[Ceara1010]

I searched the forum and was surprised there wasn't a thread on this topic seeing as there are a lot of creative people here.

I have never been able to draw or paint, though I always seemed to have a natural talent for sculpting that I never developed. But I have loved the creations of others for as long as I can remember.

I love different genres of art, so I couldn't say I have a single favorite.

I have always loved Van Gogh's paintings and never cease to marvel at how he could paint such vibrant, uplifting scenes considering how ill he was.

My favorite "realistic" artist would have to Vermeer. They are just lovely. Nothing more to say.

My favorite abstract painter would be a toss-up between Kandinsky (because of his vibrant colors) and Miro (because he is just fun).

I don't know what genre he is in, but Botero is a relatively recent discovery of mine and his paintings are so much fun. Everyone in his pictures is really chubby, yet he insists they aren't. He says they are "full of life."

But the artist I relate to the most would be Frida Kahlo because she painted as an outlet for traumas she experienced. When she was college-age, she was in a serious trolley accident that almost killed her and left her in extreme physical pain for the rest of her life. When I was younger, I didn't like her work all that much. It just seemed interesting. But now that I have PTSD, I understand completely where she was coming from. I look at her paintings and I can honestly say I've been to the places she was painting from (mentally, that is). And I appreciate her for expressing herself in the way that she did because her images express trauma in a way that words just can't begin to reach.

--Ceara1010

M. C. Escher
Maxfield Parish
Nick Gustafson

[fishin fool]

I love art but I have to admit that I don't know a whole lot about the painters themselves.
I tend to be pretty creative as many of us on here are so I am drawn to all forms of art
and creativity and to be honest I find creative females very sexy.

My favorite artist is Salvador Dali.

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by kindness

My favorite artist is Salvador Dali.

Oh, yes. His stuff is very cool. He was a very interesting man, too.

[Nammu]

Frida kahlo
Bessie MacNicol
Camille Claudel

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by Nammu

Frida kahlo
Bessie MacNicol
Camille Claudel

Nammu,

There is a great movie about Camille Claudel and her relationship with Rodin. Ever seen it? (I just Googled it and found someone made another one about her a couple of years ago.)

--Ceara1010

[Nammu]

I saw the first one but not the second one. Thanks for the notice

Emily Carr
The Group of Seven
Robert Bateman

[Bolivar83]

Originally Posted by kindness

My favorite artist is Salvador Dali.

I love Salvador Dali! The whole Surrealist camp I adore!
Magritte's work really speaks to me - I don't know if he meant to reflect disconnect and alienation, isolation but a lot of his work resonates with me personally (i don't mean "disconnect, etc" as a negative).

Dada fascinates me; Kurt Schwitter's sound poem and Hugo Ball's "lobster" costume [know it's not a lobster, but the absurdity won my heart!]

Goya is breathtaking - his darker works, Saturn devouring his Son, the prints about the horrors of war, and "the sleep of reason" print.

Fuseli's The Nightmare is just gorgeous, saturated with Gothic melodrama and supernatural dread

I adore folk or outsider art, as well - the exhibit of Hans Prinzhorn's collection of art by his patients with mental illness was beautiful: rich with imagination, many were great representations of familiar feelings (paranoia, alienation, even joy in delusion).

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by Bolivar83

I love Salvador Dali! The whole Surrealist camp I adore!
Magritte's work really speaks to me - I don't know if he meant to reflect disconnect and alienation, isolation but a lot of his work resonates with me personally (i don't mean "disconnect, etc" as a negative).

Dada fascinates me; Kurt Schwitter's sound poem and Hugo Ball's "lobster" costume [know it's not a lobster, but the absurdity won my heart!]

Goya is breathtaking - his darker works, Saturn devouring his Son, the prints about the horrors of war, and "the sleep of reason" print.

Fuseli's The Nightmare is just gorgeous, saturated with Gothic melodrama and supernatural dread

I adore folk or outsider art, as well - the exhibit of Hans Prinzhorn's collection of art by his patients with mental illness was beautiful: rich with imagination, many were great representations of familiar feelings (paranoia, alienation, even joy in delusion).

Yes, Goya's stuff is wonderful, particularly when you understand the historical context to it all.

And I love folk art, too. There is something haunting about it. Frida Kahlo's work was folk art in a way because she was completely untrained and, to me, her work has a similar haunting quality that I often see in folk art.

--Ceara1010

Banksy is a contemporary artist I find fascinating. He/she makes me think about issues in a different way, I like that:

Banksy

Interestingly nobody knows who Banksy is. In this world of self publicity and worship of celebrities this is strangely refreshing.

[Nammu]

I love Banksy's stuff especially his takes of famous paintings with a new twist.

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by prefabsprout

Banksy is a contemporary artist I find fascinating. He/she makes me think about issues in a different way, I like that:

Banksy

Interestingly nobody knows who Banksy is. In this world of self publicity and worship of celebrities this is strangely refreshing.

Oh, yes, Banksy is great. I loved the pictures I saw of the Dismaland exhibition recently. (It was in England, right?)

[KidAutistic]

An artist I like at the moment is Meghan Howland.

[vonmoxie]

I can hardly pare the list of artists I deeply admire to even a top ten list... I've tried and tried, but the fewest I can mention my love for in no particular order are Joseph Beuys, Robert Motherwell, Ray Johnson, René Magritte, Bruce Conner, Joseph Cornell, Billy Childish, Hannah Höch, Paul Klee, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Philip Taaffe, Gustav Klimt, Gerhard Richter, Helen Frankenthaler, Cody Noland, Antoni Tàpies, Ed Ruscha, Louise Bourgeois, Max Ernst, George Grosz, Georgia O'Keeffe, Oswaldo Guayasamín, Paul Delvaux, Raymond Pettibon, Howard Finster, Larry Rivers, and I will stop now as a true list of my favorite artists tends to be one of what is probably an unreasonably indeterminate length for the purposes of this thread.

[htoun]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

Emily Carr
The Group of Seven
Robert Bateman

Good list
I would add Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Debi Fitzgerald (her older stuff)

[Row Jimmy]

I prefer Rembrandt. His brilliant use of light and dark in his paintings make them come to life.

[Artchic528]

Oooh. A thread I can relate to.

My favorite artists are Monet, DaVinci and Van Gogh, with Van Gogh as the artist I most admire. He was a tortured soul and his paintings speak vividly about his emotional struggles. His broad brush strokes and vivid color palettes are a sign that he had a lot of emotions he wanted to convey onto his canvases. He perfectly captured raw emotion and feelings of struggle in such classics as "Irises" and "Starry Night".

[Mike_J]

Van Gogh and Ansel Adams

[Cyclops5]

Van go is my favorite artist!

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by Artchic528

Oooh. A thread I can relate to.

My favorite artists are Monet, DaVinci and Van Gogh, with Van Gogh as the artist I most admire. He was a tortured soul and his paintings speak vividly about his emotional struggles. His broad brush strokes and vivid color palettes are a sign that he had a lot of emotions he wanted to convey onto his canvases. He perfectly captured raw emotion and feelings of struggle in such classics as "Irises" and "Starry Night".

I so greatly admire that he could pour out such vibrant work while being so ill.

I am I wrong, or is there still no consensus on just what his illness was? I had read that experts had agreed that he suffered from some form of epilepsy. But recently I heard some are now saying it was something else.

--Ceara1010

[barbella]

I love Monet. I also love Lawren Harris from the Group of Seven.
Thanks for creating this thread! So nice to be reminded of all the beauty out there!!

[Artchic528]

Originally Posted by Ceara1010

I so greatly admire that he could pour out such vibrant work while being so ill.

I am I wrong, or is there still no consensus on just what his illness was? I had read that experts had agreed that he suffered from some form of epilepsy. But recently I heard some are now saying it was something else.

--Ceara1010

Some say he had bipolar, based on his eratic behavior. Here is what Wikipedia said:

There has been much debate as to the source of Van Gogh's illness and its effect on his work. Over 150 psychiatrists have attempted to label its root, with 30 different diagnoses. These have included schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy, and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit, and could have been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia, and consumption of alcohol, especially absinthe.

[LadyShadow]

Van Gogh, Monet. Da Vinci and Rembrant.... my all time favorite painting is below: