Your Favorite Artists/Artworks?

Love Klee

Love Munch

Love Kirchner

Rather have Toyonobu
http://i44.tinypic.com/2hr2uko.jpg
Shinsui Ito
http://i39.tinypic.com/el4fex.jpg
Kobayashi Kiyochika
http://i41.tinypic.com/2gvubys.jpg
Kasamatsu Shiro
http://i44.tinypic.com/29f4k7p.jpg
Toyohara Kunichika
http://i41.tinypic.com/117tu39.jpg
or Kiyonaga
http://i40.tinypic.com/n6l5l.jpg

Yes... there are many fine non-Western artists... but honestly I'll take a major Western Modernist like Klee over a second-tier Japanese Ukiyo-e print-maker like Shinsui Ito, Kasamatsu Shiro, or Kobayashi Kiyochika any day of the week. Now on the other hand... if we were to begin talking about a truly major Japanese Ukiyo-e printmaker or painter... then we'd have a different ballgame altogether. For example, if we began to talk about artists like...

Utamaro:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psc56524b1.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6fc14066.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psc2be81c8.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8ec99be4.jpg

Hiroshige:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psb26b1600.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps986bcec0.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9679c6ac.jpg

Hokusai:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1cf6caec.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psc7e6138b.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psdce2d437.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9865499c.jpg

Harunobu:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psf8784295.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0b79ba03.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psfa55bf7a.jpg


Koetsu & Sotatsu:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1da06c86.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1866790.jpg

Ogata Korin:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps730e7fe2.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps45f654d8.jpg

Hasegawa Tohaku:

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1dfad5f0.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps51b8ac5f.jpg

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/...ps56a5b41c.jpg

It wouldn't be fair to compare Klee to Utamaro, Korin, Hiroshige, Sanraku, Hoitsu, Hasui, or Yo****oshi any more than to compare him to Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Ingres, or Caravaggio.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8421/7...b1725866_t.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7...74200fea_t.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8033/7...30c0bfa3_t.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/7...1d0d7e7a_t.jpg

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4005/4...8792c2e0_t.jpg

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4010/4...df482c7f_t.jpg

I used to be a huge fan of Hokusai about ten years ago. Not so much anymore. Still alright but not the same as it was.

Well, that strikes me a bit like claiming Tanizaki (whose work i mostly like) is on the same level and of the same importance as Homer. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kyriakos

Well, that strikes me a bit like claiming Tanizaki (whose work i mostly like) is on the same level and of the same importance as Homer. :)

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Do you mean comparing Klee to Rembrandt like StLuke did or Utamaro to guys like Ingres which I did? While I wouldn't perhaps compare Tanizaki to Homer either, Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji doesn't escape those types of comparisons, in terms of greatness and influence. I'm not really that into Chinese culture but when I see paintings by the artist Qiu Ying I find him to be as competent as the European masters, just the way that I look at The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. The talent is undeniable. Likewise, I think Unkei the Japanese sculptor is first rate and worthy of inclusion with the best craftsmen of Greece and Italy.

Wait, were you comparing Klee to Homer? Homer is a top 5 lock for the greatest writer of all time. Klee isn't a top 5 artist of the twentieth century.

Although i do like some Japanese drawings (also some very modern ones, one of which i shall post here) i am of the view that they could never be as influencial as the major European paintings, for geographical reasons, as well as probably cultural ones (up to the age where cultural boundaries still played a role, and in my view they do not anymore).

Here is a modern Japanese painting, titled "The Female Cyclops". It is not really in a distinctly japanese style, but it reminded me of the "Female Centaur" painting that an ancient Greek writer presented a short story about :)

http://www.kazuya-akimoto.com/2009/2...rtrait_450.jpg

Quite similar to Redon's (male) Cyclops:

http://images.wikia.com/creepypasta/...on.cyclops.jpg

Klee can hold his own on most accounts. As with any comparison between wildly disparate artists you can't really make a comparison based on a list of formal elements that are not shared by both. One can't compare Michelangelo and Klee as draftsmen when one employs a traditional academic approach to drawing and the other employs drawing in a wholly different manner. What you can do, however, is look at an artist's achievement within a given era/genre. Klee, by all accounts, is one of the leading figures of Modernism. His work had an incredible impact upon subsequent artists ranging from the Abstract Expressionists to the Geometric Abstractionists and Minimalists. Klee was an incredibly innovative artist playing with letters and numbers in a visual context, approaching the abstract elements of art in a manner akin to music, building upon imagery drawn from the art of children and other non-traditional sources. None of this means an individual must like Klee... especially when one has little admiration for Modernism as a whole. Personally, I find Klee one of the most magical artists of the twentieth century:

http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/St...sm/Paul%20Klee

Although i do like some Japanese drawings (also some very modern ones, one of which i shall post here) i am of the view that they could never be as influencial as the major European paintings, for geographical reasons, as well as probably cultural ones (up to the age where cultural boundaries still played a role, and in my view they do not anymore).

You have to consider that influence is but what measure of artistic merit... and unlike literature, the visual arts are not limited by linguistic accessibility. The Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock artists such as Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige had a profound impact upon French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism and continued to influence subsequent generations of artists. One may make a strong argument for the impact of these same artists upon comic books/graphic novels.

Japanese screen painters, on the other hand, had a huge impact upon Western artists of the late 19th into the 20th century... especially those involved in movements such as the Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Japanese ceramic and architectural design have had an incredible impact upon Western concepts of deign including Japonisme, Art Nouveau, and even Minimalism. There is little doubt, for example, that Frank Lloyd Wright was profoundly influenced by Japanese design, and modern ceramics probably owes more to the examples of Japanese art than anything else.

Nor can we ignore the Japanese influence on Graphic design, calligraphy... and even the Abstract Expressionists with their calligraphic approach to painting.

Whether Japanese art will ever rival the influence of Greek or Roman art is a question that we can't really answer. It depends upon the interests of future artists and cultures. I can't say that Greco-Roman art has been a major influence on art over the past century... and considering the increasing wealth and cultural power of the East one might surmise that Japanese art will continue to grow in influence.

Stluke, your Klee pics aren't showing up.

This is the Cycladic statue of the Flute player. One of the most amazing small statues around:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...upw4o1_400.jpg

It was created sometime before 2000 BC... In one of the Greek islands of the Cyclades.

And the (roman copy of the ancient Greek statue) Lykeios Apollo, one of my favorite classical statues :)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ouvre_left.jpg

Stluke, your Klee pics aren't showing up.

Yeah... I was reorganizing some of my images on Photobucket and it resulted in breaking links.

Catching up.
I see we left Munch behind, but wanted to add one of the few that that I admire.
I couldn't recall who liked Munch, was it Mortal?, (grinning yellow face here) anyhow here is portrait of Hans Jaeger 1889:

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps09ab4057.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

[COLOR="#B22222"]...Japanese screen painters, on the other hand, had a huge impact upon Western artists of the late 19th into the 20th century... especially those involved in movements such as the Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Japanese ceramic and architectural design have had an incredible impact upon Western concepts of deign including Japonisme, Art Nouveau, and even Minimalism. There is little doubt, for example, that Frank Lloyd Wright was profoundly influenced by Japanese design, ...

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No question regarding Wright and the Japanese influence, he spent some time in Japan, designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.
I toured the Wright home and studio in Oak Park Illinois, while there I learned of his affinity toward Japanese prints some of which were displayed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stlukesguild

...Yeah... I was reorganizing some of my images on Photobucket and it resulted in breaking links.

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Looks like PB has a slide show feature.