Beauty, Love and Zen
 

It has long been held that lovely art is made by loving artists. People say, find someone with mean kids or a mean dog and the owner will be hateful too. The opposite is true too.

Indeed I've known some very sweet painters through my years in the business. It's the norm. That's what makes workshops so fun...the folks are so great to be with. Zen studients talk about being right with nature and the world and the wonderful warm feelings that end up in your work. I like that.

W. Bouguereau

Tim--

Thanks for these thoughts, and for posting this. Even though I know that technically Mr.B. was without parallel, some of his subjects put me off. But THIS, even though I've seen it reproduced many times, never fails to stop me dead in my tracks.

According to some, the art world is not a friendly place. I've never found it not to be. I've made some truly great friends here.

Best--TE

What a gorgeous portrait!

I love that one too. I've had a print of it up in my studio for about a year. It reminds me of the summit of our profession.

Here's another image of it.

Pure perfection
 

Interestingly enough, this was a portrait that Bouguereau did of the wife of his former student Cot, one of his most successful students. I would imagine that whenever Cot viewed it he was confronted with the realization that he himself could never reach that level of perfection in his own work. Was this the intention of old Bougie? Who knows

It now hangs in the bedroom of Fred Ross, the founder of the Art Renewal Center. Talking about opening one's eyes to sheer beauty.

Great topic, Tim.

Today I was lucky enough to visit both Paul de Lorenzo's and Jason Arkles' studios here in Southern Pines--chaperoned by my studio buddy, David Hewson. While many on this forum are probably familiar with de Lorenzo's work, Arkles is a sculptor who works sight-size. I'm going to hit him up for a weekly or bi-weekly morning session, out of his studio. You would drool over the chunk of marble laying in his back yard, ripe with potential.

The artists I've met here are fascinating, great humanists. I can't believe the pocket of artistic passion I've tapped into here in this remote piece of North Carolina. It's an inspiration.

Nicely put Tim.

If beautiful art is made by loving kind and happy people (us), then who makes the ugly stuff?

The Bouguereau should be on display for the public to see, not in someones bedroom. Did bouguereau get his inspiration from Vermeer's girl with the pearl earring?

Peter, I just bought the complete works of Vermeer. The book is much thinner than the collected works of say Charles Dickens. I'm impressed that one has to produce just a few real gems to gain the world's attention.

I don't know how WB felt about Vermeer, I assume he was a fan.