We painters are lucky. We already self-isolate when we paint, so when the pandemic s**t hits the fan, we can continue painting and just carry-on as usual. Last week I ordered some oils from RGH, and today it was delivered to my porch. No delays; business as usual. This was a small order–a tube of…
I talk about the history of the French Academy of Fine Art and defend it from charges of kitsch. Artists mentioned: David, Manet, Courbet, Watteau, and Fragonard among others.
I pick up last episode’s discussion about Clement Greenberg and the avant-garde and kitsch, and talk about academic art. Artists mentioned: Gerome, David, Bouguereau, Ingres, and Thomas Couture.
In this podcast, I look at Clement Greenberg’s influential article from 1939, ‘Avant-Garde and Kitsch.’
Bah! I am grinding my way (trying to anyway) through a volume of Clement Greenberg’s essays. In case you haven’t heard of him, Greenberg was once considered the preeminent writer on post-war American art. Greenberg’s writings are filled with hilarious pronouncements hurled from the Marxist Olympian heights. As a champion of the Abstract Expressionists, he…
At the Whitney Biennal last spring, protestors made headlines when they demanded that the museum destroy an artwork they found offensive. The protesters didn’t want the painting removed from the Biennial, they wanted it destroyed. The painting by Dana Schutz, Open Casket, is based on a well-known photograph of Emmett Till in his coffin. Till was an African American…
I am a voracious reader. Since I got acclimated to my Kindle (actually the Kindle app on my iPad mini), I think I am reading more than ever, which I didn’t think possible. Add my Audible app to the mix and my day is spent reading (or listening) to books from can’t see to can’t…
Living in NE Ohio, I had to the visit the RNC. I spent two hours yesterday in downtown Cleveland. I took a lot of photos but I was still surprised when I got home and discovered that I’d taken 1300 photos! I’m always taking photos for use in my paintings, of course, and I was…