorative arts - silver and woodsmithing, glass and ceramics, textile arts, those are my real favorites. 

Art is so subjective. This will sound really odd in this thread, but personally, I enjoy most art, even the type that shows up as commercial. I think Apple has the best packaging around, and I truly think of that as an art form, too. Frankly, art sells!


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## SlipperFan (Dec 12, 2007)

Interesting how many people here are artists/have degrees in art. I have an MFA in studio art with an emphasis in sculpture. A teaching colleague introduced me to the darkroom, and so photography and then digital imaging captured my interest.

I will always love kinetic sculpture, though. Artists such as George Rickey fascinate me (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:George_Rickey), but these works cannot be appreciated on paper (or a computer monitor). Motion, the fourth dimension, is a thing of it's own.

My very favorite sculptor is Konstantin Milonadis, Rickey's student and my teacher:
http://www.brama.com/news/press/2004/09/040930uima.html

My favorite painter is Georgia O'Keefe: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/indexflash.php

I would happily own any one of their works!


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## streetmorrisart (Dec 12, 2007)

Heather, it’s not odd, not at all. I’ve never thought of design and so-called fine art separately, and I love silverwork and woodworking! A lot of the imagery I’m influenced by was or is commercial in nature…ukiyo-e was in a way. I’m talking about animation, comic book art, book illustrations too. No need to apologize for liking the classics either. I have that “problem” with literature. Aside from nonfiction and comics, I rarely read much that’s new in print even though I know there’s a lot of good stuff out there. 

As far as giving up producing art in favor of other pursuits, I can see how easily that would happen and why people would want to. For me it’s been the other way around. We’ll see if I live to regret it. 

You can’t go wrong with O’Keefe and I would love to see Rickey’s sculptures in person. (Michiana representin’!) Too far from Meijer Gardens these days. I joked fondly about my Franz Marc book report yesterday—investigated Calder the same year. I still like both. I don't grow out of what I like actually.


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## SlipperFan (Dec 12, 2007)

streetmorrisart said:


> You can’t go wrong with O’Keefe and I would love to see Rickey’s sculptures in person. (Michiana representin’!) Too far from Meijer Gardens these days. I joked fondly about my Franz Marc book report yesterday—investigated Calder the same year. I still like both. I don't grow out of what I like actually.


heh! heh! -- I've been accused of being eclectic.


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## NYEric (Dec 13, 2007)

This is like a miniature art tour!


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## NYEric (Dec 13, 2007)

Comics? Bad copies of great art. I have most of the comics. 
http://www.pigdogproductions.com/jack kirby2.html


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## Drorchid (Dec 13, 2007)

This is a tough one. Even though I am a scientist, I am an artist at heart as well. If I would have to choose just one (Being from the Netherlands) I would go for van Gogh's Irises painting:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N

Another artist that I really like (and I actually have one of his lithoghraph's) is Gould. He is known for his pictures of birds (hummingbirds, Toucan's and others). but he often depicts them with plants (including orchids).

Here are some examples:

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Q1C&sa=N

http://www.audubonart.com/01_HUM_01.ASP

Robert


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## SlipperFan (Dec 13, 2007)

Actually, just about anything Van Gogh would be a treasure.


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## Barbara (Dec 14, 2007)

SlipperFan said:


> Actually, just about anything Van Gogh would be a treasure.



For sure. I even like his blue period. 

Sculpture and photography, eh? I have a friend who was in the same program/year as me and she focused on sculpture and photography too. Myself, I did drawing and painting, but I seem to take a good deal of inspiration from site specific and 3D artists. Do you have any pictures of your other work?


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## SlipperFan (Dec 14, 2007)

OrchidNorth said:


> For sure. I even like his blue period.
> 
> Sculpture and photography, eh? I have a friend who was in the same program/year as me and she focused on sculpture and photography too. Myself, I did drawing and painting, but I seem to take a good deal of inspiration from site specific and 3D artists. Do you have any pictures of your other work?


Actually, photography came after sculpture. I have photos of my sculptures somewhere. I don't know how good the photos are -- I took them before I knew anything about photography.


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## Corbin (Dec 17, 2007)

When I was in high school, o so long ago, I got a great big book of Van Gogh pictures. Stary Night, Sunflower, Haystacks, then right behind him would be Monet. Went to college and got an art degree so I could be a construction super. Something about making a living and feeding the kids.


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