Art Contrarian

A blog about about painting, design and other aspects of aesthetics along with a dash of non-art topics. The point-of-view is that modernism in art is an idea that has, after a century or more, been thoroughly tested and found wanting. Not to say that it should be abolished -- just put in its proper, diminished place.

Monday, August 31, 2015

1930s Speed Lines

›
As the fields of industrial design and automobile styling were ramping up in the 1930s, streamlining became something of a fad. Later obser...
2 comments:
Thursday, August 27, 2015

Molti Ritratti: Lady Mary, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston

›
Mary Victoria Leiter (1870-1906), later Vicereine of India (1898-1905) and holding the title Baroness Curzon of Kedleston, was from Chicago,...
2 comments:
Monday, August 24, 2015

James W. Williamson's Charming Ford Model A Ads

›
The Ford Model A advertisement shown above was illustrated by James W. Williamson (1899-1978), a self-taught artist with a degree from Yale...
Thursday, August 20, 2015

Early Examples of the Corner Window

›
The above photo was taken of a Seattle neighborhood in 1947. Look closely at the house on the left. At the far left side of it you will n...
Monday, August 17, 2015

Painted Maps, Then and Recently

›
My college art history course conveyed the Modernist Establishment party line that the practice of painting was teleological, that its ordai...
Thursday, August 13, 2015

Up Close: R.G. Smith's Aviation Art

›
I visited the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida near the end of April. It's a must-see attraction for airplane buffs. Besid...
Monday, August 10, 2015

Richard D. Taylor, Big-Eye Cartoonist

›
It seems that most successful cartoonists settle into a distinctive style and stick with it. Consider it a trademark, form of branding. R...
‹
›
Home
View web version

About Me

My photo
Donald Pittenger
Seattle, Washington
Undergraduate art major. Ph.D. in Sociology, Demography from a fancy Ivy university. Software system and user interface designer and programmer. Writing about art and design on the Internet since 2005. Email: dbpittenger (at) earthlink.net

* * *
For info about my e-book on the crisis of modernist painting, Art Adrift, click here. For information about my e-book on Automobile Styling, click here.
* * *
View my complete profile
Powered by Blogger.