Titian (ca. 1488-1576)

St. Margaret (c.1565)
The Prado, Madrid

Jacques-Joseph (James) Tissot

Women of Paris: The Circus Lover

(there is also one called The Circus Riders that I love more, but I can't find it.)

Edouard S. Vuillard

Annette on the Beach at Villerville, 1910-11

Edward Hopper

My figure painting teacher told me today that the painting I am working on in class reminded him of Edward Hopper. So of course I had to come home and search him out to see what it is we have in common. His simple urban portrayals are interesting to me. I tend to simplify my figures. Here are some of my favorites:


The Sheridan Theatre


Chop Suey


New York Movie

Lisa Hubbert

"Dreaming of Summer Snapshot 2" (oil, 15 by 15 inches)

Lisa taught my drawing class last spring and I learned so much from her. I admire the colors and techniques she is using to get all these interesting forms.

John Everet Millias

John Everet Millais - Ophelia 1851-1852 Tate Gallery, London

How does Millais make drowning seem so beautiful? I grew up looking at this painting in my parents' house and was always captured by it. Maybe it is the nature that surrounds and consumes her that holds my interest...

John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse - Lady of Shalot

A friend of mine pointed out how much he liked Waterhouse. And after a brief moment, I said, "Oh yes, me too." Who wouldn't? I grew up with his work hanging in my house, but it never occurred to me to ask who painted the lovely ladies. So of course, I had to come home and search out more Waterhouse. I don't think he could paint an ugly woman if he tried!

This one is interesting to me because she is caught in a moment. Her suggested movement is so curious and graceful.

John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse- Orphelia Sitting

Everything about this is just so dreamy and delicate. The light is so soft and the details are so gentle.

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt's Adele Bloch Bauer-I

Here is another pricey painting. It just sold for $135 million. Wow. I doubt the selling price had much to do with the painting itself but rather the history and reputation of the painter himself. I love gold paint and I love playing between flat and deep spaces. This painting combines both of those things. And then, I just love her rosy cheeks.

Peter Doig

One last Peter Doig, and I promise to move on. I don't know what it is called yet. But isn't it interesting what can be done with only one color. Red is like the king.

Peter Doig

Peter Doig (1997-1998) Figure in Mountain Landscape, oil on canvas

I love the flattened Asian looking landscape and then this odd little figure. You just want to know more about it, yet Doig keeps it mysterious.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso (1923) Portrait of Jacinto Salvado as Harlequin, oil on canvas.

I could probably post all of Picasso's harlequin paintings... but that would be a little out of control. So this one will have to represent them all. Basically, I love the colors and line quality. And I am so fascinated with the subjects he chooses. Everyone is a person, but not everyone is a harlequin.

Pablo Picasso

Garçon à la Pipe (Boy with a Pipe) is a painting by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1905, during the 24-year-old artist's Rose Period. The oil on canvas painting depicts a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand.

It sold for $104.1 million USD at an auction in Sotheby's in New York, after having been given a pre-sale estimate of $70 million by the auction house. Many art critics have stated that the painting's high sale price has much more to do with the artist's name than with the merit or historical importance of the painting.

I am just in love with the contrast between the man and his wings and even the background. The blue against that peachy background is striking. And the way the flower wings tease you as to where they are meant to be... on the man's back, in his imagination, or as part of the background. It may not be one of Picasso's most admired paintings, but still... $104.1 million!

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso, Child With Dove

I admire simple shapes and great texture and this is full of 'em. And even though the shapes are SO simple, this little child is so full of expression. I love the dark outline of the figure too.

Minerva Teichert

Minerva Teichert
"Mary and Martha"

I love her long lean figures here. You can almost see the fashions of the era she comes from even in this biblical painting... or maybe it is my imagination.

Minerva Teichert

Minerva Teichert

"Esther"

I absolutely admire the way she interprets biblical stories in her paintings. I love her loose style and her almost muted color palates.

Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigee le Brun

Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigee le Brun (1755-1842)

Princess Eudocia Ivanovna Galitzine as Flora, 1799
Oil on canvas

To see this painting in person and to know the artist's history makes it much more impressive. The figure's skin is so luminescent! You almost expect that if you touch it, it will be supple. It makes me appreciate the true beauty and potential of a glaze painting. The painter is French and was forced to flee France when the French Revolution broke out. She had been a favorite of the Queen's. She spent many years in exile painting foreign nobility like the russian princess portrayed here. They loved her flattering french style... of course.

Peter Doig

Peter Doig

Gasthof, 2003, (some printmaking method...)

This is one of the first Peter Doig images that I came across in an issue of Parkett. When I tried to search it out later, I discover he has done several versions of this image with different mediums. I like this one the best still. The lines are crisper, which I think is important in this composition. What I like about this image is the Sgt. Pepper-ish costumes and the fact that the man on the left has no legs... curious. And who needs a background? Sometimes I think backgrounds are overrated.

Peter Doig

Another interesting one by Peter Doig, although I am not sure what it is called. Isn't the water just fabulous? And the way the trees just melt into the water? So beautiful.

Peter Doig

Peter Doig

Blotter, 1993
The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

I like the colors that he chooses and the line quality. There is an interesting balance between looseness and exactness. He seems to use water edges with non-beachy landscapes alot. Very interesting. The people in his paintings are doing something very specific, yet remain a bit vague.