For this special posting I wanted to talk about a fundamental change in one of my favorite games, MONOPOLY. After so many years with the same game pieces Hasbro has finally come to the conclusion that it is time for a change. I am in my mid thirties and none of my peers even owns an iron!
I don’t own an X box or Nintendo and very much enjoy the process of an old fashioned family game night. Have some friends and family over for some Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, or Monopoly. It is nice to be able to play a shooting game against someone in Thailand, but how about spending some time with your friends and family.
One artist who did a great job in the 1800s at capturing the atmosphere and intensity of two people playing chess, checkers, or developing a war plan would be Carl Wilhelm Antony Seiler. I love the compositions used by Seiler. The viewer always has the feeling something important is being planned or thought about. Very intense, as if watching a live chess match!
Another artist who is a great painter with this genre is Tim Liddy. He is a trompe painter and he paints what appear to be the covers of very old board games from the 1950s and 1960s. Some are made up some are real, the viewer is hard pressed to tell the difference. The artist goes to tremendous lengths reproducing faded colors on the box as well as ver old and dried up scotch tape that barely has any tack left. Here we see a fantastic trompe style vintage Monopoly game by Tim Liddy.
Another artist who uses the name Alec Monopoly loves to paint the Monopoly Man in various poses and situations. The artist is known for doing street and graffiti as well as selling in galleries. Here is a great example of Alec Monopoly and his style. This work is acrylic on newspaper.
An artist working in a similar manner to Tim Liddy, painting the boxes of our beloved games of childhood is K Henderson. Similar to Liddy the artist enjoys painting a trompe surface going to great detail to describe worn tape and faded color on cardboard. Here we see a wonderful painting of a vintage Monopoly game. Below is sample of K. Henderson’s trompe style.
A link to K. Henderson’s own website: http://khendersonart.blogspot.com/
Micheal Fitts is another artist working with games. He works on scrap metal for instead of canvas and this gives his works a great sense of texture. Below is an example of a series done by Fitts featuring the original Monopoly playing pieces.
Below is another fine example of Fitts’s style and this time his subject is the vintage game OPERATION!
A link to Michael Fitts blog: http://mfitts-art.blogspot.com/2009/02/monopoly-car.html
The last artist we will look at hails from Canada and his name is Alvin Richard. Working in acrylics the artist creates great visual interest in his work by painting a variety of textures. In this painting we see the smooth and shiny game pieces contrasting with the smooth game board.
Try painting something from your favorite vintage game!
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