This past weekend found me in Los Angeles attending events hosted by a wonderful fan club, TheOneRing.net, related to the celebration of the Oscars and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. Sad to say, The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey did not land any awards, but that did not prevent me from coming home to Brooklyn – inspired, energized and reflective on my time there.
In between my time at an art show Friday night and a party on Sunday, my friend and ex-assistant Eric Bouffard shuffled me around town in a whirlwind of voyeuristic delights (Eric was my first assistant over ten years ago and is now a Senior Digital Matte Painter at Dreamworks). Our first stop Saturday morning was at the Los Angeles Public Library where murals of Dean Cornwell and two other artists numbed our eyes. The complexity and color balances of the Cornwells were stunning, and appeared to be recently cleaned so much so that they looked to be painted yesterday.
Dean Cornwell Mural Los Angeles Public Library
Dean Cornwell Mural Los Angeles Public Library
After absorbing the murals and a few bites, we were off to Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA for an amazing show of turn of the century illustration art, Illustrating Modern Life: The Golden Age of American Illustration from the Kelly Collection. This show was a block buster, with paintings from Dean Cornwell, Harvey Dunn, N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle. It was great to compare and contrast the early Dunns against one another as well as doing so with the Cornwells. The show is a testament to the great eye Mr. Kelly has for picking the best of these artists. Below are a few of my favorites from the exhibition. If you are in the area, it is well worth the trip and price of admission (Free!) to see such craftsmanship laid out all under one roof!
Born in 1967 and raised in Colchester, Vermont, USA, art was always a hobby for Donato as a young man, he would steal away into the basement of his parents' home to work on drawings, create his own maps for the game Dungeons & Dragons, paint figurines, read comics, and construct model tanks and dinosaurs. His love of imaginative play dominated his childhood, both indoors and out. At the age of twenty Donato enrolled in his first formal art class, the beginning of his professional training. Immediately after graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University in 1992, Donato moved to New York City to immerse himself in the inspired and varied art scene. Formative years in the early nineties were spent as the studio assistant to the preeminent figure painter Vincent Desiderio, and long days of study in the museums of New York. It was then that his love and appreciation of classical figurative art took hold. He continues his training even now, visiting museums regularly, learning from and sometimes copying original paintings by Rembrandt or Rubens, attending life drawing sessions with illustrator friends and constantly challenges himself within each new project. Pilgrimages to major museums are his preferred reason to travel.
Donato has released a revised hard cover compilation of his works on the theme of J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle-Earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend from Dark Horse Comics.
It would be great if this was a touring exhibition. I live in Western Australia and I had never heard of these artists until a year ago when I studied in America. I know for sure that my little part of the world would definitely benefit from a visit by these great paintings.
I am a HUGE fan of Pyle, Wyeth, Dunn and especially Cornwell. I always thought it was interesting that Cornwell wanted to be immortalized by doing so many murals but I feel it made him much less accessible to a wider audience. There has been a painting of Cornwell's titled “the procession of devotees followed the image into the flood” that I love and I can't even find a decent image of it online. (Warning: if you search for it online be prepared to see some graphic imagery of other images.)
Woah! I haven't heard of Sarah Weber before, and she's great! I tried googling her, but my searches only find modern day Sarah Webers who aren't this artist. Anyone have a link to more of her work?
Btw, the painting of the woman with the leopards, McClelland Barclay I believe, was recently restored to it's former glory, as they say. But get this:
The old canvas back was REPLACED. They put it face down on a vacuum platen to hold the painting in place, then chemically removed the old canvas from the back of the gesso. They then re-backed the painting with fresh canvas (or linen, not sure). It now has brand new support.
it must have been breath taking to see a Wyeth in person. i'm not sure if i'd faint or cry.
These paintings are great! I wish there was something like this to see here where I live…
It would be great if this was a touring exhibition. I live in Western Australia and I had never heard of these artists until a year ago when I studied in America. I know for sure that my little part of the world would definitely benefit from a visit by these great paintings.
I am a HUGE fan of Pyle, Wyeth, Dunn and especially Cornwell.
I always thought it was interesting that Cornwell wanted to be immortalized by doing so many murals but I feel it made him much less accessible to a wider audience.
There has been a painting of Cornwell's titled “the procession of devotees followed the image into the flood” that I love and I can't even find a decent image of it online. (Warning: if you search for it online be prepared to see some graphic imagery of other images.)
Woah! I haven't heard of Sarah Weber before, and she's great! I tried googling her, but my searches only find modern day Sarah Webers who aren't this artist. Anyone have a link to more of her work?
A closer inspection of the photograph shows that her full name is Sarah Stilwell Weber, try that, it yielded some results for me!
He has a fine collection….absolutely stunning.
Btw, the painting of the woman with the leopards, McClelland Barclay I believe, was recently restored to it's former glory, as they say. But get this:
The old canvas back was REPLACED. They put it face down on a vacuum platen to hold the painting in place, then chemically removed the old canvas from the back of the gesso. They then re-backed the painting with fresh canvas (or linen, not sure). It now has brand new support.
It was a $10,000 process, I'm told.
Yikes!
oops….I suppose that was Sarah Webb….
try sarah stilwell
went and saw them. cried the whole time.
Amazing show. Thanks for posting about it.