ARTIST OF THE WEEK: 2. CLAUDE MONET

Name: Claude Monet

Born: November 14, 1840, Paris, France

Died: December 5, 1926, Giverny, France

Country: France

Art Movement: Impressionism

Field: Painting

Influenced by: Gustave Courbet, John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, Jean-Francois Millet

Friends/Colleagues: Alfred Sisley, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet, Frederic Bazille

Teachers: Eugene Boudin, Charles Gleyre

Claude Monet was a French painter and a founder of French Impressionist painting. 

The term "Impressionism" is derived from the title of his painting “Impression, Sunrise”, which was exhibited at the 1st “Independent Exhibition” in 1874, mounted by Monet and his associates as an alternative to the Salon de Paris. 

From 1883, Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property and began a vast landscaping project. 

In 1899, he began painting the water lilies, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life.

FAMOUS WORKS

      

            

      

ALL WORKS LIST

RELATED ARTISTS

 
Gustave Courbet 


John Constable

J.M.W. Turner

Alfred Sisley

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Camille Pissarro

Edouard Manet

Frederic Bazille

ALL ARTISTS LIST 

Currently, “J art”, an internet mall of “Art Collage JANG” is selling art prints of worldwide famous artists.

In relation with this sale, I will introduce one by one every week, whose art prints are on the sale list, by following categories.

1. Artist’s Bio: Introduce brief bio of selected artist

2. Famous Works: Move to the corresponding art print in J art by clicking

3. All Works List: Move to all works of selected artist in J art by clicking

4. Related Artists: Move to the works of the artists in J art, who are related to the selected artist.

5. All Artists List: Move to the list of all artists selling art prints in J art

Blog (Korean)

22. World Music: Benelux, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 22nd lecture.

I had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017.

I am going to introduce some of the music in the lecture with a brief overview of the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.

Please refer to the following link for my previous lectures.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

The 22nd lecture for today is "World Music: Benelux".

This lecture was the 22nd lecture of “ACJ Music Academy”, which was held on 12 September 2015.

Benelux is a union of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in Europe.

In 1944, exiled representatives of three countries signed “The London Customs Convention” in England, the treaty that established the “Benelux Customs Union”, and then the name began to be used after the three countries.

The treaty came into force in 1948 and covered the elimination of tariffs between the three countries and common tariffs to third countries.

In 1960, the alliance was developed into a “Benelux Economic Union” that ensures the free trade of labor, capital, services and goods in the region.

The Belgian music shows a complex mixture of music of German minorities, immigrants of Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries, as well as Flemish Dutch-speaking and Walloon French-speaking traditions.

For the folk and traditional music, “Bobbejaan Schoepen” was the first Belgian singer to enter the world stage, and recorded folk music singing in Flemish dialect in the 1950s.

Dutch folk music is characterized by a simple and straightforward bass and a style complemented by fast and pleasant melodies.

Unlike folk music from other European countries, Dutch folk music is not the melody but the bass line that is danced to.

This means that although the music itself sounds fast, the dance usually has a medium or slow tempo, and the dance is primarily a group dance rather than individual or dual dances.

In the 1970s, Dutch artists such as Jos Koning, Dommelvolk and Wolverlei led the movement for a “Roots Revival”, and as a result, the revival of folk music in the Netherlands peaked in 1974.

The first reference of Luxembourg music is related to Roman culture and musical style, and most of its musical heritage is closely related to German tradition.

Luxembourg has a long history of dance tradition that reflects many of the dance traditions found in neighboring countries.

However, there are also pure traditional dances of Luxembourg itself, and one of the most famous traditional dances is the dance procession at Echternach.

Today, I will introduce 3 Benelux music as follows:

1. Café Zonder Bier-Bobbejaan Schoepen (Belgium)

2. Jagertje-Wolverlei (Netherlands)

3. Dancing Procession of Echternach (Luxembourg)

You can listen to all the songs from following YouTube link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYhcc6zRE6lIP0yEj34i8Keuf

Korean Blog

Next week, I will be with you with "World Music: Germany" as my 23rd lecture.

Thank you.

Introduction of ACJ Partner Artists: 4. Gretchen Dreisbach (USA)

How are you?

Currently, Art Collage JANG is partnering with overseas artists and selling their works.

With the recent change of overseas partners, Art Collage JANG has updated the “J Art” by adding new works and excluding sold works on the sales list.

As a result, I am introducing my current partner artists and their updated works one by one every week.

The 4^th partner artist to introduce this week is “Gretchen Dreisbach” from USA.

BIO

Gretchen is a professional artist creating large abstract paintings and drawings, which are filled with energy, movement, color, and consciousness.

Most of her paintings are acrylic paint on canvas and incorporate delicious layers of paint and texture. She follows her joy & passion and knows that she is meant to create art for humanity.

She started creating at a young age and studied art locally at MCAD and the University of MN.

She enjoys making connections with art collectors, people who are joyous, creative or curious about her art.

EXHIBITIONS

1. September 13, 2018: Featured by Voyage Media (Miami Location) in an article on their website voyageMIA.com in their ‘Thought Provokers’ series

2. Participated in ARTBOX.PROJECTS (of Zug, Switzerland) show at Armory Artweeks Art Fair in New York City by digitally displaying 1 painting in their show during Armory Artweeks March 5 – March 16, 2018

3. Francisco Acedo & ISHTAR AD&A, who represents Gretchen Grace Dreisbach, included her work in their digital display at Art Fair Malaga, in Spain, June 30 - July 2, 2017

4. Participated in ARTBOX.PROJECTS (of Zug, Switzerland) show at Spectrum Miami Art Fair by digitally displaying 3 paintings in their booth during Art Basel Miami November 30, 2016-December 4, 2016

5. *One-person show (Linden Hills Pop-Up Show): September 9, 2016, 4412 W Lake Harriet Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN

6. Pieces: "Mother Sophia", "We Made It!", and "My Spirit Guide" on display at the inaugural opening of Dow Art Gallery & Picture Framing. September 15-November 15, 2014, 2242 University Avenue W., St. Paul, MN

7. *One-person 3000 square foot show, July 14-24, 2011, Calhoun Building,711 West Lake Street, Suite B, Minneapolis, MN

8. Participated in the Dow Building Show for MidCityFest August 6 and 7, 2010

9. Participated in A Benefit and Art Sale to Stop Homelessness: October 25, 2008, Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, 250 3rd Ave. North, Minneapolis, MN

10. Participated in studio open houses for seventeen years

11. Participated in group show: December 1,2000-March 1, 2001, St. Paul Companies, St. Paul, MN

12. One-person show: April 1-24, 1999, 2242 University Ave West, St. Paul, MN

13. Participated in group show: November 29-December 21, 1996, 212 E. Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN

14. *One-person show: November 5-29, 1995, Pymouth Congregational Church, 1990 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN

15. *One-person show: March 20-April 2, 1994, Wilensky Arts, 1226 Washington Ave. North, Minneapolis, MN

16. Participated in Northern Lights '92 Juried Art Show, March 9-April 13, 1992, Lakewood Community College, White Bear Lake, MN

17. Participated in the 80th Annual Juried Art Show: August 22-September 2, 1991, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN

18. Participated in two shows: December7-January 17 and October 20-November 28, 1990, Perimeter Night Club, 254 2nd Ave North, Minneapolis, MN

19. Three shows, the most recent running from November 20, 1987 to April 15, 1988, Ridgedale State Bank, Minnetonka, MN

20. One of three judges for:The 16th Annual People Incorporated, Artability Art Show & Sale,September 30-October 2, 2010. Held at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 285 N. Dale Street, St. Paul, MN

GALLERIES

1. Pieces: "Mother Sophia", "We Made It!", and "My Spirit Guide" on display at the inaugural opening of Dow Art Gallery & Picture Framing. September 15-November 15, 2014, 2242 University Avenue W., St. Paul, MN

2. Particpated in National Competition: July 3-22, 1992, Bowery Gallery, 12 Wooster Street, New York, NY

3. Participated in the 5th Annual National Exhibition: November 1-23, 1991, Art Inside, Cocoa Beach, FL

4. Participated in the 16th Annual Juried Art Exhibition: June 21-August 25, 1991, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN

EXPERIENCES

1. 217 BFA credits from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the University of Minnesota

2. Painting for the last 40 years.

3. 26 years at this studio.

Art Collage JANG is an exclusive agent of the works for Gretchen Dreisbach in South Korea.

Please refer to the links below for more information about Gretchen Dreisbach.

1. Introduction of Artist (Korean Blog)

2. Sale Works

3. Artist Page (J art)

Thank you.

The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 18. The Portrait of Joseph Levi (1910)

How are you?

Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.

The 18th work to introduce for this week is “The Portrait of Joseph Levi (1910)”.

This work is a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 53.7 x 48.7 cm, possessed by Levi's family.

Joseph Levi was a painter and painting-restorer who lived in Montmartre in the early 20th century.

Levi, a friend of Modigliani, often lent money to Modigliani, and he paid back the borrowed money with his drawings and paintings

This work, using various colors, is one of the portraits that have feeling of the Classical Art.

It is also an evidence that Modigliani experimented with the Fauvism, which he first encountered the works of Henri Matisse and Andre Derain.

Levi was a recognized artist with his confidence based on his experience, and this work demonstrates his confidence and vigorous character very well.

His appearance is somewhat authoritative, majestic, and it is estimated that Levi is a stubborn person from his tightly closed mouth.

Three years later, Modigliani drew a portrait of Levi's son, Gaston, and it was perhaps a token of friendship or the gratitude for lending money.

The featuring point of this work is that the shape of the model's face and body is quite different from his other works, and as a result the model in this work looks more realistic than others.

In addition, unlike Modigliani's general style for the selection of the background colors in order to concentrate on the model, he also concerned with the background than other works using a mixture of various colors with a striped style.

This is a unique feature of this work.

This is perhaps the result of experimenting with the forms of Fauvism after encountering the intense and primary colors of the Fauvism as commented earlier.

In addition, the way of expressing the model with thicker and stronger brush strokes than other works also seems to be influenced by the Fauvism, and the result expresses the stubborn character of Levi as well.

One more thing to comment is that the contours of the eyes, nose, mouth and ears of the model are slightly blurred compared to Modigliani’s previous works.

It seems to be another evidence of Fauvism, pursuing a simplification of the object, which is one of the features of the Fauvism.

Thank you.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: 1. AMEDEO MODIGLIANI

Name: Amedeo Modigliani
Born: 12 July 1884, Livorno, Italy
Died: 24 January 1920, Paris, France
Country: Italy
Art Movement: Expressionism
Genre: Nudes, Portraits
Field: Painting, Sculpture
Active Years: 1898-1920
Influenced by: Paul Cezanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Friends/Colleagues: Constantin Brancusi, Diego Rivera, Chaim Soutine, Moise Kisling, Jacques Lipchitz, Max Jacob, Pablo Picasso, Jacob Epstein, Juan Gris, Gino Severini, Maurice Utrillo, Tsuguharu Foujita
Family: Jeanne Hébuterne

Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor with a Jewish descent, who worked most of his life in France.  His painting style is characterized by elongated faces, necks and figures. He was not recognized at the time of his life but became famous after his death. 

Modigliani spent his time for studying Ancient and Renaissance arts during his youth in Italy. In 1906, he moved to Paris, where he met many artists including Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brancusi.

In 1912, Modigliani exhibited his sculptures with Cubists in the Salon d'Automne. From 1909 to 1914, he devoted himself to sculpture. His main subjects were portraits and full body of figures in both paintings and sculptures.

He died at age 35 from tuberculosis meningitis in Paris.

FAMOUS WORKS

              

 
              
    
ALL WORKS LIST

RELATED ARTISTS

             

      Chaim Soutine                       Juan Gris         

ALL ARTISTS LIST

Currently, “J art”, an internet mall of “Art Collage JANG” is selling art prints of worldwide famous artists (Move to the sites by one click).

In relation with this sale, I will introduce one by one every week, whose art prints are on the sale list, by following categories.

1. Artist’s Bio: Introduce brief bio of selected artist
2. Famous Works: Move to the corresponding art print in J art
3. All Works List: Move to all works of selected artist in J art
4. Related Artists: Move to the works of the artists in J art, who are related to the selected artist
5. All Artists List: Move to the list of all artists selling art prints in J art 

Blog (Korean)

Thank you.

21. World Music: Nordic, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 21st lecture.

I had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017.

I am going to introduce some of the music in the lecture with a brief overview of the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.

Please refer to the following link for my previous lectures.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

The 21st lecture for today is "World Music: Nordic".

This lecture was the 21st lecture of “ACJ Music Academy”, which was held on 5 September 2015.

Nordic countries typically include Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

Among them, I will briefly introduce the folk music of Iceland, Norway and Sweden today.

Due to the geographical isolation, it was difficult for Iceland to access the music of continental Europe.

Therefore, its similarities with other European countries are very low, and the music of the Middle-Ages prevailed the music of Iceland until the 19th century.

The music of Iceland has a very long tradition, and some of the songs made in the 14th century are still sung today.

Folk songs generally deal with love, harsh winters and mythical creatures, and are very secular and humorous.

For Norway, more than half of the land is located in the north of the Arctic Circle, and northern Norway is characterized by continuous white nights in summer.

Norway's most representative instrument is the fiddle, which is shorter than those of other countries, and it features a higher pitched sound than standard-sized fiddles.

The Norwegian fiddle is called the ‘Hardingfele', named after ‘Hardanger’, the southwestern part of Norway, and it has been used since the mid-17th century.

Sweden is the most influential countries in the pop and rock music market in the world among the Nordic countries, producing many worldwide stars that have gained great popularity, such as Abba, Ace of Base and Yaki-Da.

Recently, however, Swedish folk music has begun to attract global attention, which is the result of a movement to establish a "national identity" like other Scandinavian countries.

Despite these movements, however, the main trend of Swedish culture is characterized by a tendency to actively embrace the culture of the outside world and enjoy it as a global culture, rather than adherence to tradition.

Thus, unlike many Nordic countries, it is characteristic that Sweden is hard to find a rigorous folk tradition.

Today, I will introduce 3 Nordic music as follows:

1. Ólafur Liljurós (Iceland)

2. Khoom Loy-Annbjørg Lien (Norway)

3. Vallåtar från gammelboning (Sweden)

You can listen to all the songs from following YouTube link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYhf4yq4Kg2KCu0cB2B1geGhX

Next week, I will be with you with "World Music: Benelux" as my 22nd lecture.

Thank you.

The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 17. The Amazon (1909)

How are you?

Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.

The 17th work to introduce for this week is “The Amazon (1909)”.

This work is, a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 92 x 65 cm, painted by Modigliani in 1909.

In the late 1907, Modigliani met Dr. Paul Alexandre, by the introduction of a painter and his friend ‘Henri Doucet’, who later became a friend and a patron of Modigliani.
The friendship of the two, then, continued until the World War I broke out and Alexandre joined the army as a surgeon.
While meeting Alexandre, Modigliani was a young, unknown artist, but Alexandre soon recognized his talent.
As a friend of Modigliani, Alexandre commissioned him for his work for the first time to help Modigliani.
He also actively arranged commissions for his works to the acquaintances around him, and one of them is "The Amazon”, which is introduced today.
This work is also called “The Portrait of a Woman in a Horse Riding Suit.”
It was not commissioned by Alexandre, but commissioned by Baroness Marguerite de Hasse de Villers on his recommendation, and the model of the work was also Marguerite herself.
She was a beautiful socialite and a lover of Jean, who was Alexander's younger brother at the time.
In this work, she is posing in a riding suit.
Posing in a white shirt, black tie, black pants, black hat, black gloves and a yellow jacket, she looks at the viewer in slightly arrogant manner with her black gloved hands on her waist.
She is also showing a powerful and confident appearance of a socialite at the time.
Her attire is a man's suit rather than a woman's suit, but her appearance in this work rather gives a 'Femme Fatal' feeling with overflowing confidence and pride.
One of the elements that Modigliani struggled with a number of models when he was drawing was his stubborn character.
In other words, no matter how he drew by commission, Modigliani stopped drawing or didn’t speed up the work if he did not like the model who commissioned.
His such personality led to a conflict with Marguerite, who commissioned this work, and finally this work became a nightmare to Modigliani.
She continued to push Modigliani to quickly complete this work.
At some point, she lost her patience and threatened Modigliani with the final notice to cancel the commission if he doesn’t complete this work within a week.
However, until then, Modigliani had repeated many sketches for this work, and as a result, the process of this work went very slowly.
Considering the reasons for such repetitive works, Modigliani was commissioned by the help of his friend, Alexandre, but he might dislike Marguerite very much when he met her or he might ponder to figure out how to express her, who had a genius talent of capturing the mind or characteristics of the model very well in his works. 
Perhaps Modigliani might not have confidence about how to draw her.
Therefore, the rapid progress in drawing Marguerite might be a challenge and impossible to Modigliani from the start.
When Modigliani showed this work to Marguerite, she was so angry with claiming that the model in this work was not her, and then she refused to purchase it.
Despite this attitude of Marguerite, Alexandre saw the great potential of Modigliani's avant-garde approach in this work and purchased it.
When he was painting this work, the elongated expression, which is one of the representative painting styles of Modigliani, was not fully established but he was steadily going in that direction. 
There are also very sculptural elements on the face of the model, such as the model's elongated chin, sharp cheekbone narrowing towards the chin, pointed ears, small tight lips compared to the face, slightly narrowing eyes and thin bow-shaped eyebrows.
In 1909, when this work was painted, Modigliani began to recognize himself as a sculptor rather than a painter, and began to concentrate on sculpture in earnest when he met a sculptor Constantin Brâncuși.
Perhaps Modigliani's enthusiasm and commitment to the sculptures was attempted on the face of the model when he painted this work.
In other words, it is a work that shows both the traces of elongated drawing style and sculptures he has indulged.
Also, in this work, Modigliani drew Marguerite's face sharply but contrasted by drawing the lines of her body and clothes smoothly to alleviate this sharpness throughout the work. 
It is his genius talent showing the compactness of the composition perfectly balancing the overall composition of the painting.
The most prominent color in this work is the yellow color of the jacket, which is more noticeable due to the dark green color of the background.
In addition, the signed position by Modigliani after he completed his work was not fixed. In this work, the left side of the model is slightly wider than the right side of the model. 
Modigliani signed at the bottom of the left side for the stability in this work, and it resulted in perfect organization and harmonization with the size and position of the model.

Thank you.