Being a one-trick-pony is something usually looked down upon. But what if that single trick is done with genius? Something to be said for that, thinks I.
Consider the painting below.
It's an audience favorite at Seattle's Frye Art Museum. And in fact it's really nicely done. In person, those duck feathers look almost buttery in their painterly smoothness, a real tour de force.
The artist is Alexander Max Koester (1864-1932), and here are a few more of his duck paintings.
Koester was born near Cologne and studied at the Karlsruhe Academy of Art. He moved to Munich and later to the Tyrol, painting landscapes and Tyrolean peasant life. But he was best at ducks. Especially white ones.
These are amazing. The ducks look like clouds and the water is painted so beautifully - especially in the third painting. Thank you, I never knew about this artist.
ReplyDeleteJust bought a 1920 framed picture at a car boot with his ducks, irristiable, and stumbled upon your Blog tonight. More Renoir then Rembrand actualy I suppose but he is surely the Mother of all Duck painters.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gerrie Caspers, netherlands
http://gerrie-thefriendlyghost.blogspot.com/