Category:Art

Yesterday was Willem De Kooning's birthday. He was one of the most famous of the Abstract Expressionists of New York City and one of my favorite artists.

People like to think of artists as glamorous, jetting around Manhattan to various parties and lofts and galleries. While De Kooning had good friends and great times, his life was far from glamorous. His paintings went on to sell for tens of millions of dollars but they didn't just appear spontaneously from inspiration.

It took a lot of struggle and effort to get to where he got.

I recommend reading de Kooning: An American Master by Mark Stevens to really understand the life he led.

Artist Berndnaut Smilde makes indoor clouds with a thermostat, a humidifier, and a fog machine. Incredible.

via Technabob

I had a friend once upon a time who was a comic book artist and writer. He told me around 20 years ago that there were only about ten truly great artists in the business. One of them was Moebius.

Ars Technica: Legendary Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie passes away at 82

What makes McQuarrie's artwork resonate so much isn't just that it's beautifully executed, but that the art direction of actually Star Wars movies is so consistent with it.

image via concept ships (via Daring Fireball)

What a remarkable photo (actually, remarkable series) of Lucien Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud.

This photo reminds me of the fact that when you're lucky enough to be making a living doing what you love, you never really retire. Look at the wall behind him next to his canvas. Awesome.

This photo was taken in 2005. Lucien died in July of 2011.

*I also love this photo of him shaving with a (clean) paintbrush. Seems reasonable to me. Seriously, it does.