Art and the Homeless

Reams have been written about Rembrandt's self-portraits. All very interesting, increases appreciation, but I have noticed one point of view is missing. An artist's opinion. Let me plug that hole, because, if there are few art historian-artists, there are fewer artists who deign to express an opinion on other artists, much less an Old Master such as Rembrandt.  Rembrandt wrote nothing about his own art as far as I know. It would be beguiling to discover how he thought about the redefinition of humanism in art, to which his oeuvre is testament, or if he was aware of the epic transformation taking place on his easel. His minor subject of interest seems to have been risky investments.  This is not intended as commentary on his priorities. The facts tell us that money and finances were important to Rembrandt. As a pertinent commentary the same can't be said about all artists. Rembrandt was, first-of-all, a businessman -and a busy one at that. He probably would have found specul...

To put Italian pioggio, "rain," in an art context (as I have, previously), should not seriously be to make it a fifth Canonical Style of Painting, as I have asserted, but a condition of one of the Four Canonical Styles of Painting. The Four Canonical Styles of Painting are essential predicates of painting. According to theory, each-and-every painting must fall into one of the Four Styles. It is not imperative that a given painting has the quality of rain.  Pioggio is an incidental quality of a painting (not an essence). According to the Medieval logic behind The Four Canonical Styles of Painting, every painting has the essence of one of the Four. The quality of rain is optional. How many paintings of rain come to mind, seasoned observer of art? Rain is always incidental to a painting, as weather is incidental to a Romantic landscape. Rarely is the representation of rain, itself, the subject of a painting. And, suppose an abstract painting was to be titled “Rain,” alluding ...

At one point I had painted so many paintings, and not liking them so much, having over-painted those which I didn't like, I felt confident about making the decision to paint over them without waiting days for the paint to dry. Once oil paint dries it can be very difficult to paint-over, particularly if the paint is thickly-applied and clotted. It saved trouble as well as time wasted to start again at once. If my opinion is unfavorable, I say scrape it all off at once and try again. Don't put it off. This approach was after I had returned to painting subject matter, figures, mostly. With abstract art it was never easy to tell a good one from a bad one. It was not so much a matter of like or dislike as a shrug of dismay. While I was painting abstractly and tried different approaches, I had found for a good price an oversize palette scraper, which was marked down because it was too big -comically so. That nobody saw a use for it before I did was a recommendation in itself to buy. ...

An important work of art in private collection, now exhibited for public view, is in need of additional documentation. This blog post is intended to make that contribution. It is about the oil painting “Blue Angel,” by artist Wade Schuster. It is being shown as part of the exhibit Making Room, at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas college campus, from August 30th, 2022, until January 28th, 2023. The subject of “Blue Angel” is an iconic motel sign on Fremont Street, once the main drag of "old" Las Vegas. The Blue Angel Motel was demolished a few years ago. The Blue Angel Motel sign was salvaged and rededicated in a prominent, new location, as part of the downtown Las Vegas redevelopment plan. The original location of the Blue Angel Motel was at the far end of the downtown Las Vegas casino scene.  The Blue Angel Motel, and its surroundings, had gone to seed. The Blue Angel sign was cherished by people in Las Vegas as a constant reminder ...