- Norman Rockwell
Rockwell’s art is very very American, in a very very good way. He did the ‘Four Freedom’ series of illustration for the US government’s campaign. Most of his works are posters, magazine covers and illustration, but he also did oil on canvas (and he did it superbly, I might add). One of his most well-known paintings is probably the “Triple Self Potrait”, but my favorite is “Gossip” (cunning story-telling skill!). Probably due to his background as a magazine illustrator, Rockwell usually emphasized on facial expression and the mental-atmosphere of a situation instead of the shape and composition of objects constituting that situation. His line is clean, with easy-on-the-eyes colors and thoughtful details. Rockwell often used people with jovial expression, interacting with each other with a touch a situational comedy as his object. He seldom painted a single person, and when he did usually the object is somewhat ‘interacting’ with something else, such as a reflection on a mirror (“Mirror”, “Triple Self Potrait”), or a painting (“Critic”), or a burnt cigarette (“Fire”). You won’t have to frown or think hard to figure out what his paintings mean which is a good thing for me; but some people his art as “too commercial” (so what’s wrong with being commercial?). All you need is an eye for the details. Some sense of humor would also help… and let Rockwell makes you smile.
- Andrew Wyeth
If Rockwell’s works convey humor and happiness, Wyeth’s convey calmness and some therapeutical value. Wyeth’s equivalence in music would probably be the Kings of Convenience. Looking at his works (even though only via computer monitor) usually takes me into a quiet, not-so-sunny summer afternoon…the smell of grass and summer blossom is filling the air…summer breeze is wiping my face and fluttering my hair..there’s a sense of tranquility and a feeling that nothing could go wrong (breath in, breath out….sigh!). Wyeth is a (post) impressionist and he really knows how to put the ray of light on to the canvas (isn’t that what being an impressionist all about?). And it just didn’t seem like he’s trying. All of his works are done with breath-taking scrutiny (best example is “Wind from the Sea”, and also the “Helga” series), but at the same thing it has this laid-back, effortless feel to it. My all time fave of Wyeth’s is definitely “Christina’s World”. I saw it first on the Encyclopedia Americana (yes, I read encyclopedias) and i remember thinking ‘oh it’s a nice painting..ho-hum’. But then I read about the story behind the painting, and then I look at the painting again (printed in black and white, with the size of ID card)..and there’s this poignant feeling inside, bittersweet ripples that turned into waves of sadness (but not the weepy kind of sad). It was the 1st and only time for me, that painting actually made me almost-cry. And for that reason, and so many unexplainable reasons, Andrew is my fave of all time.
- Edward Hopper
Hopper’s works kinda resembles Wyeth’s, in terms of the feeling they conveys. But Hopper’s peace and calm feel has more of a dark/lonely note to it. Only slightly, though. I guess that most people would agree that loneliness is a sad thing, but Hopper depicted it in a way that makes loneliness seems so beautiful. His most well-known (and most powerful, in my opinion) work is “Nighthawk”. The stranded streets, the guy sitting on the left-hand side of the counter (we can only see his back), the intensity of light inside the diner (a bit sterile-hospital-neon-ish)..all of the details just scream out the word ‘lonely!’ in a very subtle kind of way. Other less-subtle examples are “Morning Sun”, “Hotel-Room”, “Automat”, and “NY movie” (a personal favorite). Each of them depicted a woman standing/sitting alone lost in her thought (why is it always a woman?). Another “signature” he often used in his pieces is bright color (“Chop Suey” is a perfect example). I think it’s contradictive and at the same brilliant that he used bright,vibrant color in paintings with such a “dark” theme.
- Vincent van Gogh
He’s one of the most well-known art giant of all times. Kinda overwhelm me a bit to write about his work. He’s most famous for the sunflower series that he painted during his years in Arles, France. Another one of his masterpieces is the Starry Night. Actually the painting doesn’t exactly look like a starry night sky; it’s even more beautiful than the real thing! oh I’m so out of words. I mean, it’s Van Gogh..what more can I say?
- Auguste Renoir
Another giant. Already out of words to describe him. He’s famous for his excellence in painting how light would reflect on a person’s face. There’s also one of his painting where people were sitting under a tree, and there were light coming through openings between leaves. He painted the reflection of light in every single face and it looks flawlessly natural. I once read in Reader’s Digest that some interviewer asked Renoir how he knew when his brushstroke was “right” when he was painting the reflection of light on a face. His answer was “when it feels like pinching”.
I despise art critics because they usually only talk about the technical/originality aspects of ‘art’. Why dichotomize such a fluid thing as art into ‘bad’ and ‘good’? Why does there have to be an objectivity (common subjectivity) about art? Isn’t art supposed to be personal and subjective? Isn’t it supposed to mean different things to a different person? Isn’t it more about it makes you feel, instead of how your senses ‘feel’ about it?
