warhol – Page 3

Posted on 2 April 201711 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

James Rosenquist (1933-2017)

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Sad news this morning, one of the greatest Pop Art artists, James Rosenquist, died at the age of 83 of March 31, 2017.

Rosenquist was one of the last living great Pop Art artists and a contemporary of Warhol Lichtenstein,and Wesselman. He was the lesser known of these 4 names, but what made him special and stand out from them was the use of extremely large canvasses. But also his prints were larger than normal. He holds the record for the largest print in the world measuring 35 x 7 feet!

Rosenquist works are present in all major collections of Contemporary art in the world. A large part of his inventory was destroyed during a fire in 2009 in which all his works present in the studio were destroyed. Rosenquist will be remembered as one of the great Pop Art artist. www.ftn-books.com has some nice catalogues on him.

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Posted on 30 March 201711 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

John Wesley (1928)

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Pop artist John Wesley is one of the lesser known Pop Art artist for us Europeans. There was of course this great 1993 exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum, but since few other exhibitions were being held in this part of the world. Still, Wesley is a much more famous in the US, but has never reached the popularity of the other Pop art artist like Warhol and Lichtenstein.

The spareness of his technique often seems more akin to the school known as Minimalism, however, and indeed his closest personal associations were with artists such as Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, the latter of whom wrote a laudatory essay on Wesley’s early work and later set aside a space for him at his complex in Marfa, Texas. Wesley himself considers his work to be aligned with Surrealism, and many of his paintings since the 1960s have taken this dimension yet further, while retaining an extremely limited range of colors and a sign-like flatness. Several retrospectives of his work have been held, the most recent at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in 2000, but since it is quiet except for some gallery presentations. This artist deserves much more , because his works really stand out from the other Pop Art artist and have a quality of their own. www.ftn-books.com has beside some very nice Pop art books, the famous and rare Stedelijk Museum catalogue from 1993 available.

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John Wesdley is represented by the David Kordansky gallery who has some nice examples of his works on their site :

http://davidkordanskygallery.com/artist/john-wesley/

Posted on 8 December 201612 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Valerio Adami and Pop Art

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Sixties and seventies are the decades of Pop Art and Valerio Adami was one of the artists outside the US that was influenced by the more famous Pop Art artists and developed his own style from the popular comics, with their thick black outlines (ligne clair). He was not always appreciated for his art, but always was assured of a valuable platform to show his art in the Maeght galleries and publications. He took figures , situations and objects apart to reassemble them again into another composition, thus making them abstract and hardly recognizable.

Personally i am very fond of Valerio Adami. For me he is the artist who bridges comics with serious (Pop) Art. This is another of the artist who s relatively cheap to buy and collect and i predict his works and publications will be in high demand in the next 20 years.

www.ftn-books.com has some nice Maeght and other publication on this great artist.

Posted on 16 September 201612 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Walt Disney in Art

Yesterday, the post on Wim Delvoye made me think about the influence Walt Disney had on art during the last 50 years. The influence must be extremely large because many of the great Modern artists from the last half century used Disney icons for their art. Wim Delvoye made me think about this relation because his signature is crafted after the original Walt Disney signature. But there is also Jeff Koons who uses Snow White and Mickey Mouse.

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The skull that is in the picture is a combination between 2 iconic elements in art. The skull by Damien Hirst and the ears of Mickey Mouse. Kitsch, art and a laugh combined in one work…..beautiful ;-). Andy Warhol began making silkscreened prints of Mickey Mouse , when he realized that beside the celebrities he used for his silkscreens he made in the factory, Mickey Mouse was such a celebrity too and needed to be depicted in a large silkscreen to honor him.

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Just about a year ago the art world was surprised with a complete new amusement park. Dismaland…. a Disney inspired park by the famous Banksy in which he uses Disney themes and make these his own by making his own interpretation on these classic Disney themes and gives comments on the world around him.

Finally Keith Haring…..Haring uses the Mickey Mouse ears almost every time he makes a selfportrait. Showing that his art is rooted within the comic art of Walt Disney….great art by great artists and all inspired by the master of animation and comics…Walt Disney.

wilfried / www. ftn-books.com

Posted on 2 August 201612 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)

Born in 1960, the time Andy Warhol would become hugely popular with his Factory, Basquiat spend his childhood years in Brooklyn. But at the time he was 24 he had become “Brothers in Art” with the great Warhol himself.

If ever you have seen a Basquiat exhibition you must agree that his paintings do not stop to impress. The sheer size, the power, the typical and highly recognizable way he paints…..it is all Basquiat. Perhaps the success destroyed the person Basquiat, but his paintings never disappoint. You might even argue that it is fortunate that Basquiat died at such a young age, but at the same time with such a small production in 10 years you will never be disappointed by his art. His art is of a constant high level, always original in its appearance, has its own “language” and technique and many of the great collectors of Modern Art consider a Basquiat as one of the ultimate collection additions.( but only a few of them can buy because of its price).

It was about 6 years ago is visited the Basquiat exhibition in the Beyeler Museum / Basel and was blown away by it. the Beyeler is a small Museum ( but one of the most amazing ones in Europe) and it must have been at least 3 times i looked at all the paintings before i left the museum. If you ask …what was your favorite exhibition in the last 10 years….this is it. A Rare occasion to see so many of the greatest Basquiat paintings in one location. If ever you have achance to visit a Basquiat exhibition do not hesitate, plan your trip or make a detour because these paintings are very impressive.

I have some nice Basquiat items available so look at www.ftn-books.com

http://basquiat.com