Art & Design August 25, 2008

Design trends don’t influence fine art; rather, fine art influences design trends.

Art is becoming the dominant feature in the design world. Now, more than ever, rooms are being designed around the art instead of the décor. New techniques and cutting edge innovations in art are leading the way for other design trends. The bold graphics prevalent in much of today’s fine art are influencing simple, clean lines in décor with less decorative furniture.

Art and design have always been related, but today, experimentation and personal expression are the name of the game. Homeowners are using art to make a personal statement – your art choice has to inject a fresh outlook and say something unique about your home and you. As such, designers often prefer to have their clients select their own art that reflects their individual taste and personality. Read more on how to start with art when redecorating.

Current trends

Alternative mediums – Make an original statement with innovative techniques such as art combining texture-rich mediums like resin, oil and other mixed media.

Graphic art styling – The geometric and abstract styles and color palettes of the 60’s and 70’s are making a stylish comeback.

Decorate your home or office @ ArtRev.com August 24, 2008

Abstract Americana Animals Animation & Cartoon Architecture Art Deco Astronomy & Space Automotive Aviation Boats Celebrities & Movie Stars Children Cityscape Comics Corporate Country Cubism Cuisine Dance & Ballet Ethnic Expressionism Family Fantasy & Dreamscape Fashion Figurative Folk Art Food Historic Humor Illustration Impressionism Kitchen & Bath Landscape Medical Modern Movies & TV Series Musical Themes Musicians Naive Nature Neo-Pop Nude & Sensual Oriental People Photography Plants & Flowers Political Pop Art Portrait Post-Impressionism Realism Religious Renaissance Romance Scenic Seascape Sky & Clouds Sports Sports Icons Still Life Surrealism Vintage Western Whimsical Wildlife

Gary Benfield – The Artist of Romance – Presented by ArtRev.com May 20, 2008

Douglas Hofmann Art Collection Video – Presented by ArtRev.com May 20, 2008

Art Could Be A Cure For Loneliness! May 16, 2008

In today’s world, where everyone wants a happy home life and an exciting relationship, the phrase "I’m lonely" alienates you like the plague.

Fortunately, loneliness can be treated by examining the causes and finding solutions. A fundamental solution, whether your loneliness is absolute, caused by separation, or existential, is to keep yourself productively engaged in human interaction and interesting hobbies or activities when your loneliness is at its worst.

Existential loneliness is something that we all feel at some time in our lives – the realization that no one can take away our fears, we have to face them. No one else can take risks for us, face our losses on our behalf, or give us self-esteem. No one can spare us from life’s ups and downs. However, existential loneliness, the great burden of human consciousness, is also a great gift – if we give it the right treatment.

And that treatment is art!

In the face of great sorrow or joy, love or loss, many of histories greatest achievers learned to express themselves through different mediums: music, paint, clay, words, the movement of their bodies. They created works of art that were born from their suffering and loneliness. It helped them through a difficult time, and today, it serves as a reminder that we are not alone in feeling alone.

For example, Vincent van Gogh created most of his iconic works of art during the final two years of his life, which he spent in a mental asylum after his offer of friendship was rejected by Paul Gauguin. His feelings of loneliness and rejection were the catalyst for the creation of some of the greatest works of art in the history of the world.

Make your own artistic connections by appreciating the many forms of art or even creating it yourself. Read novels, listen to music, learn how to dance, visit museums, take an art class, watch documentaries: Seek art from every time and place, in any form, to connect with those who really move you. And try your hand at creation; put aside convention and embarrassment and do whatever it takes to convey your essential self. Use anything you can think of to understand and be understood, and you’ll discover the creativity that connects you with others. You’ll soon find beauty and communication with other, like-minded individuals.

Instead of hiding your loneliness, bring it into the light. Honor it. Treat it. Heal it. You’ll find that it returns the favor.

Artwork Lighting Do’s and Don’ts May 16, 2008

Effective lighting can make or break the visual impact of your wall art and is crucial to art preservation and longevity.

What is art lighting?

For many artists, art and light go hand in hand. For instance, Rembrandt is considered the greatest master of Chiaroscuro (the contrast of light and dark) in history and his works are renowned for their luminosity.

Claude Monet, too, was a great master of light and famously spent hours in his garden in Giverny studying the play of light and painting his water lily pond in various stages of illumination.

Claude Monet, Nympheas a Giverny (1908)

While works by these masters look pretty good in any light, there are certain rules to adhere to in order to properly enhance and preserve your masterpiece. When lighting fine art, your choices are critical as even a slight difference in direction or type of light (fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, natural) can make all the difference.

What type of light should I use to light my artwork?

• Natural light (sunlight) – Many people believe that sunlight is the best type of light for art – it makes sense since art looks best in natural light. But while the art looks great, some art will deteriorate in this light. Natural light is hard to control in general terms. It causes a big problem for art as the infrared and ultraviolet (UV) rays of natural sunlight are so harmful that they can, over time, fade works of art. Works on paper, especially pastels, prints, photographs, and watercolors, are most susceptible.

• Fluorescent – Not recommended for art in most cases. Museums and galleries don’t use fluorescent bulbs as a common practice because they give off a high amount of UV rays which are harmful. In addition, fluorescent lights do not emit light across the entire spectrum of colors.

• Incandescent – Incandescent lights bring out the warm colors within the color spectrum such as the red, brown, orange, and yellow tones, but the blues, greens, and violets within your works of art will be flattened out. In short, these lights are better than natural or fluorescent lights, but are not the entire solution to your lighting problem.

• Halogen – The use of a halogen light at low wattage may prove best for most works of art. Although museum professionals have not "blessed" the halogen light because of the strong white light that it emits, halogens are among the best lighting solutions when installed properly. A low watt halogen-based bulb has been recently introduced which redirects damaging UV and infrared rays of light.

Some Do’s and Don’ts

• DO rotate your artwork regularly. This will reduce the amount of light exposure during the works lifetime and will reduce the risk of fading.
• DO invest in top-of-the line picture lighting. Museum-quality picture lights provide a generous, evenly distributed glow that will beautifully enhance your artwork – without the risk of fading.
• DO shop around for the right lights for your décor. Choose between the clean, finished look of cordless picture lights, dimmable picture lights that you can adjust, or the ease of picture lights with remote controls.
• DO use halogen art lights to display your artwork – making sure that they conform to museum standards for UV output.
• DO angle your picture lights at a 30 degree angle to avoid a glare and to lend the most appealing effect.
• DON’T hang your artwork in direct sunlight or near windows. The sun’s infrared and ultraviolet (UV) rays are so powerful they can fade works over time.
• DON’T hang your art under fluorescent lighting. Apart from being unflattering, fluorescent lights emit extremely high levels of ultraviolet rays that can cause fading and overall deterioration of your artwork over time.
• DON’T hang your artwork beneath or across from a spotlight. Even ordinary incandescent light bulbs, such as an un-shaded 100-watt lamp, can cause fading and dulling over time if placed less than 10 feet from a work of art.

The bottom line? Professional, museum-quality lighting can draw attention to your artwork and enhance its colors and richness. Overexposure to sunlight and certain kinds of artificial light will cause it to dull or fade prematurely. So please choose your art lighting wisely!

Art in Your Bathroom May 16, 2008

The bathroom is often one of the most overlooked rooms in the home. The focus is normally on the functional aspect of the room rather than creating an inviting and relaxing atmosphere. But why not have both? You have a captive audience! Provide some eye candy to enjoy during bath time!

Remember! The art in your bathroom should be carefully chosen to reflect your unique sense of style, humor and personality. But it must also be able to withstand temperature and steam fluctuations, so ensure that your art work is framed and sealed properly.

So where do you start? Most people that have already embraced the bathroom décor trend tend to favor romantic, more risqué, nudes or alternatively, quirky and fun art.

Quirky art with light humor injects a sense of fun into an otherwise staid room. A great recommendation for cheeky art that is sure to raise a smile is the work of Paula McArdle.

A bathroom is a place to relax, rejuvenate and melt your troubles away with a long soak in the tub! Create your own intimate boudoir with some scented candles and evocative art by Gary Benfield, Douglas Hofmann, Pino or Janet Treby.

Most importantly, add a splash of originality to an otherwise sterile and boring room. Create an atmosphere that promotes good health and leaves you feeling great! Browse the ArtRev.com collection and read our Exclusive Design, Decor and Home Improvement Articles for more inspiring ideas!

Masters of Motion – Degas Vs. Hofmann May 16, 2008

Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas (July 19, 1834 – September 27, 1917) is widely considered a master of drawing the human figure in motion. His extraordinary draftsmanship, which stressed balance and clarity of outline, became a hallmark of his signature style.

Degas worked in many media, preferring pastel to all others. He is well known for his animated race horse paintings, but most of all, Degas is celebrated for his intimate renderings of nudes and ballerinas.

Fascinated with the movement of forms through space, Degas often sketched dancers from the theater wings, working spontaneously and capturing his subjects with an unrivaled poignancy and power, while emphasizing their status as professionals.

Degas is often classified as an Impressionist, which is not entirely accurate. Like the Impressionists, he favored spontaneity, off-center compositions and scenes from everyday Parisian life, but Degas was never an enthusiast of painting en plein air. Nonetheless, Degas’ paintings greatly impacted the world of Impressionist art and he is inevitably linked with the genre. He strongly influenced many notable artists, such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Mary Cassatt.

Edgar Degas, Dancer with a Bouquet of Flowers (1878)

 

Douglas Hofmann

Douglas Hofmann’s paintings are that rarest of things in the history of modern art in that they represent a style that is at once both classical and contemporary.

Inspired by Degas, Hofmann’s art is concerned with fleeting moments – portraying brief glimpses seized from the current stream of time. The viewer is made witness to a series of intimate but ephemeral exchanges: ballerinas waiting nervously in the wings, a ballerina adjusting her partner’s costume, or another smoothing back her partner’s hair.

There is magic in this device allowing the privileged observer to explore aspects of the world that normally pass so rapidly as to be all but invisible. Hofmann’s trained eye holds a magic looking glass up to the world and transient moments otherwise missed are reflected and preserved there to be observed at leisure.

A skilled oil painter and heralded as the modern-day Degas, Hofmann’s works have been documented in the New York Post and continue to fetch notable records. Browse the Douglas Hofmann collection.

Douglas Hofmann, Reflections Portfolio I

 

Douglas Hofmann, Reflections Portfolio II

Investing in fine art April 26, 2008

Ronald Lauder paid a whopping $135 million for a Gustav Klimt original painting entitled “Adele Bloch-Bauer I”, the highest amount ever paid for a painting. The portrait, of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the wife of a Jewish sugar industrialist and the hostess of a prominent Vienna salon, is considered one of the Klimt’s masterpieces. For many years, it was the focus of a legal battle between the Austrian government and a niece of Mrs. Bloch-Bauer who argued that it was seized along with four other Klimt paintings by the Nazis during World War II. In January, 2006, all five paintings were awarded to the niece.

Fine Art Collectors like Ronald Lauder acquire paintings for prestige, status, and a passion for collecting original art. But at these prices, fine art certainly represents an enormous investment. So, the million-dollar question arises: Is fine art a good investment?

For several years, two professors at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Michael Moses and Jiangping Mei, have been gathering data that allows them to track the long-term performance of fine art. The Mei Moses index focuses on renowned artists whose works command significant prices at art auctions.

As their most recent findings shows, over the last 50 years, stocks (as represented by the S&P 500) returned 10.9 percent annually, while the art index returned 10.5 percent per annum. And in the five years between 2001 and 2005, fine art crushed stocks in performance. Not all art performs equally and like stocks, art is susceptible to fits of irrational exuberance! In recent years, old masters haven’t done so well, while American art before 1950 has been soaring—up 25.2 percent in the past year.

There are clear differences between Salvador Dali original paintings and AT&T shares. Fine Art is far less liquid than stocks. You can’t simply push a button and sell an original Dali tomorrow. Moses found that fine art actually has a very low correlation with stocks and a negative correlation with bonds. In other words, it’s a good portfolio diversifier.

One of the grand ironies of the art world is that artists rarely benefit as the value of their work appreciates over time!

Gustav Klimt’s 1907 Portrait “Adele Bloch-Bauer I.”

Hanging you artwork, the high-tech way! April 26, 2008

 

Generally speaking, artwork should be hung so that the center point of the picture or grouping is at about eye level for the average person. This is not a rule and won’t be possible in every situation, it’s a good tip to remember. Note: In the United States, the average female is 5 feet, 3.75 inches (1.62 meters) tall and the average male is 5 feet, 9 inches (1.75 meters) tall.

If you are going to hang more than one artwork together, remember that a grouping of pictures should be thought of as one unit. Before you start hammering away and ruining your new paint, try to visualize the artwork(s) on the wall, get a helping hand from your partner or friend, or if you are a gadget freak, you can use your digital camera and Photoshop™ to virtually hang your artwork(s). This can be done by taking photographs of your wall area where you want to hang your artwork(s) and your artworks(s), then cropping your artworks and overlaying on the area where you want to hang them. This will require some photo editing skills! See example below:

Original photo of the room from digital camera.

Final & cropped photo of Douglas Hofmann, Red Sash.

Resized artwork placed on the wall with a drop shadow. Now it’s hammer time!

Wait! Before you start hammering, get a measure tape, pencil, a piece of paper, and follow these simple steps to hang your artwork(s) properly:

1. Measure & record the distance between the wire on the back of your artwork at full tension and the top of the frame
2. Measure & record the height of your frame and divide the result in half
3. From the floor, measure up the wall to 60″ (average eye-level) and make a pencil mark
4. From the mark, measure upward the distance recorded in step 2 and make a second light pencil mark
5. From this mark, measure downward the distance recorded in step 1 and make your final mark
6. Place nail and hanger here. Make sure to use appropriate size hanger, If in doubt, use 2 hangers or contact your sales representative at ArtRev.com

That’s it, your done!