Steve Kaufman - Master of the Screen print and pop art

Steve Kaufman is widely regarded as one of the most famous pop artists in the world. Kaufman’s style has evolved multiple times throughout his career, keeping his art fresh and relevant to a modern audience.

Steve Kaufman’s art career began very early. He grew up with a love of painting and his artistic skills were evident from a very early age. He officially began his art career at 8 with his first art exhibit. By age 12, he was painting Pet Rocks sold at Macy’s in New York City where he was born and raised. But Kaufman first became a household name in the pop cultural art community when he met Andy Warhol at Studio 54 in New York City and began working as his apprentice in the famous Andy Warhol Factory. At age 29, Warhol went in his own direction and opened up his own successful art studio.

Steve Kaufman art has a unique production style that sets it apart from the work of other artist’s. His work is often compared to his mentor Andy Warhol in style, and while the two share many things in common in terms of subject matter and style, Steve Kaufman painting do have unique elements that make them representative of the artist. Kaufman uses techniques of print making and painting combined in a single image to create a mixed media quality to the art. Even within the same series of prints, Kaufman will often hand embellish each piece so that no work is exactly like any other. Some of the most famous Steve Kaufman screen print includes Frank Sinatra, Marilyn, and Cohiba.

Steve Kaufman’s artwork is not only socially popular, but is it also socially relevant. Growing up in New York, he supports over 150 charities and causes that are close to home. He is a major supporter of ending homelessness and gang violence. He won the Underground Artist of the Year Award for creating 55 murals supporting racial harmony. His famous art has also been painted to support AIDS research, Meals on Wheels, and many other social consciousness movements within America.

Steve Kaufman has also been commissioned to paint two portraits of famous European artists. The Picasso Academy of Fine Art requested a painting of the famous French painter. He is the only American that has been given the Picasso Ring, which is an award given each year to the one artist the association deems most in the spirit of the late artist. The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam also has a portrait of Van Gogh painted by Steve Kaufman. He has also painted portraits of Rembrandt and Dali. Steve Kaufman paintings hang in the Smithsonian and in the White House, as well as in hundreds of museums and private collections around the world. His art has recently become highly popular for collectors in their home thanks to the popularity of buy art online and through public auctions.

Steve Kaufman passed away in 2009 at the young age of 49. The artist suffered his second stroke and died from complications. Throughout his career, Kaufman’s popularity remained constantly high and he produced a shockingly large catalog of art during his short but prolific art. His art remains as popular if not more popular while he was alive.

Dale Chihuly- The Master of Glass Art

Dale Chihuly is one of the most famous and fascinating modern American artists. Dale Chihuly artwork has become so famous because of the artists wide range of artistic experience and blending or artistic disciplines and multiple points of view to create a truly unique final product. He is best known for his exquisite glass work which has propelled the medium to the forefront of the modern art scene.

Born in 1941 in Tacoma, WA, Dale Chihuly grew up at a time when glass was just heating up as a medium in the art world. Although glass blowing in an ancient art with deep historical roots, it was only beginning to become a widely appreciated art medium in modern America at the time Dale Chihuly began studying art. After studding interior design at the University of Washington, Chihuly continued to broaden his artistic horizons by enrolling in the nation’s first glass program at the University of Wisconsin. After that time, he received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study glass blowing at the historic Venini factory in Venice, Italy. The Venini factory was groundbreaking because of their team approach to glass blowing where many hands touch a single piece of art. Dale Chihuly’s art went on to encompass this group technique in its implementation. Later in his career, Chihuly was sidelined from the process due to an accident and declining health issues. His incorporation of the team approach to glass blowing early on in his career allowed him to be the mastermind of how the art would come together without blowing any of the glass himself.

Today, Dale Chihuly is best known for his fine glasswork. His long and diversified career however has run the gamut due to extensive training among multiple art disciplines. Dale Chihuly paintings and drawings have also gained widespread critical acclaim. Also, he incorporates elements of many mediums into his work. The most famous Chihuly glass sculptures utilize a basket weaving technique based on his interior design training. Dale Chihuly has also incorporated images for Navajo blankets by painted them on glass in his famous Navajo Blanket Series, completed in 1975. His interested and love of nature has led Chihuly to do many hybrid projects bringing together elements of art and nature. His love of botanical gardens has led to many garden, arboretum, and greenhouse installations.

Dale Chihuly artwork can be seen all over the world. His work is featured in over 200 museums, multiple travelling shows, as well as countless hospitals, public spaces and private corporations. Some of his most famous massive art installations can be found at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and at the Seattle Greenhouse which Chihuly masterminded and created in 2012. While his most iconic pieces are giant art installations, his work is also extremely popular among independent collectors. The ability to buy art online has caused a serious upsurge in Chihuly art featured in private collections. Dale Chihuly artwork is some of the most recognizable and unique in the world today. His diverse artistic training and interests has yielded an incredibly eclectic and Avant Guard point of view.

Peter Max- A Look At His Most Famous Paintings

Peter Max’s art career has been a long and varied celebration of Americana. His patriotic paintings have made him a quintessentially American artist whose unique style and brand of artwork has made his paintings extremely recognizable and appreciated by the masses and critics alike. While his artwork has undergone many transformations both stylistically and with the themes it portrays, this ability to adapt has kept Peter Max art modern and relevant to the pop culture audience he paints for.

Peter Max art first gained popularity during the 1960s poster phenomenon. His paintings were a sign of the times, and they included intergalactic and psychedelic themes. They used bright colors and vivid black lines that would go on to become his signature and later be seen in future Peter Max paintings. Peter Max’s most famous posters include Life is so Beautiful, Capricorn, Dove, Love, and Adam’s Cosmo. The posters played an important role in the 1960’s counter cultural movement. Today, Peter Max is known as the most famous living pop artist. His reputation as a pop artist began in the 1960s after his famous posters epitomized the attitude of a generation and provided a vivid symbol for current popular culture.

As Peter Max’s career evolved in the post 1960s, his reputation as a pop artist remained as solid as ever. As counter cultureless lost its social relevance, Max embraced more patriotic themes. His defining Liberty series includes the paintings he is most well known for. Every year on July 4th, he would paint a memorial image of the iconic American sculpture. The most famous of these are his Lady Liberty and Statue of Liberty paintings. While the liberty series is mostly comprised of Peter Max paintings, he also began working with mixed media on them which demonstrated the further evolution of artistic mediums throughout his career. His most classically patriotic pieces aside from the Liberty series are Peter Max paintings of U.S. presidents, beginning in the Reagan administration and moving forward to include his famous 100 Clintons. Max went on to paint paintings of other global leaders in commemoration of important events or political issues, including his Forty Gorbys and 44 Obamas.

Throughout his career, Peter Max has further solidified his reputation as the most famous modern pop artist. He has painting countless celebrities and scenes of celebrities including Wilie Nelson, Shaquille O’Neil, and most recently Taylor Swift. Peter Max paintings also include documentation of important events within the pop culture world. He has captured the 1994 Fifa World Cup, the Grammy Awards, the Super bowl, and many others.

In recent years, Peter Max has again shifted his focus to keep up with modern times. While he continues to crate masterpieces of patriotism, celebrities, and popular events, he has recently begun capturing world issues that are important to him. With the rising social consciousness of the celebrity community, this diversity keeps his artwork fresh, modern, and sought after. Day Dream and Border both emphasize world peace and the environment- issues that personally important to the artist as well as the great pop culture community that serves as his artwork’s primary audience.

Charles Levier- A Glance at His Life & Art!

Born Maurice Verrier, the artist often known as Charles Levier is most of the most famous in both French and American history. The famous artist signed paintings with both names, and this approach has led to considerable confusion among many scholars. His work under both names is of the same subjects, material, and style, making his signature art easy to identify for the trained critic or collector. Although his heritage was French, he shared his time in France and America throughout his career making a huge impact on the art scene and culture of both nations.

Born in Corsica in 1920, Levier held artistic promise from a young age. At 17, he enrolled at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs. In his early education, he studied with Andre Lhote and Rouault. However, Levier’s early career was halted due to Levier’s military service for the French Army during World War II, where he served primarily in the North African conflict. His career took off in 1949 when he opened his first one man show in Lyons. He opened his first American show in Los Angeles one year later. He spent significant time in American and France and his art gained fame in both locations.

Charles Levier was a favorite artist among the pop culture elite in America. The rat pack, including Frank Sinatra, as well as Jackie Kennedy was major collectors of his work. His work referenced earlier French work due to its emphasis on cubism. The same design principles were echoed in the midcentury modern movement in America, making Levier’s art particularly popular during the 1950s and 60s in America. In 1955, the famous gallery owner Dr. Lilienfeld took notice of Levier’s work. Dr. Lilienfeld’s taste was widely respected, and his endorsement of Levier catapulted his art career to a new level. Dr. Lilienfeld was such a strong advocate of Levier’s talent and vision that many art historians consider Charles Levier’s broaden success in American impossible without his support.

The oil paintings created by Charles Levier vary in subject matter. Most are of city or landscapes or women. They are of both American and French subjects, but the quality of his art is always uniquely French in style. He is considered a figurative painting, and his paintings and both expressionistic and dramatic. Levier used colors to create feelings and perspective within his artwork. He used a range of mediums. While his most famous works are oil paintings, he also used watercolor, acrylic, and other forms of painting. He also did some more abstract work that has gained widespread popularity among collectors, especially in recent years.

Charles Levier’s most famous oil paintings include Camaraque, Fleurs Sur Balcon, Two Nudes, Village Corde, Pair of Young Ladies, and Miss Liberty. Today, Levier’s original art can be seen at the famous Museum of Modern Art and the Menton Museum of Art in Paris, the Atlanta Museum, the Seattle, Museum, the Evansville Museum, the New Orleans Museum, and the San Diego Museum. Charles Levier passed away in 2003, but his famous artwork continues to let his legacy live on.

Dale Chihuly Glass Sculpture

 

Erte’s Symphony in Black - The Best Known Art

The famous artist Romain de Titroff, better known by his initials as Erte, was so multi-talented and produced such a wealth of art throughout his long and illustrious career that most people would think it difficult to choose one stand out work of art. In the case of Erte paintings; however, the decision is easy. The most iconic work of Erte art is by far his iconic and generation defining Symphony in Black.

Erte’s classic Symphony in Black showcases a tall, slender woman painted all in black. She has a very Avant Guard hat and fashionable clothing. She holds onto the end of a long leash with a small dog at the end of it. This famous piece of Erte artwork has been reproduced thousands of times. The image was used repeatedly by the artist himself in paintings, prints, and Erte sculptures. It has also been copied and reproduced countless time by other artists and among popular culture.

One of the major reasons Erte’s painting Symphony in Black is so famous is because it so clearly represents the artist’s aesthetic. Erte is considered the father of the Art Deco movement. His art’s aesthetic not only defined his art, but it went on to be symbolic of an entire era. In the 1920, Erte directly influenced culture’s art deco aesthetic through fashion and art, both of which he played a pivotal and era defining role in. He went on to influence movies, popular culture, architecture, design, and many other areas indirectly as well. Symphony in Black is quintessentially art deco in its styling. The painting’s use of all black, long slender lines, and use of negative space, represent of the era’s art deco aesthetic that Erte created.

Another reason for the widespread appreciation for Erte’s artwork Symphony in Black is that it represents the evolution of his artistic career. Beginning in fashion design, making costumes for the theatre and designing covers for Harper’s Bazaar, the viewer can immediately recognize Erte’s artistic roots upon looking at his famous Symphony in Black. The very fashion forward outfit and hat worn by the woman display Erte’s appreciation for fashion. The fact that this image was reproduced over and over again throughout Erte’s career in a multitude of mediums also represents the artist’s history. Erte While Erte bronze sculptures, paintings, and prints are the most famous today, the artist worked with many mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, print making, fashion design, interior design, along with others. The use of the iconic image from Symphony in Black in so many forms represents Erte’s vast flexibility and skill as an artist.

Finally, Erte’s artwork Symphony in Black is interesting for art critics and collectors because the majority of the image’s use came later in Erte’s career. Not only was Erte famous as the father of art deco, but he also experienced of widespread appreciation during the art deco revival of the 1960s onward, also created by Erte. This nostalgic look back on the art deco perspective of the 1920s and 1930s was largely created be Erte and created a massive resurgence in the popularity of Erte art. Many Symphony in Black renderings were created late in the artist’s career, between 1980 and 1990.

Erte’s Symphony in Black is considering the defining work of the artist’s career. It’s ability to capture the essence of both Erte, and the generations and aesthetic which he created make it a stand out among a vast body of Erte artwork.

Robert Wyland-Miniaturizing marine world on canvas

 Robert Wyland is without question the pre-eminent modern marine artist, and he may very well be the most famous and recognized marine artist of all time. But beyond just creating beautiful works of art, Wyland is famous for his environmental awareness and ability to raise awareness among others that his artwork touches.

Robert Wyland grew up painting from an early age. While his young obsession was dinosaurs, he soon became heavily influenced by Jaques Coustea, a scientist who studied, researched, and photographer marine life. These interests lead him to begin painting marine life himself. Wyland majored in sculpting and painting in school.

Wyland is a master of many mediums. While his paintings are certainly his most famous works of art, Wyland’s sculptures and photography are equally impressive. His art delivers a direct and very lift like quality. All of his art has a tranquil, serene quality. His most famous work of all are his large scale outdoor murals of whales and other marine life. The largest of these covers the entire Long Beach Convention Center and is 1280 feet long and 105 feet tall. It took over 7000 gallons of paint and each marine creature showcased was painted to actual size. Wyland has painted 100 “Whaling Walls” in over 70 cities in 12 countries and 4 continents around the world. The walls feature life sized whales and are extremely impressive in their detailed life like quality as well as their enormous scale. Wyland painted the final whaling wall in 2008 in front of the Great Wall of China. Impressively, Wyland does not accept compensation for any of his whaling walls. He paints them to get others to appreciate and respect marine life and focus attention on his cause. An experienced SCUBA driver, Wyland draws inspiration for his lifelike work for the up close personal experiences he has had with marine life.

Wyland’s personal passion has been water conservation. The Wyland Foundation helps individuals recognize the importance of keeping our oceans and waterways healthy and safe. It also emphasizes protection watersheds and the preservation and access to healthy water for living. He communicates his foundations efforts primarily through his art, but also through educational outreach and live events. There is a special emphasis placed on the involvement of children and beginning the education of water preservation early. Robert Wyland paintings are seen not only as beautiful art, but they also serve as a symbol of what he is trying to preserve and protect. Wyland tours the world for this mission today, testing water and given presentations to draw more attention to his mission. He has found a way to use his exceptional talent to promote and further his passion.

Robert Wyland is an exception painter and an exceptional humanitarian. His ability to use his talent to draw attention and promote a cause he is passionate about is what sets him apart from contemporary artists. He produces art in many mediums and many scales. His is unique as an artist because his work is at the same time highly sought after and all around us. With over 100 life sized murals painted for free and readily available to the public at any time, art collectors still value his work for their private collections and museums still compete to have his work.