Question:
I couldn't find any catch-all thread on art here - so this is it!
Anything on visual arts welcome, e.g.
favourite artist(s)
favourite picture(s)
recent trips to exhibitions
recommended galleries
your own artistic endeavors
Warning - if no-one else contributes you will just have my ill-informed whitterings to contend with

Answer:
ok, over the winter i went to italy and duh i saw some of the most incredible things, EVER, the crowds can be annoying but then again i am one of the crowds so how can i complain? but it was unbelievable, only unfortunately was being in rome around christmas and la la la long storoy it led to not much time in the sistine chapel so i didn't get to see the raphael room but it was incredible i have never seen so much beauty in one place in my whole life, seriously, except for possibly the uffizi but no i still think the sistine chapel wins out, unbelievable oh my god, and it just blows my m ind that masterpieces like bernini's st theresa in ecstasy, michelangelo's moses, etc, are just sitting in these churches that you can just walk into at almost any time, just that the streets are filled with masterpieces, it's unbelievable, when i think of so many churches in a lot of other countries, ok i will name names, here in hungary especially, where the churches are hardly ever open and i can promise you they are not holding anything near as valuable as moses, for god's sake, it makes you really appreciate italy but of course it is home to the pope how could it not keep its churches open, anyways just wow. WOW.
i just wanted to expand on this, i just LOVE art museums, and i know a lot of people hate them and i can understand why but i wish those people who hate art museums would just NOT come to them out of some sense of obligation. i often feel that the smaller art museums are better experiences just because they're less populated with well you know what i mean. for example the hermitage in st petersburg has some of the most incredible art in the world but it is almost impossible to enjoy it because of the hordes in huge groups and i don't think any comment is necessary on the louvre. . . the top floor of the hermitage has this pretty incredible 19th and 20th century mostly french art that is less populated than the more infamous venetian and dutch stuff in the splendid rooms so as is usually the case i found these rooms more enjoyable just for the mere fact it was less crowded, this is almost always the case, i hope to be in the netherlands this summer and i want to visit the rijksmuseum of course but again i am dreading a summertime crowd, is this elitist of me? i just like to enjoy beautiful art in peace you know?

Answer:
The local museum here in Atlanta, the High Museum has a partnership exhibition with the Louvre. They just finished Phase 1 and at the end of this month they are starting Phase 2. I'll be going sometime in February or March.
The first phase was a) a set of busts of the artists' whose work was being displayed b) a lot of drawing that were prototypes for paintings or just studies. They were dominantly from the patronage of French Kings Louis XIV, XV, and XVI c) oil paintings from the same period and some American interest paintings (including some by Samuel Morse, who I had no idea was a painter).

Answer:
One of my minors is Art History. As a young man, just out of college, I worked on weekends as a dosant at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. I miss DC.
favourite artist(s)
Goya
Velazquez
Mark Rothko
Kenneth Noland
Hieronymous Bosch
The gallery that I most want to vist but have never had the pleasure:
The Prado in Madrid
I cannot play an instrument or draw a stick man...maybe that is why I love the art that others can create.

Answer:
the greatest artist regarding the playing of electric bass guitar was John Entwhistle who had built his chops since he was a kid playing trumpet.
John had an English mansion and an Irish Wolfhound named "Fitz". Seemed that Fitz could never seem to get comfortable in the back of John's Rolls.
Rolls Royce I suppose was convinced by boxes of cash to convert the Rolls to a station wagon. John's plates were said to say "Fitz Just Right".
I hope to bring more to the table soon.

Answer:
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Answer:
i have several passions in life. One of them is the arts. Two kinds: liberal and martial. Of the contemporary artists, i own a numbered etching by Willi Kissmer - one of the 'Three Silks'. Picked it up in a gallery in NYC, couldn't resist. He is very skilled and does excellent work with light and the female form; i like beautiful things.
It looks like so (can't find a decent image on the net, not that images do the real thing any justice):
http://www.visionsfineart.com/kissme..._seiden_II.jpg
Here are a few more examples:
http://www.thefineartcompany.co.uk/L...-rote-hemd.jpg
http://www.thefineartcompany.co.uk/L...serie-13-w.jpg
http://www.thefineartcompany.co.uk/L...ommission1.jpg
If anyone wants to know more, here is the official website:
http://www.willikissmer.info/
edit: Converted hotlinks to URLs.

Answer:
Great stuff so far.
I suppose as a thread concerned with visual arts we will have to take particular notice of the Sticky to this board on hotlinking images.
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Originally Posted by Jock_With_Scents One of my minors is Art History. As a young man, just out of college, I worked on weekends as a dosant at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. I miss DC.
favourite artist(s)
Goya
Velazquez
Mark Rothko
Kenneth Noland
Hieronymous Bosch
The gallery that I most want to vist but have never had the pleasure:
The Prado in Madrid What is a dosant? Sounds like something from the Da Vinci Code
I love Bosch (love is the wrong word - he terrifies me half the time). The Bosch room at the Prado is worth the admission price itself. You can stand in front of the Garden of Earthly Delights for half an hour and not feel right for weeks after!
I wish I knew more about Velazquez. He's very highly rated by many top artists, but all those portraits of the Spanish Royal Family! I think you often need some sort of guide, or training or something to appreciate 'older' art.
I never understood Rothko either. I had only seen his work in reproduction, but one day (years ago) I sat in the Rothko room at the old Tate building in London and was simply enveloped by these big beautiful warm peaceful abstracts - quite an experience.

Answer:
Apart from the great artists of the Twentieth Century such as Picasso, Ernst, Kandinsky, Ben Nicholson, Pollock, Modigliani, and so many more, I really love the art of the 14th and 15th centuries.
Fra Angelico,
Giotto,
Simone Martini,
Uccello
Masaccio.
I’m also fond of Flemish painting of the 15th century (van der Waarden etc.)

Answer:
A dosant is basically a guide that can talk intelligently to visitors who have questions and need guidance. Some are invloved in organized speaking tours of the facility.
I must get to The Prado some day...and your mention of it only makes me
want to visit more than ever.
I love Rothko's work, it has a peaceful and pensive quality too. Maybe because of his life and how it played out, I find it to be depressing at times.
Bosch, what can I say..he is just 'out there' for the time in which he lived.