School’s in Session

For the August Art Poll By Bob, in recognition of our annual trek to the New Jersey shore for fun, sun, and surf, I asked, “Which of these classic paintings of sunlight lights up your life the most?” The “Van Gogh effect” took control again as Vincent Van Gogh’s Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun (1889) edged out Edward Hopper’s Morning Sun (1952) and Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872) 16 to 15. Henri Matisse’s Luxe, Calme et Volupté (1904) and Edvard Munch’s The Sun From the Oslo University Aula Decoration (1911-1916) tied for fourth with 11 votes each. Caspar David Friedrich’s Woman before the Rising Sun (Woman before the Setting Sun) (1818-1820) snuck past J.M.W. Turner, The Angel, Standing in the Sun (1846) 10 to 9 for sixth place. Frida Kahlo’s Sun and Life (1947) with 6 votes, J.M.W. Turner’s Regulus (1828-1837) with 5 votes, and Michelangelo’s Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Planets from the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1511) with 4 votes rounded out the field. You know it’s a tough battle when Michelangelo comes in dead last. Thanks to everyone who came out of the shade and voted.

For the September Art Poll By Bob, I’m going with a back to school theme that honors the artists who were also great teachers of art. As I learn to become a teacher myself, I find myself respecting the profession even more. For this month’s poll I’m asking, “Which of the following great artist-teachers do you wish you could have studied with?”:

Jacques-Louis David (Self-Portrait, 1784)

Thomas Eakins (Self-Portrait, 1902)

Robert Henri (Self-Portrait, 1903)

Wassily Kandinsky (Gabriele Münter’s Portrait of Wassily Kandinsky, 1906)

Paul Klee (Self-Portrait, 1911)

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, 1785)

Michelangelo (chalk portrait by Daniele da Volterra)

Charles Willson Peale (Self-Portrait, 1822)

Raphael (Self-Portrait in The School of Athens, 1511)

Rembrandt (Self-Portrait, 1661)

I would be happy to have sat at the feet of any of these great teachers of art and life. Please feel free to suggest other great artist-teachers that I may have missed in the comments. Remember that teacher who changed your life and vote for one of these great teachers of art!

Here Comes the Sun

For the July 2009 Art Poll By Bob, I got scientific and asked, “Which of these science-related works of art make you wish you had paid more attention in high school lab?” In a runaway, Joseph Wright of Derby's An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768) nearly lapped the field with 17 votes. Albrecht Durer's Melencolia I (1514) and Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic (1875) tied for second with 9 votes each. Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (1487) came in fourth with 8 votes. William Blake's Newton (1795) won 5 votes to edge out Jacques-Louis David's Portrait of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and His Wife (1788) and Erich Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower (1920-1924) with 4 votes each. Charles Willson Peale's The Artist in His Museum (1822) with 2 votes and Thomas Eakins' Portrait of Professor Henry A. Rowland (1897) and Charles Willson Peale's Exhuming the First American Mastodon (1806) with 1 vote each rounded out the field. Thanks to everyone who participated in my art experiment.

For the August Art Poll By Bob, to celebrate our annual trek to the New Jersey shore for fun, sun, and surf, I’m asking the following, “Which of these classic paintings of sunlight lights up your life the most?”:

Caspar David Friedrich, Woman before the Rising Sun (aka, Woman before the Setting Sun) (1818-1820)

Edward Hopper, Morning Sun (1952)

Frida Kahlo, Sun and Life (1947)

Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme et Volupté (1904)

Michelangelo, Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Planets from the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1511)

Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise (1872)

Edvard Munch, The Sun From the Oslo University Aula Decoration (1911-1916)

J.M.W. Turner, The Angel, Standing in the Sun (1846)

J.M.W. Turner, Regulus (1828-1837)

Vincent Van Gogh, Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun (1889)

So, put on your shades, slather on some sunscreen, and vote!

Scientific Method

For the June 2009 Art Poll By Bob, I indulged my inner comic geek and asked a summer blockbuster of a question: “Which of these great comic artist’s work would you want to see on the big screen?” You picked Steve Ditko’s Doctor Strange (1960s) with 7 votes, just edging out Jack Cole’s Plastic Man (1941) with 6. Dave Cockrum’s X-Men (1975) came in third with 5 votes, ahead of fourth place Jack Kirby’s Captain America (1976) with 4. Neal Adams’ Batman versus Ra’s al Ghul (1971), Frank Frazetta’s Conan the Barbarian (1970s), and Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man (1990) all tied with 3 votes each. Joe Kubert’s Hawkman squeeked out a single vote, but John Romita, Sr.’s Spider-Man (1967) and Joe Shuster’s Superman (1938) found no love. Thanks to everyone who shared in my comic book fantasies.

Inspired by Iris Schaefer, Katja Lewerentz, and Caroline von Saint-George’s Painting Light: The Hidden Techniques of the Impressionists (my review here), I decided to tap into my inner Beaker (above) and use the scientific method to find the best science-related art. For the July 2009 Art Poll By Bob, I ask, “Which of these science-related works of art make you wish you had paid more attention in high school lab?”:

William Blake. Newton (1795).

Leonardo da Vinci. Vitruvian Man (1487).

Jacques-Louis David. Portrait of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and His Wife (1788).

Albrecht Durer. Melencolia I (1514).

Thomas Eakins. The Gross Clinic (1875).

Thomas Eakins. Portrait of Professor Henry A. Rowland (1897).

Erich Mendelsohn. Einstein Tower (1920-1924).

Charles Willson Peale. The Artist in His Museum (1822).

Charles Willson Peale. Exhuming the First American Mastodon (1806).

Joseph Wright of Derby. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768).

Eakins and Peale get two mentions each because they did so many science-related paintings. Durer’s Melancolia I makes the cut because I can’t think of a single image in art history that contains more references to mathematics. Please feel free to include any favorites that I may have missed in the comments. But now put on your lab coat, strap on those safety goggles, fire up the Bunsen burners, and vote!

Summer Blockbusters

For the May Art Poll By Bob, I went floral in honor of those great post-April showers May flowers and asked, “Which of these beautiful bouquets would you pick for your garden of earthly delights?” In an Art Poll by Bob first, Gustav Klimt’s Country Garden with Sunflowers (1905-1906) beat out Vincent van Gogh’s Irises, Sait-Rémy (1889) 24 to 21, marking the first time that Vincent's not come out on top. Monet’s Monet's Garden, the Irises (1900) came in third with 16 votes and Frida Kahlo’s Flower of Life (1944) came in fourth with 9. Emil Nolde’s Flower Garden (1908) finished fifth with 7 votes, while Paul Gauguin’s Sunflowers (1901), Paul Klee’s Heroic Roses (1938), and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Roses (1890) all tied for sixth with 5 votes each. Eugène Delacroix’s Bouquet of Flowers (1849-1850) brought up the rear with 3 votes. Thanks to all 95 people who stopped to smell the flowers and voted.

With June’s arrival, I can’t help but think of Summer, and Summer Blockbusters. In recent years, there’s been no source of blockbuster material as reliable as comic book superheroes such as Batman, fighting a villain named, of course, Blockbuster (created by Carmine Infantino, but the Detective Comics #349 of March 1966 cover art above is by Joe Kubert). I admit that I still haven’t “outgrown” my fascination with superheroes. Part of me is still that little boy coloring in his Batman coloring book, which included Blockbuster smashing through walls, etc., and wishing I could draw like those incredible artists. So, for the June 2009 Art Poll By Bob, I ask, “Which of these great comic artist’s work would you want to see on the big screen?”:

Neal Adams. Batman versus Ra’s al Ghul (1971).

Dave Cockrum. X-Men (1975).

Jack Cole. Plastic Man (1941).

Steve Ditko. Doctor Strange (1960s).

Frank Frazetta. Conan the Barbarian (1970s).

Jack Kirby. Captain America (1976).

Joe Kubert. Hawkman.

Todd McFarlane. Spider-Man (1990).

John Romita, Sr. Spider-Man (1967).

Joe Shuster. Superman (1938).

I know that not everyone in my audience is a comic book fan such as myself, but I hope that everyone can take a second look at recognize just what kind of draftsmanship and creativity went into these images. Jack Cole’s Plasticman is a study in abstract art all by himself! I could go on and on about each of these artists and what memories they stir up inside me, but I’ll let the works speak for themselves. So, don your capes, put on your masks, get some popcorn, and vote for these blockbusters of the imagination!

Flower Power

For the April Art Poll By Bob, in honor of the the U.S.’s tax return deadline on April 15th, I asked the following question, “Which of these following money- or tax-related works brings you the most to account?” The returns are in and say the following: Quentin Matsys' The Moneylender and his Wife (1514) won with 9 votes over Hieronymus Bosch's Death and the Miser (1490s) with 8. Caravaggio's The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600), Albrecht Dürer's (attributed) Of Usury, from Brant's Stultifera Navis (the Ship of Fools) (1494), John Leech's Ebenezer Scrooge and the Last of the Spirits from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843), and Paul Vos' The Tax Collector (1543) all tied for third place with 4 votes each. Lucas Cranach the Elder's Christ Drives the Usurers out of the Temple (1517) and Rembrandt's Christ Driving the Moneychangers from the Temple (1626) tied with 2 votes each and Niels Larsen Stevns' Zacchaeus (1913) and Thomas Sully's Shylock and Portia from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1835) brought up the rear with a single vote each.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in and voted. I wish I could say a refund check is in the mail, but I can’t.

For the May Art Poll By Bob, I’ve decided to go floral in honor of those great May flowers allegedly brought by all those relentless April showers and ask, “Which of these beautiful bouquets would you pick for your garden of earthly delights?”:




Eugène Delacroix. Bouquet of Flowers (1849-1850).


Paul Gauguin. Sunflowers (1901).


Frida Kahlo. Flower of Life (1944).


Paul Klee. Heroic Roses (1938).


Gustav Klimt. Country Garden with Sunflowers (1905-1906).


Claude Monet. Monet's Garden, the Irises (1900).


Emil Nolde. Flower Garden (1908).


Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Roses (1890).

Vincent van Gogh. Irises, Sait-Rémy (1889).

Maybe all this flower power will help usher in a new age of peace, love, and understanding like back in 1967 when Bernie Boston snapped his famous Flower Power photo (top of post) showing Vietnam War protestors sticking flowers into the rifles barrels of National Guardsmen. Stop, smell the roses, tune in, tune out, and vote, but not necessarily in that order.