Albert Kotin

Happy Birthday Albert Kotin!! Russian born American artist from 1907, Albert Kotin immigrated to the US with his family when he was only a year old. He studied at the National Academy of Design, Academie Julian, and The Art Student League. He was a member of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists, with artists such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Francis Kline. The painting Whispering Rain, 1957, is below.

Abstract Expressionism-A mix of Abstract Art with Expressionism, this movement rose to important status following WWII. Artists adhering to this style have been described as “allowing the subconscious to express itself by the creation of involuntary shapes and dribbles of paint." Jackson Pollock is perhaps the best known figure of the movement.

Jess Collins

Happy Birthday Jess Collins!! American painter and collage artist, Jess Collins (known just as “Jess”) was born in 1923. After dreaming the world would come to an end in 1975 from a nuclear holocaust, Jess turned from a career as a radio-chemist to that as an artist, using art as a vehicle for exploring spiritual and intellectual themes. His paintings borrowed ideas from children's books and science theories. His collages were complicated “paste-ups” of bits and pieces of images. He was an important figure in the art scene of San Francisco. The painting below, titled Will Wonders Never Cease, Translation #21, was created in 1969.

George Tooker

Happy Birthday George Tooker!! American born artist from 1920, Tooker was a contemporary painter. Although a representational painter, his images were spookily surreal. Commentary on mechanisms of a modern world were his focus. After studying English Literature and serving in the US military, Tooker was educated at the Arts Students League in New York City. He worked in soft tones of egg tempera on wood panel. Later his work became more personal and emotionally reflective.  The painting I am including today is indicative of his early work, The Subway, 1950. Compositionally complex, the space is fractured with geometric shapes, lending to the haunting theme.

Pieter Coeke van Aelst

Happy Birthday Pieter Coeke van Aelst!! Flemish painter and tapestry designer, van Aelst was born in 1502. He lived in Italy for a time before moving back to Brussels. At his studio in Brussels, he instilled the theories of Italian Renaissance in his many students.  His most famous painting is his Last Supper, sold at auction in 1985 for $56,250.

James Wyatt

Happy Birthday James Wyatt!! English artist, born in 1746, James Wyatt studied in Italy, returning to England to begin his career as an architect. He designed the Pantheon in London which opened in 1772. The interior was quite spectacular, with a great dome, sided with gallery aisles. He was an immediate success and the design was featured at the Royal Academy. He was best known for reviving his country's Gothic architecture, creating a bridge between Rococo Gothic and Medieval design.

Arthur Dove

Happy Birthday Arthur Dove!! American painter born in 1880, Dove traveled to Paris, returning in 1907. Interested in painting moods and emotions, Dove was one of the first to totally eliminate representational elements from his paintings. For this we can think of him as a precursor of Abstract Expressionism of the fifties. The portrait of his Grandmother, below, represents one of the first collages to be created in America. It includes a portion of her needlepoint, a page from her Bible, and some pressed flowers. The work is mounted on a wood shingle.

Picasso was the first to create collage, coining the term collage, meaning to paste in French.

Jan van Scorel

Happy Birthday Jan van Scorel!! Born in 1495, the same year that Leonardo painted the Last Supper, van Scorel was a Dutch painter, born in the village Schoorl (hence his name Scorel). He was apprenticed to a painter as a child and was one of the first Dutch artists to travel to Italy. In fact introducing the High Renaissance to the Netherlands is attributed to him. While in Italy he was made curator of antiquities for the Vatican. When he returned to the Netherlands he was appointed an official of the Catholic Church of Utrecht, where he also established a workshop and continued to paint mostly altarpieces and portraits with the help of his assistants. Today I am including a unique portrait of Mary Magdalene.