Guiseppe Valadier

Happy Birthday Giuseppe Valadier!! Born in 1762, the son of a goldsmith, this Italian artist was an architect and urban planner. Valadier won his first prize for a church facade at age 13 and then at 15 claimed the prestigious Concorso Balestra for architecture. He taught architecture at the Accademia di San Luca and was an archeologist pioneer. He resurrected fallen monuments and restored old churches and palaces. His greatest creation was the Piazza del Popolo, the impressive open space in Rome with three avenues branching off. It is a public square in the heart of Rome where public executions took place until 1826.

Sir Thomas Lawrence

Happy Birthday Sir Thomas Lawrence!! English painter, born in 1769, his father was an innkeeper and he had 15 brothers and sisters! A child prodigy, Lawrence began supporting his family at an young age with pastel portraits of nobility. Later he trained at the Royal Academy School of the Arts, learning to paint with oils. He became a painter for King George III and was knighted in 1815. He is considered to be the final great English portrait painters. His work was dramatic with rich color and textures in the Romantic style. The portrait I am including today is the Calmady Children.

Imogen Cunningham

Happy Birthday Imogen Cunningham!! American photographer, born in Portland, Oregon in 1883, this artist began photographing at age 18. After attending the University of Washington in Seattle, she went to work in the photography studio of Edward S. Curtis. Cunningham was quite interested in the chemistry of photography. She was granted the opportunity to study in Germany, and after returning to the US opened her own studio. She was known for her photos of plants, nudes and industrial subjects. She created close-up photographs of flowers such as the Calla Lily pictured here. She created photographs until her death at the age of 93.

Gustav Vigeland

Happy Birthday Gustav Vigeland!! Considered the most gifted Norwegian sculptor, this artist was born in 1869 in Mandal, Norway. His father was a furniture maker and Gustav apprenticed with a sculptor as well as took evening classes to study drawing. A visit to Paris and fellow sculptor, Rodin, inspired him to seek a realistic quality in his sculpture. His work spanned Neoclassical, Impressionist and Classic styles. His most monumental work was Vigeland-Parken, a collection of over 200 life sized figures representing birth, life and death, of granite and bronze, set in a park designed by the artist.

Ben Nicholson

Happy Birthday Ben Nicholson!! and also to my daughter Amanda Louise...English born abstract artist from 1894, Nicholson was educated at the Slade School of Fine Art. He was married three times, once to artist Barbara Hepworth. After creating figurative works and dabbling in Cubism, Mondrian influenced Nicholson to begin working in an abstract vein. He created the first of his wood reliefs in 1933, titled White Relief.

Victor Vasarely

Happy Birthday Victor Vasarely!! This Hungarian French artist was born in 1908. He began a career in medicine, but abandoned that for studies in academic painting. He left Hungary in 1930, settling in Paris in 1930. His mature style is considered Op Art (art of the optical illusion) and his most widely known painting in this style is Zebra. Beginning in 1970, Vasarely opened several museums to house his work, some of which are still in existence today. The version of his Zebra pictured below is from 1937.

 

Richard Neutra

Happy Birthday Richard Neutra!! Born in 1892, in Vienna, this artist went to school at Technische Hochschule and studied architecture. He emigrated to the US in 1923, where he established his architectural practice, after working with Rudolph N. Schindler. Neutra is credited with creating a light airy structure of metal frame with stucco that became a regional signature of Modern architecture in Southern California. His specialty was to extend the architectural space into an immaculate landscape. Neutra mentored Robert Alexander and was partners with his wife Dione.  He believed that architecture should "act as a social force for the betterment of mankind". His son Dion still operates the architectural firm in Los Angeles and, in fact, is celebrating 85 years of practice this week. The Kaufman House that I am including here today was recently sold at auction for 16.5 million. It was discovered in 1992 in near ruin by architectural historian Beth Harris and her husband, Brent, and restored to its original state. The couple is interested in treating architecture like fine art and preserving its original beauty.