‘A Passion for French Posters’ Exhibit at the Bellevue Art Museum
I recently got the chance to go to the show of French lithographic posters at the Bellevue Art Museum. Think Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergere! The show highlighted 5 masters of the medium: Jules Chéret, Eugène Grasset, Alphonse Mucha, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. I was familiar with the work of Mucha and Latrec, but the others were new to me. I was impressed by the scale of some of the prints, some of them appearing to be around 7-8 feet tall, which makes sense because they were displayed outside of venues and businesses. I’ve always been fascinated by these works, but have never seen them up-close. Looking closely at the prints you notice the detail marks by the artist, short line strokes of color, wonderful painterly, fluid brush and line work, and vibrant colors. There are also wonderful metallic accents on some of the Mucha prints, which can be noticed up-close. Lithography is a rather time-consuming process, involving chemicals, a large slab of stone, and running it through a press. I’m impressed how these artists achieved such line/drawing fluidity, and color vibrancy in the prints. Also, printmaking/lithography represented the graphic design of the era, and overall, I much prefer it to the computer-generated graphic design work we see today because of the uniqueness and hand-made mastery of skill and craft.
Overall, the show was a nice, small tribute to the masters that were showcased. Some supporting preparatory drawings/sketches would have been nice to see along-side the prints. I also wish the museum would have published an exhibition catalog or other publication to support the show, but it was worth seeing. I’d recommend it. Note: images shown below may or may not be included in the show.
By the way, I’ve got more updates and other blogs I’ll be posting soon, so check back and stay tuned!
#BellevueArtMuseum #AlphonseMucha #Mucha #FrenchPosters #ToulouseLatrec
Copyright 2022 Tim Bovey.
Alphonse Mucha Poster for F. Champenois Imprimeur-Editeur, 1897 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)
Alphonse Mucha “Four Seasons,” 1897 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)
Alphonse Mucha Poster for Moët & Chandon, 1899 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)
Henri de Toulouse Latrec Jane Avril, 1899
Henri de Toulouse Latrec ‘Moulin Rouge: La Goulue' (1891) (Photo: Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de (1864 – 1901) – Artist (French) Details of artist on Google Art Project [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
LEGO: Van Gogh's Starry Night
I’m excited. I’ll be receiving the new Van Gogh Lego set soon! Stay tuned! I’ll update this post when I receive it and add some photos of the build in-progress and completed. I may also add some information about his life and work. It should be fun!
I’ve started building the set and will post some in-progress photos. It’s pretty amazing so far. Stay tuned!
I’m almost done. I just need to build the cypress trees! I’ll post photos of the finished product soon and some other tidbits about Van Gogh. I’ve also included an image of the painting in all it’s glory. Enjoy!
#Lego #VanGogh #StarryNight
Copyright 2022 Tim Bovey.
Lego build in-progress #1
Build #2
Build #3
Build #4
Build #5
Final Build. I just need to hang it on the wall! I’m very happy with how it turned out.
The Starry Night, 1889. Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Monet at the Seattle Art Museum!
What a fantastic show! Although not my favorite art movement (Impressionism), if you really look at Monet’s work, more than just the popular works, you can see his range of talent and skill. After all, keep in mind that most of the famous artists, no matter what movement there were associated with, were classically trained, in the academic tradition. The Impressionism movement was however truly revolutionary in the art world at the time.
That being said, what a life he was able to live! I personally love anything to do with the ocean. I’ve included photos from the show below, however they do not do the colors justice. You must go see the show in-person to get the full effect from the colors in the paintings. Overall, the show was well put together, and I cannot think of anything I would have added or taken away. There were postcards and black and white photos of the cliff sides at Etretat, which supplemented the paintings well. I read that Monet worked on this series of paintings when his marriage was on the rocks (pun intended). Truthfully though, this is heartbreaking to think about, however one would not know this by looking at his work. I always appreciate seeing the beauty in the everyday moment, which I think Monet captured beautifully here. The ocean has always had a poetic, spiritual, indescribable quality about it, which makes it a timeless, intriguing subject.
I would recommend seeing this show whether or not you are a fan of Impressionism. Look at Monet’s early works also and you can get a sense of the progression of his techniques and his range of talent and skill. Stay tuned for the next blog! Check back often, thanks. Note: Images included in this blog may or may not be part of the exhibit.
#SeattleArtMuseum #ClaudeMonet #Monet
Copyright 2021 Tim Bovey.
Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet
John James Audubon Show at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
This was a small show of Audubon’s artwork. To see the likes of a famous artist’s work such as Audubon travel to Spokane is rare, so I had to catch the show when it was here. The show was a good introduction to his artwork. For a more comprehensive look at his life’s work, check out one of his many publications. The show included mostly medium to large-scale color prints from engravings. It was interesting to see part of the process behind making the prints. One of the metal, engraved plates was on display and the print produced from the plate was shown next to it.
I would have liked to seen more sketches/preparatory drawings, and watercolors/paintings. It would have complimented the prints nicely. My favorite piece was an original small watercolor painting of a black bird. All of the prints however had impressive details. I also learned that he was self-taught, which is an impressive feat in and of itself. Animals, aside from people, are one of the most difficult things to draw/illustrate well. If you’re a bird/animal lover, you’ll love the show! I would recommend the show and was happy I took the time to go. Note: Images included in this blog may or may not be part of the exhibit.
#NorthwestArtMuseumOfArtsAndCulture #JohnJamesAudubon
Copyright 2021 Tim Bovey.
John James Audubon
John James Audubon
John James Audubon
John James Audubon