Not modern art

[M]

Plenty chat going on re modern art, but what do we think about more traditional stuff? I know bugger all about the subject but I'm interested to hear what people think about all art forms. Plus people will post pics of paintings I don't know... all the more to chose from.

I can't stand many things that people rave over for example: Gainsborough's Mr & Mrs Pair of Wet Farts.



(I prefer Hogarth - his figures seem to have personality and often humour.)

The baby shit background of Stubbs's Whistlejacket is pretty off-putting, but it's a belter in the flesh... fucking huge.

Even Da Vinci and Michaelangelo - I see how amazing their work is, but I wouldn't want one on me sitting room wall.

I get bored stiff going round galleries faced with room after room filled with images of the virgin mary or some other religious cobblers, or dingy landscapes. I guess my point is almost a flip to the arguments being presented in the modern art threads - just because it's skillful, doesn't necessarily make it pleasing to the eye.

[War Arrow]

I know what you mean about the Gainsboroughs but they're growing on me since I saw a few in the flesh. I kind of stop with art round about 1945 at the very latest and really couldn't give a shit about much that happened since, and to be honest I'd say there was a real thinning of general quality around 1920.

My favourite artist by a long shot is Jose Maria Velasco, arguably Mexico's greatest artist.



Unfortunately it ain't so easy finding his pics online:



Mostly he painted landscapes focussing upon the Valley of Mexico, although he also painted in Oaxaca and around Puebla. Landscapes get me right there. Especially these. When I first saw these for real in Mexico City I don't mind admitting I was in tears - they are just beautiful beyond words to me.

[Animavore]

I much prefer the traditional stuff. This is my favourite painting. Its in the National Art Museum in Dublin. The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio.



This picture is so much more awesome when you are looking at it in real life. It is massive. About 3 foot by 4 foot. Maybe a bit bigger.

[Bella Fortuna]

Oh dear.... I could go on ad nauseum about art I like... (and probably will now) I'll apologise for these huge posts... can't help myself.

I'll find some of my favourites - starting with John Singer Sargent, whom I think livened up portraiture and made it more human and personal than it had previously been. You can really envision these people as individuals, rather than costumed cut-outs, with humour and quirks and sensuality:













Sargent's Italian watercolours are brilliant - deceptively effortless-looking, vibrant, full of sun and movement, capturing the country in a way that no laboured oil painting could have:

[klr]

I much prefer the traditional stuff. This is my favourite painting. Its in the National Art Museum in Dublin. The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio.



This picture is so much more awesome when you are looking at it in real life. It is massive. About 3 foot by 4 foot. Maybe a bit bigger.

Isn't that the one that was stolen (or one of stolen paintings)?

[Bella Fortuna]

Albrect Durer's drawings and engravings are superb, alternately realistic and fantastical:

[maiforpeace]

A couple of my favorites:

Audrey Beardsley:



And Degas:

[Rum]

One of my favourite artists...

[maiforpeace]

One of my favourite artists...

That looks like modern art to me though...unless the artist is dead, of course.

[Bella Fortuna]

I like William Merritt Chase's glimpses of 19th-century artists' studio interiors:

[M]

Actually I don't much go for portraiture.

My fave painter is Pissaro, but most of his work is Modern. I adore the Pontiose stuff - lovely and green . I like his snowscapes too, they really capture that snow-sky brightness. (Reminds me of 'Snow in the suburbs' by Thomas Hardy.)






(I like the Italian Sargents. )




Edited a number of times because of children.

[Rum]

One of my favourite artists...

That looks like modern art to me though...unless the artist is dead, of course.

It is signed...take a look?

[Bella Fortuna]

RUM!!!

[maiforpeace]

One of my favourite artists...

That looks like modern art to me though...unless the artist is dead, of course.

It is signed...take a look?

I knew who the artist was - thus my comment about them being dead.

And you are a fabulous MODERN artist, by the way.

[Bella Fortuna]

Actually I don't much go for portraiture.

Whereas I think portraits are my favourites... possibly because I love drawing people myself - drawing the human form has always given me the most satisfaction of any art I've done. Portraits that are unique and show a depth in their subject I find very intriguing; it makes me want to know more about the person, their circumstances, the time in which the portrait was done...

Partially-done self-portrait below...

Trigger Warning!!!1! :