Hey guys-it's GTKY Sunday, and I am a teensy bit at a loss for ideas today. My apartment is kind of a mess, and I have that "I want to accomplish everything" sort of vibe going in my life right now. 10,000 goals and only one body to do them and all that. However, as I was cleaning my kitchen yesterday, I realized that I have never really discussed one of my favorite subjects on this blog in great depth: art. Specifically paintings (we've discussed art to the ends of time if we correctly include film and television into that sentence). My minor in college was in Art History, and as a result I have a number of favorite artists, so I figured for GTKY Sunday we'd do my ten favorite artists/sculptors (note this does not include architects, as that would be too much of a Sophie's Choice situation) of all-time, with me listing (in order!) my ten favorite artists, along with one of my favorite examples of their work. Sound good? Let's begin then!
10. Helen Frankenthaler
(1928-2011)
Number 4 (I think-the internet has always been a little behind in identifying Frankenthaler's paintings; don't you just love the way she creates so many different shades of blue, though?)
9. Donald Judd
(1928-1994)
Untitled Stack (I always get giddy with glee whenever I see one of these pieces in a museum, as I think it's such a fun use of space and color)
8. Claude Monet
(1840-1926)
Impression, Sunrise (I had this painting hanging in my dorm in college-it's still one of my all-time favorites; I love everything about Monet though, even if it's horribly cliche)
7. Pierre-Auguste Renoir
(1841-1919)
La Moulin de la Galette (I don't need to look this one up, as it's in my apartment above my kitchen table...a print, not the original, obviously, as that's in the Musee d'Orsay)
6. Jan Vermeer
(1632-1675)
Allegory of the Art of Painting (Don't you just love the way he portrays natural light, and the sort of sneak into the world of his paintings...there's so much fun detail here)
5. Raphael
(1483-1520)
School of Athens (if we were listing just Top 10 paintings, this would be Number One-it's what I did my senior thesis on and it's in my living room-Raphael's works in the Vatican are just extraordinary)
4. JMW Turner
(1775-1851)
The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her berth to be broken up (I am immediately drawn to anything Turner when I am in a museum-the way that he combines the detailed with the abstract is breathtaking)
3. Jackson Pollock
(1912-1956)
Greyed Rainbow (True Story: the first time I was in the Chicago Art Museum I spent ten minutes, mesmerized by this painting and the weird details. I was eleven, and I think that's when I knew I'd want to study art at some point in my life)
2. Michelangelo
(1475-1564)
Pieta (technically I should put him at Number One, since combining sculpture and painting he really has no equal, but I feel that would sacrifice a bit of my personal spin on this list; still, it's impossible to deny he is the Great One, as his work feels like it hit art's zenith)
1. Mark Rothko
(1903-1970)
No. 61 (Rust and Blue) (I will always marvel at the way that Rothko could combine colors so simply and make something so magical on the canvas. His work with hue and shape will eternally make him my favorite)
Those are my favorite artists-how about you? Share your list in the comments!
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