Art House Reproductions Blog

Another well-known surrealist artist was Frida Kahlo whom many believe to be the most famous Mexican painter of all time. The bright colors in the obvious South American style of her paintings may never have come about if she had not been in an accident, which left here in a body cast in 1925. While she recuperated Frida began making many fine art paintings many of which were self-portraits. Much of her work was inspired by her marriage to Diego Rivera and the miscarriages of their children. The marriage was one filled with both partners having extramarital affairs with Frida having relations with both men and women.

Known for his surrealist images the paintings of Rene Magritte used normal everyday objects in unusual settings to stimulate the viewer into viewing things much differently than they are used to. Magritte began formal drawing lessons when he was 12 years old and went on to work as an assistant designer in a wallpaper factory and later in a marketing firm. His famous series of fine art paintings where the face of the subject is obscured is said to have been influenced by Magritte witnessing his mother being recovered from the river after she committed suicide by drowning.

Before the late 1800’s art was all fine art, and every piece was meant to be put on display to be cherished. Toulouse Lautrec created paintings that were actually meant to be out on the streets, as advertisements! No artist had done this before and Lautrec was instantly famous; though not in a good way among certain circles. But that was a long time ago, and today he receives the accolades he deserves for his advertisements of the Moulin Rouge and circus performers. Any person wishing to add a spike of French flair to their home should consider a fine art reproduction of one of Toulouse Lautrec’s revolutionary pieces.

Many feel that Edgar Degas was one of the greatest Impressionistic painters of all time. He is most famous for his series of fine art paintings depicting ballet dancers in motion. This set of paintings did a number of revolutionary things for the art community. First, he did not always frame the main subject in the center of the painting, as was the tradition. Degas tended to frame things spontaneously more like a photograph instead. Also, he did not glamorize his models, which was unheard of before his Impressionistic paintings. Artists prior to this always made the women in their paintings seem at times so glamorous they were not of this earth.

Born in 1855, Renoir was an Impressionist painter with exceptional skill. In fact by the standards of the movement, his paintings were too finished to really be considered true Impressionism. Before he became a painter Auguste Renoir painted fine china for a small shop. This experience gave a soft touch to his personal paintings. Renoir’s fine art paintings are mostly on display at a museum in Paris if you would like to view them today. Renoir was a master at giving life to a painted face is celebrated for a small series he did on sleeping models. His gentle brush was especially skilled at rendering smiles and female faces.

Mary Cassatt was one of the key figures in the late Impressionist era. Since she was actually American, Cassatt introduced the movement to the United States. Her work itself was highly influenced by Degas, whom she held in the highest regard. Both of them produced many fine art paintings that are still on display today. Most Impressionist paintings, or any fine art for that matter, is confined to museums. But fine art reproductions are available for those who want to enjoy Mary Cassatt’s art every day. The majority of her paintings are about mothers and their children, and give a warmth in the heart of those who see them.

When many people think about pop art they generally think of Andy Warhol, but once they discover the genius of Roy Lichtenstein their view totally changes. Lichtenstein preferred not to take himself too seriously and many of his fine art paintings are in the same form of comic book panels. These bright colorful images sometimes complete with talking bubbles just as comics touched on a wide variety of subjects. For this his originality was questioned by the art critics of the time. Toward the latter part of his career his images began to take on a more surreal tone. His works were very well received in his lifetime and he was one of the highest earning artists of his time.

Marcus Rothkowitz or Mark Rothko as he is known in the art circles is known for his obsession with form, space, and color. Born in Russia in what is now Latvia and raised in Portland Oregon, Rothko was one of the founding members of Ten, a group of artists sympathetic to abstraction and expressionism. Over the years the fine art paintings of Rothko took many forms until finally he came upon the multiforms paintings, which became his personal signature style. These paintings consisted of blurred blocks, which had no landscape or human form in them. Rothko believed these paintings had a breath of life that was missing in many paintings.

Georges Seurat took a scientific approach to painting and is known for his images, which worked with color and optical effects. Seurat believed his approach was scientific enough it could be turned into a complete language which he referred to as Chromoluminarism. Seurat’s theory was that by use of color and use of lines one could affect the mood of the viewer. This all culminated in one of his greatest fine art paintings “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” in which Seurat used no brushstokes at all only small multi-colored dots of paint to create an image that when viewed from a distance seemed to be solidly painted.

A surrealist painter born in Spain, Joan Miro, created some of the most imaginative and unique fine art paintings of the 20^th century. Inspired by bright colors and broken images the paintings of Miro are only loosely associated with surrealism and the painter himself did not want to be bunched into any one category. Miro was also a very accomplished sculptor and ceramicist and these mediums were reflected into his work on canvas. Most notably Miro is known for his proposed 4 dimensional style of painting that was to transcend even the 3 dimensional style of sculptor.