Sohrab Sepehri

Happy Birthday Sohrab Sepehri!! Born in 1928, in Iran, this Persian artist was a painter as well as a renowned poet. Sepehri was a naturalist and advocated for pure water and birds to fly freely. He hated war and wanted everyone to love one another and show compassion. He studied painting at the fine arts university in Tehran and went on to paint, experiment in woodcuts and lithography, as well as write poetry. His poems have been likened to e. e. cummings.

Never have I seen two poplar trees at war
Never have I seen a willow selling its shade to the ground The elm tree offers its branches to the crows gratis
Wherever there is a leaf, my passion blossoms...   (an excerpt)

Frank M. Sutcliffe

Happy Birthday Frank M. Sutcliffe!! British artist, born in 1853, Sutcliffe was the son of a famed Victorian painter. His medium was said to be light, which, with his expert skill he was able to capture and use in the most beautiful, ethereal ways. He was rather unsuccessful with glamourous, highly lit portraits and eventually became the curator for a museum in Whitby. His success at photography was the rustic fishing folk of  Whitby, a small fishing village, where his work titled Sea Urchins was created.

Robert Adams

Happy Birthday Robert Adams!! British born sculptor Robert Adams was born in 1917. He was able to pursue his art career following WWII, becoming a leading figure of the British avant-garde as well as a teacher. Two of his early influences are (written about on this blog 7/30/2010 and 1/10/2010) Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. He began with carving but moved to large projects of welded steel, bronze and poured concrete. He ended his career by returning to his original focus, carving and creating bronze castings.
The piece I am including today was created in copper, titled Three Forms (1951) 12" . I love the feeling of the work perched on three points.

Jean Francois Millet

Happy Birthday Jean Francois Millet!! This French painter from 1814 was founder of the Barbizon school and a well loved precursor to Impressionism. His work differed from his Impressionist contemporaries, however, in that he was more interested in social realities rather than atmospheric reflection on the pictorial elements. His paintings explored life and death, marriage and social status. He fell out of favor with the rise of Impressionism and has never truly regained his rightful status. Millet was an influence on artists such as Van Gogh, Monet and Seurat. I include, today, perhaps his most well known work The Gleaners, please note the similarities to Van Gogh, who was to come later. Follow the repetitive curve of the women's bowed backs sillouetted against a glowing backdrop of sunset as they tackle the age old task of scraping up food for a meal.

Henry Lerolle

Happy Birthday Henry Lerolle!!  Born in 1848, Lerolle was a French painter as well as a patron (to Degas and Renoir among others) and collector. He studied at the Swiss Academy and his work was accepted in the Paris Salon, beginning in 1868. He painted murals in addition to his easel paintings on canvas. His sister-in-law was married to a composer and the artists home was frequented by many artists and musicians. He painted genre scenes, portraits as well as plein-air landscapes. He carefully considered his compositions, favoring an off center, or asymmetrical arrangement.

plein-air Painting outdoors on location

Martha Brookes Hutcheson

Happy Birthday Martha Brookes Hutcheson!! The American artist, born in 1871 was a landscape architect. She was educated at the New York School of Applied Design for Women and then toured gardens of France and Italy.  Her love of nature ultimately led to education at MIT in the newly formed degree opportunity landscape architecture and a career in the field she so loved. Hutcheson went on to design the grounds for large estates as well as a few public spaces before marrying and retiring from commercial practice. She did, however, continue with her own property and created the Bamboo Brook Educational Estate, a 5 acre garden with Italian features. It has recently undergone a massive restoration project in an attempt to restore it to the state Martha would have approved.

Larry Poons

Happy Birthday Lawrence (Larry) Poons!! Born in Tokyo Japan today in 1937, Poons started out studying classical music at the New England Conservatory of Music, but switched to visual art in 1959. He grew up near New York City. He is an abstract painter of color fields with contrasting dots or small figures, termed Op Art. He also experiments with paint throwing similar to the technique developed by Jackson Pollock.The painting included today is titled Wisemen and was painted in 1975. Larry Poons currently lives in New York.