I wrote this for a Facebook posting, and thought I might as well post it here and on my Car Style Crtic blog.
It was almost exactly 12 years ago that I got involved with blogging. Since then I’ve written more than 2000 blog posts.
The first blog for me was the late, lamented (because it was pretty popular) 2Blowhards blog. The guy running it was Ray Sawhill who wrote bylined articles on art and culture for Newsweek magazine in the 1980s and 90s. Ray blogged using the nom-du-blog “Michael Blowhard” in order to maintain separation from his Newsweek day job. The other Blowhard was “Friedrich von Blowhard,” a Princeton buddy of Ray’s based in Los Angeles.
The blogging software they used was primitive by today’s standards — an important defect being that post drafts couldn’t be stockpiled for later publication scheduling. That meant each post had to go live shortly after it was written. That put strain on the bloggers who wanted content flowing at the rate of one or two posts per day in order to keep readers interested and returning to see what was new.
So for some reason Ray pulled me from the commenter ranks to full-time 2Blowhards blogger to ease the load on the original 2. Except that I posted using my actual name.
At first, I was worried that I could maintain a reasonably high rate of posting. I knew I had perhaps a dozen really nice items that I could write up, but after that? You see, I recalled what happened when old vaudeville stars such as Eddie Cantor first appeared in TV “specials.” They used the good stuff that they’d honed over decades on stage, so their first show would be a wowser. After that, in future specials, their material wasn’t nearly as good due to lack of testing.
So I resolved to hold back on my so-called good stuff and write what came to mind each day. And it worked. As far as I recall, I never used up the “good stuff.”
Here’s the deal. Be sure to blog on topics you know something about. Then you must stay alert and notice things related to those subjects that might serve as hooks for posts. It’s even better if you can relate whatever it might be to similar or opposite examples, because that can make for a deeper, more interesting post. Apparently, it’s a special skill set: Ray Sawhill once told me that he thought I was “a natural blogger.”
Eventually, after his Newsweek buyout, Sawhill tired of 2Blowhards and turned it over to me. I carried on for a few months and finally decided to strike out on my own. My first blog, Art Contrarian, debuted in 2010. It is based on the idea that modernism in art was an experiment that largely failed. More interesting work had been done by more traditional painters in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Illustration, architecture and industrial design are other subjects I treat.
I’ve always been interested in automobile styling, so in 2013 I started Car Style Critic blog. I post two articles per week on each blog and maintain a backlog of two or three months’ worth of post drafts. Readership for each blog is several hundred page views daily, which is good enough for me.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Léon Benigni: 'Tween-Wars Fashion Illustrator
Léon Benigni (1892-1948) was one of several fashion-related illustrators whose similar styles helped to visually define the years between the two world wars.
Unfortunately, aside from his dates and the names of many of his clients, there seems to be next to no biographical information about him on the Internet. One example of this paucity is here.
Here are some images of Benigni's work for clients in France and elsewhere.
Gallery
This seems to be considered his most famous poster design.
Some fashion illustrations, some perhaps for magazine covers.
No signature, by credited to Benigni on the Web.
A 1936 illustration showing a style adjustment to keep up with illustration fashions of the 30s.
From 1935, a minimalist fashion illustration.
Below are four examples of illustrations Benigni made for 1931 Cadillacs and LaSalles. Click on them to enlarge.
Unfortunately, aside from his dates and the names of many of his clients, there seems to be next to no biographical information about him on the Internet. One example of this paucity is here.
Here are some images of Benigni's work for clients in France and elsewhere.
Below are four examples of illustrations Benigni made for 1931 Cadillacs and LaSalles. Click on them to enlarge.
Monday, March 6, 2017
Stanley Cursiter Portrays Poppy Low
The image above is of the painting "A Summer Night" (1923) by Stanley Cursiter (1887-1976) featuring Poppy Low. Cursiter was from the Orkneys, but spent most of his career in Edinburgh where, among other things, he was Director of the National Galleries of Scotland. During the Great War he devised a new means of interpreting aerial reconnaissance photographs. He was also a champion of modernist art and some of his paintings were in that mode both early and late in his career, though they were not very good in my judgment.
Biographical information on Cursiter can be found here, here, and here, but some important details vary.
Beside dabbling in modernism, Cursiter also painted landscapes, particularly of Orkney scenes. Where he excelled was portraiture. Besides the usual mix of politicians and military officers, he painted some interesting works featuring family and friends. One of those friends was Poppy Low, who seemed to be somewhere around 16-22 years old when Cursiter was using her as a favorite model. Several of those paintings were group portraits that included his attractive wife Phyllis and his sister.
The images below are copyrighted by his estate, but I hope the estate will not mind the publicity this post will provide Cursiter. Not every painting featuring Poppy is presented here. And it's possible that some of the young women who I thought were Poppy were actually someone else. (For instance, there's a portrait of "Roberta" that looks like Poppy. But might Poppy's actual name have been Roberta?) I should add that so far I have found no details regarding her life.
That would be Poppy on the right.
An early paining featuring Poppy.
I think that's Poppy in the background.
I'm not so sure about this, though one source I skimmed stated the she was used for this painting.
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Ernst Deutsch-Dryden: Elegant Illustrator
Ernst Deutsch-Dryden (1887-1938), born in Vienna, died in Los Angeles, changed his last name from Deutsch to Dryden following some sort of plagiarism scandal. A German-text Wikipedia entry for him is here, but the automated translation is awkward. This is often the case, given German syntax. Also, his last name (Deutsch) is translated as "German" which is what Deutsch means in English, and this might add confusion for some readers. Much of the same ground is covered in English here.
Apparently Deutsch-Dryden (I decided to use both last names) was personally elegant as were the elegant subjects he depicted so elegantly.
His subjects were usually ladies and automobiles -- especially Bugattis.
Gallery
No, not radios: this Blaupunkt (Blue Dot) was a brand of cigarettes.
Poster for Bugatti Automobiles featuring a Type 35.
Cover art for Die Dame (The Lady) magazine. Yes, that's a Bugatti in the background.
Die Dame automobile number cover, November 1928.
Perhaps Die Dame cover art for its 1926 Christmas number.
Die Dame cover illustration.
Elegant scene.
Fashion illustration with a Bugatti-like car.
Fashion art with Venice as setting.
More elegance, but casual here.
Jane Régny was the pseudonym for a Parisian fashion designer specializing in sportswear.
Apparently Deutsch-Dryden (I decided to use both last names) was personally elegant as were the elegant subjects he depicted so elegantly.
His subjects were usually ladies and automobiles -- especially Bugattis.
Monday, February 27, 2017
More Edgar Maxence
Edgar Maxence (also Edgard Maxence -- né Edgar Henri Marie Aristide Maxence -- 1871-1954) was a French painter with a Symbolist bent. His English Wikipedia entry is here, but it's brief, and the French version is little better. I posted "Edgar Maxence: Symbolism via Women" here, and decided to present more images of his work in the present post.
Mexence mostly used attractive younger women as subjects and tended to place them in religious or otherwise spiritual settings. There were exceptions, of course, and a few are included below.
Gallery
Le calme du soir - 1903
Concert d'Anges - 1897
Jeanne Maxence - 1898
Le livre de la paix - 1929
Snow Queen
This painting and the one immediately above seem to have featured the same model.
Femme de profile lisant - 1914
Femme en prière
Two mixed-media works.
Siren
Femme - 1897
Portrait du femme
Portrait du femme - 1941
A fairly late work.
Mexence mostly used attractive younger women as subjects and tended to place them in religious or otherwise spiritual settings. There were exceptions, of course, and a few are included below.
This painting and the one immediately above seem to have featured the same model.
Two mixed-media works.
A fairly late work.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Howard Somerville, Who Cut Them Off at the Knees
Howard Somerville Adamson (1873-1952) who painted using the name Howard Somerville is one of those obscure British artists who made a few striking paintings.
It seems that the most complete biographical information is here, though it's accessible for many of us only on Fridays. It's worth reading if you find that you might be interested in the artist. Apparently he was reasonably successful, being fairly widely exhibited in his day. He also made illustrations to earn his keep. A detailed critique of Somerville is here.
The writer of the second link is Robert Holden, a New York City based artist who paints, among other subjects, portraits from life. Much of his post is a discussion regarding Somerville's possible use of photographs rather than live sitting as the basis for his portraiture. Holden has an axe to grind, given that he stresses his policy of painting from life in his blog's biographical statement. To me, this is not such a huge matter. Holden also complains about Somerville truncating his subjects around knee-level. This seems to be a signature style or trait Somerville probably used to distinguish his work; a number of his portraits have that feature, and some of them also feature a fairly large background area above the subject's head (a few examples are shown below).
The first link, on the other hand, stresses that Somerville made little use of photography. Apparently this was in response to more than one accusation that Somerville made much use of that vile technology.
Gallery
The Red Bernous
Norah
I find the two paintings above to be the most striking and interesting of Somerville's work. The portrait immediately above is of the actress Norah Baring.
Miss Norah Baring
Another portrait of Norah Baring. I could find no Internet photograph of Baring that matches the poses in the two portraits, so Somerville most likely did work from life or took his own reference photos or (perhaps most likely) made use of both possibilities in the same project. Note the amount of space above Baring's head.
Sylvia - 1922
Butler Wood
Elissa Landi
Another painting with plenty of space above the subject's head.
Elizabeth Woodville
Gypsy
The sitter's first name apparently was Florence, and she attested that she sat for this painting.
In the Studio IV, Self Portrait
No truncation at the knees here.
It seems that the most complete biographical information is here, though it's accessible for many of us only on Fridays. It's worth reading if you find that you might be interested in the artist. Apparently he was reasonably successful, being fairly widely exhibited in his day. He also made illustrations to earn his keep. A detailed critique of Somerville is here.
The writer of the second link is Robert Holden, a New York City based artist who paints, among other subjects, portraits from life. Much of his post is a discussion regarding Somerville's possible use of photographs rather than live sitting as the basis for his portraiture. Holden has an axe to grind, given that he stresses his policy of painting from life in his blog's biographical statement. To me, this is not such a huge matter. Holden also complains about Somerville truncating his subjects around knee-level. This seems to be a signature style or trait Somerville probably used to distinguish his work; a number of his portraits have that feature, and some of them also feature a fairly large background area above the subject's head (a few examples are shown below).
The first link, on the other hand, stresses that Somerville made little use of photography. Apparently this was in response to more than one accusation that Somerville made much use of that vile technology.
I find the two paintings above to be the most striking and interesting of Somerville's work. The portrait immediately above is of the actress Norah Baring.
Another portrait of Norah Baring. I could find no Internet photograph of Baring that matches the poses in the two portraits, so Somerville most likely did work from life or took his own reference photos or (perhaps most likely) made use of both possibilities in the same project. Note the amount of space above Baring's head.
Another painting with plenty of space above the subject's head.
The sitter's first name apparently was Florence, and she attested that she sat for this painting.
No truncation at the knees here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)