1) Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh did not decide to become an artist until the age of 27, but what is even more surprising is that his prolific career was considering his life was cut short only ten years later. Vincent Van Gogh was a mostly self taught artist who started by teaching himself how to draw.
Before he ever started painting he spent two years only doing drawings. The image on the right is from one of my favorite books Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. The drawing on the left shows a very early drawing before he had practiced for two years. On the left he has clearly mastered drawing, and his drawing his much more expressive. Although I have always been a creative person, I was never confident in my ability to draw. I would often get frustrated and quit. The first time I saw these drawings side by side was important for me. It made me realize that with practice and focus I too can become really good at drawing. When After he had honed his drawing skills Van Gogh left to study figure painting at the Antwerp Academy in Belgium. He then moved to France to live with his brother who was an art dealer. It was in Paris that he was exposed for the first time to the Impressionists. Seeing the work of the impressionist inspired Van Gogh to experiment with a lighter color palette and broken brush strokes. Van Gogh stayed in France for two years, during this time he developed his personal style, which he is well known today.
2) John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist although he was born in Florence, Italy and his family travelled often in Europe. Because of his family's, frequent travels Sargent did not receive a formal education. Although he did learn to speak Italian, French and German. His father taught him math, reading, writing, and geography. His mother encouraged him to draw. Eventually Sargent enrolled in art school at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence. In order to nurture his talent Sargent then went to Paris.
I recently went to the MFA in Boston for the first time since I started going to school at NHIA. One of the things that impressed me the most was the room where all the John Singer Sargent paintings are exhibited. I walked into the room and was immediately completely stunned by the painting The Daughters of Edward Darly Bait. Sargent painted this portrait when he was only 26 years old. The faces of the little girls are simply haunting. I fell in love with the creamy, textural paintings. It seems like the people on the portrait are standing right in front of you, but you can still see the texture of the paint. In my own painting I have been exploring a looser, more painterly style. Using layering and scumbling techniques to create texture, and depth to my paintings. This exploration has largely been inspired by artists such as John Singer Sargent. This is why John Singer Sargent is one of my heroes.Liberty Blue Jeep
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| Painting inspired by the style of John Singer Sargent |
3)Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker although she spent nearly her entire career in France. She is well known for her depictions of women and children, specifically the relationships between mothers and their children.Cassatt was fortunate enough to be born into a family of some wealth. This allowed her to travel as a part of her education. She spent five years in Europe where she travelled to many of the major capitals, became bilingual, and where she was first exposed to french art.
Cassatt began studying art at the ripe age of fifteen at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Cassatt never received a degree from the Fine Arts Academy. Mary decided to study the masters on her own. To pursue this goal Cassatt packed her bags and moved to Paris in the year 1866. Mary decided to apply for private lessons taught by masters from the school.
Late in the Summer of 1870 Mary Cassatt returned to the United States to live with her family for the first time in seven years. Her family did not support her efforts to become an artist. Two of her paintings were in a NYC gallery, where she found many admirers but no buyers. Under stimulated by the lack of art in area for her to study, Cassatt moved to the art capital of the world in Paris. It was during this time that Cassatt seriously considered giving up painting altogether as she says in a letter she wrote in 1871, “I have given up my studio & torn up my father's portrait, & have not touched a brush for six weeks nor ever will I again until I see some prospect of getting back to Europe. I am very anxious to go out west next fall & get some employment, but I have not yet decided where." Instead of giving up Cassatt traveled to Chicago where her work attracted the attention of the Archbishop of Pittsburgh, who commissioned to copy two paintings by Correggio in Parma, Italy. The money from these paintings paid enough for her to travel back to Europe, where her attitude changed dramatically, as she describes in a letter "O how wild I am to get to work, my fingers farely itch & my eyes water to see a fine picture again".
Upon her return to Europe two of her paintings were accepted to the Paris Salon of 1872. Cassatt continued to enter her work in juried shows despite feeling patronized by the men on the juries. She hit a low point in her career when for the first time in seven years she had no pieces accepted into the salon. Around this time she met Edgar Degas and was highly influenced by the impressionist movement. Even though she was unable to attend the cafes where the men artists spent time together she met with the artists privately at exhibitions. Cassatt began to run out of money as the sales of her paintings were not covering the cost of supplies it was during this hard time that Cassatt created her three most well known paintings. Although Cassatt made a profit from the paintings in the impressionist exhibition, the paintings were received with harsh reviews from critics.
Mary Cassatt is one of my heroes because despite everyone telling her she could not be an artist because she was a women she still persevered. When she came up against a wall she would come up with a creative plan to overcome obstacles. When she was going through the roughest times was when she pushed out her best work. I love the gentle, painterly style of her stunning portraits.Work Cited
Edwards, Betty. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc, 1989. 16-17. Print.
"John Singer Sargent." Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. 21 Jan 2014.
