Are My Paintings Underpriced??

Peter Doig, one of my favorite artists is a lucky man. He recently sold "Swamped" a 1991 painting for $26 million US at auction! This is one of his many paintings featuring canoes. (See more about Peter Doig in the January 30 2015 post)

Swamped

Modigliani's "Reclining Nude", 1917,  was sold at Christie's  recently  for $170 million. It nearly created a scandal when it was first exhibited in Paris.  It was the second highest price ever achieved at auction for a work of art.

Reclining Nude

Pablo Picasso's "Women of Algiers" of which there are several versions, holds the record for the highest sum ever paid for an artwork at auction. It sold for $179.4 million in May.

Women of Algiers

My thoughts - I will stick to my pricing plan, but consider doing some nudes in a canoe.

A final thought  - An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time.

"I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman enquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."

"That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"
"The guy was your doctor..."

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Celebrity Artists

Some artists like Picasso become celebrities but can it happen the other way around? Some of our favorite singers and actors are harboring dreams of artistic fame and aren't afraid to get a little paint on their hands. 
Jerry Saltz, the senior art critic for New York magazine maintains that "It is very hard, if not impossible, to be several things at once and be great at all of them"  What to do you think???

Let's start with Paul McCartney:

Father Figure

Yellow Linda with Piano

We all know that Tony Bennet paints as he has been painting from the age of five. He paints every day and has had his work commissioned by the United Nations twice.  Three of his originals are in the Smithonian permanent collection. Take that, Jerry Saltz! (Tony Bennet being one of my all-time favorite artists)

Golden Gate Bridge

Untitled

To continue...............         

Keith Richards - Johnny Depp

Landscape with Sunset - Madonna

Woman and a Horse - Leonard Cohen

Ava's Dog - Frank Sinatra

                                                 

Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra

Guess who in his studio

Please send a comment if you want to see more work from these famous artists. Keep posted for the next installment of celebrity artists!

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Picking on Picasso

I just finished preparing a presentation on "Art Appreciation" for the Aphasia Institute. I am a volunteer there as a conversation facilitator and this is one of my favorite  activities each week. Part of the presentation involves a few paintings of Picasso. 

 There are many portraits of the photographer Dora Maar, none of them very flattering as you can see.

 

The really interesting discovery for me, however, was the actual photograph that Dora took of herself. See below the Dora Maar self- portrait.

What a guy!!!

I`m sorry - it`s time for a Picasso joke:

Artist Pablo Picasso surprised a burglar at work in his new chateau. The intruder got away, but Picasso told the police he could do a rough sketch of what he looked like. On the basis of his drawing, the police arrested a mother superior, the minister of finance, a washing machine, and the Eiffel tower

 The Aphasia Institute has a fundraiser coming up called  ``Walk Talk and Roll``. For more information, to learn about aphasia  or to donate for very worthwhile programming for those affected by aphasia and their families, please go to http://www.aphasia.ca

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My Blue Period

Having just finished talking about how I "love the brilliant yellow which brightens up whatever room it is in" in my last blog I have turned to the dark side in my latest painting. I do, however, must admit that I also love this dark inky indigo blue.

                                                           

Speaking of "Blue Period" reminds me of Picasso, and that reminds me of a really bad joke:

After his wife divorced him, Joe asked his best friend, Bill, to fix him up with a blind date. Bill obliged. The next day Joe called up Bill and shouted at him angrily: "Bill, what kind of a guy do you think I am. That girl you fixed me up with was cross-eyed; she was almost bald; her nose was long, thin and crooked; she had hair growing on her face; she was flat chested; and her ankles were as thick as her thighs".

Bill answered: "Either you like Picasso, or you don't like Picasso."

(Don't blame me -  blame Picasso.)

I just learned that anyone viewing my blog, can go to the left sidebar, click on the "sidebar" heading and select other ways to view the blog eg. magazine, or mosaic etc. Give it a try.

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Picasso

You have until August 26 to see a fabulous exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario:

 The galleries are beautiful and  the paintings are exciting.  The audio commentary is extremely helpful and there are some charming sections in which the narration is by a group of children attempting to make sense of it all.

 One of my favorite pieces is a self portrait of "himself" licking an ice cream cone on the beach

A joke might put things in perspective:

Artist Pablo Picasso surprised a burglar at work in his new chateau. The intruder got away, but Picasso told the police he could do a rough sketch of what he looked like. On the basis of his drawing, the police arrested a mother superior, the minister of finance, a washing machine, and the Eiffel tower.


As Picasso said - "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life" - so go and get cleaned up!



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Welcome to my blog and first post

I am so happy to welcome you to "Time for Art". I hope to share my new paintings with you and the thoughts behind them. I also hope that you will view the gallery and comment on the paintings there.  I have had a very inspirational July- a trip to Scandinavia and the Baltic which will yield many resources for great paintings, including a trip to the Hermitage with amazing art, from Rembrandt to Picasso.I also visited to the McMichael Gallery of Canadian Art in Kleinburg, which has a current exhibit of  photos taken of the location where many of the paintings of the Group of Seven,  were actually done. As always, a visit to the Outdoor Art Exhibition in Nathan Phillips Square "kicks you up a notch" in terms of your next artistic efforts.

I participated in an art exhibition at the Mackay House in Unionville in July, as part of the North York Visual Artists.www.nyva.ca/ and  I have two paintings exhibited at the Etobicoke Civic Centre as part of the Willowdale Group of artists. www.willowdaleartists.com/

 Check out my "waiting for painting inspiration" with a blank frame--- a photo on the grounds of the McMichael Gallery.

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