The Art of Sandra Perlow

Sandra Perlow (1940 - present) is a contemporary abstract artist, currently living in Chicago, who has been creating art for over forty-five years. Sandra works in multi-media creating a collage on top of monoprints or woodcuts using a combination of various mediums which include acrylic, gouache, or oil stick.

(Perlow, Sandra. Must Come Again. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
Sandra was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois where she earned her Bachelor’s of Art Education (B.A.E.) and her Master’s of Fine Art (M.A.) from the school of the art institute of Chicago in which she mainly focused on drawing and painting. She also received an M.A. from the Illinois Institute of Design. Perlow then began to teach herself at the school of the art institute of Chicago.

(Perlow, Sandra. Apart from That. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
Rhythm is the key property of Perlow’s multi-media paintings. She works in shapes and colors, inspired by architecture or landscape. She draws inspiration from daily life, people, and museums.

(Perlow, Sandra. Tangled. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
“Perlow’s creative process is an energetic shuffling and sorting of memory, text, sound, and image. There is spontaneity in her studio practice as the surrounding loop sets up a syncopated tempo as she works on several canvases at one time. The cacophony of visual signs is also found in the layers of images on her studio table: a landscape of books and papers from a visual library from Chinese brush painting Rotella’s decollates or the works of Philip Guston. The creative impulse is immediate and improvisational as Perlow pulls paper, motif, and gesture onto the surface of the picture plane.” (Sandra Perlow.net, 2012).

(Perlow, Sandra. Draw Into. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
At the age of seventy-two years old, Sandra is full of energy, has a wonderful sense of humor, and has unparalleled lust for life, which I believe is definitely reflected in her work, and her work is much appreciated here.

Enjoy :)

References

• Sandra Perlow.net

The Art of Emil Carlsen

Soren Emil Carlsen (1853 – 1932) was a Danish born American Impressionist. He embodied the “starving artist” stereotype and was unfortunately not recognized for his talent as a painter until much later on in his career. Influenced by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Carlsen was famous for painting still life subjects and eventually became known as “The American Chardin”. Carlsen also served as a well-respected art teacher in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York for over 40 years.

(Carlsen, Emil. Iron Kettle and Clams. c. 1926. oil on canvas mounted on board. Private collection.)

Carlsen was from an artistic family and his family taught him how to paint. As a young adult, he studied architecture at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen for four years. After graduation, he got a job working in Chicago as an architectural draftsman but, he soon decided that he did not like the sedentary lifestyle, so he decided to become an artist. He then studied with the Danish marine artist Lauritz Holst and became the first teacher of drawing and painting at the Chicago Academy of Design.

(Carlsen, Emil. Teapot and Onion. oil on canvas. Private collection.)

Thirsty for more formal artistic training, Carlsen traveled to Paris where he first set eyes on the work of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin from the Rococo period in 1875. He then moved to New York and began to paint still life, similar to the work of Chardin but, he struggled to sell his work, so he taught classes at the Art Students League as well.

(Carlsen, Emil. The Fan. oil on canvas. Private collection.)
Carlsen was accepted into an exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1883, where he finally was recognized for his talents. He was then offered a position as the director of the San Francisco Art Association’s School, so he moved to California in 1886. In 1904, he married and moved to a quiet town in Connecticut and painted until his death.

(Carlsen, Emil. The Wooded Interior. oil on panel. Private collection.)

Carlsen’s spacious compositions are timeless, elegant and display his excellent draughtsmanship. His soft flawless brushwork combined with the luminous qualities of paint create a tranquil atmospheric effect. His painting technique was meticulous and labor-intensive as he combined the effect of glazing (building up layers of thin paint) with scraping, painting, and then scraping again to build up a final impasto as the finale.

(Carlsen, Emil. Still Life with Oriental Works of Art. c. 1901. oil on board. Private collection.)

Carlsen was at first only recognized for his still life paintings but, later on, he was eventually recognized for his landscape and his marine paintings as well. There are very few books written about Carlsen, he is the unsung master whose paintings are now today scattered into the hands of many private collectors but, his work is very much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)

References 

• emilcarlsen.com

The Art of Manuel Orazi

Manuel Orazi (1860 – 1934) was an Italian painter, draughtsman, illustrator, and poster artist, who elevated a global philosophy in response to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the Art Nouveau movement. During this time, some artists welcomed technological progress while others condemned the poor quality of mass-produced machine-made goods. By applying the highest standards of craftsmanship and design to society’s everyday objects their aim was to elevate the decorative arts to the level of fine art.

(Orazi, Manuel. La Maison Moderne. c. 1902. lithograph.)

Orazi was born in Rome in 1860. By age twenty-three, he was already notable for designing the covers of sheet music, similar to modern-day album covers before the invention of the radio. He then moved to Paris in 1892 and worked as a newspaper, magazine, and book illustrator.

(Orazi, Manuel. Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt. c. 1895. lithograph.)

He illustrated periodicals for L’assiette au beurre and Le Figaro illustre and illustrated books by contemporary authors, including Edgar Allan Poe, Baudelaire, and Oscar Wilde. His poster designs for the opera and other Parisian theaters heightened his fame and he soon began to exhibit his work at the Salon des Artistes.

(Orazi, Manuel. L'Atlantide. lithograph.)

In 1896, he received the commission of his career and designed a poster for an art show at the Maison de l’Art Nouveau (House of Art) gallery. Initiated in 1895 by the German art dealer Samuel Bing, this gallery exclusively featured the modern art of its time.

(Orazi, Manuel. Hot Chocolate. oil on canvas.)
The show was coordinated in design and color installations of modern furniture, tapestries, and objets d’art (everyday objects of art). The objects from the show became so strongly associated with the Art Nouveau style that the name of his gallery subsequently provided a commonly used term for the entire movement and propelled Orazi’s career.


(Orazi, Manuel. Panneaux Decoratifs. c. 1900. lithograph)

He illustrated the novel, Aphrodite, by Pierre Louis in 1912 and after completing the illustrations for the novel, Les fleurs dumal by Baudelaire in Paris, he dies in 1934.

(Orazi, Manuel. Poster for Job Cigarette Paper. c. 1902. lithograph.)

Inspired by curved lines, nature, natural forms, and the structures of plants and flowers, Orazi embodied the Art Nouveau style and his work is much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)