Dead arty
Wednesday 13 August 2008
You might surprise yourself by recognising some famous works of art but would you know who painted them? n2k runs down five of the most famous dead artists from impressionists to surrealists!
Leonardo da Vinci - Renaissance (1452–1519)
Da Vinci was born in Florence, Italy. He was not just an artist he was also a mathematician, inventor, architect, musician and even a writer. Some have described him as the most talented man ever to have lived!
As an engineer, Da Vinci’s ideas were way ahead of his time, thinking up the helicopter, solar power, the calculator to name a few. Remember this was the 15th century when man had only just confirmed that the earth was round!
He was at the forefront of the Renaissance art movement. This was art that looked real in the way that light and space were represented. It was the first time perspective had been used in paintings. Renaissance art also incorporated styles from the art of ancient Greece and Rome.
Da Vinci’s most famous paintings are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
Claude Monet – Impressionism (1840-1926)
Monet led an art movement known as Impressionism. Impressionism was all about painting landscapes in the open air and capturing the effects of light. The term impressionism came from Monet’s own painting called Impression, Sunrise. Other impressionist artists of the time include Renoir and Bazille.
Most of his paintings have been reproduced many times and you will often see them in card and gift shops. See his paintings.
Monet’s painting Water Lily Pond sold for a record £40 million in June this year!
Vincent Van Gogh – Expressionism (1853–1890)
Van Gogh was a Dutch artist who created more than 2,000 paintings and drawings – all mainly during the last 10 years of his life.
Van Gogh developed a form of art known as Expressionism. This is when an artist distorts reality to give some sort of emotional effect – often to create a feeling of angst.
Many think Van Gogh’s angst was a result of the mental illness he developed later in life. He is most famously known for cutting off part of his left ear after he fell out with his friend, fellow artist Paul Gauguin. His depression got worse throughout his short life and at the age of only 37, he shot himself in a field and died two days later.
His most famous paintings are a series called Sunflowers and his painting of Irises sold at auction in 1981 for over £25 million. See his paintings.
Edvard Munch - Symbolism (1863–1944)
Munch was a Norwegian painter who often painted images showing darker emotions such as despair, sadness and a death. He was part of the Symbolism movement which was influenced by the imagination, dreams and spirituality.
Munch also suffered from anxiety which was made worse by drinking, but he recovered when spent some time receiving special therapy at a Norwegian clinic. After his therapy his work became more colourful and less pessimistic.
Munch left all his paintings to the city of Oslo who built the Munch Museum and hosts 1,100 paintings, 4,500 drawings and 18,000 prints by the artists! His most famous paintings include The Voice and The Scream. See his paintings.
Salvador Dali – Surrealism (1904–1989)
Dali was a Spanish painter who gained a lot of his inspiration for his work from Renaissance art. He was also a film maker, sculptor and photographer. He worked with Walt Disney on the cartoon Destino, which was finally completed and released in 2003, over 10 years after his death. He also collaborated with film director Alfred Hitchcock.
Dali was known to be very eccentric which is obvious from his work. There is a lot of symbolism in his work including images of clocks – which represents hardness and softness, eggs - which he associated with birth, hope and love, and snails - a symbol of waste and fear.
One of his most famous paintings is The Persistence of Memory which is sometimes called Droopy Watches, because (you guessed it), it depicts lots of droopy watches. See his paintings.
