Old Masters Academy

Contemporary Masters

The Women of Pablo Picass: Dora Maar and Picasso

The Women of Pablo Picass: Dora Maar and Picasso

Dora Maar and Picasso (1936-1944) In 1936 54-year old Picasso met Yugoslavian Dora Maar (1907 -1997), the photographer who documented Picasso’s painting of Guernica, the 1937 painting of Picasso’s depiction of the German’s having bombed the Basque city of Guernica, Spain during the Spanish Civil War. She became Picasso’s constant companion and lover from 1936 through April, 1944.  Maar went back to painting and exhibited in Paris soon after Picasso left her for Françoise.  Picasso referred to Dora as his “private muse”. In later years she became a recluse, dying poor and alone.

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FAKE: Forgery, Lies, & eBay

Kenneth Andrew Walton (born November 23, 1967) is an American software developer and author of the memoir Fake: Forgery, Lies, & eBay, which details his time spent selling forged art on the online auction site eBay. He currently lives with his wife in San Francisco, California. In 1999 and 2000 Walton was working as an attorney in Sacramento, California, and selling art on eBay, using more than 40 online aliases to drive up bidding on hundreds of his paintings. In May 2000 he posted an auction on eBay for an oil painting that attracted a closing bid of $135,805 and which bidders speculated might be a work by Richard Diebenkorn due to its resemblance to the artist’s work, the existence of the monogram “RD52” on the…

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Personal Life of Artist: Picasso and Jacqueline

The Women of Pablo Picasso: (1953-1973) Dejected and alone, in 1953 Picasso met Jacqueline Roque (1926 -1986) at the Madoura Pottery where Picasso created his ceramics.  In 1961 (when Picasso was 79) she became his second wife.   Picasso created more works of art based on Jacqueline than any of his other loves, in one year painting over 70 portraits of her. When Picasso died on April 8, 1973, Jacqueline, who had been with Picasso for 20 years, prevented Picasso’s children Claude and Paloma from attending his funeral.  Jacqueline died from shooting herself in 1986.

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The Women of Pablo Picasso: Fernande Olivier and Picasso

The Women of Pablo Picasso: Fernande Olivier and Picasso

Fernande Olivier and Picasso (1904-1912) Artist model Fernande Olivier (1881-1966) was Picasso’s first long term relation and subject of many of Picasso’s Rose Period paintings (1905-07).   Picasso met her after settling in Paris in 1904.  Although Fernande was married, she stayed with Picasso for 7 years. Fernande modeled for other artists between 1900 and 1905 after which she moved in with “the Spanish artist”, Picasso, who then prevented her from modeling for others.  Fernande’s having published selections from the memoirs of her life with Picasso infuriated the artist but eventually, at age 70, Picasso paid the ailing and bedridden Fernande a small pension.  The full memoir was not published until 1988, “Loving Picasso”. In early 2004 the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. had an exhibition of…

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«The Savior of Painting» by Odd Nerdrum

Odd Nerdrum´s self portrait is titled «The Savior of Painting». Almost life-size, it depicts the artist in a golden robe, armed with paintbrush and palette, against the soft Norwegian evening sky. On his palette is one single color: that of gold. «This is kitsch in its purest form,» remarks the artist in front of the nearly finished work, gracefully saving us the embarrassment. «Mind you, there´s absolutely no irony here.» The golden robe is for real. He had it made in New York a few years back, and it´s already a garment of international notoriety. His «Self Portrait in Golden Robe», first exhibited in Stockholm last winter and now showing in a retrospective at the Astrup-Fearnley Museum in Oslo, shows…

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Odd Nerdrum. An interview

The Importance of Being Odd: Nerdrum’s Challenge to Modernism By Paul A. Cantor The Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum is one of the greatest painters of the century. Unfortunately, according to his detractors, the century in question is the seventeenth. Thus Nerdrum has emerged as one of the most controversial artists of our day. His admirers praise him for his superb Old Master technique, while his critics condemn him as hopelessly reactionary. His work calls into question all our customary narratives about art history, and especially the modernist dogma that the artist can be creative only by turning his back on the past. Nerdrum has openly acknowledged his debt to the Old Masters. He uses heavy layers of paint to create chiaroscuro effects reminiscent of Caravaggioand Rembrandt,…

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Odd Nerdrum’s PAINTING METHOD

Odd Nerdrum’s PAINTING METHOD

Previous articles about Odd Nerdrum’s Oil Painting Methods: Part 1 Part2 OTHER PAINTING METHODS of ODD Nerdrum He started with a rough outline of the head and went straight to painting shadows, no hard edges in the beginning. During a break on the first day, he used a fan brush to soften the entire face. He turned the painting upside down a couple of times to see where the problem lies. At the beginning of the second day, before starting to paint, he applied a thin layer of linseed oil on the whole surface with the rag (oiling out) he then added green umber to the rag and applied that on the background. (no extra oil, except for the little…

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NEW! Oil Painting Technique of ODD NERDRUM

NEW! Oil Painting Technique of ODD NERDRUM

Click here to download The Must-have Guide for Successful Fine Artist This Book can give You only two things: FAME and WEALTH Odd Nerdrum Preparation (his student demoed it in class): size the canvas with rabbit skin glue. (PVA glue can be used as a substitute). Priming the canvas: Materials -Framer’s Whiting (ground chalk) -Linseed Oil?-Galkyd (just a little bit, to speed up drying time) -Turpentine (just a litte bit; and do not use OMS) mix with a thick long palette knife until the mix is the consistency of toothpaste. (it was more like pancake batter) add white and English Red (or transparent oxide red) so that the final mix is a pinkish brick color. Make sure the canvas is…

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Exceptional opportunity: ODD NERDRUM’S PALETTE

Exceptional opportunity: ODD NERDRUM’S PALETTE

Odd Nerdrum uses a small (less than 12″ on the longest side) homemade oval shaped palette cut out from foamcore. It is tinted brown. COLORS on the palette: (Old Holland brand) -Titanium White w/ a tint of Old Holland Blue (which he pre-mixed into a tube) -Briliant Yellow Light -Yellow Brown -Madder (Crimson) Lake Deep Extra -Brown Ochre (Deep?) -Green Umber?-Warm Grey (which he pre-mixed from Ti White/ Brown Ochre/ Green Umber) -Mars Black (warmer and less harsh than Ivory Black) -Scheveningen Orange? (I think that’s what he used. but I was surprised because I thought this color is fugitive)

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Kitsch Biennale 2010: Odd Nerdrum

The number of visitors, 3.000 people, who have visited Palazzo Cini and seen Kitsch Biennale 2010 during the first 20 days bear witness of the public appreciation and its success. The Kitsch Biennale is an international exhibition for figurative and narrative painting. This year, the jury consisted of Bjørn Li (The Nerdrum Institute) and the kitsch painters Odd Nerdrum, Helene Knoop, Jan-Ove Tuv and David Dalla Venezia. They have focused on applicants displaying the serious and earnest expression. This sets the exhibition concept apart from the general trend of contemporary figurative painting. Works with an eternal outlook have been preferred.

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