robertPHL301micklis: February 2010

Norton Simon museum: still life

A trip to the Norton Simon museum is worth taking. The museum has a large and impressive collection art. There were so many thing to see, that you could write a book describing all of them. One thing that i took notice of was the various forms of still art. I was amazed at the details , and variety of still art. I didn't know that the interpretation of still art had so many views. I thought still art had to be a strait forward realistic representation. Some were near perfect drawings, while others had an abstract view. The abstract paintings didn't lose any meaning or effectiveness, they merely described it in an alternative way.

Still life c. 17 65

Henri-horace roland de la porte

French 1724-1793

oil on canvas

Still Life with Rummer 1645 or 1648

Pieter Claesz

Dutch 1590/93-1632/39

oil on panel

Still Life with Lemmons Oranges and a Rose 1633

Francisco de Zurbian

Spanich 1598-1664

oil on canvus

The three of these painting were the best still art paintings i had ever seen. The thing that struck me the most was how they painted clear glass. In still life with rummer i thought i was looking at a photo because the glass looked so real. Another interesting of these is the detail in the fruit. It almost looks like you can reach in and pick up a lemon, from still life with lemons. I feel that what helps set these apart is the use of light and shadow. Having a light source shining from the left in Still life with lemons gives it a 3D feel.

Still Life #2 1962

Tom Wesselmann

American 1932-2004

oil and collage board

Still life 1884

Vincent van Gogh

Dutch, 1853-1890

oil on canvas

What Is Hot

The second Saturday its self was "hot". Out of all the art events in the area, this one had the most notoriety. It is hard to look at something and say that it is hot, or it is the next new thing, or even it is the best of its time. A way of gaining insight to help determine whether it is hot or not is, to go out and see where the people are, what they are buying, and what they are spending time to appreciate.

Under the first category of where people are at, the DA gallery stood out as the hottest. It had a steady flow of people stepping in to admire the art. the DA was featuring a collection of art under the theme of, The New Traditionalists. The new traditionalist theme seems to be a hot topic for art, because several other galleries had similar paintings to the ones were featured at the DA gallery.

One set of these commons paintings were, paintings done by an artist named Yolanda Gonzales. Many or her paintings were featured in several galleries, and seemed to be very popular. I wondered why these paintings were so popular. After some discussion and a little bit of thought I came up with a hypothesis. I felt that they took a new view on traditional portraits. They were not perfect portraits, but the had the proper portions and definitions of facial features. It is almost as if they took a classical style portrait, but they are painted in a modern style.

from left to right

Sueno de Jennifer $12,000

Bailarina Folklorico $5,000

Portrait of Lauren with crown of roses

$9,000

top row left

Sueno de Alicia $12,000

Sueno with eyes closed $12,000

bottom row

Nude 1-4 $1,000 each

Price is the third category that can help define hot. Out of all the art i saw the most expensive one was Birth of The New Consciousness by Leslie A. Brown. The painting was selling for $28,000 dollars. The size of the painting might have contributed to its price, but its hard to tell because there were no other paintings of comparable size. Other works form this artist were also expensive, so it might just be that Brown is the hot thing right now. the quality of the panting its self is amazing. The Painting is filled with many details and and abstract symbols, that allow the mind to wander and find its own meaning.

Art Walk

Second Saturday at the Pomona Arts Colony

The second Saturday art walk in Pomona was the hot spot of art for the evening. There where many galleries open, and available for viewing. Curators and artists mingled among the visitors to help answer questions about the art. Free drinks and snacks helped to keep people viewing the paintings longer. and the galleries were open late. All of the is was an attempt to sell art, and have the artists gain more renown.

I was among one of the many people at the art walk. i did not have a chance to see all of the galleries but the few i did see were very enjoyable. I visited the Da gallery, the Pomona Frame House Main Street Gallery, the Latino art Museum, the 57 Underground gallery,and the Object Gallery.

DA gallery