Archive for November 14, 2013

Artist of the moment…..Yoshida Hodaka

{ November 14, 2013 @ 9:59 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Yoshida Hodaka was born in the year 1926 to a very artistic family, both parents were painters of Western style art and then after 1925 both artists followed the shin hanga movement. His parents both were printmakers and also painters in watercolour and oils. His father wanted the artist to become a scientist. He further disappointed his father by choosing an abstract painting style, rather than the more Western style of his parents. And older brother named Toshi was also an artist.

Below an example of his father Hiroshi  Yoshida’s style of art:

hiro

And an example of art from his mother Fujio Yoshida:

fyo

Yoshida Hodaka enjoyed using items from cultures from around the world. He was also among the first to use use photo transfers in his art, another reason he is associated with the modernist movement.

Yoshida Hodaka married another artist, Chizuko Yoshida. She is famous for her butterfly prints, I have done a post on her work already but here is a great example of her butterfly imagery.

chizuko

The couple had a son who is a jewelry maker. Another daughter named Ayomi Yoshida is also an artist who makes installations and also woodblock prints. Below an example of her artwork with a print of water.

ayomi

Yoshida Hodaka passed away in 1995. Fortunately there are many other artists in this family to carry on the creative vision.

What a family of artists!

Price range information: Sorry none available.

D

Artist of the moment….Chen Man

{ November 14, 2013 @ 7:11 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Chen Man is an internationally renown female photographer born in Beijing, China in the year 1980. She was seen as being highly skilled as a child, drawing a mouse at the age of two. Her parents sent her to a high school that developed artistic talent. For her artistic education she attended the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Chen Man was 23 and still a student when her work first appeared on the covers of a popular Chinese culture magazine. For her photography she uses such tools as Photoshop.

The artist is highly successful as a commercial photographer selling images to clients including Motorola and Gucci.

Her husband is the founder of a skate board company named Society Skateboards. The company sells all sorts of apparel for the skating crowd.

In this clip a short interview with the renowned photographer. With English subtitles;

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D

Artist of the moment……….Emily Mason

{ November 14, 2013 @ 2:08 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Emily Mason is the daughter of painter Alice Trumbull Mason. Emily Mason was born in the year 1932 in New York City. Mason is a associated with the abstract movement. For her artistic education Emily Mason attended Bennington College for a couple of years and finished her schooling Cooper Union in New York City. Mason is also associated with the color field painters.

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First a shout out to Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason for being the longest married artistic couple I have profiled. The two artists have been married 56 years, but have rarely shown their works side by side. Here we visit one of these rare showings of both artists:

The artist also was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship which allowed her to study art overseas in Italy.

She is married to one of my favorite painters and my favorite abstract artist who works with pastels, Wolf Kahn. Below some works by Wolf Kahn. I have always been a fan of his work because similar to Len Chmiel, he uses unique color combinations not usually seen in the landscape. His blend of color field painting and realism leads to very unique designs.

Her mother founded the American Abstract Artist group. The abstract movement hadn’t yet caught the momentum that would in later years.

Emily Mason has been a professor at Hunter College.

What a wonderful artistic family!

D

Artist of the moment….Alice Mason

{ November 14, 2013 @ 1:20 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Alice Trumbull Mason was born in Litchfield Connecticut in the year 1904. For her artistic education the artist traveled to Europe in the 1920s and studied art in Rome, Italy and then at British Academy. In 1927 she moved back to New York City to begin her professional art career.

A friend was Ilya Bolotowsky, an abstract painter who used basic geometric shapes, who has been featured here as one person bought work by the artist at Goodwill for less than $20 and sold for more than $9,000.

The artist was a distant relative of historical painter John Trumbull. Below an example of the art of John Trumbull. John Trumbull lived in the colonial era and was renowned for his portraits of political leaders. This portrait of George Washington. John Trumbull was called Colonel John as he served in the Revolutionary War and boasted about his service.

johnt

Alice Mason mixed her pigments and made her own paints. She also painted on unusual surfaces including rayon.

Her husband was the captain of a sea going ship, so she was left alone much of the time to raise two children. One child named Emily Mason, born in 1932 is a  practicing abstract artist and will be the next post.

Alice Trumbull Mason passed away in 1971.

I so enjoy it when families have multiple generations of artisans. From the colonial painter John Trumbull to her own daughter Emily and a granddaughter Cecily Kahn, this family has made an important generation to the artistic output of the United States since the founding fathers were alive. Amazing!

To close here is a work by the granddaughter of Alice Mason, Cecily Kahn:

kahn

Price range information : Sorry none available.

D