Charlotte Rossmann Art Talk

A Van Gogh House

2012-01-31T10:27:00.001-07:00

Photo above is the house where Van Gogh lodged in when he was an evangelist in Belgium. Since the house is falling down, there is a plan to restore it and open it to visitors by 2015.

At the time Van Gogh lived here he was 25 and had no money. His level of poverty is easily seen in his early paintings such his early painting, "The Potato Eaters".

Time does keep on moving

2012-01-28T10:40:00.001-07:00

The painting is still not finished but it's moving along. This painting has been calling me back to the easel time and time again. It's a fun painting and I hope to do more of this sort of Surrealism. I may finish the painting tonight.
It's a good medium sized oil on canvas. It may be 24" by 28".

The Nuts and Bolts of Painting

2011-12-24T11:03:00.001-07:00

In the beginning of a painting, I'm never sure what I'm doing.

There is something that starts but it's not verbal.

I start with lines and ideas and then shapes and colors. These two have been in the works for awhile. I'm still not sure where they are going.

A month or so ago I thought my direction was to be more cityscapes but somehow it didn't happen. I don't know what that's about.

New Painting

2011-11-26T09:06:00.001-07:00

Oil on Canvas, Abstract Landscape. The colors are hard to photograph, subtle and lots of layering.

24" by 26"

Art and Type 1 Diabetes

2011-11-25T17:55:00.006-07:00

On March 21, 2011 my six year old granddaughter Katherine was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes is NOT is a disease caused by lifestyle, overweight or any other controllable factor. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that destroys the islet cells in the pancreas. The patient is normal in every other area of their life, except their pancreas no longer works!

Suddenly, a perfectly healthy child becomes insulin dependent for life. It's constant monitoring and frequent shots. What it MOST becomes is fear. We worry constantly because insulin dependent means insulin dependent for life. It's that simple.

The bad news is that Katherine has diabetes. The good news is she is alive. Before insulin was discovered, every child with Type 1 died.

This is an art blog. However, now art and diabetes overlap because some adults who have have diabetes are now involved in independent film projects.

This film made me cry. It is the reality for mom and daughter. "24 hours with Sam and Ana": http://vimeo.com/32470207

This film is about our dream, a possible cure. It is called "Patient 13": http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/544334747/patient-13

Yet Another Snow Scene!

2011-11-24T09:37:00.002-07:00

I don't know why I keep doing these. It's more of the same but I LOVE it. I have some more challenging paintings in the works but sometimes a "girl just has to have fun"!

New Abstract: Purple Bra

2011-11-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

Oil on Masonite

Mid Century New York Artists, Women artists of the time and Abstract Expressionism

2011-11-12T10:26:00.005-07:00

Joan Mitchell was an artist who created art and a life that went out of bounds. In the art world of the past, women artists were rare.   Women were not expected to live like men, behave like men or paint like men. Joan was an exception.   She achieved success eventually in the rough and tumble world of Abstract Expressionism.

Joan was an artist who lived and painted in New York City 1950's and in Paris from the 70's-late 1980's. Along with Pollack, DeKooning, Kline and many others she helped create this totally abstract style of art work that eventually was called Abstract Expressionism . Oddly enough, two other examples of successful women artists in this art movement are the wives of Jackson Pollack, Lee Krasner, and William DeKooning, Elaine DeKooning. Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler were both from wealthy families who continued support. They were protected from some of the harsher realities other woman artists such as Alice Neel had to endure.

At that time, New York City was alive with action and crawling with vibrant young people who after surviving a horrendous world war, came into a new decade with great vitality and enthusiasm. These young men and a handful of women who were gutsy enough to get into the action and turned the art world upside down with their WiLd CrAzY ArT.

Prior to WWII the art capitol of the world was Paris. When Pollack, Kline, DeKooning and others slapped paint onto huge canvases and spread creative glory, the world of art sat up and took notice. The art capitol of the world soon became New York City. Fresh on a war victory, America was booming with money and confidence.

These NEW paintings were alive with expressions of the grimy, noisy, forever moving city they loved. The city was too big to capture in a realistic image. The life they led in decrepit unheated walk-ups with naked-light-bulb, "illegal for habitation" apartments changed the way the world saw painting from a controlled image directed process to a flat splash of color on background of canvas. In the process of defining what art meant to them, they survived on coffee and cigarettes while visiting all night cafeterias to meet with other artists. They felt they needed the "kick in the butt" that only a group of their peers could provide.   They threw paint in drips, strokes and lines across canvas, stretched 10 feet and more across their studios creating the CrAzY art of legends.

These artists were all hard drinking, tough guys, even if they were women! They lived hard and fast. America had arrived in the world of art!

Shape and Color Cubist Style

2011-11-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

14" by 18" oil on canvas

Cubist Shape and Color in Landscape Painting

Working on understanding Cubist Shape and Color.

Time just keeps on ....

2011-11-05T12:38:00.006-06:00

Time: a peculiar concept. They tell us it doesn't exist. New scientific studies suggests that we are two dimensional holograms.
Whatever that means, I still feel the necessity to continue painting. Working slow but have finished a new painting. Still working on cubist city. This is a direction I will work on this year. I'm fascinated by cubism: shape, color and pulling it together in a night/twilight scene.

Oil on canvas, somewhere in the range of 24" by 30"

Abstract Art Process

2011-10-15T07:49:00.008-06:00

I looks easy. In some ways it is easy but there's a catch.

It has to come on it's own. You can chase it. You can't catch it. You can wish it. You can't demand it.

You allow it.

The dream is space. Give it a home. Even that is no guarantee.

It sits, it waits and in it's own time it happens. Or not.....

No News is the News

2011-10-02T14:16:00.001-06:00

No News is the News

Ever have a time when life got too busy? All that can be done is spin the wheels on the treadmill of living.
No news is all the news that can be found.
Family, Exercise and Work. Kitty Cat, Cooking, Travel, Trying to Paint and House. Squeezing in a few hours a week for ART but nothing for NEWS.

New Painting for Fall

2011-08-20T12:49:00.001-06:00

New Snow Painting: 11" by 14" oil on canvas

Sidebar for purchase information

Why Paint?

2011-08-20T12:28:00.004-06:00

Why does anyone paint or do art? If I were painting for money and glory I would have quit long ago.

There are no easy answers. I like to paint and I like the challenge of finding the new. There's always a new twist and new problem as I move forward.

However, in the end, it's just something one does or doesn't do.

New Snow Painting, 11" by 14" oil on canvas.

Sidebar for purchase information

Art News

2011-08-02T21:33:00.002-06:00

Lucian Freud, Figurative Painter Who Redefined Portraiture, Is Dead at 88

The New York Times reported recently that Lucian Freud, whose stark and revealing paintings of friends and intimates, splayed nude in his studio, recast the art of portraiture and offered a new approach to figurative art, died on Wednesday night at his home in London. He was 88.

Mr. Freud, a grandson of Sigmund Freud and a brother of the British television personality Clement Freud, was already an important figure in the small London art world when, in the immediate postwar years, he embarked on a series of portraits that established him as a potent new voice in figurative art.

Mr. Freud was a bohemian of the old school. He set up his studios in squalid neighborhoods, developed a Byronic reputation as a rake and gambled recklessly (“Debt stimulates me,” he once said). In 1948, he married Kitty Garman, the daughter of the sculptor Jacob Epstein, whom he depicted in several portraits, notably “Girl With Roses,” “Girl With a Kitten” (1947) and “Girl With a White Dog” (1950-51). That marriage ended in divorce, as did his second marriage, to Lady Caroline Blackwood. He is survived by many children from his first marriage and from a series of romantic relationships.

Naked!

“He’s buck-naked — Lord have mercy!” a woman said, stopping to gawk at, loudly judge and then photograph a sudden expanse of flesh.

Seconds after 7 a.m. on Monday, trousers were dropping and skirts were lifting all along Wall Street. The mass dishabille was part of a site-specific work of performance art, “Ocularpation: Wall Street,” by an artist, Zefrey Throwell. It was intended as a commentary on work and the economy, Mr. Throwell said, though that seemed to be lost on the police stationed near the New York Stock Exchange.
There, three people — two men and a woman dressed (briefly) as a stock trader, a janitor and a dog-walker — were arrested and taken to a nearby precinct, where they were given summons for disorderly conduct and later released. By 7:05 a.m., the remaining 46 men and women who were part of the project had simply put their clothes back on and gone about their day.

(Stories from: New York Times online) Drawing by Charlotte Rossmann

New Cubist Painting

2011-07-28T13:32:00.000-06:00

Oil on Canvas 14" by 18"
Contact charrossmann@aol.com for purchase information

Art News

2011-07-17T08:21:00.004-06:00

Clemente Exhibit in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, MO.- The Saint Louis Art Museum presents: Francesco Clemente's High Fever, which brings together a series of nine dark and mysterious woodcuts that explore the beauty, pleasure and pain of love by contemporary Italian artist Francesco Clemente. Influenced by the mysticism of India, Clemente conveys both the sensual and spiritual aspects of love, including childbirth and motherhood. Clemente exploits the natural grain of his woodblocks to dramatic effect, allowing it to become part of the repertoire of expressive marks found in each of the compositions. The grain and the dark tones of the ink reference the Northern European history of the woodcut. Born in Naples in 1952, Clemente taught himself to paint after finishing high school. The exhibit will be on view July 15 through October 9, 2011.

Chinese art in Denver
DENVER, CO.- This fall, visitors to the Denver Art Museum (DAM) will get a rare look inside China’s artistic history through two special exhibitions. Xu Beihong: Pioneer of Modern Chinese Painting and Threads of Heaven: Silken Legacy of China’s Last Dynasty explore this mysterious and ceremonial country during two time periods—the latter years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), and the subsequent formation of the Republic of China during the early to middle 20th century. Xu Beihong offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the full spectrum of work by the 20th century Chinese artist who is widely recognized as the father of modern Chinese painting. One of the first Chinese artists to study in Europe, Xu revolutionized painting in China by drawing influence from both the East and West.

Soulful Stitching in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Stunning, colorful, patchwork quilts known as kawandi and made only by craftswomen living in the little known Siddi communities of Africans in India are on display at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) as part of its exploration of how traditional practices are adapted over decades throughout the African Diaspora. The exhibition presents over 30 quilts of a variety of styles and techniques and also the compelling story of the Siddis, descendants of East African slaves, sailors and merchants who currently live in the highlands of the KarantakaSiddis) in India” opened at the Museum of African Diaspora Friday, July 15, 2011. The traveling exhibition consisting of 32 quilts will be on view until September 18, 2011.

Drawing by Charlotte Rossmann

New Cubist Oil Painting

2011-07-08T14:07:00.001-06:00

24" by 30" Oil on Canvas Colorful Cubist Landscape

Art News: Artist Cy Twombly Dead at 83

2011-07-06T07:27:00.002-06:00

Art News: American artist Cy Twombly is dead. He died in Rome at the age of 83. The artist had been battling cancer for several years. Cy Twombly was born in Lexington, Virginia on April 25, 1928.
Cy Twombly belongs to the group of internationally acknowledged artists. The Cy Twombly Gallery opened in Houston in 1995, which was designed by the architect Renzo Piano in co-operation with the artist.

Cy Twombly lived and worked in Rome and Gaeta, Italy, as well as in Lexington, USA. His son, Cyrus Alessandro Twombly is also a painter.

Twombly's paintings are in-between drawing and painting. Many of his paintings of the late 1960s are reminiscent of a school blackboard on which someone has practiced cursive. His paintings of the late 1950s, early 1960s might reference a long term accumulation of graffiti such as one would see on a bathroom wall. Twombly had at this point discarded representational subject-matter, citing the line or smudge with its own history as its proper subject. This trend continued in abstract art and influenced many young painters of the time.

In a 1994 retrospective of Twombly's work, the curator described it as “influential among artists.".

Online Art Project

2011-07-01T12:41:00.001-06:00

http://www.postsecret.com/

PostSecret (link above) is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

Picasso and the Blond Girl

2011-06-30T22:14:00.002-06:00

Picasso and the Blond Girl
Picasso met Marie-Therese Walter when she was 16 and he was 45. Immediately, they fell in love and for many years she remained the love of his life and the subject of many paintings. Even though, Picasso seemed to be incapable of being faithful to one woman, for a long period of time his art was infused with the spirit of this lively young woman with the luxurious, long blond hair, crystal blue eyes and voluptuous body.
At the time Picasso met her, he was living the life of a staid middle class husband and father. His art lacked the vibrancy and excitement of the early years. Given his talent, fame and charisma he easily found what he was looking for: a young girl willing to toss away the promise of a predictable life, respectability and marriage for the life of artist's mistress.
Marie-Therese became Picasso's principal muse for the next 14 years. During this time he moved in and out of relationships with other women but still Marie-Therese was his major love interest. In Picasso's greatest masterpiece, Guernica, Marie-Therese's image can be seen at least 3 times. Over and over Picasso painted her as she seemed to haunt him in art and in life.
They broke up long before his death in 1973 but even so the bond was strong enough that in the end, she could not bear to face living without Picasso in the world. Marie-Therese killed herself 50 years after they first met in 1977.
This love affair is the subject of a major exhibit, "Picasso and Marie-Therese: L-Amour Fou," at the Gagosian Gallery in New York this year. This exhibit includes some of the masterpieces that Picasso painted that were inspired by the lovely blond girl.

Art News

2011-06-22T12:10:00.004-06:00

New Book on Artist

"Joan Mitchell, Lady Painter: A Life" by Patricia Albers explores the life of a successful woman artist before there were many women artists. Joan decided at the age of 12 to become an artist. When she died in 1992 at the age of 67, her paintings sold for millions.
What an interesting life! Dish the dirt, Darling. She was a life long alcoholic, a nasty drunk, habitually brawling with lovers and suffering physical abuse in the process (showed up black and blue after such episodes). She was reckless, promiscuous and self-destructive. She wanted children yet had several abortions because she believed she couldn't do both paint and be a mother. Did she have an affair with DeKooning? Jackson Pollack? Wow~I can't wait to read this book to find out!
BTW: Her work is really, really good!
TRaSh!
More and more artists are using trash not just as a material but also as a subject. Just look at what we throw away! In many cities apparently people are dumpster diving to find great treasures but it's not enough. Most of it goes to waste. We could use things longer, not buy new stuff and make art.
"Recently, there has been a radical shift in our consciousness of trash, with artists now using obsolete things not just as materials but also as content—turning them into landscape, still life, and other artistic genres. This awareness informs the work of artists like Sarah Sze, Mike Nelson, Christoph Büchel, Marjetica Potrc, El Anatsui, Thomas Hirschhorn, and Kristen Morgin."
(quote by Kim Levin ArtNews)
drawing by charlotte rossmann

Frank Lloyd Wright

2011-06-11T09:51:00.002-06:00

For Sale: A masterpiece you can live in!
Unbelievably several of Frank Lloyd Wright's beautiful houses are currently for sale. These are magnificent homes and many are in the multi-million dollar price range but still, it is shocking that they haven't been snatched up. There are currently at least 17 Wright properties on the market now and the number may be as high as 27. The vast majority of the houses are upper-bracket, priced from $800,000 to $7.5 million.

Interestingly enough, Wright also did a lower end type of house later in his career and these are very affordable. This house is near McGregor, Iowa and is the lowest priced Wright house on the market at $129,000. It has three bedrooms and 2 baths. In addition there are the quality features of a Wright built house such as maple floors, original fireplace and leaded windows.

The beautiful house above is is priced at $2,590,000. To find out more you can google Frank Lloyd Wright.

Art in the News

2011-05-25T13:32:00.003-06:00

My Kid Could Have Done That!
"A single line thrown onto a canvas. Simple blocks of colour. A clutter of squiggles. Should you be sauntering past the wall of abstracts at a museum this summer, a cynical thought may swiftly follow: “My kid could have done that. Heck, a monkey could've done that.” Well it turns out that your kid and your monkey can't do that.

To test whether people really mistake paintings by professionals with those produced by children and chimps, researchers at Boston College showed art and non-art students pairs of images – one by an Abstract Expressionist (including images by Mark Rothko, Charles Seliger, Clyfford Still, Sam Francis, Hans Hofmann, and Cy Twombly), and one by a child or animal. Their survey results, released in March, revealed that a clear majority of participants in both groups liked the professional paintings more and judged them as better.
“We are showing that the disparaging things people say don’t hold up,” says Ellen Winner, chair of the Department of Psychology at Boston College and co-author of the study Seeing the Mind Behind the Art. “A child could not have painted a Twombly … even the untrained eye can see the difference.”
This was copied from an article on Globe and Mail

drawing by charlotte rossmann

Art News

2011-05-06T17:18:00.002-06:00

Bacon Offered For Auction
LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced that its summer Contemporary Art Evening Auction will be led by Crouching Nude, an important masterwork by the renowned British artist Francis Bacon which has never before been offered at auction. The 1961 oil on canvas will be offered for sale on Wednesday, June 29, 2011.
Lost Gorky Found Again
NEW YORK, NY.- Gagosian Gallery presents an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Arshile Gorky. Centered on the recent discovery of Untitled (Pastoral), a painting from 1947 that has never before been exhibited. Untitled (Pastoral) was found in 2010 during the reframing of the painting Pastoral from the same series. The former was set behind Pastoral on the same stretcher, and remained covered for sixty-four years.
Loss, Longing and Desire
NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announces the auction of a finely honed private collection of important Contemporary art, with works from marquee artists such as Damien Hirst, Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol and Takashi Murakami. The Private European Collection represents work from each major artist’s response to centuries of tradition, underscored with themes of loss, longing and desire.

Culture Is....

2011-05-05T18:08:00.003-06:00

The definition of Culture is: Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities (high culture).
An integrated pattern of knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning.
The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group.
Long ago when I was a teenager, I had a few years of correspondence with a young man from Austria. I remember asking him to write about his "culture". He wrote back, "What do you want to know about my culture?" I was at a loss to answer that question.
Culture is a mysterious word. It means what we do, how we live, what we think/believe and how we express ourselves. It's vague and abstract but you can't escape it. It's all around us. It's everywhere. It's ever changing and easily lost as it transforms itself constantly. Yet, it exists only in our minds.
When we die our culture dies. In 1,000 years when they dig up our rusted cars and refrigerators they will not dig up our culture. That will be gone.

Art reflects culture. It is a personal record of what one artist experiences. It provides a key to the current world. It is a synthesis of experience and meaning. This is valuable because one person's experience at this moment isn't unique. So that symbol becomes a tangible object for the transmission of a common culture. When we dig up pots that are decorated from long ago, we can frequently grasp the feeling and the meaning in the drawings. Art gives us a tiny view into the past but it's just a glimmer of a long ago culture.

It's news

2011-04-10T20:28:00.003-06:00

Gauguin Painting on Exhibit Harmed
National Gallery of art had an extreme incident last week. A woman visiting the gallery attacked a Gauguin painting of two bare-breasted Tahitian women Friday afternoon.

A security guard at the museum restrained the woman who was later detained. She was charged with destruction of property and theft.
The oil painting is on loan from the Met and is part of a Gauguin exhibit that runs through June 5.

The painting is among Gauguin's most popular, according to the National Gallery. A statement from the Gallery describes the painting as "Gauguin's mythical idea of Tahiti as a paradise of beautiful, mysterious women."

Who was the Mona Lisa?
Italian researchers said Tuesday they will dig up bones in a Florence convent to try to identify the remains of a Renaissance woman long believed to be the model for the "Mona Lisa." The research might help ascertain the identity of the woman depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece.

Photo of Frank Stella during a presentation at the Toledo Museum of Arts

TOLEDO.- Frank Stella makes a point at the blackboard preceding the opening of Frank Stella: Irregular Polygons. An estimated crowd of 1,000 people attended the program. Photo: Andrew Weber.

It's the latest

2011-04-02T16:10:00.008-06:00

Today's Art News:
Lucian Freud's painting of his former lover, Suzy Boyt, is expected to sell for 4.5 million pounds in auction at Christie's in June.

The main branch of the New York Public Library is seeking 500 people to spend the night there on a scavenger hunt as they explore its miles of rare treasures. The hunt, called "Find the Future: The Game," was created for the library's centennial.

Three National Science Foundation supported researchers recently undertook the first non-Iraqi archaeological investigation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta in nearly 20 years. Archaeologists Jennifer Pournelle and Carrie Hritz, with geologist Jennifer Smith, carried out the study late last year to look for links between wetland resources and the emergence of Mesopotamian cities.

Two Paintings Available for Purchase

2011-03-27T15:22:00.007-06:00

These two originial oil on canvas paintings are finished and ready for purchase. Each painting is 11" by 14". These paintings are $180 each with $10 shipping.

Cubistic house, concerning new painting which is not shown here

2011-03-21T04:51:00.001-06:00

Fractured house with prism light
broken dreams alone tonight
five will get you ten
New York minute
get you back again
so long, lonesome
I heard the dove at night
so long, lonesome
I've taken flight

Skinny Girls

2011-03-03T16:57:00.011-07:00

Skinny girls. Oil painting on Masonite. Contact for purchase information

R.B. Kitaj

2011-02-23T20:13:00.001-07:00

Kitaj was born in 1934 and died in 2007. He was a well known artist who was born in America but spent most of his life in England. He studied with the artist David Hockney and in fact, they became life long friends.
Kitaj's work relied on strong areas of color and overlapping planes that resembled painted collages. The work was heavy with symbolism, historical, political and literature references. Kitaj was known as a being an excellent draftsman. His work showed the economy of a brilliant line, the mark of one gifted with the drawing tool.
He called his style 'agitational usage'. His large, complex compositions are a montage of distorted landscapes, constructions and exaggerated human forms.
Yet, much of his work is very realistic as Kitaj moved between some fairly abstracted images to highly realistic figurative work. A talented and skilled painter, his work emotionally expressive and powerful.
After his wife died in 1997 Kitaj moved to Los Angeles. He was one of the artists to to make a post-it drawing in 2000 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 3M. His post-it was sold on the internet for $925 making it the most expensive post-it note ever sold.
Kitaj took his own life 8 days before his 75th birthday.

Neighborhood

2011-02-05T17:14:00.004-07:00

Oil on Canvas: 18" by 24" $500 contact: charrossmann@aol.com

Body of Work

2011-02-02T16:54:00.003-07:00

Andy Saunders of Dorset, England created this wonderful Picasso car!

In art "body of work" refers to the total output of an artist. It's interesting to think of life for an artist coming down to what you leave behind.

Did Van Gogh think of this? Van Gogh created about 900 paintings but the very best were done in the last few years of his life. That's an amazing output considering that he only painted for 10 years!
The answer for Picasso is about 20,000 works of art. Remember, Picasso was also a sculptor and he lived a long life. The quality of his life certainly shows in the number of artworks. He had a very productive and prosperous life.
The supreme Impressionist, Claude Monet, created 2,500 works of art which include drawings and pastels.
Frida Kahlo painted about 123 paintings in her lifetime.
Paul Gauguin painted 64 paintings in his lifetime.
Matisse painted 215 paintings.
Kandinsky painted 201 paintings.

Okay, now, fellow artists, is it time to consider your body of work?

Night

2011-01-04T08:58:00.006-07:00

New Painting: 24" by 28"

Oil on Canvas

In the night, pin pricks of light shine on velvet forms.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

2011-01-02T09:24:00.001-07:00

(1960-1988) Basquiat was born in New York City. By the age of 11 he was fluent in French, Spanish and English. He was a gifted child and his art talent was discovered early. However, his home life was not stable and after some rocky years and early homelessness he ran away from his family at the age of 15. At that time, he lived with friends and began creating graffiti art painting messages on buildings in Lower Manhattan. The Village Voice published an article on his work in 1978. Soon after, he ended his career as a graffiti artist and formed his own rock band. By the time he was 21 his neo-expressionist art work was selling in New York art galleries. It is rumored that he dated Madonna at one time.

After the death of Andy Warhol his depression deepened and his heroin addiction took over. He died at the age of 27 of a heroin overdose.

Keith Haring Graffiti Art

2010-12-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

Keith Haring (1958-1990)

Graffiti art is vandalism. It is unwanted and can be obscene and destructive. However, Keith Haring became well-known and famous by doing graffiti art. He was born in 1958 and died in 1990 of AIDS. After Keith moved to NYC where he studied art, he became involved in the thriving art community that was developing outside of the gallery and museum system. Soon, Haring joined artists like Basquiat and Scharf in creating immediate and accessible artwork, graffiti in the New York subways. Haring's dynamic images rely on patterns, strong design, vivid colors and expressive lines to show movement and passion concerning his interests and social issues. His work might be drawn from aboriginal art since it displays the simplicity and force of gutsy, primitive style artwork. He was an idealistic and compassionate person, donating his time to create murals that benefited children after he became well-known.

Haring's influence is strong in current design. His work has had an impact on our culture with his vital and bold images.
http://www.haring.com/

The scariest thing of all

2010-12-30T12:29:00.003-07:00

Abstract Faces, new oil painting on masonite

He said this to me.

He said, "The scariest thing of all is the ordinary". He tried to pretend that day.

Yes, I learned much later that something was missing....

"Picture this", he said, "We are driving along the street. It's just an ordinary street, nothing at all that would seem strange. You, my girl, you look over and there you see a wolf man driving a car. Imagine that!"

To me, he said, "That's truly the scariest of all."

I looked at him bewildered because I didn't see that at all.

Later I realized it's because HE was the scariest thing of all!

New Book by Patti Smith

2010-12-30T07:52:00.009-07:00

Patti's new book, "Just Kids" is an amazing story of two poor artists, lovers living in NYC during the 1960's and 70's. It won the National Book Award for non-fiction. Prior to reading this book, I didn't know anything about the life of Patti Smith. I certainly didn't know the story of her close and intensely personal relationship with the controversial photographer, Robert Mapplethorp. The two met in NYC when they were just 19 and starving newcomers to the city. They quickly developed a love relationship and a shared personal and artistic support system that lasted the rest of his life.

In 1989 I saw photographs by Mapplethorp and I was shocked by some of the images but I didn't know the story behind them. Mapplethorp died in about 1988 of AIDS. The gripping story of Patti and Robert's early years as struggling artists sheds light on their eventual divergent creative directions. She doesn't sugar coat how difficult life was for them. Living in New York and working to achieve artistic success was more challenging than I would have imagined. They lived on the edge of starvation for years. Not many people would have stuck it out but they did. Eventually, it paid off but not really in the way they had suspected.

Patti was a hard working woman and supported herself and Mapplethorp minimally for years by working in a bookstore. She also bought and sold used books with her developed knowledge of valuable collector's items. However, that wasn't always enough. When life became particularly difficult Robert started hustling in the streets at night. Both women and men were attracted to him. He was beautiful. His raw and shocking images followed years of internal searching brought on by feelings that developed during this seedy period of selling himself to the highest bidder. Patti doesn't dwell on this other than to report her despair during this time. One can only imagine the desperation of such a life.

Even as they found other lovers, Patti and Robert continued to support each other as artists and friends. It's a tragic love story with an artistic twist.

Patti Smith

Violence

2010-12-19T08:22:00.003-07:00

City Night

Judgmental thoughts should be considered "intellectual violence". This was part of a quote by Deepak Chopra which was in reference to judging others.
Violence to self can happen.
Violence to others can happen.
But it's never, ever right.
It can be a habit to be broken, just like junk, just like smack.
Just like all drugs it is seductive and seemingly beneficial to the ego to stroke with hatred. Get over it!
It's violence and it's never, ever right.
You wicked, wicked soul to think bad things of yourself.
Get over it!
It's violence and it's never, ever right.

Art and Suicide

2010-12-04T07:59:00.006-07:00

Above: new painting in progress. I'm still working slowly on this one.

Recently a student asked me, "Do all artists kill themselves?"
Well, no. In fact, very few artists kill themselves. We are familiar with Van Gogh, gifted artistic genius who didn't fit in the world of people and in his deep misery and pain decided to end it all with a bullet to the head. Now we hear that there is some controversy if he truly did cut off his ear but to date it seems to be accepted that he did blow his brains out after completing his beautiful, last painting: "Wheat Field with Crows". As gifted as he was, his life was a very unhappy one. He was very poor, unsuccessful, an object of scorn by society and saw no future for himself.
Another gifted artist who killed himself is Arshile Gorky who hit a 'rough patch'. His house burned down, his health was poor, he had no money, and his wife left him. He hanged himself.
Jeanne Hebuterne who was a very young, promising artist and pregnant mistress of the artist Modigliani jumped from a third story window after her lover died of tuberculosis
Frida Kahlo may have killed herself with pain killers. Due to many physical injuries and problems she was in constant pain. She very likely overdosed to end it all.
Ernst Ludwig Kirshner shot himself after a very bad year of illness and what he perceived as the termination of his artistic career by the current political party: the Nazi party. They declared his work degenerate. Today he is a well-know expressionist and the Nazi party is remembered as the ultimate, degenerate group of criminals.
Mark Rothko is a well-known abstractionist who slit his wrists in his New York studio. Reports indicate that he had been drinking and may have been ill.
Then, there was Jackson Pollack. Suicide? Maybe not, but he was going through a seriously bad streak. He had not painted in over a year. He was deeply into alcoholism and depression. His wife left him and he took up with a new woman to keep him company. While drunk, he wrapped his convertible around a tree killing himself and seriously injuring his passenger, the new girlfriend.
To answer the question: do all artists kill themselves? No. As a rule, artists are probably happier and less crazy than the rest of the world but there are also some notable examples of artists who found life not worth living.

More on David Hockney

2010-11-21T09:11:00.003-07:00

Above: David Hockney's Digital iPad creations that I snagged off the internet.

Anything new is instaneous. I just googled David Hockney's iPad images and there is a ton of info on it.

Please scroll down for more on Hockney and iPad art.

David Hockney and the iPad

2010-11-21T08:27:00.003-07:00

David Hockney who is the current rock star of the art world has a new line of work. It's totally digital, done on his iPad. He sends his new creations to 30 or 40 of his relatives and friends. (David, my email address is: charrossmann@hotmail.com)

Back in 2008 Hockney started experimenting with his iPhone and using only his right thumb began this new series of images. He started early in the morning while still in bed capturing dawn as it broke over the horizon. Throughout the day he continued to practice and a favorite was fresh flowers, imaginary or real. Anything enhanced by light was most effective because light is the media of digital transmissions.

In 2010 Hockney moved on to the iPad. He found this a little more challenging because it's larger and mistakes are visible. Now, he has quite a collection of these images. He estimates there are more than 1,000 to date.
"He is thrilled that the art establishment-a confederation he sometimes calls the I.C.S. (International Crooks and Swindlers)-will have a hard time figuring out how to convert this oeuvre into cash." *

This year the Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, in Paris will be showing these works in an exhibit on iPhone and iPad screens. New images will be constantly streamed by by Hockney on a regular basis. He calls this exhibit "Fleurs Fraiches" (Fresh Flowers). "the art is subversive", says Berge, but "creation is subersive-always!"*

I have not had experience with either the iPhone or iPad since I'm at the level of food and shelter, not expensive digital media. However, my daughter sent me a beautiful line drawing that she created on her iPhone (below).

*Vanity Fair Magazine, page184, Nov. 2010

Red Grooms

2010-11-06T10:30:00.004-06:00

I remember seeing an exhibit by the artist Red Grooms at the Denver Art Museum many years ago. It was a fun art show. I suspect excitement is a quality quite common to the exhibits of this artist. Red Grooms provides a complete experience in his exhibitions. I felt like I was involved in the process of creating the art as I toured the exhibit. His work reminds me of the immediacy of a funky, alternative exhibit except the quality of work is more professional and cohesive.
Grooms is a pop artist and he studied under the artist, Hans Hoffman. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago which is a school that I almost attended. I didn't go after my acceptance. Instead, I got married and later got my degree in fine art in the St. Louis area at Southern Illinois University.

Red_Grooms_NYC_Taxi_on_the_Street

This is one of Red Grooms' sculptures. This artist creates powerfully dynamic and original artwork.

The stash

2010-10-15T07:14:00.003-06:00

Old House, Colorful and Contemporary Cubist Oil Painting on Canvas

28" by 24"

Available for Purchase: $780 (so I can go to Paris or maybe France?)

Underneath the house, in canyons and caverns of darkness, I have stored paintings stacks of art that are hidden in the dark.

I like the stash and I protect the stash. I should try to sell the stash.

Maybe I want to go to Paris.

Maybe I want to go to Rome.

I should try to sell the stash.

It's underneath the house in the dark caverns of my life. I've got this stash of artwork that has never seen the light.

If I sold them I could go to Paris or maybe France? But the stash is safe and secret and hidden from the light.

Henri Rousseau

2010-09-29T08:34:00.009-06:00

As I struggle with Daily Painting I think of another artist who had trouble balancing between his dream vs. reality. He also had problems with acceptance from the "art world". The artist is Henri Rousseau (1844-1910). He was called a "Sunday Painter".

Rousseau came to art in his 40's. Before art, he tried many occupations, law, military and government work. Finally he became employed as a tax collector to support his widowed mother, wife and 7 children. He quit working at the age of 49 to devote his life to art.  To support himself he played the violin on the streets and occasionally did illustrations.

Rousseau did not study art, instead he was self-taught. He is considered to be a Post-Impressionist in the Primitive manner. In fact, his art was ridiculed by art critics. Frequently, when I read about the art world I think it's very similar to middle school. The in group decides how it rolls.  For my money, Rousseau is the man!

I've always admired Rousseau for his jungle scenes which are unlike any that I've seen. They are inspiring and creative. The great secret is that Rousseau spent his life in France and never set foot in a jungle.  The details in his paintings came from books on tropical plants combined with rich imaginative color and fantasy. He created paintings that depict the tropics of our dreams and or nightmares. His jungle scenes are in the small group of "The Best Paintings" anyone has ever done. At least they are on My List.

Rousseau was belittled by art critics for creating paintings that are nice to look at but not serious artwork. His work was considered naive or childlike. Things were so bad for Rousseau that Picasso found one of Rousseau's paintings sold on the street as trash canvas to be painted over by another artist. Picasso recognized his genius and threw a party to honor Rousseau.

On many levels Rousseau is an inspiration. The fact that he was ridiculed by the art establishment and that he managed to support his family and still have time to paint and finally the fact of his detailed depictions of the lush, forbidding jungle of his imagination. In the end he did conquer the world. We know his name Rousseau today as an artist of merit and his work has inspired generations of artists and designers.

Painting with Zen and Cubism

2010-09-14T17:10:00.008-06:00

Cubist Still Life Oil Painting on Canvas

Colorful Abstract Cubist Still life Painting

Shapes and colors that come together when I'm dreaming but still awake.

"There is no music allowed..."

"How can I do that?"

Alone, no noise

Painting with cubism and zen.

Drawing Again: The Zen of the Thing

2010-09-02T19:46:00.000-06:00

I've set myself a goal of Daily Drawing, not just sketching but In Depth drawing. I haven't done much drawing in the past few years. As an artist, I've found that re-inventing myself every so often keeps my work fresh. Right now, I'm painting city scenes and doing still life drawings.
In the process I've discovered The Zen of the Thing:
As I sit patiently in silence looking intently at an object, I see the glorious beauty of form. Just any Thing of ordinary use has beauty in the way the light plays on the surface. The knowing in my mind that I can wrap my hand around the form gives me the ability to see the space around the object and desire to create that feeling on a flat sheet of paper. The driven desire is frustrating and exciting at the same time.
I struggle to create this in a way that is totally abstract by the nature of trying to create a likeness of a three dimensional object on a two dimensional surface. The goal is to create some link with reality.
Each time at the end of the drawing I know that I've failed. I pile the drawing on top of the drawing from the day before and vow that "Tomorrow it will be better".

Midnight Blues Tonight

2010-08-30T08:24:00.003-06:00

Abstract Oil Painting: The Blues

Working on abstraction

Listening to the blues

My Baby done me wrong

Midnight blues tonight

New Painting

2010-08-22T22:17:00.003-06:00

Why Buy Art?

2010-08-17T14:43:00.005-06:00

Original art is unique. As a personal expression, art reflects emotions, experiences and individuality of the human experience. In a home original art is a powerful statement. If we are able to connect with the impact of original art, the expression of personal identity is enhanced in our living space which adds to the quality of life.
Original art improves our environment. Imagine bleak, bare walls or walls covered with factory produced reproductions compared with one filled with emotionally charged original art that reflects the taste of the art buyer.
Art connects people in a real way. People reflect on and comment about original art. Years ago I sold a semi nude abstract painting to a local family. I recently found out that this painting has been hanging in their dinning room all these years and has brought about some lively conversation. The painting which overlooks the table was called "The Boob Painting" by the high school friends of the daughter in the family.

Owning original artwork that may be a little personal, edgy, questionable, not safe can be lots of fun. Don't we all know that life is sometimes a little too personal, edgy, questionable and not safe. But by all means, let's DO have fun!

Andy Warhol's Shoes!

2010-08-07T11:09:00.004-06:00

Andy Warhol's Shoes

I'm crazy about these shoes! I found a whole collection on MOMA website: http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=17459

Interesting article on Gorky

2010-08-01T11:18:00.002-06:00

I just pulled this article from online listed below:
"Arshile Gorky was one of a generation of artists in 1930s New York who were fed by Roosevelt's New Deal while they studied the works of the European modern movement in Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art. By the 1940s, these painters were opening themselves to a Jungian unconscious of mythic forms; by around 1950, they were becoming famous for abstract, wall-filling visions of sublime mystery.

But by the time Jackson Pollock and the other abstract expressionists broke the ice, Gorky was dead. He killed himself in 1948, with his painting still in the movement's intermediate phase of development, not yet purely abstract; his tearpools of paintings swim with psychic metaphors and spectral shapes, shards of figures, washes of landscape".
Online Source of quote and photo: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/feb/12/arshile-gorky-tate-modern-review

I didn't realize that Gorky killed himself. Whereas, I have admired his work, I do not know much about this artist. His work is interesting and moody. Just the kind of art that I love!

Mythic forms ... Arshile Gorky's Garden in Sochi Motif (1942). Photograph: Arshile Gorky Estate/Belvedere Asset Management

Artist Banksy Revealed

2010-07-26T08:29:00.000-06:00

LONDON—At a press conference Tuesday, 89-year-old Rose Biggin, a grandmother from the Camden Town neighborhood of North London, announced that she was in fact the internationally renowned graffiti artist known only as Banksy. "Those drawings? Oh, yes, those are mine," said the diminutive octogenarian, who admitted to scaling buildings and climbing fences in order to put up life-sized stenciled images that satirize modern society's mores and its inherent political power structures. "It sure does help to pass the time." Biggin then returned home, where along with some of her "dearest friends," she sipped tea, sampled some nice ginger cake, and planned the necessary destruction of dominant capitalist paradigms. TheOnion.com

Abstract Expressionism: My Shocking New View of the World

2010-06-23T10:37:00.001-06:00

Abstract Oil Painting from early 1990's

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. In many ways it is a very conservative area. Yet, there was a culture of abstraction in St. Louis, particularly abstract expressionism that flourished around Washington University when I lived there.

Oil painting from mid 1990's

I was in high school when I developed a strong interest in fine art and took art classes at Mehlville High School. At 17 I went on a field trip to Washington University and had my first glimpse of abstract expressionism as well as nude models in life drawing class! I was shocked by both.

In the beginning I was horrified by the experience. Yet, within two years I was involved in life drawing classes and abstract art in design classes at Forest Park Community College. My view of the art world and my taste in art changed, dramatically and forever.

Jim Dine, Inspiration

2010-06-06T18:43:00.003-06:00

In the 1980's I discovered Jim Dine who is well-known as an American pop artist. What I loved about his work is the "painterly quality". I think much of the body of his work is printmaking or drawing but it has a very "hands on" look about it. It's not messy but looking at the work, I could feel the flow of the materials. After seeing his work I took off on a very messy stage. For a number of years I worked with visible strokes, paint drips and splashes of paint in a very completely abstract style. I still love it!

Crazy Abstract Femme Painting

2010-05-19T12:23:00.002-06:00

New Abstract Oil Painting

Daily Painting and Frida Kahlo

2010-05-13T19:46:00.004-06:00

I've been making progress recently toward my goal of daily painting and there is light at the end of this tunnel.
I read a book on Frida Kahlo yesterday while I was on a job. Not that I haven't read books about her before but I was looking again at her wonderful self-portraits. I'm not especially fond of surrealism but her individual self-portraits are really amazing. I'm not sure any artist has done that before. Well, yes, Van Gogh and Rembrandt. However, Kahlo's self-portraits have such an introspective depth, much like Van Gogh's work. Her more complicated surrealistic compositions are less appealing to me but I like how much of her life she put into them. Her work is truly a wonderful body of work.
Frida was such a strong woman. She was obsessed with Diego Rivera. Still she had the strength to continue even when he was having an affair with her sister. Believe it or not, she took him back again and again no matter how many affairs he had or how many times he broke her heart. For the life of me I can't understand the attraction. He was not a handsome or appealing man from the photos. Yet what a ladies man this one was!
Beyond that was her own physical pain that she endured for much of her life. At the age of 18 she was involved in an accident while riding on a bus. Her injuries were so severe that she was not expected to live. She experienced great pain and went through many operations for the rest of her life. She died at the age of 47 from the complications of her injuries.

Andy Warhol

2010-04-27T16:16:00.006-06:00

An American original, Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburg, PA in 1928. He left Pittsburg for New York in the 1940's and became a brilliant commercial Illustrator for several magazines in the 1950's.
In the late 1950's and 60's he became a successful fine artist. He painted the Campbell's Soup Can and other famous paintings that have become the essence of Pop Art and the icons of a generation.
The theory behind Pop Art which was images created of mass-produced, ordinary, everyday items was that these ideas came from the real world and what the average person came in contact with daily. In the past art had an aura of refined wealth and exclusive power. Andy came from a working-class, immigrant family. His philosophy was more about showing common images which took ideas from TV, movies, newspapers and billboards.

Concerning his famous Coke Bottle, Andy said:
"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it".(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol)

Andy created his work in a large studio that he called a "Factory". He hired assistants who helped him with his work and shared in his glamorous life. He constantly filmed people at the Factory and at his parties which were an ongoing feature of Andy's life.
Andy was almost killed in an assassination attempt in 1968. He suffered life long problems because of this and eventually died of gallbladder problems in 1987.

In retrospect, more than anything Andy Warhol defined America in the 1960's with his edgy social life infused with sexual freedom and recreational drugs along with his lack of social skills covered up by silent voyeurism that all together became known as "Cool". Andy Warhol was an enigma. Nobody really knew him and yet a bewildered looking Andy, white hair flying from his head as if electrically charged became a symbol of a changing America in the 60's and 70's every bit as much as the soup can became the symbol of crazy art in the 1950's. In the end, Andy himself became The Art.

Alberto Giacometti

2010-03-31T18:38:00.002-06:00

A wonderful artist who is most known for his sculptures is Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). However, I love his paintings more. In the beginning of my art career I saw one of his oils at the Art Institute of Chicago and fell in love with his style. His nervous lines, rubbed out surfaces and highly defined forms express an angst that speaks to me. His work looks unfinished like a painting in progress that he just walked away from for a moment. It's immediacy that gives his work a life an vibration that hooks me in and makes me want to know more.

Painting by Alberto Giacometti

This style influenced other artists that were to follow such as Jim Dine and many working in the 1970's and 80's.

Matisse: Living Color in the Midst of a Black and White World

2010-03-24T08:00:00.003-06:00

When it comes to use of Color, Henri Matisse is your man.
Born in 1869, he died in 1954. He created some of the most beautiful color work in the world of art. His work is peaceful, gorgeous, easy to look at and above all infused with beautiful color schemes and harmonies.
Considering the time frame that Matisse lived through one wonders how he managed to create art that seems to be an island of perfect harmony in hues when the world was going to Hell in a hand basket.
Matisse lived through a most devastating time in history. Picasso, a contemporary of Matisse suffered in his art. The neurotic, psychotic trail Picasso left in paint marks the 20th century with the angst of modern man. This was the 20th century: two world wars, atom bombs, mass extermination, horrific destruction, brutality beyond what the world had seen all broadcast in the big screen in living color. For the average person life was anxiety ridden with political forces threatening further damage and destruction. Picasso reflected this turmoil, creating work that furthered anxiety. But Matisse? Picasso allowed almost all color to drain from the sharp edges of his canvas as holocaustic photos in black and white splashed across newspapers of bombed out buildings. It's as if he had no heart for the tender rose and mauve colors of happier days. But Matisse? Matisse's world was the shelter from the storm, the calm center in a world gone mad. He used to color to bring back the joy and smiles of humanity. Whereas another artist might go into the storm and for inspiration Matisse isolated the ideal, denied reality and continued to create art for all centuries. When the winds of change turned the world more peaceful, Matisse was there with his gorgeous color to welcome back the light.
Matisse Created the world Baudelaire imagined in his poem L'Invitation al Voyage:
"Furniture gleaming with the sheen of years would grace our bedroom; the rarest flowers, mingling their odours with vague whiffs of amber, the painted ceilings, the fathomless mirrors, the splendour of the East ... all of that would speak, in secret, to our souls, in its gentle language. There, everything is order and beauty, luxury, calm and pleasure."

Carnival Painting

This painting is from my Carnival Series: http://charlotterossmann.com/Page%20Five.htm

Picasso in Paris

2010-02-21T16:30:00.008-07:00

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was born in Spain but he lived most of his life in France. The two backgrounds blend into making what Picasso became. I can't imagine that he would have developed his style in quite the same way if he had not moved to France. There is the Spanish passion that Picasso brings to the light and color of France which combine to make such a dynamic statement.

For whatever reason I felt I was with Picasso in Montmarte in his bleak artistic garret. He lived the classic artist's life in the early years. When he started out in Paris, Picasso was very poor. At one point he shared a studio with the poet, Max Jacob. The apartment was so tiny that only one could sleep there at a time. One worked by day and one by night. They were so poor, they even shared a hat!

Next he lived with a mistress in a damp, dirty, and dilapidated apartment at 13, rue Ravignan in Montmartre at the Bateau Lavoire. He was a young and promising artist and in 1905-6, he painted the portrait of Gertrude Stein in his tiny, unheated broken down, studio. Gertrude Stein was a wealthy American who had many art buyers in her circle of friends. She also hosted parties for artists. Through this connection and others like her Picasso became well known in Paris.

In time Picasso became very wealthy. At one point he filled his house up with paintings and junk. Since Picasso never threw anything away, he simply locked the doors, walked away and found another house to live in. He didn't like people to move things or clean his house so he lived with the trash and junk he kept around him even when he lived in mansions.

There are books on the many women in Picasso's life. He had a long string of lovers and many artist friends. He was dynamic, forceful and very appealing. After he became successful he had a circle of associates that surrounded him. He was like a rock star before there were rock stars!

Picasso in Paris

Great Italian Lover, Amedeo Modigliani

2010-02-06T10:50:00.005-07:00

Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), charming, handsome and irresistible to women, was an Italian artist living in Paris in Montparnasse during his artistic years. He spent much of his early career as a sculptor. Living in deep poverty, he stole the stone he used from building sites in Paris.
Modigliani was drawn the bohemian life which drew him to the drugs and seedier side of life. Through his studies he developed the philosophy that creativity was enhanced by disorder and rebellion. The drugs, alcohol and illness sapped the strength from Modigliani and eventually he gave up carving in stone for the physically easier occupation of painting portraits. Yet, one can see the depth of form in his paintings that came from his 3-D work.
Modigliani and Picasso were friends and rivals in Paris. It seems that both artists reflect an influence of each other by painting in a cubistic style that for a time shares characteristics. Picasso owned several of Modigliani's paintings. However, he seemed to feel that Modigliani was exaggerating behaviors to enhance his image. At one point he commented, 'It's odd but you never see Modigliani drunk anywhere but at the corners of the boulevard Montmartre and the boulevard Raspail.' http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/modigliani.html
Modigliani produced great quantities of work which lends credibility to Picasso's comment. I don't think it's possible to create as many works of art as Amedeo did and drink all the time.
In the early years of WWI Modigliani became involved with South African writer Beatrice Hastings. She was somewhat successful and was able to provide a living for Modigliani. Even so, the relationship did not go well. It was marred by excessive drinking and abuse. At one point Modigliani threw Beatrice out a window.
He had numerous love affairs but most did not last long. However, these affairs did produce beautiful paintings that have in time made Modigliani a famous Modern Art Master and added to his image as a Great Latin Lover.

Amedeo Modigliani

Amedeo Modigliani, The Great Latin Lover Part II

2010-02-05T18:36:00.011-07:00

When I was 19 I first saw some of the many paintings of female nudes by the famous Modern Art Master, Amedeo Modigliani, in Chicago. At that time I knew very little about the artist but I was struck by how sensual and lush his paintings were. He paints the female model as if he were the lover.
Later I found out. Indeed, he was! Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian artist living in Paris, was wildly handsome and had no problem attracting the women who flocked to him, posed for him and were discared for the next edition.
It was in 1917 that he met the beautiful 19 year old Jeanne. They fell in love but her parents were opposed to their daughter's involvement with Modigliani. For good reason. They saw him as a druken derelict which is what he had become in his years in Paris. Addicted not only to alcohol but also narcotics, Modigliani was not the perfect companion for their lovely daughter. One eye-witness, André Salmon, reports:
"He was dragging her along by an arm, gripping her frail wrist, tugging at one or another of her long braids of hair, and only letting go of her for a moment to send her crashing against the railings of the Luxembourg. He was like a madman, crazy with savage hatred." http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/modigliani.html

In 1920 the story ends. Modigliani, the great Italian lover and artist, died at the age of 35 of tubercular meningitis. Shortly after that his young, beautiful and nine months pregnant girlfriend threw herself from a window. Both the mother and baby died.
There was another baby daughter who was born in 1918, she survived the death of her parents and went on to research and preserve the history of her parents. From Modigliani's life and death a legend was created. It seems there is a current movie that has been released on his life.

Jeanne Hébuterne

My Short-lived Career as an Artist's Model, Cubism and "Hitting the Creative Wall"

2010-01-25T08:04:00.001-07:00

In my art career there came a time when I hit the wall, creatively speaking. I had run out of what I was doing. It was not so much a problem of inspiration but rather, direction. I felt I lacked depth as an artist.

I signed up for a figure drawing class at Meramec Community College in St. Louis. The instructor was Bob Lewis who does paintings of women. He was a good figure drawing instructor and he introduced cubism into the instruction. Prior to that I considered myself an expressionist. The way he taught cubism was a new for me. He directed me toward the artist, Cezanne who I had not realized was a cubist. Bob explained, the way Cezanne breaks up space is through planes on the surface of his forms. Even though, I liked Cezanne, I had never seen cubism in his art as I did now. It opened new doors for me as an artist. It was a more subtle take on cubism than I saw previously.

Shortly after the class ended, I posed for Bob Lewis as the subject of one of his "woman paintings". Quickly, I found that I had no future an artist's model. It's very difficult for me to sit still for long periods of time while someone stares at me intently. I'm sorry to say that I don't think he ever finished the painting, even after seemingly months of endless posing. I gave up in frustration the idea of being an artist's model but drawing in pencil became my number one artistic expression for a few years.

I continued to study artwork by other artists and spent several years working on drawings influenced mostly by Cezanne.

Later when I went back to school and worked on my art degree at Southern Illinois University, I did quite a bit of 3-D work. The advantage is that the new learning compliments the old practice. Doing clay and sculpture enhanced the cubistic style I was developing which is an exploration of form.

These drawings which are more recent, reflect my early training in expressionism with the additional form structure I learned while doing the Cubistic drawings.
After that I did studies in oil paintings, many of which are lost.

Oliver Jackson, Abstract Expressionist

2010-01-18T20:05:00.001-07:00

“I get tired of people asking me what I think about my work,” he says. “What am I supposed to say? I think it’s great shit – I made it, why wouldn’t I say that? But what weight does that have to you? Not very much. You have to experience the work and I don’t want to get in the way by telling you what I think.” So, I’m going to respect that and let you draw your own conclusions." Oliver Jackson from Art Works interview.

Oliver Jackson was my first painting instructor. He was an interesting person as well as a very good art instructor. As an abstract expressionist, he had a lot to offer his students. Coming right from high school with all my self-imposed restrictions, it was a revelation for me on so many levels. The painting philosophy in the crazy art room was to loosen up, let go, don't take it all so seriously and trash it if it doesn't work. I flew with the careless freedom and thrived.

Daily Painting and Wayne Thiebauld

2010-01-18T08:31:00.001-07:00

Wayne Thiebaud is a happy man. Perhaps because of his high spirits he is willing to share his knowledge with the world. I'm finding that his conversations which I'm reading from a variety of sources are a wealth of knowledge for me, personally.
In interviews he talks about the high percentage of failure in art students. Very few continue with art. It's difficult, painful. He speaks of how much you have to give up for little gain. He warns against becoming a "production artist" with a product to sell. In addition he talks about continued learning through studying of past masters and adds a curious note to discourage looking at the work of people working today as a guide because that can be confusing. Thiebauld is speaking of how to become a great artist. Yet, the spark of greatness comes along in only a few cases each generation. That's the major reason that many artists quit. Sooner or later reality hits.
I agree with everything he says. Yet, I also know that in anything there is a personal twist. Thiebaud is not only happy, he is a lucky man. He worked hard and he has achieved more than almost anyone in the world of art in our time. He is not only successful but he has been able to live a life devoted to art.
Thiebaud has not had to worry about paying the rent, raising his kids or putting food on the table for most of his adult life. He came to success early and has continued. He is a testament to what is possible but is only rarely achieved.
For the rest of us grunts in the trenches, there might be more of a blurry line for survival.
For me, his words are the guide that I strive for but may fall short now and then. Yet, my reason for painting every day is to work toward my personal best. That's all any of us can do.

Abstract Expressionism: Willem de Kooning

2010-01-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

Long ago I saw a wonderful art exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum on Willem de Kooning. I went to the exhibit with another artist, a very accomplished figure painter and admirer of de Kooning, who provided an informal education on de Kooning. This artist once followed de Kooning to New York. The story was rich with personal details of being a struggling young artist trying to find a footing in the crazy New York world of art.

What is marvelous about de Kooning is that he ushered in a new way to look at the substance of paint on the surface of canvas. There were many others who followed but I think de Kooning was one of the first of the abstract expressionists to really get into the the paint strokes and accidental effects of paint on canvas.

His work is large and expressive. His "Woman" paintings are raw and shocking!

Like them? I'm still not sure even after all this time. Appreciation and respect of artwork isn't liking or disliking the work. Great art shakes us up. We look at the world in a different way. That's true of de Kooning's work. His work, the imagery has stayed in my mind. De Koonig's explosive series opened me to questions concerning relationships. That's a powerful statement for art to make and why de Kooning is considered a Great Artist.

Drawing, Painting and Alice Neel

2009-12-22T08:39:00.002-07:00

My daughter as a baby

I have stacks and stacks of drawings from my many years as an artist. I have not kept my paintings throughout the years because I've been "uprooted" in life too many times and had to toss or give away many, many paintings. However, I have kept quite a few drawings. I like to draw but I love to paint so deprived of a full day to do art for most of my life (paying the bills has been way too important), I have mostly stuck to painting in recent years. These are older drawings of my own kids.

One of my kids. I think it's my daughter.

Last night I fixed a big bowl of popcorn and watched the documentary on the life of Alice Neel created by her grandson, Andrew Neel. In a nutshell she lived a classic artist's life. She had several tumultuous relationships, four children and spent her life in poverty. In her 70's she became famous.

My son as a child.

Alice Neel is called a portrait painter. Technically she is but I've never thought of her that way. I think of Alice Neel as a painter who liked to paint people. She painted other things as well as people but it was the heart and soul of another that she liked to capture. My definition of a portrait painter is an artist who paints people on commission. That was not Alice Neel even though, she may have done this at the end of her life.

She painted people the way Picasso did, to capture their spirit. Her paintings are psychologically probing, not the sort of painting that flatters the individual sitter. To me this isn't portrait painting.

My ex-husband

Crazy Relationships and Art

In her early years it seems that Alice Neel was ruled by romantic love. She seemed to fall head over heals in love and then later suffer the consequences, like many of us! Art comes along for the ride to document and our art often bails us out, emotionally.

One of her children died and she lost a little girl in her marriage split-up. Her husband's family raised the child in Cuba. As a result, she spent time in a mental institution.

In her mid to late 30's she had two boys. Each of them was a result of a different love affair, one with a younger Latino man and one with a documentary filmmaker. In these years of struggle, she rarely sold a painting and lived on welfare. She raised her boys on the dole and yet, they both managed to go to college and become financially successful.

My still life drawing from 1993

Alice Neel lived in the same apartment in a poor neighborhood in New York for most of her life. She moved to Spanish Harlem from Greenwich Village early on and stayed for most of her remaining years. Like Picasso she filled her living space with stacks of paintings. It's interesting to see the progression in her art and glimpses of her shabby apartment in NYC in the documentary. Suffer for Art? Alice Neel did but late in life she reinvented herself as a famous artist. Amazing!

Alice Neel did the impossible. She did not live on her art but she lived for her art. She did not get a job, make a living or stay with a man. She managed to keep painting in spite of hardships and deep poverty.

This drawing above is one of a series of drawings and paintings that I did in about 1995 during my own period of crazy relationship time.

What of the many artists who have sacrificed for their art but did not, in the end, become well-known? Or what of the artists who only became famous after they died in poverty, obscurity and misery? Such is the creative life! We live for the journey.

http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

Artist Francis Bacon

2009-11-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Study for Self-Portrait by Artist Francis Bacon

Crucify 3 by Artist Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon

Above is the work Francis Bacon, Irish born, English artist. He is very famous for extreme paintings that depict violent, repressed and anxious feelings. The reason I like his work is that it's so personal, so intense and not mainstream. His art has impact born of a terrific talent, scarred past and deep emotion. No, it's not pretty but it is powerful. The paintings come from his soul. There is great painterly quality in Bacon's work, the scrubbing and changing and moving of the paint on the surface of the canvas pulls the viewer into the art. This style works to bring more intensity to the emotional content of the work.

Growing up in Ireland, Francis Bacon experienced violence at an early age. He described an experience of hiding in a ditch and viewing a violent political murder as a small boy. He was forever marked by his insecure an violent childhood. A lot is made of the fact that Bacon was gay. At the time he was alive it was less accepted but also he had wild life, gambling, drinking in London's Soho which was somewhat a reflection on his life choice. He called this lifestyle, "rough trade".

He was born in 1909 and died in 1992. In his last years he settled down and lived a quiet life. I saw photos of his studio with trash piled everywhere. He liked the chaos and felt that was the best soil for his creative life.

An interesting quote by Margaret Thatcher concerning Francis Bacon: "that man who paints those dreadful pictures." Dreadful? Maybe. Life can be dreadful and for Bacon it was his place and his time to give meaning to the feeling of anxiety that a violent past produces.

CharlotteRossmann.com

Colorist Wolf Kahn

2009-10-26T19:59:00.000-06:00

Above Painting is one I did based on New Mexico Travels. See more: http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

When I went back to Southern Illinois University to get my undergrad degree, I had been painting for many years. I already had my own style, cubistic and totally abstract. My painting professor told me that my use of color reminded him of a former classmate of his, Wolf Kahn. I had no clue who Wolf Kahn was. Later, of course, I did find out.
Kahn is a colorist but unlike some of the colorists of the early 20th century he incorporates realism or an effect of images that frequently look realistic in his paintings and drawings. They are very creative in the sense that he is not copying nature but using nature to inspire a form of abstract art that has a look of realism. He is a magnificent artist, to be sure.
Wolf Kahn was born in Germany and came to the US when he was young. He studied in a variety of places but probably most influential was the time he studied with the famous abstract artist, Hans Hoffmann, who is known for his use of color. Kahn got his degree from the University of Chicago and that must be when my former professor met him.
Wolf Kahn is still alive and painting. His work is available for viewing on the internet and worth the time to check out.

Botero: best-selling artist in the world?

2009-10-16T20:48:00.000-06:00

A number of years ago I watched a TV show on the artist Botero. At that time two things struck me. One is that he said he was the best-selling artist in the world. This was quite awhile ago. Don't remember details about this but the indication was that he was quite successful. The other thing that struck me was that he said something to the effect of...if an artist paints in obscurity for a lifetime, it's one of the bravest things a person can do. I don't agree with that but I liked the idea that he gave thought to those of us who are out here in the great wilds of obscurity who have been painting for a lifetime. Brave? No. I believe that we really have no choice. Given something of value to do with a life or given nothing, I'm choosing something of value. My point is if I didn't paint out here in the deep forest of the "unknown" what would I do? If a person is an artist, that's what they do. There's nothing brave about it.

In terms of being a famous artist or an unknown artist, what difference does it make? In the end the only assessment of the life of an artist is how well I do my art at the time I'm doing it. Van Gogh never knew he would be famous after he died. He struggled along side other artists whose names we do not know today. If both Van Gogh and the unknown artist did their work with equal feeling and passion, who cares? Certainly, it didn't make Van Gogh a happier man or the other artist any less happy.

Back to Botero, his work is weird. If you haven't seen it, google him and see what he has to offer. I have never decided one way or the other if I like his work. He paints big, obese people in a funny way. His work is fun to look at. Not bad for the man who may be the world's best-selling artist.

http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

More on Suzanne Valadon

2009-10-10T17:20:00.000-06:00

website: http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

In reading more about Suzanne Valadon I detect an underlying problem of alcoholism. Her son, Maurice Utrillo, was an alcoholic. She struggled to keep him out of jail. One of the important paintings she posed for was Toulouse-Lautrec's wonderful painting called, "The Hangover". Of course she might have been acting but I doubt it. I suspect Lautrec saw this in her and it inspired the painting. After all, this is a woman who spent many of her nights in the bars. This is how she met her many lovers/husbands as well as artists who befriended her and helped her. In her 50's she married an artist in his 20's which was probably scandalous in those days.

I do wonder how she managed to spend so much of her time at night drinking in the bars while she was raising a young son and supporting him as well. These are the details that I wish to find and cannot.

At least one of her amours called her the only love of his life and found his life to be empty when she left. He was the composer, Erik Satie. Without a doubt she left a lasting impression on her part of the world. She is known for her strong, female, nude paintings. Before Valadon women were frequently painted as passive and weak but Suzanne, a physically able woman, gave the world a more healthy look at women's strength and abilities. No wimp, this Valadon lady!

One has to think she didn't have that much money in her life. She couldn't have had the safety net of middle class security. I think it's interesting that at one point she did marry a banker. They lived together for 14 years but suddenly, she became restless and that is when she left him for the younger artist and went back to her preferred bohemian lifestyle.

She was an illegitimate daughter of a laundress and she had a son without the benefit of marriage. Those were strict societal taboos of the time which would have placed her outside the norm, outside the acceptable. Yet, this is a woman who is known today as a famous artist, even today. Growing up poor, making something of herself in the world of art on her own terms.

What an unlikely occurrence that this woman would have become famous and have a famous son. Yet, it happened! This was who she was and the world of art is richer for her existence.

Suzanne Valadon: a Famous Woman Artist that I admire

2009-10-07T16:47:00.000-06:00

Please visit my website: http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

Suzanne Valadon had a very colorful life. Born in 1865, she started out as a circus acrobat but a fall from a trapeze ended that career early. Soon she became a model for many of the most famous artists of the time including Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. Lautrec gave her painting lessons and Degas encouraged her artistic career and purchased her work.

Valadon was a free spirit and lived her life on her own terms. She kept a goat in her studio to eat up all the art work she didn't consider fit to show. When she was 18 and unmarried, she had a child, Maurice Valadon. Her son later took the name of a family friend and became the well-known artist, Maurice Utillo.

Suzanne, as a model, was the subject in many famous paintings by the artist Renior with whom she had an affair and also in Lautrec's paintings. She was a well-known artist at the time of her death in 1938.

Inspirational woman artist: Georgia O'Keefe

2009-09-24T09:40:00.001-06:00

Watercolor painting of western scenery.

More contemporary, western scenery on my website: www.charlotterossmann.com

For many women artists, Georgia O'Keefe has been the most inspirational artist. When I was in college as a young student I didn't know of many famous women artists. O'Keefe and Cassett were it. When I went back to college in the 1990's I took a few classes in art history specifically about women artists. I learned that there were, indeed, a lot of women artists and very good women artists throughout history but they had been ignored. As good as they were, they were not famous.

Georgia O'Keefe was a rarity in her time. As the story goes the reason she was not ignored as an artist was that she had a powerful mentor, Alfred Stieglitz. He was a photographer and also active in the art community in New York City. There was a great age difference and he as the older, experienced, knowledgeable photographer was able to guide her career.

When O'Keefe was in college, before Stieglitz came into her life another student (male) asked her to pose for him. She declined and his reply was that she would end up teaching in a girl's school somewhere and he would go on to be a famous artist. She relented and posed for a portrait.

We all know the impetuousness of youth! Of course, this is one of those cocky comments a college student might make but needless to say the this artist did not go on to be famous. The most famous work he did was the portrait of Georgia O'Keefe. In fact, I would venture the opinion that the most famous photographs that Alfred Stieglitz did were the many portraits of Georgia O'Keefe.

Her work is wonderful but her life is also a work of art. She was adventurous. She was opinionated. She was outspoken. She lived her life in a way that most women did not in those days. Rough, rugged and independent she lived alone in New Mexico after Stieglitz died.

Her life was long. She died at the age of 98 but Stieglitz was her only husband. She did not have children. I read that she wanted to have a child but Stieglitz said no. He said it would ruin her as an artist. In those days people believed in some of the Freudian nonsense about women. If she didn't have a child, she was more like a man. If she had a child, she would lose her creative edge.

Fortunately, today women can have children and paintings as well. Alice Neel managed to do both. Suzanne Valadon was an excellent painter and mother to the artist Maurice Utrillo. I know that Frida Kahlo was pregnant but she did not deliver a healthy child.

If you can think of another truly famous female artist who was also a mother, please comment.

It Was A Dark and Gloomy Night: Art and The Appropriateness of Display

2009-09-13T18:38:00.000-06:00

It was a dark and gloomy night and suddenly from another part of the house she heard a crash! She was alone in the old mansion, the sound startled her....

A number of years ago I worked at a bookstore in Longmont, Co. It was called "City Newstand". This was before the age of Borders and other monster bookstores. It was a quaint, little store in an old downtown building that people enjoyed just walking through. The store, with the smell of popcorn in the air, old fashioned fans that hung down from high ceilings and polished wooden floors was a lively place to work. At times I was in charge of arranging the display window. One time I did a "MYSTERY" window with the theme and setting reflecting: "It was a dark and gloomy night"... and a knife was in the window along with an old fashioned typewriter, paper in the carriage with the phrase above. I had wine glasses, books and other details that enhanced the theme.
I thought it was artfully done but a couple came in and complained to management. Their complaint was the knife in the window along with the theme.  In the recent past they had lost a teenage daughter who was murdered outside of town at a quick stop type of store on the highway. Very sad and very disturbing. I can't remember what the outcome was but it was a complaint that gave us pause.

With art we never know how it's going to affect others. It's difficult to foresee what impact art will have on the viewer.  What I saw as just funny and maybe a little edgy for Longmont in the 1980's, another saw as a sign of our times, too violent.

If our art is shown we bear the responsibility of the appropriateness of it for the viewers.  Long ago when I was in college our group tried to show life studies that were of course nudes in a publishing house in St. Louis.  We were required to take them down. As young college students we were angry. At that time we all thought the people who objected were narrow minded, provincial and just plain wrong. Nude drawings are not obscene! Life drawing is the essence of what art education is about! How more human can you get than learning to draw the naked human body? Long discussions over coffee late at night followed this outrage. So young, so passionate and so sure we were right but were we?

Today I feel pretty much the same but I'm no longer surprised or angry.  It's a fact of life.  Each individual views art differently. I don't know that we can always cater to the public in art displays or that we should but sometimes we don't have a choice.  In our own displays and in most galleries we can show our art in any way we want if we are given a show. Outside of that, showing at a business or in a public area we can't always be free. They do have a right to say no and I accept that. Finally.
http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

Bold, Bright and Beautiful: Chicano Art

2009-08-31T15:45:00.000-06:00

Oil Painting on Canvas by Charlotte Rossmann, Cityscape

A great number of years ago I saw an exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Boulder, Co. It was Chicano art. This was the first time I had ever seen art that was specifically "Chicano Art" but I loved it. The colors were bold, bright and beautiful. The images were of daily things, cars, religious images and city scenes. One artwork was a sculpture with an actual cut up car in it. From that moment on I've been a huge fan of Chicano art. What I really like about it is that it's a combination of another culture and yet, it is still American. It's how this country melts cultures into a force that has vitality and energy. Chicano art is vivid, real and intense. Each artist has his/her own vision and yet, by the culture and by the bold colors it becomes part of the larger group identity.

Cheech Marin has brought Chicano art to the art world by showing many of the artists in displays and in books. I have one book that Cheech Marin assembled and it's called "Chicano Visions, American Painters on the Verge". I highly recommend the book.

Check out my website: http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

What is Cubism?

2009-08-11T19:09:00.000-06:00

Cubism is a style of art work that was started by the artist Cezanne. It was considered one of the first truly abstract styles in art. Cezanne's beautiful canvas oil paintings of French landscapes and complicated still life were complex compositions that he painted from life. But by today's standards they don't look very abstract. However, Cezanne changed and invented by breaking down the forms into planes and geometric slashes of color. In the day he was painting, changing the scene in a creative way wasn't what other artists were doing. It was shocking to the art community when Cezanne started showing his revolutionary work in Paris.

Cezanne's concept was expanded but the forms simplified by Picasso and Braque who are credited as the first cubists. Without Cezanne one wonders if it would have happened?
Then again, there are those who say that Picasso stole his ideas from the African masks that he saw on exhibit in Paris at the time he was inventing this new art style of Abstraction. Looking at Picasso's strictly cubistic work, one can understand that claim.

In reality, it doesn't matter.

What matters is, "How does it look?" "How interesting is it?"

Picasso's work does look good. It's very interesting.
In the world of art, the question is: Does it knock your socks off? Picasso's work has lasting success partially because it speaks so well to the modern world.

The painting shown is one of my South St. Louis oil paintings on Canvas and it is done in the Cubistic style. I'm planning to have a print made of it.

Currently, I'm still working on my website but as impatient as I am, I do have it up and running. Pardon the flaws and feel free to email any questions: http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

Homeless lady sells work on streets

2009-07-26T10:46:00.000-06:00

Smaller Southwest Landscape oil on canvas by Charlotte Rossmann. I plan to add it to my "for sale list" soon. It's about 14" by 18". I think I exhibited it in a gallery in Niwot a few years ago. It's a nice little painting.

In the 1970's and '80's, hundreds of Chicagoans bought paintings from Lee Godie, a bag lady who called herself a French Impressionist and sold her paintings in downtown parks and on the steps of the Art Institute.
The paintings were a novelty back then. She sold then for as little as $5 and as much as $250 or so. Sometimes she would find an offer insulting and refuse to sell them at all.
For those who have held onto Lee's work, the news is encouraging. They have sold at auction recently in the thousand-dollar range.

www.charlotterossmann.com for more paintings

David Hockney, a favorite artist!

2009-07-20T16:11:00.000-06:00

This painting is one of my New Mexico paintings http://www.charlotterossmann.com/ . I love the area around Santa Fe and feel inspired when I go down there. I like to do abstracted landscapes of specific areas I have visited.

David Hockney is an artist who felt inspired in the same way when he went to California. He was originally from England but lives in California now. He liked the light and the lifestyle of southern California. In fact, my favorite paintings of his are those he did of the Los Angeles area. He uses a lot of patterns, abstract ideas and bright colors. Some of his work is realistic but I like his abstractions the best.

Here's a link to his website for more information: http://www.hockneypictures.com/

Inspired by the artist Robert Delaunay

2009-07-12T13:57:00.001-06:00

Original Oil Painting "Day Dreaming, Carnival, Sea Creatures": $350. 18" by 24" oil on masonite by Charlotte Rossmann.

Long ago way back in college, I came across the artwork of the artist Robert Delaunay (1884-1941). He was a French cubist painter and I love the way he handles paint. It's not just his wonderful colors or his use of color but also how he makes the paint work. Within his abstract, colorful abstractions he models the paint, shading with color which gives his work depth and character.

To see Robert Delaunay's work, check out this website:

http://wwar.com/masters/d/delaunay-robert.html

To see more of Charlotte Rossmann's artwork, check out my website: http://www.charlotterossmann.com/

Picasso Invents Abstract Art!

2009-06-29T21:07:00.000-06:00

Yep, way back in about 1900 when Picasso was an unknown artist living in Paris he struggled through his own personal crisis to invent a new kind of art. It was called Cubism. He went to create many more art styles but for the most part no matter what he did the early roots of Cubism were seen in his art work.

There are those who say he stole the ideas he saw in African sculptures to create cubism. The fact is, that's the way art is. It's not called stealing, it's called sharing.

No, this is not a Picasso, it's a Charlotte Rossmann painting in oil on hardboard. I've always loved Picasso and it's my own way of paying homage to a great master. This painting is for sale. You can contact me at charrossmann@aol.com

Please visit my website: www.charlotterossmann.com

The Best of the Best: Alice Neel

2009-06-26T18:55:00.000-06:00

One of the best artists in the world I think is Alice Neel. No, this is not the work of Alice Neel, it is a small painting by Charlotte Rossmann, probably influenced by Neel. Not being sure of the laws concerning stealing an image off another website I will instead insert a link to Alice Neel's work: http://www.aliceneel.com/home/
Alice was born in 1900 in Philadelphia, her life was dramatic in so many ways. She lived through exciting times. She struggled as a single mother on welfare and as an artist. She had deep, dark demons like so many creative people. She died in 1984 but her art lives on.
I totally love the work of Alice Neel. I saw an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum some years ago and her work is wonderful in person. Expressionistic and deep. It bring the viewer into her emotions and her life. It was not a pretty life. Her art reflects the reality of those intense experiences.
A few years ago I bought several books on Alice Neel and for a brief time, I felt her spirit within. Channeling? It's happened once or twice before. No matter, I have strong connection to this incredible woman artist.
One strange fact is that even though I have a degree in fine art and I studied a lot of art history, I did not study the art of Alice Neel at the university. I found her on my own many years ago in an Art News magazine. Funny how that works isn't it?