‘Follow Me’
Partly inspired by a mixture of the Dutch painter Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan & the modern technology his Oils on Canvas by Hayes is entitled “Follow Me”. The inspiration for the blocks of colours comes from Mondriaan’s bold use of coloured squares and rectangles in his . Mondriaan began producing grid-based paintings in late 1919, and in 1920, the style for which he came to be renowned began to appear. Mondriaan’s paintings arrive at what is to casual observers their definitive and mature form. Thick black lines now separate the forms, which are larger and fewer in number, and more of the forms are left white. How the technology comes into it is really up to the viewer, only some of whom will be ‘smart’ enough to figure out. Have you got the smarts to figure it out? Follow Me by Hayes Oil on canvas20 x 20 ins ( 50 x 50 cm ) Not for SALE My Gallery See other posts by...
Family discovered they owned a forgotten Ben Enwonwu portrait valued at $200,000
Imagine finding an almost-forgotten portrait of your mother in your family house, doing a Google search on the artist’s name and discovering that what you own is a precursor to the artist’s best-known work that sold in 2018 for $1.6 million. This is exactly what happened very recently to one of the members of the Davis family in Texas. The portrait, Christine, is the latest remarkable find of work by one of the most revered African artists of the 20th century, Ben Enwonwu. The captivating sitter is Christine Elizabeth Davis, an American hair stylist of West Indian descent. Christine travelled a lot in her life, working in Ghana before moving to Lagos with her British husband in 1969. There, they befriended Enwonwu and Christine’s husband commissioned the work as a gift for his wife in 1971 before they eventually moved back to the US a few years later. Source: Quartz...
Tallaght Classroom by Kirsti Kotilainen
School’s out and busy, buzzy classrooms stand silent. Artist Kirsti Kotilainen has just completed her first year teaching in Tallaght and this artwork captures the space where she worked with her 20 students. “The Irish curriculum is better.” In Finland art is not examined, it is seen as a hobby, but she still admires the Finnish system. Her background is working-class and yet “there was no question that I wouldn’t go to college. Finland’s a social democracy… I grew up in a block of flats next to a middle-class area. We all went to the same school, we all played together”. In Finland it is kindergarten until seven, fully-subsidised school meals, few private schools and no make or break exams. “The psychological age for reading is seven and if half the class can read, the other can’t, they’re all at the same level by Christmas.” Tallaght is a different world, “a world I like to connect with”. In her art room with its “white walls and grey lino” Kotilainen says “you don’t just pour information in. Every student is different, some have baggage, In Tallaght you see the world. They draw horses, fast cars, nature. They love seeing their clay pieces come from the kiln”. Kotilainen grew up in Loviisa, a coastal town east of Helsinki, and all she had heard about Ireland, before she spent a Gap Year in ceasefire Belfast, were the Troubles and the X Case. Returning later, she worked as a legal executive then signed up for NCAD. Source: Irish...
Previously unseen works by artist Irma Stern go to auction
Two paintings by South African artist Irma Stern‚ previously unseen on the open market‚ with messages about Africa as a cultural melting pot, are going under the hammer in Johannesburg. The paintings‚ previously held in private family collections‚ will form part of a sale of historic‚ modern and contemporary art on June 17 at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs). Emma Bedford‚ a director of Aspire Art Auctions‚ said: “Given the international interest in Irma Stern, we are delighted to bring these two beautiful works to the market. They both embody her style and her philosophy, which was such a rich mélange of the cultures we are heir to here at the southern tip of Africa. Still life with magnolias, apples and bowl. Picture: ASPIRE ART AUCTIONS “What is particularly interesting in the one painting is the presence of a Chinese pot and an Arab-influenced table cover. The most valuable Stern ever sold‚ Arab Priest‚ bought by the Qatari government for £3,044,000 in 2011‚ also has this mix of...
Carroll Davis brushes aside the conventional for a life of art
At 87 years old, Carroll Davis is still a work in progress, as he continues to pursue his life’s love and passion of art – and even more so today, having overcome a double pulmonary embolism and cheating death in the process. Perhaps what is keeping him so prolific in his work is that he maintains an incredibly rigorous routine for a man of his years, making the best of life in his studio inside his apartment home in East Ridge at Cutler Bay where he currently resides with his wife, Jacqueline. Yet after all these years and having lived in so many exotic spots around the globe, Davis recounts that life-changing moment for him when his parents, unsupportive of his dreams and aspirations, wanted him to pursue a law career and put aside his love of painting and art. Carroll Davis and wife Jacqueline. His father was a hard-nosed businessman raised the hard way, born in 1880 Texas. Founder of the nationwide auto parts chain Western Auto (remember Davis Tires?), Davis credits his dad with making a fortune and being a man of the world, yet he could not bring himself to support his son’s aspirations as an artist. Nonetheless, the young Davis persisted. Today, he believes “The more recognition you can achieve, the better.” One of the most recent paintings, from his China series, sold to a wealthy South American collector. He is also proud of the painting he sold to Chase Manhattan Bank years back which remains in their permanent collection. Through exposure here in Miami, he hopes his art will continue to be displayed around the world. Full article at: Community...