Wang Keping is a contemporary Chinese artist renown for his modernist sculpture works often with the female form. Wang Keping was born in Beijing, China in the year 1949.
His figures usually have increases focus in the legs, breasts, and butt. I find his figures to be very abstract like the English artist Henry Moore.
Here we view a great interview from 2009. Wang Keping talks about the Chinese art market:
Price range information: Works range from $10,000 to $150,000.
In this clip we view a gallery show featuring his work:
The artist is now based out of Paris, France.
Keping works with bronze occasionally but uses wood for the most part.
The artist was inspired by an artist recently featured here, Constantin Brancusi.
Anne Truitt was an American artist renown for her minimalist sculptures. Anne Truitt was born in Easton, Maryland in the year 1921. Truitt attended college at Bryn Mawr where she earned a degree in psychology. She served as a nurse in World War 2.
After the war was finished she left the field of nursing and began sculpting figures.
Shortly after she began to work more abstractly producing the wood box sculptures with bright flat color we associate with Truitt. After applying the paint she sanded the surface, trying to remove any brush strokes.
Below we view a show featuring Anne Truitt from 2013 that features some monumental works from the 1970s. :
The artist also created pedestals and stands for her sculptures to sit on so that they appear to float in air and have a slight cast shadow.
Truitt also wrote three books over her lifetime that were journals that covered her life as an artist. Below an excerpt from one of her books:
Anne Truitt passed away in 2004 at the age of 83 years of age.
Price range information: Works range from $10,000 to $150,000. Truitt worked mainly with acrylics.
Its great that Truitt had the idea to write journals of a daily life as an artist. I hope more artists follow in her footsteps. Her minimalist sculptures remind me of the changing weather of the different seasons.
Tellas is a street artist renown for his abstract style of art. The artist is inspired by patterns found in nature in wood, leaves, and birds.
Tellas is based out of Italy.
In this clip we view Tellas working in collaboration with street artist Gloois on a wonderful mural. Its great to see how they build up the image from start to finish. Tellas often uses a drips in his works:
I find Tellas similar to other street artists who work with the same subject matter cleverly combining their art with what is already in their surroundings. Some artists might use a bush or leaves as hair for a figure. Tellas’ work has a lot of movement and the fluid nature of his work keeps the viewers eye moving even when looking at a multiple story mural.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
We close by watching a time lapse video of Tellas working on a unique mural that uses two sides of a building to make a wonderful abstract design:
Barbara Hepworth was a British painter renown for her abstract style. Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England in the year 1903. The artist attended the Leeds School of Art and also the Royal College of Art.
Hepworth worked a majority of her career as a sculptor. A collegiate classmate named Henry Moore would be crucial in her development in the modernist movement. Moore has been profiled here already for his modernist sculpture.
Hepworth was married to a fellow sculptor named John Skeaping. After divorcing she then remarried artist Ben Nicholson. Though this marriage also ended in divorce, the couple did have triplets.
For much of her professional life she was based out of St. Ives, Cornwall, England.
She worked often with wood or bronze. Late in life she took up printmaking.
From the Tate Museum a brief biography about Barbara Hepworth:
Bud Latven creates wonderful abstract works using wood as his medium. Bud Latven was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the year 1949.
The artist moved to New Mexico in the early 1970s and found work making cabinets and furniture. After a brief period of two years working for someone else, Latven went on to open up his own studio. Latven found commercial success selling his furniture.
During the 1980s some experiments led him to try working with the lathe. Latven soon started working in the open vessel and abstract style he is now famous for.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
In this clip we view works using wood by Bud Latven as well as other fascinating artists working with wood:
Todd Couper is a Maori artist from New Zealand who creates remarkable wildlife carvings. Todd Couper was born in 1974. Couper produces carvings and jewelry.
For his artistic education Couper attended the Te Aute Boys College and also Waiariki Institute of Technology.
Couper is highly sought after for his works with birds. Couper has also done some great works with the whale as his subject.
Fraser Smith makes incredible clothing items including bomber jackets, hats,and professional sports jerseys out of wood! All of the pictures in the gallery are all carvings. Each work begins with one piece of basswood. The work is then carved and Smith uses water based pigments to achieve the look of heavily worn objects.
Smith attended college at an Ivy league school, but I couldn’t find out which one.
Fraser Smith was born in 1958.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
A link to the website of Fraser Smith. Many more exciting works including long robes to look at here!
John Kittelston is a wonderful western artist renown for his sculpture and leather works. Kippelston also paints and works with ceramics. John Henry Kippelston was born in Arlington, South Dakota in the year 1930. Kittelson is self taught as an artist and works in many mediums.
Kittelson began working in wood, but switched to bronze as it was a way to earn far more money and complete more works.
Kittelson lived for many years in Colorado and was one of the foremost artists working with leather and producing belts and horse saddles. The artist began earning money from his efforts at the young age of thirteen.
The artist sometimes buys a tree and lets it sit untouched for up to three years before beginning to work it.
Kittelson was made an initial member of the Cowboy Artists of America.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
What a versatile artist. I love his style of carving animals, they are very lifelike and animated.
Calvin Hunt is a Northwest Coast artist born in 1956. Hunt comes from a long family of artists including his grandfather, Mungo Martin, already profiled here. Calvin Hunt started carving when he was only twelve years old. Calvin Hunt carves very large totem poles and also canoes, stone carving, making jewelry, and even producing silk screens.
His father is Kwagu’l Heredity Chief Thomas Hunt.
Worked as an apprentice Tony Hunt for nine years.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
The artist was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2004.
Hunt is associated with the Kwakwaka’wakw band of the First Nations.
Louise Nevelson was an American artist born in the year 1899 in the city of Kiev, Russia. Her family emigrated to the United States in 1905 and as a child she grew up around Rockland, Maine. The United States Postal Service produced a commemorative stamp featuring the artist in 2000 which is below. Louise Nevelson was most famous for her very large sized works made with wood. These works look like three dimensional puzzles. Some mediums used other than wood by Louise Nevelson include aluminum, metal, and plastic.
Nevelson’s father own a lumberyard when the family lived in Russia. When the family came to the States her father also would run a lumberyard and was made several successful real estate investments.
In this clip we view some of Louise Nevelson’s sculpture works:
She was married briefly to the owner of a shipping company. The couple divorced but had one child. The child’s name was Myron or “Mike” Nevelson who would go on to be a professional artist. As an artist Mike Nevelson focused on modernism and abstraction. I love this families of artists! Below some examples of Mike Nevelson’s style of art (born in 1922.)
For her artistic education Nevelson enrolled at Hans Hoffman’s School of Art located in Munich, Germany. In later years Nevelson studied the art off etching and printmaking with Stanley William Hayter. Hayter was an educator and world renown printmaker and below an example of his art. Nevelson also enrolled at the famed Art Student’s League of New York City.
Nevelson worked as an assistant to famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He also worked for the WPA as a teacher.
Nevelson was a participant in the Venice Biennale.
Her first solo exhibition was in 1941, whilst in her early 40s.
Louise Nevelson passed away in 1989.
In this clip we visit a show featuring Louise Nevelson that took place in Rome, Italy:
Louise Nevelson was also known for her unique and flamboyant style of dress. Often the artist would black mink eyelashes, silk scarves, and a black cap.
Louise was grandmother to another artist profiled here already, Neith Nevelson. What a creative family!
Its just amazing to see how many multiple generations of artist families exist worldwide. Myron worked with wood, but loved working with the figure.
Price range information: Works in graphite, monoprints, and etchings can be found starting at $3,000 up to larger sized paintings reaching as a high as $400,000. Many works in wood range from $10,000 to the low six figures.
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