Great Day to Make a Snow-woman

 

Howard Shoemaker, PLAYBOY March 1995

Rodolphe Töpffer

Art Appreciation

Born in Geneva, Switzerland on January 31, 1799,  Rodolphe Töpffer is considered to be one of the earliest and most influential cartoonists and graphic novelists in history. He is credited with creating the first comics and graphic novels, which he called "récits en estampes" or "narratives in prints."

Töpffer became a school teacher in Geneva. In his early 20s he established his own boarding school for boys. He was then appointed Professor of Literature at the University of Geneva in 1832. 

It was his short stories and caricatures he drew to entertain his students that made him famous. His comics were a combination of text and illustrations, and featured a wide range of characters and genres. 

Historie de M. Vieux Bois (1837) is considered to be the first graphic novel. It was published in the United States in 1842 as The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck. 

The process he used to create his works was a form of lithography known as autography, which allowed for quicker reproduction.

Töpffer's comics were not only a new form of entertainment but also a new way of storytelling, allowing him to express his thoughts and ideas in a new and innovative way. His comics were a fusion of art, literature and humor which was a new concept in the 1820s.

Before his death in 1847, he wrote on child art and creativity in Réflexions Et Menus-propos D'un Peintre Genevois Ou Essai Sur Le Beau Dans Les Arts that children often displayed greater creativity than trained artists, whose creativity was often overshadowed by their technical skills. 

Histoire de M. Vieux Bois (created 1827)

Histoire de Monsieur Cryptograme (1830)

Essais d'Autographie (1842)

Sources: 

Wikipedia

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/topffer.htm

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Luis Marden

Photography Appreciation

Luis Marden was a renowned photographer and explorer who made significant contributions to the field of underwater photography. 

Born Annibale Luigi Paragallo in Chelsea, Massachusetts on January 25, 1913, Marden was introduced to photography at a High School chemistry class. At the age of 19, he wrote a book on 35mm color photography called Color Photography with the Miniature Camera.

He began his career at a Boston radio station (WMEX) photography program which he hosted. He would then become a freelance photographer for The Boston Herald.

The self-taught photographer then landed a career as a photojournalist for National Geographic magazine in 1934.

Marden's passion for underwater photography began in the 1930s, when he was sent on a mission to document the Caribbean's coral reefs. He quickly fell in love with the beauty and mystery of the underwater world and dedicated much of his career to exploring and photographing it.

He also pioneered the use of new underwater photography techniques, such as the use of flash and color film, which helped to bring the beauty and detail of the underwater world to the surface. 

Marden's work not only gave people a glimpse of the beauty of the underwater world but also helped in raising awareness of the importance of marine conservation. 

Throughout his career, Marden received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including the prestigious Royal Photographic Society's award for Underwater Photography. 

Self-portrait in front of Chichen Itza, Mexico (1936)

"Three fishermen regard an antique mariners' 

compass off the cost of Amalfi, 1959"

National Geographic

"Divers swim in the Indian Ocean as part of 

Jacques Cousteau's expeditions in the 1950's"

National Geographic

Sources:

Wikipedia

National Geographic

https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2013/01/1976-luis-marden-rolex-ad.html#/page/2

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Robert Motherwell

Art Appreciation

Born in Aberdeen, Washington on January 24, 1915, Robert Motherwell was an American painter and printmaker and considered an important figure in the development of Abstract Expressionism. He was one of the youngest members of the so-called "New York School" of painters, which included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning. 

His early work was heavily influenced by surrealism and often incorporated elements of automatic drawing and collage into his paintings. He later developed a more minimal style, focusing on large expanses of color and simple, geometric shapes.

Motherwell received a BA in philosophy from Stanford University. At Stanford, he was introduced to modernism through literature by Mallarmé, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, and Octavio Paz. This would become a major theme to his works. 

He completed a year in a Ph.D. program in philosophy at Harvard and took courses in art history at Columbia University in New York City. 

He became friends with American art historian Meyer Schapiro, who then encouraged Motherwell to focus on painting. Schapiro introduced him to Parisian surrealists, which included Max Ernst.

While in Mexico with surrealist Roberto Matta, he met Maria Emilia Ferreira y Moyeros, his first wife. He would then dedicate his time to painting. 

In his return from Mexico, Motherwell played a significant role in laying the foundations for the new movement of abstract expressionism, aka the New York School.

Motherwell's first one-man exhibition was at Peggy Guggenheim's "Art of This Century" gallery. He became a leading spokesman for avant-garde art in America. He and Mark Rothko would eventually start the Subjects of the Artist School.

Motherwell's work has been widely exhibited and is held in many important collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London. He received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime, including the National Medal of Arts in 1989.

Elegy to the Spanish Republic (c. 1940s)

Pancho Villa, Dead or Alive (1943)

Dublin 1916, with Black and Tan (1964)

Sources: 

Wikipedia

https://www.boreasfineart.com/artist/Robert_Motherwell/biography/

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/97/19032.html

https://app.cuseum.com/art/robert-motherwell-dublin-1916-with-black-and-tan

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