Beauty and Pain Art

Frida Kahlo de Rivera (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954) is a Mexican surrealist painter best known for her use of vibrant colors and self-portraits. I found one of her paintings titled a few small nips in a book named The Visual Encyclopedia of Art. The violence depicted in the painting was no surprise since I've seen worse from artists. What surprised me is the fact that the painting was done by a woman. I was instantly captivated and curious to what images were depicted in her other works of art. 

What I found is that half of her works were self-portraits mixed with folk imagery. The other half were a blend of beauty and pain showing the different hardships she faced in life. Kahlo had Polio as a child which left one leg permanently smaller than the other. Then a serious traffic accident in her teens which required numerous surgeries and caused life long health issues. Finally, she had a miscarriage of the baby made with husband famous painter Diego Rivera and found out that she couldn't bare children. 

All these hardships bled into her paintings which showed the trials and tribulations of the female experience without compromise. Below are a few of her paintings that captivate the eyes and the imagination.

 

Creative Minds Art

Another artist whose creative mind and unique style of work inspires me is Belgian painter Rene Magritte. He was famous for creating detailed and thought-provoking paintings. The intention behind his style was to challenge the observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality and force the viewer to become more aware of their surroundings.

René François Ghislain Magritte (1898 – 1967) was an incredible surrealist artist. Little is known about his early life. His mother committed suicide by drowning herself in a river when he was 13 years old. When his mother was found, her dress was covering her face, an image that has been suggested as the source of several of Magritte's paintings in of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including famous piece Les Amants (The Lovers). 

Later in life his style was influenced by Futurism and Cubism which was popularized by French artist Jean Metzinger. He also began sculpting using a variety of mediums such as bronze and plaster. Posted below are some of his more colorful and eye catching pieces.  

 

 

 

Surrealism Art

I've always been a fan of surrealist art. My passion for the style came from seeing the paintings of Spanish artist Salvador Dali (May 11, 1904 - Jan. 23, 1989). 

His amazing use of color and bizarre depiction of everyday objects captured my imagination and inspired me. One of his most famous paintings "The Persistence of Memory," depicts clocks melting in the dessert. Its such a simple concept but the technique behind it makes it extraordinary. 

Aside from painting Dali was known for making 3D optical illusions and sculptures. You can see his style reflected in the works of many modern artists including Hans Kanters, a Dutch painter I posted in an earlier entry.  I posted a few pieces from Dali below, but if you want to see more of his art go to www.daligallery.com or www.artsy.net.

Abstract Creations Art

I'm a big art affectionado, I love all mediums of painting, illustration and drawing. Most of my artistic inspiration comes from reading comics when I was a kid. It wasn't until I was older did I get into paintings. Below is one of my favorite Dutch painters Hans Kanters. His style is surrealism like Salvador Dali but with less focus on the landscape and more on the objects or images in the paintings. You can see more of his work at www.hanskanters.com