The Final Three

Gustave Caillebotte was born into an upper-class Parisian family in the 1848.  At the age of 12 his family moved to the country where he began drawing and painting.  After intently studying the arts, he joined the impressionist movement and entered his work in the second Impressionist Exhibition of 1876.

*Gustave Caillebotte and the fashioning of identity in impressionist Paris


The one painting that really inspired me to use Gustave was his masterful attempt at rendering every day scenes in such an emotionally appealing way.  He captures a specific moment in each painting, whether it is the moment before the two on the sidewalk collide or the next raindrop will fall on the rippling creek.  As a response to his involvement in the impressionist movement, Gustave dabbled in the school of Realism.  This is where he found himself and his talent.  I don't even need to explain. Just look at these photos of some of his most impressive realist paintings....

Hopefully you saw the common theme of water and its beauty that is reflected upon in every day life.  For this artist I plan on creating an illuminated letter that also uses this precise rendering of the wetness of an object or water itself. 

Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent american pop artist of the late 1900's who worked with artists like Warhol, and Jasper Johns.  He was not taught much about art and design as a young boy but he truly loved jazz and often found himself at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.  Then he went to art school and studied but was interrupted by WWII.  When he got back  he studied more in Ohio then moved back to New York. 

*Roy Lichtenstein: pop-paintings, 1961-1969, Roy Lichtenstein : drawing and prints / with an introduction by Diane Waldman

During his lifetime, he studied within many schools of art... from cubism and expressionism to abstraction to pop art and surrealism.  His interest in cartoon and comic strips show in his late pop art paintings.  These images show his interest in bold colors and thick outlines.  

Robert Smithson was born in 1938.  He is famous for his American land art exhibits.  He began his career in the minimalist movement.  The he wandered outside of the two dimensional and practiced with glass sheets and tubing to explore visual refraction and mirroring of light. 

*Robert Smithson and the American landscape




His mature works bloomed from an odd interest in dump trucks and their ability to move earth (rocks, concrete, dirt and more).  He often combined his natural elements in galleries with mirrors and glass.  One of his other noticeable characteristics was the need for temporary, or ever changing art.  This theme brings out the stage of his earthworks.