Salvador Dali

born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech
born may 11 1904
died january 23 1989
Spanish surrealist, encouraged to be an artist by his mother.
he's known for his bizarre imagery. his works were a look into his psyche, as he said he used a paranoiac-critical method of accessing his subconscious.
he was influenced by Dada and Cubism, and Picasso was one of his idols. one can see clear influences from Miro, di Chirico, and Ernst in Dali as well.
Dali used both classical and modernist techniques. he delighted in visual puns and obscure allusions.

he was known for his iconic moustache and his eccentric behavior, which sometimes overshadowed his artwork. he was a surrealist icon for both his character and his art.

Jackson Pollock

born 28 january 1912
died 11 august 1956

major influence in the American Abstract Expressionist Movement. said to be the first "action painter" for his use of drips and flings and pours of the paints onto canvas that he'd laid on the floor. 

he was mostly reclusive and struggled with alcoholism.


"My painting does not come from the easel. I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. I need the resistance of a hard surface. On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.
I continue to get further away from the usual painter's tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or a heavy impasto with sand, broken glass or other foreign matter added.
When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well."
—Jackson Pollock, My Painting, 1956

ed harris does a great job portraying jackson pollock in the movie Pollock.
i've always loved jackson pollock. i love the drips and splatters. i love the texture that his pieces have and the fact that you can sometimes see footprints. his color choices end up having this haunting, gripping feel to them. 

Lawrence Yang

suckatlife.com
blowatlife.blogspot.com

"Lawrence Yang is a California designer currently working for AKQA who also does freelance web design and paintings. He has done freelance for a few well-known companies, such as QTip, Nike, McDonald's, Target, Axe, and Nike as well as portfolio sites for models.
His paintings are done in gouache, ink, and watercolors and are influenced by graffiti art and Chinese paintings. These paintings tend to incorporate bright colors and organic plants and animals or simplified figures. He utilizes color to portray emotion and atmosphere."

i love these paintings because theyre full of life and color. splatters and drips and streaks are definitely a part of my style and i love watching what yang does because his work gives me ideas for my own. it's zany and cerebral and enticing. some of his work gets repetitive, but there are always pieces that make you stop and go "oooh."

Sandro del Prete

born 1937

"Everything we see, can also be seen quite differently. Therefore, I often ask myself is not all an illusion? Reality is a matter of perception, and the perception is inevitably dependent on our position. Different points of view lead to different dimensions" -Sandro del Prete

i love that del prete's work makes you examine it further- he layers images in optical illusion http://www.sandrodelprete.com/index.php/

Lorenzo Bartolini

born 7 january 1777
died 20 january 1850

had the patronage of Napoleon.
neoclassical with a romantic twist
I wasnt able to take pictures in the Accademia, but their sculpture room was amazing. Lorenzo Bartolini was one of the most impressive classical sculptors I have ever seen. I was disappointed not to have learned about him in my previous art education.

I also hadnt realized until looking up his other works that one of my favorite pieces in the Met is his. The Demidoff Table is captivating. It's in the middle of a hallway right near Charles Cordier's Capresse de Colonies, which is another one of my favorites.







He handles his figures delicately, and he has a great sense of composition of anatomy

The way he handles the feet in this sculpture was what really caught my eye:

Chelsey Tyler Wood

I love these works because they seem kind of in-your-face.

Her drawings have a lot of realism and the dark contours of the surrounding shadow bring to mind cartoon-like outlines. 

Her paintings are similar to her drawings but incredibly realistic and detailed. they show chelsey tyler wood to be meticulous and disciplined.

 

It especially delights me that she has an interest in painting non-idealized female nudes. She makes a body type that is normally frowned upon in our current society into something beautifully relatable.

Gabriel Dawe

http://www.gabrieldawe.com/

graphic designer turned installation artist
famous for his site-specific installations made from different colors of thread.
the shapes and colors created make for really fascinating, multi-dimensional pieces that i think are curiously beautiful. they seem so simplistic but unattainable at the same time.

he also has works on fabric (also in thread, of course):

this is his self portrait:

his art has a hand in fashion, and i like the subtleties of his message. his art speaks to the perception of masculinity and machismo, but in a way that i think is really accessible. 

Gaston Lachaise

born 19 march 1882
died 18 october 1935

Sculptor who worked mostly in bronze.
He was trained in decorative arts in France under a famous jewelry maker, and it wasnt really until his emigration to the United States in 1906 that he began sculpting on a large scale.

He is very well known for his depictions of women, which helped redefine the female nude. His depict a strong, voluptuous image with large curves and tapering limbs. I love that he seems to idolize what makes a female nude feminine in a time during which boyishness was a desired trait (I'm thinking of the flapper style that was popular when Lachaise created Woman Standing)

He was also known as an exceptional portraitist in marble and other mediums:

Georgia O'Keefe

 e e cummings

Edgar Degas

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, French
born 19 july 1834
died 27 september 1917

Although he is credited as helping found Impressionism, he hated the term and preferred to be labeled a Realist. He is renowned for his paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints.
Over half of his works depict dancers.
He has a great use of color and a great eye for perfectly capturing light.
I have great respect for his talent in pastels.

Degas enjoyed sculpting in wax, and many bronzes were made from his sculptures after his death.

Little Dancer, aged fourteen is one of Degas' most famous works, in part because he sculpted it not only out of wax but with a real bodice and tutu, and a wig of real hair, all of which he covered in wax.

Jeff Soto

http://www.jeffsoto.com/art.html
Pop Surrealist and Street Artist
calls himself “a muralist with an occasional urge to do some graf”.
heavily influenced by illustration. he majored in it at Art Center College of Design.
his works are detailed and ethereal. i love how he mixes elements of illustration with painting, and his use of color is intense but calming.