Experiencing Joy Through Art

   Hello! Labor Day has just passed and now we are at the start of a brand new week. I hope that you had a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoyed your send-off to summer 2015.

   My birthday is coming up soon this week, so I thought it might be fun to take a closer look at some famous artists form history who share the same birth month as I do. 

 Caravaggio who shares the same first name, Michelangelo, with that other guy was born on September 29th 1571. He is widely known for his use of dramatic chiaroscuro painting which in Italian means “light and dark”. It is this the typical style of the old masters that we recognize so readily today. 

   Although successful during his lifetime, his work was quickly forgotten after he died at the young age of 38. His paintings were rediscovered in the 20th Century and he is now considered a giant in art history. His style very much influenced the Baroque painters that followed him such as Rembrandt and Rubens.

“Bacchus” • Caravaggio

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   Late 19th Century illustrator Charles Gibson was born on September 14th, 1867 just after the American Civil War. He is most famous for his creation of the “Gibson Girl” who were the supermodels of their day. His widely circulated illustrations in Life magazine of young women depicted at the height of 1890s fashion also carried an air of independence. This new version of feminine ideals reflected the changing society of that time period.

   Gibson is always associated with late 19th Century American culture. On Disneyland’s ‘Main Street USA’—themed around a turn of the century small town—there is the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. Gibson also has a cocktail named after him.

The famous “Gibson Girl” • Charles Dana Gibson

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   Born on September 27, 1840, Thomas Nast was a 19th Century caricature artist best known for his illustrations that appeared in Harper's Weekly during the 1860s. His cartoons were predominately political in nature and he often poked a lot of sarcastic fun at the candidates and other politicians of the period. In addition, he later became known for his Christmas illustrations often depicting Santa Claus as a somewhat jolly looking figure, that helped give rise to our more modern idea of Santa. 

Political Cartoon by Thomas Nast

  Nast eventually moved to Morristown, NJ with his wife and the two raised their children there. Interestingly, Morristown is only a few miles from where I grew up in Randolph, NJ. Later he relocated to South America when President Teddy Roosevelt appointed him as Consul General to Ecuador. 

Nast's famous depiction of Santa Claus

Nast's distinctive style has been imitated through many generations as our associations with his cartoons are so strongly tied to the late 1800s, especially his Christmas drawings.

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   Maurice Quentin De La Tour was a French artist born Septemebr 5th, 1704. He is best known for his use of pastels as his favorite medium to work in. He became a well-known and sought after portrait artist during his life and was eventually given the position of official Portraitist to the King of France from 1750 to 1773.

Self Portrait by Quentin De La Tour, 1751

   He later founded an art school, although he had few students during his lifetime. He is most famous for his self portraits in which he almost always depicts himself smiling.

   The above self portrait hangs in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA. I have seen it in person and it is stunning! Pastels are known for their clarity of color and they do not darken over time like oils do. This portrait looks the same now as the day it was finished.

   Because Quentin De La Tour is famous for using pastels as his primary working medium, there was a popular brand of pastels made in France that carried his name for many years. However, due to a rebranding some time ago, the pastels are now known as "Girault". They are still considered one of the best brands available to artists.