No Hesitation

Jean-Paul Riopelle, Chicago II, 1958, Musée National Des Beaux-Arts du Québec.

One of Canada's best known 20th century artists, Riopelle's career took him all over the world. His work was strongly influenced by the Surrealists and was known for it's innate spontaneity which he achieved by constantly experimenting with new techniques.

Blueberry Season in Maine

Winslow Homer, The Berry Pickers, 1873, Private Collection

Having been lucky enough to sample fresh blueberries in Maine today and I thought about this work by resident Winslow Homer (who moved to Maine in his later years) and how it had that perfect feeling for a beautiful day.

Color Woodcuts

Mabel A. Hewit, Dunes from Race Point, Cape Cod, c. 1930, White line woodcut, 14 1/2 x 18 inches, Mary Ryan Gallery, NYC.

If you are in the Cleveland area be sure to stop in and see a print show that features the work of a local artist named Mabel Hewit (1903-1984) it is on display through October 24, 2010.

You Never Know Who's Canadian

Maurice Prendergast, Landscape with Figures, 1921, The Corcoran Gallery of Art

I am currently getting ready to make a trip up to Nova Scotia and Québec and in looking-up Canadian artists I discovered that one of my favorites, Maurice Prendergast was born in St. John, Newfoundland. His family eventually settled in Boston and he was part of the Ashcan School but usually with a lighter tone, a brighter palette, and a more abstract hand.

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Gone Too Soon - for Christopher Al-Aswad

The Desperate Man by Gustave Courbet, 1844-45, Private Collection.

Christopher Al-Aswad used this work by Courbet as his avatar on his Twitter account @escapeintolife. Although I did not know him personally, he and I communicated and shared a similar outlet for our love of art and our desire to spread it through-out the world. We have all lost him much to soon and his particular curatorial selections will be missed by all who followed him.

The times we live in allow us to make connections with people we never could have made before the internet and it also allows the work of Christopher on this blog Escape into Life to carry-on without him, through his archives. If you have found your way to my blog I urge you to click through and look at Christopher's too, you won't be disappointed.

Carrying on the Tradition

Ephraim Faience pottery in Lake Mills, WI continues to make beautiful pottery inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement. I should know because I have a piece in my own pottery collection.

Lost and Found

Photo by Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier was a street photographer whose work was acquired by John Maloof at an auction in Chicago. Maloof says the collection of over 100,000 negatives also contains over 600 rolls of undeveloped film. As Maloof tried to piece together the life of the woman behind the cameras he discovered she died only days before he began his search. He has found out that she was a nanny and was born in France. Please visit Vivian Maier: Her Work Discovered.