Alfred Sisley (October 30, 1839 – January 29, 1899)

                                                                                      

The Seine at Suresnes

1877

Sisley is not the most famous Impressionist, because some view his works as generic or tending towards the Impressionist average, but I love his works. Certainly some of his acquaintances, such as Renoir and Monet, had a greater level of experimentation in their careers, yet there is something about his landscapes that often has a force and vividness that I think is absolutely unique to him; I would even say that he most aptly captured the winds among the Impressionists. Anyway, I adore Sisley and I hope you do as well. 

Still Life with Heron

1867

Storr's Rock, Lady's Cove, Evening

1897

Avenue of Chestnut Trees near La Celle-Saint-Cloud

1867

The Lesson

1874

The Factory at Sevres

1879

James Ensor (April 13, 1860 – November 19, 1949)

                                                                                           

 

Old Woman with Masks

1889 

Ensor was one of the most influential artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Though he began experimenting artistically with Realism and Post-Impressionism, he quickly moved on to vast and strange Expressionist pieces, often involving masks and macabre symbols, which are his most lasting works. It's easy to see how the latter movements of Expressionism, especially New Objectivity, and Surrealism benefited widely from Ensor's creativity. But in all of that strangeness that pervaded Ensor's works, there are often present notes of humor, which I think make his pieces so much the weirder and more wonderful. 

Children Washing

1886

 Skeletons Trying to Warm Themselves

1889

 Bathing Hut

1876

 Fall of the Rebellious Angels

1889

Portrait of the Artist's Father

1881

The Cab

1880-1882

The Bad Doctors

 1892

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (June 7, 1868 – December 10, 1928)

                                                                                                            

Faded Roses

1905

Mackintosh is mostly remembered today as an architect, which to me is rather odd; I believe that his paintings, watercolors, etc. far exceeded in value his architecture. And above all, his ability to depict flowers is so extraordinarily stunning, I can't imagine how he's nearly completely faded out of the Art World's awareness. I suppose, if anything, it's the general apathy felt by nearly everyone towards still lifes. Unfair. 

Full Moon in September

1892

Petunias

1916

In Fairyland

1897

Anemones

1916

At the Edge of the Wood

1913

Caspar David Friedrich (September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840)

                                                                                          

Monastery Graveyard in the Snow

1817-1819

Friedrich's life was melancholy, isolated and little lauded, yet after his death his influence became monolithic. Besides the amazing technique that he displayed in his works, there is a tremendous thematic power that overwhelms most observers when they stare into them. There is a pervasive loneliness and miniaturization of the human spirit in his works, which he did not mean simply as an expression of his own depression, but as a representation of his love for the spiritual over the material. There are no Romanticists I can think of whose works more clearly establish their consciences and souls than those of Friedrich. 

Eldena Ruin

1825

Two Men Contemplating the Moon

1819-1820

Winter Landscape

1811 

Self-Portrait

1810

Robert Delaunay (April 12, 1885 – October 25, 1941)

                                                                                                

Circular Forms

1930

Delaunay was one of those turn-of-the-century painters that acted as a midwife for all those wonderful styles that developed in that period. His best known paintings are colorful and full of varying circles, a style no doubt influenced by Kandinsky: Delaunay was a part of the Der Blaue Reiter group.

The City

1911

Saint-Séverin No. 3

1909-1910

Nude Woman Reading

1920

Champs de Mars: The Red Tower

1911/1923

The Three Graces

1912

Man with a Tulip or Portrait of Jean Metzinger

1906

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 – August 19, 1905)

                                                                                                  

Dante and Virgil in Hell

1850

During the revolution of the Impressionist movement, Bouguereau's anachronistic style was viewed rather negatively by those who cheered for the novelty of the likes of Degas, who was himself a harsh critic of Bouguereau. Even today, when the triumph of Impressionism in contemporary critical circles is nearly complete, Academic art is viewed as the old guard of its time, unable to move and unable to adept. Yet to me the whole matter stinks of envy; Bouguereau was a genius in his own fashion, whose original popularity and crispness should never have been held against him. 

The Rapture of Psyche

1895

Biblis

1884

The Madonna of Roses

1903

Birth of Venus

1879

Self-Portrait

1879

Rosso Fiorentino (March 8, 1494 Florence - November 14, 1540)

                                                                                                  

Musician Angel

1520

Rosso Fiorentino (Red-headed Florentine), Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, was one of the greatest Mannerists, yet he's not held in as great a favor as many other painters of the Renaissance. I suppose there's a stylized fashion in his works that somehow repulses critics. Personally, I think he's incredibly original, and was one of the most obvious precursors of the sublimely wondrous El Greco. And what powerful softness he could create in an image as well, especially in his famous piece at the head of the post, Musician Angel.

Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro

1523-1524

A Young Man

1517-1518

Pietà

1537-1540 

Madonna and Child with Putti

1517

Deposition

1521

Giotto di Bondone (c. 1266 – January 8, 1337)

                                                                                                                        

Scenes from the Life of Christ: 9. Raising of Lazarus

1304-1306

I love the Early Renaissance so much because of artists such as Giotto di Bondone. Those artists preserved, at least to some extent, the powerful and florid depictions that characterized Gothic art (in fact, the Early Renaissance (or portions of it) are often referred to as Late Gothic). Bondone's art was highly lauded in his lifetime, though his personal appearance was not quite applauded. On the latter point, it's interesting how much an artist and his art are, in the minds of appreciators, conceptually indivisible, when they are often separated by leagues. I especially love Bondone's depictions of animals, which are beautifully quaint. 

The Miracle of the Spring

1297-1300

Joachim's Sacrifice

1302-1305

The Expulsion of the Demons from Arezzo

1295-1300

Lamentation over Dead Christ

1302-1305

Sol LeWitt (September 9, 1928 - April 8, 2007)

                                                                                                

Fivepointed Star with Bands of Color

1991

LeWitt was one of the earliest proponents of Minimalism and Conceptual Art, though I'll include the latter in a future post. LeWitt is deeply loved by many people, and for that reason I've included him on Daily Artist. But, I can't really find myself enjoying his pieces. Can anyone say anything that would change my mind?

 

Circle

1982

Scribbles on Color

1990

Cube with Colors Superimposed

1987

Walking Figure

1961