John Wright- Upcoming Contemporary Artist

Out of the desert
Mixed media on watercolour paper, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"
(Done by John Wright's wife- Maeve)



Rainbowville
watercolour, pencils and black gel pen on watercolour paper, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"
(Done by John Wright's wife- Maeve)


Last of the Comforting Dark
watercolour on watercolour paper, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"


Justin at Whitby
watercolour on watercolour paper, 8" x 5"


Boats at Whitby
watercolour on watercolour paper


Royal Hotel, Whitby
Watercolour on watercolour paper 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"


Statue of Tennyson, Lincoln Cathedral
watercolour on watercolour paper, 11 3/4" x 8 1/4"


The Rooftops of Henrietta Street, Whitby
watercolour on watercolour paper, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"


Arran, looking towards Kintyre
Acrylic on canvas, 24 cm x 30 cm


Whitby Houses
watercolour on watercolour paper, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"


John Wright - United Kingdom

Personal Profile (Quoted verbatim from his own personal profile)

John

I have always liked to draw and paint, but didn't take it up seriously until I was in my early 30's. I attended a local evening class and was very lucky to find a very good and patient teacher. I joined a couple of local art groups and gradually developed my style and interests.

I paint a variety of subjects in pastels, acrylics and watercolour. Through the medium of my art, I try to express the particular mood or feeling that these subjects evoke. I have a love of coastal areas particularly Whitby and the Robin Hood's Bay area of the North Yorkshire coast. I also like to paint the Suffolk coast and I enjoy the challenge of capturing the light and atmosphere of that part of the country. I work mostly from sketches and photographs but I also like to paint in the landscape itself. My abstract paintings are informed by the techniques I use in my figurative paintings. Certain abstract paintings may suggest a landscape or a still life, although the paintings themselves are non -representational. I am constantly revising and looking at fresh approaches to the way I work.

I have recently taken up art full time. Presenting and selling my work online is part of my strategy. It gives me a chance to show my work to a wide audience, who hopefully will like it enough to buy it. (By the way, a big thank you to all those who have bought my work so far. It is very encouraging to me when I sell a piece of work.)

If you are interested in purchasing my work or to ask me about any aspect of my work , please contact me at feather_wright@hotmail.com.

---

Critique

John Wright is a very promising artist that is probably starting out his artistic career. He is using mostly watercolors on watercolor papers. His style is fresh and stimulating reminiscent of the great impressionist styles of the great masters. It will probably be more exciting to see his works of paint on canvas. His art works can be purchased at Ebay under John 856cat or at his etsy shop at Arty John's Shop. He maintains his own blog at John Wright Art.

Note: The first two paintings above- Rainbowville and Out of the Desert are done by John Wright's wife- Maeve.

Tags: Great Works of Art, Contemporary and Upcoming Artists, John Wright, United Kingdom, Impressionism, Great Masterpieces, Masters, Neo Colors, Ebay

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Arts/Paintings

Classical Masterpieces of All Times- Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II


Johann Strauss II in his younger years



The Waltz King coming to life in Stadtpark, Vienna


The Blue Danube - Johann Strauss II



Johann Strauss II


Johann Strauss II (October 25, 1825 - June 3, 1899) was an Austrian composer famous for having written over 500 waltzes, polkas, marches and galops. He was the son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother of composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss. He is also the most famous member of the Strauss family. He was known in his lifetime as "The Waltz King," and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. He revolutionized the waltz, elevating it from a lowly peasant dance to entertainment fit for the royal Habsburg court. His works enjoyed greater fame than his predecessors, such as Johann Strauss I and Josef Lanner.

Strauss studied counterpoint and harmony with theorist Professor Joachim Hoffman, who owned a private muic school. His talents were also recognized by composer Josef Drechsler who taught him exercises in harmony. Strauss Jr, would eventually surpass his father's fame and become one of the most popular of waltz composers of the era, extensively touring Austria, Poland and Germany with his orchestra. Strauss was diagnosed with pneumonia in the spring of 1899 and died on June 3, 1899 at the age of 73.

Sourced at WIKIPIDIA and Youtube

Tags: Classical Masterpieces, Johann Strauss II, Waltz, Polka, Marches, Galops, Austria, Vienna, Blue Danube, Poland, Germany, Johann Strauss I, Joachim Hoffman, Josef Drechsler, Waltz King, Classical Music, Royalty, Wikipedia, Youtube

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Classical Music/Waltz/Classical Masterpieces

Classical Masterpieces of All Times- Debussy

Claude Debussy- Photo by Felix Nadar



Debussy at the Piano, in front of the composer- Ernest Chausson, 1883



Debussy at the Villa Medici in Rome, 1885 at center in white jacket


Claire de Lune - Claude Debussy (Stokowsky)


Claude Debussy


Achille-Claude Debussy (August 22, 1862- March 25, 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he is considered one of the most prominent figures working within the field of Impressionist music, though he himself intensely dislike the term when applied to his compositions. Debussy is not only among the most important of all French composers, he was also a central figure in all European music at the turn of the twentieth century.

Debussy's music virtually defines the transition from late- Romantic music to twentieth century modernist music. In French literary circles, the style of this period was known as Symbolism, a movement that directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.

Claude debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1862, the eldest of five children. His father owned a china shop and his mother was a seamstress. Debussy began piano lessons when he was four years old with an elderly Italian named Cerutti. From the start, though clearly talented, Debussy was also argumentative and experimental and he challenged the rigid teaching of the Academy, favoring instead dissonances and intervals which were frowned upon at that time. Debussy died in Paris on March 25, 1918 from colorectal cancer.

Sourced at: Wikipedia and Youtube

Tags: Classical Masterpieces, Claude Debussy, Claire de Lune, Villa Medici, France, Rome, Italy, Maurice Ravel, Ernest Chausson, Richard Wagner, Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt, Impressionist Music, Europe, European Music, Romantic Music, Modernist Music, Symbolism, Cerutti, Academy, Dissonances, Intervals, Paris, Colorectal Cancer

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Arts/Classical Music

Classical Masterpieces of All Times - Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt (1811- 1886)



Statue of Franz Liszt



Garden at the Villa d'Este
Image made by Istvan Orosz



Franz Liszt - Libestraume No. 3 (Dreams of Love) in A Flat Major - Van Cliburn





Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811- July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer. During the 1800s, many considered him to be the greatest pianist in history. He was also an important and influential composer, a notable piano teacher, a conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art, and a benefactor to other composers and performers, notably Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. He left behind a huge and diverse body of work in which he influenced his forward looking contemporaries and anticipated 20th century ideas and trends. Some of his most notable contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of the thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form and making radical departures in harmony.

After 1842, "Lisztomania" swept across Europe. The reception Liszt enjoyed as a result can only be described as hysterical. Women fought over his silk handkerchiefs and velvet gloves, which they ripped to shreds as souvenirs. Helping fuel this atmosphere was the artist's mesmeric personality and stage presence. He died in Bayreuth on July 31, 1886, officially as a result of pneumonia.

Sourced from: Wikipedia and Youtube

Tags: Classical Masterpieces, Franz Liszt, Classical Master, Composer, Pianist, Virtuoso, Dream of Love, Lisztomania, Europe, Hungary, Austria, Piano, Concert, Hungarian Rhapsody, Meditation, Classical Music

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time - Carlos "Botong" Francisco

Katipunan



Education - mural (1964)



Muslim Wedding (1958)



Rajah Soliman



Mangingisda (Fishermen) - (1957)



Lapu- Lapu (1964)



Fiesta With Higantes



The Cockfight



Bayanihan (1962)




Carlos V. Francisco (1914-1969)

In 1973, Carlos “Botong” Francisco was the second Filipino to receive the title of National Artist in Painting, after Fernando C. Amorsolo. Also known as the Poet of Angono, he single-handedly brought back the art of mural painting in the Philippines and was its most distinguished painter in his time. He was on the forefront of modernist art in the country, and with Victorio C. Edades and Galo B. Ocampo became part of “The Triumvirate” of modern art. His is best known for his historical epics, and one of his favorite subjects is fisherfolk. His images of women came from mythology, history, legend, customs and contemporary life.

On November 4, 1914, Francisco was born to Felipe Francisco and Maria Villaluz in Angono, Rizal. He went to college at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, and before the Second World War did illustrations for The Tribune and La Vanguardia. Although he came from the same school of arts as Amorsolo, he veered away from the style of the traditional artist and developed a modernist style. Together with Victorio Edades and Fermin Sanchez, he painted for the Manila Grand Opera House and the Clover Theater. He and Edades started mural-painting, and together they formed the Thirteen Moderns, a group of modernists, in 1938.

After the Second World War, he taught at the University of Santo Tomas School of Fine Arts at the same time that he was doing work in cinema with Manuel Conde. He worked as a scriptwriter for films such as “Genghis Khan,” “Putol na Kampilan,” and “Tatlong Labuyo.” In addition, he designed costumes for films such as “Romeo at Julieta,” “Prinsipe Tenoso,” “Ibong Adarna,” “Siete Infantes de Lara,” and the “Juan Tamad” series.

Francisco further enhanced his art in mural painting as he, together with Edades and Ocampo, was commissioned to do several murals for lobbies and private residences. They developed the Filipino imagery in their work, taking images from the customs and traditions of the people. Some of the murals they worked on as a triumvirate are Rising Philippines for the Capitol Theater, murals for the Golden Gate Exposition, the State Theater, and the private residences of President Manuel Quezon, Ernesto Rufino and Vicente Rufino. However, his major masterpiece is the mural he did for the Bulwagang Katipunan of the Manila City Hall.

After Francisco’s death on March 31, 1969, what came to be known as the Botong Francisco School of Painting grew, exemplifying lyricism and heroism.

His major works include:

• 1945 – Kaingin
• 1948 – Fiesta
• 1953 – 50 Years of Philippine History, his first important mural, for the International Fair held in Manila
• 1954 – Life and Miracles of St. Dominic, for Santo Domingo Church
• 1956 – Stations of the Cross, for the Far Eastern University
• 1956 – The Invasion of Limahong
• 1957 – Mangingisda
• 1958 – Muslim Wedding
• 1962 – Bayanihan


Achievements:

• 1948 – 1st Prize, First National Art Exhibition of the Art Association of the Philippines, for Kaingin
• 1964 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan, from the City of Manila

Sourced at Cultural Heritage, Phantom Bookshop- Ventura, California

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, National Artist, Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Angono, Rizal, Philippines, National Commission For Culture and the Arts, National Museum of the Philippines, Wikipedia, Pinoy Wikipedia, Great Masters, Philippines

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time- Vicente Manansala

Vendors From The Marketplace



"Landscape" - Watercolor - 1968



"Untitled" Oil on Canvas - 1978



Prayer Before Meals



Barung-Barung (Houses)



"Nude" - Charcoal on Paper - 1972



Vicente S. Manansala (1910-1981)

Honored as National Artist in Painting in 1981, Vicente S. Manansala is considered the country’s pioneer in Cubism. He was one of the Thirteen Moderns led by Victorio C. Edades, and was one of the Big Three in the modernist movement, along with Cesar Legaspi and H. R. Ocampo. In addition, he formed the group of Neo-Realists together with Romeo Tabuena and Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Manansala developed transparent cubism and his works were done mostly in the figurative mode, reflecting the society and the local environment. He favored the styles of Picasso and Cezanne, and believed that the true beauty of art lay in the process of creating it.

Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga on January 22, 1910. He was the second of the eight children of Perfecto Q. Manansala and Engracia Silva. At the age of 15, he studied under painter Ramon Peralta while doing work painting movie posters at a shop in Manila. He entered the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1926 and graduated in 1930. He continued his studies under a UNESCO grant at the École de Beaux Arts in Banff and Montreal, Canada in 1949, and under a French government scholarship at the École de Beaux Arts in Paris in 1950. His training did not end there. In 1960, he received a grant from the United States to study stained glass techniques in New York. He also trained at the Otis Art Institute in 1967, and received another grant in 1970, this time from Germany, to study in Zurich.

Manansala worked as an illustrator for the Philippines Herald and Liwayway and as a layout artist for Photonews and Saturday Evening News Magazine in the 1930’s. He held his first one-man show at the Manila Hotel in 1951, and then went on to work as a professor at the University of Santo Tomas School of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1958.

Vicente C. Manansala died in Makati in 1981.

His major works include:

• 1940 – Bangkusay Seascape
• 1948 – Banaklaot
• 1950 – Madonna of the Slums
• 1951 – Jeepneys
• 1967 – Reclining Mother and Child

He also painted several historical murals including:

• Stations of the Cross for UP Diliman Chapel
• Mural for Philippine Heart Center
• Fresco mural for the National Press Club


Achievements:

• 1941 – 1st Prize, National Art Exhibition, UST, for Pounding Rice
• 1950 – 1st Prize, Manila Grand Opera House Exhibition, for Barong-Barong #1
• 1950 – 1st Prize, Art Association of the Philippines First Annual Art Competition, for Banaklaot
• 1953 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Kahig (Scratch)
• 1955 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Fish Vendors
• 1955 – 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Best-Served, Well-Gained
• 1957 – Outstanding UP Alumnus
• 1962 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Give Us This Day
• 1962 – Best in Show, Art Association of the Philippines, for Give Us This Day
• 1963 – Republic Cultural Heritage Award
• 1970 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila

From Various Sources including Kulay Diwa Gallery of Philippine Contemporary Art

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, Vicente Manansala, Cubism, Filipino Artist, Outstanding Painter, Multi Awarded, Philippines, Filipino Arts, Proud to be Pinoy

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla

Great Filipino Painters of All Time - Fernando Amorsolo (Batch 2)

Sunday Market, Baguio



Banawe Rice Terraces


Water Carrier



Bombing of Intendencia



Lavanderas (Laundrywomen)



Woman With Banga (Woman With Jar)



Tinikling in Barrio

Batch 2 of The Great Masterpieces of Fernando Amorsolo


Fernando Amorsolo (The Greatest Filipino Painter)

The Philippine artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) was a portraitist and painter of rural land scapes. He is best known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light.

Fernando Amorsolo was born May 30, 1892, in the Paco district of Manila. At 13 he was apprenticed to the noted Philippine artist Fabian de la Rosa, his mother's first cousin. In 1909 Amorsolo enrolled at the Liceo de Manila and then attended the fine-arts school at the University of the Philippines, graduating in 1914. After working three years as a commercial artist and part-time instructor at the university, he studied at the Escuela de San Fernando in Madrid. For seven months he sketched at the museums and on the streets of Madrid, experimenting with the use of light and color. That winter he went to New York and discovered the works of the postwar impressionists and cubists, who became the major influence on his works. On his return to Manila, he set up his own studio.

During this period, Amorsolo developed the use of light - actually, backlight - which is his greatest contribution to Philippine painting. Characteristically, an Amorsolo painting contains a glow against which the figures are outlined, and at one point of the canvas there is generally a burst of light that highlights the smallest detail.

During the 1920s and 1930s Amorsolo's output of paintings was prodigious. In 1939 his oil Afternoon Meal of the Workers won first prize at the New York World's Fair. During World War II Amorsolo continued to paint. The Philippine collector Don Alfonso Ongpin commissioned him to execute a portrait in absentia of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, which he did at great personal risk. He also painted Japanese occupation soldiers and self-portraits. His wartime paintings were exhibited at the Malacanang presidential palace in 1948. After the war Amorsolo served as director of the college of fine arts of the University of the Philippines, retiring in 1950. Married twice, he had 13 children, five of whom became painters.

Amorsolo was noted for his portraits. He made oils of all the Philippine presidents, including the revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and other noted Philippine figures. He also painted many wartime scenes, including Bataan, Corner of Hell, and One Casualty.

Amorsolo, who died in 1972, is said to have painted more than 10,000 pieces. He continued to paint even in his late 70s, despite arthritis in his hands. Even his late works feature the classic Amorsolo tropical sunlight. He said he hated "sad and gloomy" paintings, and he executed only one painting in which rain appears.

Sourced: Biographies - Answers.com

Tags: Great Filipino Painters, Fernando Amorsolo, Philippines, Arts, Great Artists, Filipiniana

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla