Her Most Famous Painting (Oriental Poppies) - Georgia O'Keeffe

The American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (November 1887-March 1986) was a pioneering 'Modernist.' Her unique approach defied all the accepted norms of painting and gave a new definition to the 'American Modern Art.' Owing to her competence, American Art attained fame and recognition in creatively competent Europe. Flowers fascinated Georgia and they were her favorite subject on canvas. O'Keeffe painted "Oriental Poppies" in 1928. This stunning work was declared a groundbreaking, art masterpiece.

Georgia O'Keeffe described her painting as a product of what she perceived in her mind and felt in her heart. In "Oriental Poppies," she depicts two giant poppy flowers. Measuring 30" x 40", this oil painting is an explosion of brilliant colors on a vast canvas, lending a mesmerizing effect. O'Keefe used dazzling red and orange as the main color of the petals. The hollowed centre and the inner contours of the flowers are painted in deep purple. The skillful shading and velvety finish of the petals accentuates the vibrancy of the flowers. "Oriental Poppies" almost looks like a close up photograph. O'Keeffe did not give any background to the painting, to artfully draw focus onto the flowers. The absence of context in the painting presents them in a new light as pure abstracts. "Oriental Poppies" exudes a startling pull, as if casting a hypnotic spell on the viewer.

Painting

Georgia O'Keeffe believed that due to the fast-paced lives people live, they merely glance at flowers, but never really observed their exquisiteness. She wished to give such rushing people experience and the feel of the true beauty of flowers. In her words, "If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers." O'Keeffe chose to paint on a huge canvas with an outburst of bold colors, to astonish the viewers and to introduce them to the wonder of nature. In her bid, she managed to capture the essence of poppies with eloquence.

Many art researchers believed that O'Keeffe's "Oriental Poppies" was an answer to the zoomed in technique adapted by Alfred Stieglitz in 'Modern Photography.' The magnificent painting speaks volumes of O'Keefe's talent and artistic vision. Georgia's delightful representation of two ordinary flowers generated widespread admiration and was considered as one of her most memorable works. It is now a part of a collection at the University of Minnesota Art Museum, Minneapolis.

Her Most Famous Painting (Oriental Poppies) - Georgia O'Keeffe

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com
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The Famous Optical Artist - Bridget Riley, An Op Art Pioneer

One of the major Optical Art (Op Art) proponents, British artist and printmaker Bridget Riley was born on the 24th of April, 1931 in London. Riley is most commonly known for her signature black and white oil paintings depicting geographic patterns that cause optical illusions which have become synonymous with the Op Art movement.

Bridget Riley was educated at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 1955 and in these years her paintings were semi-impressionist and figurative. It was not until the 1960s that her signature style developed.

Artist

Riley's black and white forms - painted in oil paint on canvas - gave viewers the impression of movement and colour due to optical illusions. Works such as "Movement in Squares" (1961), "Black to White Discs" (1961-62), "Loss" (1964), "Blaze 4″ (1964), "Drift No. 2″ (1966) and "Cataract 3″ (1967) typically possessed such characteristics.

Bridget Riley's paintings also had another feature - the potential for increased audience participation in the appreciation or display of the work of art. This was a hot topic in the 60s, when many performances were being classified as "happenings." Happenings are unconventional and formless performances where audience involvement actually determines the course of the performance. Riley's oil paintings were in a sense dependent on what the individual experienced on viewing them. Though the paintings were given names hinting at their subjects, they could be interpreted by the audience in any way.

Riley held the first of these exhibitions, which were pivotal in getting the world's attention to the Op Art movement and Riley's art, in 1965 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. She had already held her first solo in 1962 at Gallery One, London. Other exhibitions followed, but it was the 1965 show at New York that drew international recognition.

By 1967, Bridget Riley began to modify her style and thought of incorporating oil colour in her art. She began incorporating on colour stripes in an oil painting entitled "Paean" (1973), "Dominance Portfolio, Blue" (1977), "Ra2″ (1981) and "Silvered 2″ (1981). Crucial to this change was the extensive travelling she undertook from the 1970s. The hieroglyphic decorations she saw during her visit to Egypt played an important part in leading her to incorporate colour and contrast. Her later works are colourful and some of these bright paintings include "Fete" (1999), "Echo" (2000), "Carnival" (2000) and "Sylvan" (2000).

Among the other achievements of Bridget Riley is her distinction of becoming the first woman and British contemporary painter to receive the International Prize for painting at the 1968 Venice Biennale.

The Famous Optical Artist - Bridget Riley, An Op Art Pioneer

Using Artists Materials and supplies in a new and innovative way to pioneer a the Op Art movement in painting, Bridget Riley is undoubtedly one of Britain's most important artists. Her geometric patterns skilfully created with Oil Paints have influenced many and have been appreciated by all sections of the audience.

The Famous Chinese Artist - Zhang Xiaogang

The Chinese Surrealist and symbolist artist Zhang Xiaogang has gifted Chinese art by his unique use of Western classical art to create an individual yet indigenous art technique. His famous "Bloodline" works provide an effective criticism of the exaggerated Chinese emphasis on collectivism. His "Amnesia and Memory" series is a wonderful depiction of recollection and forgetfulness. His subjects by their very lack of expression tell a lot, and this is probably where Zhang's greatness lies.

Born in 1958 in Kunming in the Chinese province Yunnan, Zhang Xioagang is a contemporary Chinese surrealist and symbolist artist. Zhang's works are much sought after by foreign collectors. He is particularly well-known for his "Bloodline" painting collection - portraiture which depicts uniformity, and challenges the Chinese obsession with the collective. China's political disturbances and Western painters such as Picasso, Dali and Richter have influenced his work.

Artist

Zhang took up the study of oil painting at the Sichuan Academy of Art. While studying there, he gained an understanding an interest of western painting. Surrealism and Cubism had an enduring impression on him. A visit to the Documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany assisted him in finding his own individualistic style of art. He became a member of a group of young avant-garde artists who became important in the 1980s. In 1985, he co-founded the avant-garde movement "Current of Life."

Zhang gave his initial solo exhibition in Chongking, at the Lost in the Dreams Gallery of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts. Zhang has been able to harness the techniques of western classical art to create works with a Chinese identity, which suit local needs. Zhang gives importance to brushstrokes and color and utilizes flat unidentified backgrounds and dramatic illumination effects to idealize his figures. His "Bloodline" portraits which he started work on in the 90s depict Chinese people, a major inspiration for which are photos discovered by the artist, of his mother as an attractive woman in her youth. The subjects in these paintings are expressionless, commonly with haunting dark-pupiled big eyes and in a stiff pose. The lack of facial expression is a portrayal of the false appearance of calmness which conceals emotional turbulence within. It is a criticism of the exaggerated importance which the Chinese give to the collective, with souls suffering under the might of public standardization.

Zhang has two trademark gestures - a little red line that links the different figures in the picture and then winds off the side of the canvas, and irregular color patches. Zhang interprets the color spots as brief feelings of passion and hope in an otherwise gloomy everyday existence.

In 2007, "Bloodline: Three Comrades" was sold for ,112,000 at Sotheby's in New York. The "Amnesia and Memory" series is another important body of work from Zhang. The series investigates the complicated link between memory and forgetting and how it affects an individual's mind, how past recollections are continually changed in the present. "Tiananmen Square" critiques the tragic happenings of 1989 and fetched .3 million in 1993, at Christie's auction house in Hong Kong.

The Famous Chinese Artist - Zhang Xiaogang

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