What's your favorite painting/artist and why?

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by BullRider_Dillon

My favorite artist is the Swede Carl Larsson (May 28, 1853 – January 22, 1919).I am always fascinated with his work because he painted so many pictures of his wife and children.His obvious love of "familijen or The Family" is evident and well respected by myself because that is how marriage should be.The devotion and love of his family radiates in all he has produced.

As a cowboy I am not very cultured but I love nature and animals and see art in almost everything e.g.,an old pair of cowboy boots,the bull elk I was fortunate enough to see in the woods near my farm (he was within 5 yards of me)and my Holstein bull who has perfect confirmation.

When my bull Thor urinates and then steps back and curls his lips back and uses his Jacobson gland (that all bovines have on the roof of their mouths)to taste his testosterone level,it is almost the most beautiful art work I have ever witnessed.
Dillon

p.s.I also love the Haka dance that the New Zealand all blacks perform before every Rugby match.Pure art...

I really like Carl Larsson's work as well, but not so much for his family portraits as well as portraits of every day life, but for his paintings related to Norse mythology and the Germanic Heathen past. One of his painting's I've long been a fan of is his rendition of a Yule celebration/sacrifice (Midvinterblót) at the temple in Uppsala.



There is also one representing Þrymsviða where Thor and Loki are dressed in women's clothing in order to retrieve Thor's hammer from Þrym.



Some other favourites (not Larsson, obviously):

One of my favourite statues called The Dying Gaul





And:











Have to agree with you on the All Blacks' Haka, as well. For those who aren't rugby fans, the New Zealand All Blacks perform a traditional Maori war dance (the Haka) before every match.



P.S. Kudos for naming your bull Thor

[Leader]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Have to agree with you on the All Blacks' Haka, as well. For those who aren't rugby fans, the New Zealand All Blacks perform a traditional Maori war dance (the Haka) before every match.

I played rugby for a team years ago and we had a Maori coach. He taught us the Haka and we did it before every game. Performing the haka is truly an amazing thing to experience. You feel the energy. It was a ritual that put us in that primal headspace and helped focus and deliver intensity on the field. I loved it. Thanks for sharing the AB video.

[Mitmo01]

I love Tribal art, Growing up in Hawaii I got the chance to see on a daily basis the beauty and strength that lies in tribal culture from the Hula to petroglyphs on still eurupting volcanos like Kilauea....the Haka and the tradition of the dance is phenomenal and powerful...I would love to experience it firsthand someday.

[Mitmo01]

[Mitmo01]

[Bootsandheels]

This is by my dear friend Jess Jones in Portland, OR and she is an amazing emerging artist. I am blessed to own this piece called "Pyre", based on the Hafiz poem below....I hope you enjoy! Can anyone help me get this pic posted on here? Not sure if this will work...sigh...suggestions? Thanks!



Love is
The funeral pyre
Where I have laid my living body.

All the false notions of myself
That once caused fear, pain,

Have turned to ash
As I neared God.

What has risen
From the tangled web of thought and sinew

Now shines with jubilation
Through the eyes of angels

And screams from the guts of
Infinite existence
Itself.

Love is the funeral pyre
Where the heart must lay
Its body.


[IMG]http://file:///C:/Users/computer/Pictures/2010-09-19/001.JPG

[dark_crystal]

just spent a week in Paris museum crawling...made many discoveries that i will share over the coming daysm starting with Kupka..

[Sparkle]

i'm a huge experiential art and sculpture fan

Olafur Eliasson

Probably most famous in the States for his recent 'Waterfalls' in New York....
but he's been incredibly prolific in the past decade - having major exhibitions at Tate Modern, SF MoMA, The Venice Biennalle, The Serpentine Gallery, MoMA etc.

This was one of my favourites
'The Weather Project' at the Tate Modern in London





http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...w=1020&bih=542

http://www.olafureliasson.net/works/...r_project.html

[Enchantress]

Gustav Klimt.

His paintings elicit a feeling of rich, ethereal sensuality. Dreamy if you will.

For your viewing pleasure.

[BestButchBoy]

Originally Posted by Sparkle

i'm a huge experiential art and sculpture fan

Olafur Eliasson

Probably most famous in the States for his recent 'Waterfalls' in New York....

I saw the Waterfalls exhibit via the S.S. Manhattan yacht. Very cool exhibit and sailing around Manhattan is always a great way to spend an afternoon.

Did you come here to see it?

[BestButchBoy]

[BestButchBoy]

[dark_crystal]

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by BestButchBoy

LOVE MIRO! and he grabs at my heart for how he painted from hunger hallucinations. Most people would think that is a good enough excuse NOT to paint

Originally Posted by BestButchBoy

Hopper FTeternalW

Originally Posted by Sparkle

i'm a huge experiential art and sculpture fan

Olafur Eliasson

Probably most famous in the States for his recent 'Waterfalls' in New York....
but he's been incredibly prolific in the past decade - having major exhibitions at Tate Modern, SF MoMA, The Venice Biennalle, The Serpentine Gallery, MoMA etc.

OH! Speaking of "sculpture in the expanded field"
i saw this on Thursday!

http://www.videoartworld.com/beta/video_66.html

[BestButchBoy]

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by BestButchBoy

mmm. sumptuous. velvety.
mmm

[dark_crystal]

Nymph with a Scorpion - Lorenzo Bartolini

this piece was just breathtaking in person, and i love the bemused serenity in her face, despite having just been stung!

[BestButchBoy]

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by BestButchBoy

the New York series are my fave o'keefes!

[dark_crystal]

i saw this piece at the Centre Pompidou on Thursday and i thought it was cool enough to photograph it, but now that i am googling her i see that this is not even the tip of one crystal on the tip of her iceberg! OMG