FTN-blog

Vettriano, originally known as Jack Hoggan, was born on 17 November 1951 in Methil, Fife. Despite initially pursuing a career in mining engineering after leaving school at 15, his passion for painting was ignited when his girlfriend gifted him a box of watercolours for his 21st birthday.

As a self-taught artist, Vettriano honed his skills by emulating the works of old masters, impressionists, surrealists, and a myriad of Scottish artists. He found inspiration at Kirkcaldy Galleries, where he dedicatedly studied paintings by renowned artists like Samuel Peploe and William McTaggart, often wary of arousing suspicion from the gallery staff.

However, it wasn’t until 1998 when Vettriano gained recognition with his submission of two paintings to the Royal Scottish Academy’s annual show, both of which were sold on the first day. This success encouraged him to pursue a full-time career as an artist.

Over the years, Vettriano’s paintings have garnered international acclaim, leading to exhibitions in cities like Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and New York. Among his most celebrated works is the 1992 painting “The Singing Butler,” which depicts an elegant couple dancing on a windy beach accompanied by their butler and maid.

In 2004, this iconic painting was sold at auction for a record-breaking £744,800, making it the highest-selling Scottish painting of its time and the most expensive painting ever sold in Scotland.

www.ftn-books.com has now the Fallen Angels book available.

At the age of eleven, Schjerfbeck begins her artistic journey at the Finnish Art Society’s drawing school. However, her ambitions to dedicate her life to art receive little financial or emotional support from her family due to her gender. Despite this, she manages to convince one of her teachers to financially back her, giving her the opportunity to attend a private academy in 1877 where she learns French oil painting techniques. Even at a young age, Schjerfbeck achieves success and recognition. A study trip to Paris allows her to discover the works of Impressionist artists such as Eduard Manet and Berthe Morisot. She also travels to Florence, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Great Britain.

Recognition comes for the 27-year-old artist at the Exposition universelle in Paris in 1889, where she receives a bronze medal for her painting “Le Convalescent” that exudes Impressionist influences. At this point, Schjerfbeck’s own artistic identity is already evident. It is more internationally-oriented than that of fellow Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela, who focuses on portraying typical Finnish scenes. Struggling with health problems, Schjerfbeck is forced to permanently return to Finland at the age of 28, where she moves in with her mother in Hyvinkää, an isolated district. Domestic scenes with women and children reading or embroidering take center stage during this period. By eliminating more and more details from her paintings, she reaches a greater depth and approaches an abstraction that is ahead of her time. After working in relative obscurity, Schjerfbeck experiences her second breakthrough in 1917 with her first solo exhibition at the art dealer Gösta Stenman in Helsinki.

Throughout her entire career, Schjerfbeck has created self-portraits. As she ages, she becomes more isolated; the only model readily available is herself. Her later portraits reveal a confronting self-analysis. In the period 1939 – 1945, the final years of her life, she creates her most impressive series of portraits, in which she candidly captures her own physical decline. Her facial features become increasingly hollowed out until only a mere shadow of a skull remains. This uncompromising portrait series holds a particularly mesmerizing quality.

www.ftn-books.com has finally acquired the catalog which was published with the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag exhibition and it is now available.

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923) Poster for The Black Cat’s Tour (1896) Steinlen abandoned his studies in philosophy in his hometown of Lausanne to work as a textile designer in Mulhouse. The socially conscious, gentle artist moved to Paris in 1881 with his wife, settling in the hilltop district of Montmartre, which was on the cusp of becoming the epicenter of the French avant-garde. There, he befriended painter Adolphe Willette, who introduced him to the artistic circles surrounding Le Chat Noir cabaret. In the early 1890s, Steinlen continued to paint traditional subjects such as landscapes, floral still lifes, and nudes, which were first exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. His later work showed increasing characteristics of social realism. Steinlen became a sought-after illustrator for legendary magazines like Le Rire and Gil Bas. Some of his illustrations were published under pseudonyms to avoid political controversy. In 1881, Rudolphe Salis opened the Le Chat Noir cabaret on Boulevard Rochechouart (later moving to Rue de Laval). It quickly became a legendary haven for the performing arts, with Steinlen at its center. He designed sets, contributed to popular shadow plays, and most notably, created the famous poster that was plastered all over Paris. The cat in red and black, the colors of anarchism, became the symbol of the Montmartre art district. The text “Montjoie Montmartre” (Montmartre my joy) served as an aureole behind its mystical head. The law on freedom of the press and advances in printing technology allowed Salis to also publish a magazine. The publication, Le Chat Noir, was a huge success, even beyond French borders, which reflected positively on Steinlen as its main illustrator. The cat always played a major role in Steinlen’s work. He, like most of his colleagues, had a fondness for the feral cats on the rooftops of Montmartre and took in many, much to the chagrin of his wife.

www.ftn-books.com has several titles on Steinlen available.

Terry Frost served as a vanguard in the advancement of British Abstract art during the mid-20th century. His intricate nested forms and vibrant palettes of tonal blues, lavenders, oranges, and pinks cemented his noteworthy position in the country’s abstract movement. Frost’s journey into painting began as a prisoner of war, alongside the artist Adrian Heath, who instilled a passion for art within him. His pursuit of abstraction blossomed under the guidance of esteemed artists Victor Pasmore, Ben Nicholson, and William Coldstream while attending the Camberwell College of Arts. He further refined his techniques while showcasing his work with the esteemed St. Ives Society of Artists. Frost’s aesthetic, influenced by the coastal landscapes of his home in Cornwall, harmoniously blends sharp and defined geometric planes with fluid and expressive brushstrokes, along with embellished pointillism. His artworks gained widespread recognition during his lifetime, with exhibitions at renowned institutions such as the Hermitage Museum, the ICA London, the Brooklyn Museum, the Tate St. Ives, and the British Council in New York.

www.ftn-books.com hast he Frost leporello from 1994 available.

Residing in Montreuil, a suburb of Paris, Véronique Bourgoin’s artistic repertoire encompasses a diverse range of mediums, including painting, ceramics, photography, installations, videos, performance, and artist books. Within the myriad of her creations, she delves into the intricacies and complexities of constructing “contemporary paradises.” Her fascination lies in exploring the physical, chemical, and psychological “baths of elements” that ignite the transformative power of perception and creativity. In her artistic journey, she shines a spotlight on the captivating and often dramatic effects that seemingly mundane contexts can evoke.

www.ftn-books.com has the WILLIE OU PAS WILLIE book now available.

Anze’s repertoire encompasses both the artistic and technological dimensions that define contemporary photography. On the surface, the images exude a captivating visual charm that boldly embraces the digital medium, brimming with vibrant hues and textures. But beyond the lens lies a deeper conceptual framework that guides the entire body of work. The presence of the 50Hz frequency, a symbol of Tokyo’s electric infrastructure, goes beyond a mere geographical marker. It also alludes to the lasting impact of a past disaster, though no longer at the forefront of everyday life. Thus, the project leans more towards conceptual art rather than conforming to traditional photography norms.

www,ftn-books.com has now the UNZEE invitation from 2015 available.

The French artist Henri Prosi (born 1936) completed his education in the l’École des Beaux-Arts and l’École des Arts Appliqués, both in Paris. His artistic style revolves around the simplicity and purity of geometric shapes, devoid of any narrative representation, psychological connotations or gesturing. His pieces are characterized by their strict symmetry and fragmentation, ultimately conveying a sense of centrifugal force.

Renowned French art historian Domitille d’Orgeval elaborates further on Prosi’s work: “At the beginning of his career in the mid-1960s, Henri Prosi gravitated towards geometry not because he saw it as a reflection of moral truth or absolute geometric order, but for its vivacity. In fact, he once said about his early geometric paintings, ‘There is a dynamic action, something happens. It seems to me that something comes alive. Like people who meet in the street, like life.’ This energy, derived from the dialectic of relationships, governs all of Prosi’s art. He explored its endless possibilities through his remarkable ability to continuously reinvent himself, studying the role of color (limited to primary colors, black, and white), rectangles, squares, verticals and horizontals, solids and voids, while emphasizing a specific aspect like the structure, surface, or outline of his work.”

Prosi’s debut exhibition was at the 4th Biennale de Paris in 1965, and his most recent showcase was the Code and Algorithm – Hommage á Vera Molnar at the Vasarely Museum in Budapest, Hungary in 2019. Throughout the years, his work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions (often alongside other renowned artists such as Charles Bézie and Jean-François Dubreuil) at prestigious galleries, museums, and prominent art fairs in France, Austria, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Italy. His pieces are also part of public collections, including the National Contemporary Art Fund .

www.ftn-books.com has the VIERDE DIMENSIE publication on Prosi now available.

This Daan SAmson on his work:

Since 2019, I have been working on “Welvaartsbiotopen.” As humanity, we yearn for an existence surrounded by untouched nature. On the other hand, we desire a life filled with well-being and comfort. This dilemma is depicted through the placement of milk frothers, insulation materials, and other symbols of prosperity in a version of nature where flora and fauna remain untouched.

For example, a Dyson fan is positioned in the habitat of the Indian state of Karnataka. In this biotope, the product is flanked by the red and yellow clusters of the (endemic to this region) climbing plant Thunbergia mysorensis. There is also room for ants of the species Technomyrmex albipes. In one corner, we can see one of the insects milking honeydew from aphids (which are kept as “livestock” by this species of ants). The accompanying fact sheet reveals that Dyson’s headquarters are located in Singapore, and that the Dyson Purifier can purify the air in rooms by 99%.

My biotopes exude a contemporary sense of life. They pay tribute to sciences that provide objective knowledge and contribute (now or in the future) to human well-being and a more balanced preservation of natural harmony.

At the international art fair Art Rotterdam, prosperity artist Daan Samson and photographer Jeronimus van Pelt present a photo series featuring alluring “babes” in the modern art field.

Eight female curators, theorists, artists, critics, museum directors, and other women in the art world have agreed to be portrayed as sexual beings. The purpose of this photo series is to explore whether society accepts intellectual women showcasing their sexual capabilities.

The Torch invitation for this series is now available at www.ftn-books.com

In his series on the vulnerability of human existence, Brodwolf never shies away from tackling grand themes. His commitment and emotional fortitude to depict these themes can now be seen permanently in the new installation at MKM Museum Küppersmühle Duisburg (one of Germany’s largest private museums, expanded by Herzog & de Meuron in 2021), where his Theresienstadt Cycle is showcased in its entirety in its own room.

As early as 1959, the first tube figures were born in the form of a human torso, created by squeezing paint tubes. To portray the vulnerability and dangers of human existence, he places his tube figures in cabinets starting in 1965. From that point on, he also creates larger figures from lead, bronze, paper pulp, and linen, which he employs in his grand installations at events such as Documenta Kassel and the Venice Biennale. With this impressive display in Duisburg, Germany, the 90-year-old Brodwolf proves how relevant artists are in understanding the world of today.

www.ftn-books.com has several Brodwolf titles now available.

Mona Kuhn, a Brazilian-born American contemporary photographer, born in 1969 in São Paulo, is renowned for her strikingly large-scale depictions of the human form and its essence. Her work delves deeply into our innate desire for spiritual connection and solidarity, imbuing it with an underlying current that is both singular and evocative. What sets Kuhn’s approach apart is her close rapport with her subjects, resulting in images that evoke a sense of hushed intimacy. Her work captures the raw beauty of the human figure in its natural form, while simultaneously reimagining the idea of nudity as a contemporary masterpiece. Kuhn’s oeuvre often alludes to classical motifs, and has received widespread acclaim through international exhibitions and inclusion in notable collections such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

www.ftn-books.com has the Ravesteijn gallery invitation now available.