Splendid Skies

Dream World - artist capture twilight 

Georgia O'Keeffe painted her 1972 oil on canvas "The Beyond" after viewing the sky from inside an airplane. 

Just like us, Artists live in the real world.  They experience and capture what is happening in their lives. This can include everyday events.  We have seen art about food and eating.  Art with a person walking in the picture or sitting on a chair. We have seen art a particular time of day.  Sometimes our everyday life can be spectacular and inspiring.  Let's look at how artists captured the Night Sky.

One of the most famous night skies is The Starry Night painted in thick swirling blues by artist Vincent van Gogh.  Vincent captured the stars and moon as it appeared from the window in his room.

The Starry Night

Vincent made many versions of the night sky

Café Terrace at Night, 1888 

An evening stroll in France might lead you to an outdoor cafe.  Vincent painted this scene where under the night sky, diners sip coffee and enjoy conversation.  

Starry Night Over the Rhone

What clues did Vincent paint that this star speckled sky is a seascape?  

Other artists also had their versions on a "Starry Night" even before Vincent

Jean-François Millet, Starry Night (Millet), c. 1850-1865

Starry Night

Edvard Munch

The Girl by the Window, 1893

Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch, the same artist that painted The Scream, paints this lone figure at an open window.  Besides the indigo blue sky, what other clues tell you this is night?

The Girl by the Window , shows a young girl in her nightgown standing in a darkened room gazing out at the city. evoking a feeling of melancholy and anticipation.

 

Georgia O'Keeffe has her own take on the night sky

The negative or empty space in these abstract watercolors by Georgia create star filled skies.  Notice the areas of paper without paint, the little white squares become.... stars.

Starlight Night - Georgia O’Keeffe 1917 American 1887-1986

Light Coming on the Plains No. 

Georgia painted a summery watercolor sunrise as the Texas night makes way to morning. Georgia stayed up all night to experience dawn and the effects of light

Jamie Molina creates a star filled box with cacti-- a sculpture of a desert landscape.  The constellations at night in 3D

We have seen the art of surrealist Rene Magritte before.  Do you remember  paintings we have viewed that have a similar style?  Any ideas?

A single street lamp glows and reflects in this evening painting.  it feels quiet and still.  What time of day do you think Renee painted in this work of art?  Is it daytime, night or both?

detail

Giacomo Balla, Street Light
another street lamp beaming light into the night

Fisherman’s Cottage 1906
Harald Sohlberg

A white cottage contrasts with the dark wooded landscape by Harald Sohlberg 

Harald Sohlberg, Summer Night, 1899, The National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo, Norway.

Harald paints a twilight sky appearing brighter as summer days are longer.  

What activities do you like do in the evening?

Six o'clock Winter, John Sloan

Maybe the evening is when you are heading home from school or work.

or going out to dinner.  through the diner's large glass window we view four people in a downtown diner late at night . The light coming from the diner illuminates a darkened and deserted urban streetscape.

Do you gather with friends and family under the night Sky as Cassie Louise Lightfoot and her brother do in Faith Ringgold's Story Quilt Tar Beach

Maybe you like to play outside as the sun is setting.

John Singer Sargent captures his friends daughters in this dusk painting. The children lighting lanterns.

Sargent wanted to paint from real life. There were only a few minutes each evening where the light was right. He would place his easel and paint

Illustration from Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me by Daniel Beaty

Artist

Bryan Collier

What color did you notice in most of these artworks?

Did you get a certain mood or feeling from this time of day?

Will you set your art at a particular time of day?

Fiery Comet

Artist

Carson Ellis

Powerful presentation

Most of the time when we see art, it is displayed like this


or like this

Neither one of these art presentations or experiences is wrong but what if the artist allowed us to experience their art in a different way. Would it make the art more powerful?

Think back to our Tiny Art Show.  The experience of seeing tiny art and possibly laying on the floor to look at art created a non-traditional art viewing experience.




Let's look at some artists that make Powerful works of art by creating an unforgettable experience for their audience. 

Ernesto Neto is a Brazilian artist whose installations offer a chance for the viewer to touch, see, smell, and feel his artworks for a truly sensory experience. “For me, mind and body are one thing, always together,” the artist has said.

I

Imagine walking into this exhibit.  Where would you go first?

A view from inside the art

Louise Joséphine Bourgeois was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker.



Spider is a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois It was executed in 1996 as an edition of a series

This sculpture is presented in a way that the viewer may experience the art in many different ways.

Let's look at a few more experiential art pieces where the artist has thoughtfully considered the experience you will have when you look at the art.

Rain Room allows visitors to the installation to walk through a downpour without getting wet.Motion sensors detect visitors' movements as they navigate through the darkened space, becoming "performers in this intersection of art, technology and nature".

Olafur Eliasson uses lights, mirrors, materials and you to create his interactive art.  “It is not just about decorating the world...” Eliasson uses natural elements (like light, water, fog) and makeshift technical devices to transform museum galleries and public areas into immersive environments






Pipilotti Rist is a visual artist. She is best known for creating experimental video art and installation art 
 

Lastly, let's listen to Janet Echelman.  You may recognize her Fiber art from previous lessons.

What specific space does Janet Echelman want us to notice?
What inspired her to become an artist?
What inspires her work?
Does she work alone?



Artist create a powerful experience for us by the way their art is presented to us.

As you think about your own art:

Will you create an experience for your viewers?

Will your art require the senses of the viewer?  Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, Taste


What a powerful idea, that you as an artist can create an experience for the viewer or affect the viewer's senses; smell, sight, touch, sound, taste